Prog (magazine) explained

Prog is a British magazine dedicated to progressive rock music, published by Future. The magazine, which is edited by Jerry Ewing,^[1] was launched in March 2009 as a spin-off from Classic Rock and covers both past and present artists. Other current staff are Natasha Scharf (Deputy Editor), Russell Fairbrother (Art Editor), Julian Marszalek (News Editor), and Dave Everley (Album Reviews Editor).

History and profile

Prog is published by Future, who are also responsible for its "sister" publications Classic Rock and Metal Hammer.^[2]

Prog was published nine times per year until 2012, when its frequency was switched to ten times a year.^[3]

According to The Guardian in 2010, the magazine was selling 22,000 copies an issue, half the circulation of the NME.^[4] Journalist and broadcaster Gavin Esler described it in 2014 as "one of the few music magazines I can think of whose circulation is healthy".^[5]

On 19 December 2016, TeamRock called in the administrators with the loss of 70 jobs, after experiencing financial difficulties.^[6] TeamRock's stable of titles including Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, and Prog, temporarily suspended publication.

On 8 January 2017, Prog, along with sister magazines Classic Rock and Metal Hammer, were bought by previous owners Future for £800,000.^[7]

On 27 March 2018, the family of Future's UK consumer music magazines including Prog re-branded and became covered under the umbrella title of Louder (also known as Louder Sound), with loudersound.com serving as the main online portal for the publications.^[8]

Progressive Music Awards

Prog magazine was also behind the annual Progressive Music Awards that was established in 2012.^[9]

2012 winners

The 2012 Progressive Music Award winners in full:^[10]

• New Blood: TesseracT
• Live Event: Anathema
• Grand Design: Pink Floyd's Immersion Reissues
• Anthem: Squackett's "A Life Within A Day"
• Album of the Year: Rush's Clockwork Angels
• Visionary: Peter Hammill
• Lifetime Achievement: Genesis
• Virtuoso: Carl Palmer
• Guiding Light: Steven Wilson
• Prog God: Rick Wakeman

2013 winners

Winners^[11]

• Limeling: Sound of Contact
• Breakthrough: Big Big Train
• Anthem: Von Hertzen Brothers, "Flowers and Rust"
• Event: Steve Hackett, Genesis Revisited at Hammersmith Apollo
• Band of the Year: Marillion
• Album: Steven Wilson, The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)
• Grand Design: Family Box Set
• Virtuoso: Mike Portnoy
• Visionary: Steve Hillage
• Guiding Light: Thomas Waber, founder of InsideOut
• Lifetime Achievement: Dave Brock
• Prog God: Ian Anderson

2014 winners

The 2014 Progressive Music Award winners in full:^[12]

• Limelight: Messenger
• Live Event: Rick Wakeman – Journey to the Centre of the Earth 40th Anniversary Tour
• Breakthrough: Syd Arthur
• Anthem: Anathema – Anathema
• The Storm Thorgerson Grand Design: Fish – A Feast of Consequences
• Album of the Year: Transatlantic – Kaleidoscope
• Band of the Year: Dream Theater
• Outer Limits: Uriah Heep
• Virtuoso: Arjen Anthony Lucassen
• Guiding Light: Sonja Kristina
• Visionary: Robert John Godfrey
• Lifetime Achievement: Andrew Latimer
• Prog God: Peter Gabriel

2015 winners

The 2015 Progressive Music Award winners in full:^[13]

• Limelight (for up-and-coming bands): Heights
• Live event: Marillion Weekends
• Vanguard (for acts who deserve wider recognition): Purson
• Anthem: Public Service Broadcasting – Gagarin
• The Storm Thorgerson grand design (box set design): Steven Wilson – Hand. Cannot. Erase.
• Album of the year: Steven Wilson – Hand. Cannot. Erase.
• Band of the year: Opeth
• Commercial breakthrough: Steven Wilson
• Outer Limits: Roy Wood
• Virtuoso: Danny Thompson
• Guiding light: Roger Dean
• Visionary: Bill Nelson
• Lifetime achievement: Gentle Giant
• Prog God: Tony Banks

2016 winners

The 2016 Progressive Music Award winners in full:^[14]

• Limelight (for up-and-coming bands): The Anchoress
• Live event: Big Big Train Weekends
• Vanguard (for acts who deserve wider recognition): The Mute Gods
• Anthem: Riverside – Towards The Blue Horizon
• The Storm Thorgerson grand design : Anthony Phillips – Esoteric Reissue Series
• Album of the year: iamthemorning – Lighthouse
• Band of the year: Big Big Train
• Outer Limits: Buggles
• Virtuoso: Jakko Jakszyk
• Guiding light: Andy Summers
• Visionary: Jon Hiseman
• Lifetime achievement: Van der Graaf Generator
• Prog God: Jon Anderson

2017 winners

The 2017 Progressive Music Award winners in full:^[15]

• Limelight – Beatrix Players
• Video of the Year – King Crimson – Heroes
• Event of the Year – Be Prog! My Friend
• Reissue of the Year – Steve Hillage – Searching For The Spark
• Album Cover of the Year – Tim Bowness – Lost in the Ghost Light
• Album of the Year – Anathema – The Optimist
• International Band of the Year – Opeth
• UK Band of the Year – Marillion
• Outer Limits – Mark King
• Outstanding Musical Achievement – John Miles
• Chris Squire Virtuoso – Steve Hackett
• Visionary – Voivod
• Industry VIP – Max Hole
• Lifetime Achievement – Eddie Jobson
• Prog God – Carl Palmer

2018 winners

The 2018 Progressive Music Award winners in full:^[16]

• Limelight: Midas Fall
• Video of the Year: Orphaned Land – "Like Orpheus"
• Event of the Year: Space Rocks
• Reissue of the Year: Alan Parsons Project – Eye In The Sky 35th Anniversary Box Set
• Album Cover of the Year: Big Big Train –The Second Brightest Star
• International Band/Artist of the Year: Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM)
• Album of the Year: To The Bone
• UK Band/Artist of the Year: Steven Wilson
• Outer Limits: Claudia Brücken
• Outstanding Contribution: Gary Brooker
• The Chris Squire Virtuoso: Phil Manzanera
• Visionary: John Lees
• Industry VIP: Kilimanjaro Live
• Lifetime Achievement: Caravan
• Prog God: Steve Howe

2019 winners

• Visionary: Arthur Brown^[17]
• Album Cover of the Year: Daniel Tompkins – Castles (solo album by Tesseract vocalist)
• Video of the Year: Cellar Darling – "Insomnia"
• Chris Squire Virtuoso: John Petrucci
• Limelight: Jo Quail
• Reissue of the Year: Marillion – Clutching at Straws Deluxe Edition
• Lifetime Achievement: John Lodge
• Event of the Year: Ramblin’ Man Fair – Prog in the Park Stage
• Classic Album: Hawkwind – Warrior on the Edge of Time
• Album of the Year: Big Big Train – Grand Tour
• Outer Limits: Jack Hues
• International Band of the Year: Dream Theater
• Industry VIP: Tony Smith
• UK Band of the Year: Haken
• Prog God: Nick Mason

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Top 5 Tony Banks Moments as Chosen by Prog Editor Jerry Ewing. TeamRock. 7 September 2015. 12 October 2015.
2. News: William Turvill. TeamRock unveils online paywall for titles including Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. 27 June 2016. Press Gazette.
3. News: Prog relaunches and increases frequency. 28 March 2012. InPublishing. 31 January 2016.
4. News: Go back to go forward: the resurgence of prog rock. The Guardian. London. Alexis Petridis. 22 July 2010. 19 August 2015.
5. News: Gavin Esler: Why I love prog rock. The Guardian. London. Andrew Dickson. 20 August 2014. 19 August 2015.
6. Web site: Jobs lost as rock music media firm Team Rock collapses. BBC Business. 19 December 2016.
7. News: No need to fret: Metal Hammer magazine saved from closure. 8 January 2017.
8. Web site: TeamRock rebrands to become Louder. Scott Munro. Loudersound.com. 29 December 2018.
9. News: Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, Public Service Broadcasting all nominated for Progressive Music Awards 2015. The Independent. Adam Sherwin. 25 June 2015. 5 July 2015.
10. News: Genesis honoured at Progressive Music awards. BBC News. Tim Masters. 6 September 2012. 23 January 2017.
11. News: Progressive Music Awards 2013 . Orange Amps . 5 September 2013 . 13 September 2018.
12. News: Peter Gabriel honoured at Prog music awards. BBC News. Tim Masters. 12 September 2014. 19 August 2015.
13. News: Singer Steven Wilson crowned prog rock king. BBC News. 4 September 2015. 7 September 2015.
14. News: Progressive Music Awards 2016 – The Winners. PlanetMosh. 3 September 2016. 17 April 2017.
15. Web site: Marillion, Anathema, Steve Hackett among Progressive Music Award winners . teamrock.com . 14 September 2017 . 25 September 2017.
16. Web site: Steven Wilson, Steve Howe 2018 Progressive Music Award Winners. www.udiscovermusic.com. en-US. 2018-11-11.
17. Web site: Prog Awards 2019: Dream Theater, Big Big Train, Hawkwind among this year's winners . 12 September 2019 .