LAS VEGAS — The parent company of FRONT of HOUSE magazine, Timeless Communications Corp. (TCC), has acquired the assets of Symphony Publishing, with four magazines for the musical instrument and music education markets. “We’re excited to receive the stewardship of four exceptional magazines,” says Terry Lowe, TCC, president. “With this acquisition, we’ll apply our business model and high level of service to the musical instrument industry via the magazine Musical Merchandise Review (MMR), and serve music educators through School Band & Orchestra (SBO), JAZZed, and Choral Director publications.”
“It’s a perfect fit — currently we serve the professional entertainment world with Projection Lights & Staging News (PLSN) and FRONT of HOUSE (FOH), and the professional, educational, and community theater worlds with Stage Directions,” adds Lowe. Symphony was a wholly owned subsidiary of Cleveland-based Zapis Capital Group.
TCC founder Terry Lowe is a lifelong veteran of the publishing industry. In 1979, at the age of 24, he started an alternative monthly magazine in Indianapolis. He went on to work for Performance and Mix magazines before starting his own publishing firm. He founded PLSN in 1999, launched FOH in 2001, and purchased Stage Directions in 2007. The combined magazines have a circulation of 60,000 subscribers, of which 6,500 are in 120 countries outside of North America. With the addition of the Symphony titles, TCC will have over 100,000 professionals in music and event production subscribing to its seven magazines. Lowe is also co-founder and executive producer of the Parnelli Awards (parnelliawards.com), which is in its 13th year of honoring live event professionals.
“The acquisition of these titles allows TCC to deliver our clients’ message through a variety of sales channels. With the Symphony titles, we’re able to provide our clients with accessibility to new markets. Currently, we reach high-end professional users, venues, and resellers in the live event technology market. Now we will be able to provide our current clients access to retail and consumer markets for their down-market products,” Lowe added.
MMR was founded in 1879 and is the oldest continuously published music trade magazine in the musical instrument industry. During the last decade, Symphony added SBO, which serves band and orchestra teachers; JAZZed, which serves jazz educators and is the official publication of the Jazz Educators Network; and Choral Director. All of these titles, along with the current TCC magazines, have a full complement of digital media products associated with them. Each magazine has its own website, email newsletter and digital edition, and all are accessible on all mobile devices.
TCC will be enhancing all of the newly acquired titles with a redesign within the next 12 months, along with a revitalization of the infrastructure of digital transmissions to provide subscribers with more options and ease of use.
The new magazines will be referred to as the Musical Instrument and Education Division of Timeless Communications Corp. With the acquisition, the current Needham, MA office will be closed as of June 1, with the production and business office of the magazine being transferred to Las Vegas. The new phone number as of June 1 will be 702-479-1879.
