Enter Music Publishing Brings A New Beat: Drum! Digital, An Interactive Version Of Its Highly Popular Print Magazine

October 29, 2007 (PRLEAP.COM) Media News
San Jose, CA — Enter Music Publishing, publishers of worldwide, hip percussion magazines, including DRUM! and TRAPS Magazines, today announced the launch of DRUM! Digital (drumdigital.com). DRUM! Digital is a free, online multimedia version of the magazine that is available to drummers internationally in an on-screen, flip-page format.

“It’s a new day for our company, DRUM! itself, and the drumming community,” says editor in chief, Andy Doerschuk. “Over the lifespan of DRUM!, we've always tried to be open to change in terms of content, design, and now distribution. “DRUM! Digital carries on our editorial philosophy and will make it possible for us to extend our worldwide readership.”

The first issue of DRUM! Digital features stories from the magazine’s special Urban Music October issue, featuring The Roots’ Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson on the cover. It includes all of the features from that special issue. In addition, there are multimedia extras that make this version of the magazine more useful to an online audience.

As with all of Enter Music Publishing’s print magazines, DRUM! Digital is diverse and loaded with innovative, content-rich material. “There are ten embedded videos in the issue,” says publisher Phil Hood. “And most of the ads are linked, so an online user can visit the advertiser’s web sites, view instructional videos and interviews, or zoom in and read the stories.”

DRUM! Digital is produced using technology developed by iDigital Editions, a Temecula, California-based software company. iDigital’s technology made it possible to publish DRUM! Digital to look just like the print version with the editorial advantage of being viewed by anyone, anywhere, anytime over the Internet. “We looked at many software solutions but felt that iDigital provided a better reading experience than competing solutions, as well as superior marketing and advertising opportunities for our clients,” says Hood.

The iDigital Edition digital magazine does not require users to download and install additional client reader software. They can access it through their current Internet browser and the standard flash plug-in already present in nearly every Internet-enabled computer today!

DRUM! Digital versions of the magazine will be available approximately 45 days after subscribers receive their print copies. Plans call for print subscribers to get early notification as to when an issue is available and, eventually, exclusive access to certain DRUM! Digital features.

“I don’t see the digital magazine as a replacement for print or for the web site,” says Hood. “In many ways, it’s completely separate, offering the great writing of print along with some of the interactivity of the web. As we post more issues, readers will have an easier time finding archived features. Also, advertisers will have a chance for their ads to keep pulling response, long after the print edition has been removed from newsstand shelves.”

With the launch of DRUM! Digital, Enter Music Publishing is well positioned to capitalize on the growing drum industry. According to figures from the American Music Conference and Music Trades magazine, the drum industry has annual global sales of approximately $1.25 billion, and the United States accounts for up to 45 percent of that total.

About Enter Music Publishing
Founded in San Jose, CA in 1992, Enter Music Publishing, Inc. is a leading publisher of drum/percussion magazines, with distribution in 40 countries. DRUM! is the flagship publication of Enter Music Publishing, Inc. and continues to set the industry standard for editorial quality and innovation. In addition to DRUM! And DRUM! Digital, the company publishes TRAPS and HOW TO PLAY DRUMS. Additional information about the company can be found at: drummagazine.com, trapsmagazine.com, and drumdigital.com.