Pure Rock Report Relaunches as Digital Zine

Pure Rock Report is relaunching as a weekly digital magazine on January 13, 2020. The publication will be produced in collaboration between BigBigHit’s Rick Welke and Rock On Purpose’s Mary Nikkel. The zine originally covered the more progressive genres of Christian music in the 1990’s, and was later rebranded as the Progressive Airplay Journal until it merged into the pages of Radio & Records magazine in 2001.

Pure Rock Report will deliver an easy-to-digest weekly overview of new releases, news and major events. It will also feature National charts covering the faith-based Rock, Hip-Hop, and Hot CHR space. The free publication will be produced with music fans in mind, offering them a simple way to connect with both old favorites and new artists. Readers can expect the weekly zine to be delivered straight to their inbox each Monday.

“Bringing back the Pure Rock Report in partnership with Mary and Rock On Purpose just seems right,” states FreQ Media CEO Rick Welke. “As the CCM industry continues to shrink its overall focus, there are thousands of artists and millions of global fans that listen to more progressive styles of Christian music. BigBigHit has been championing these growing genres for over a year now with a massive viewership that rivals any other Christian music driven website, and relaunching the PRR as a weekly digital zine should help and inform the individual artist, while super serving the music fan. We’re stoked to get started!”

It’s a vision Mary Nikkel shares, “I’ve seen firsthand what an impact Christian Rock and Hip-Hop are making in the lives of listeners – often with little to no support.” She adds, “Rock On Purpose has always been about standing in that gap to provide resources for getting the word out and foster better conversations between artists and their listeners. Pure Rock Report fits naturally into that mission.”

Apart from providing industry news and reviews, PRR will offer a unique look at how music is performing through multiple charts developed by Rick Welke at BigBigHit. Welke helped first develop the Christian charts that the industry now sees inside of Billboard magazine. Those charts originated with R&R in 2001 and have continued on to this day, though the more progressive genre charts have now been discontinued. Each PRR issue will include National Rock, Hip-Hop, and Hot CHR charts from the total audience perspective, and also from a radio-driven standpoint.