The Story of Skope: By Michael Friedman
Skope Magazine was concocted in the spring of 2000 in a classroom at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. Michael Friedman, a music industry major, wanted to create a media company that focused on musicians that were very talented but being ignored by the mainstream media. For the class project Michael drew up a business plan that would start his media company as a magazine and branch off from there.
Michael’s father Neil Friedman took a trip up to Boston to enjoy a beautiful Saturday. While at Joe’s on Newbury Street, Michael told Neil all about his plans. He explained that if executed properly this company could fill a major niche for a lot of frustrated music enthusiasts on a global scale. Neil was very interested and decided to chat with Michael’s grandfather Irwin Friedman about it. My grandfather who had faith & trust in me decided to become my partner in making this venture, a successful journey into the publishing & music world.
At the time, Michael was working as a bartender at California Pizza Kitchen in Boston. He had engaged some of the other servers to come in with him and help develop the company. After weeks of spreading the word and attracting help Michael came up with the name. The media company was to be called Skope Entertainment Inc. The first step was to create Skope Magazine.
In January of 2001, Skope Magazine was born. It was black & white, 20 pages, and filled with musicians, emcees, and bands from Boston. Michael took 1,000 copies and gave them out for free throughout Northeastern and at live music venues in Boston. Ozzie’s Pizza in Brighton, MA was the first advertiser to believe & advertise in Skope Magazine.
Word began to spread and college students from all over the city wanted to get involved. Skope was a great opportunity for students to get real world experience & gain college credits. Within 2 issues, Skope was attracting major & indie label talent from all over the US to be featured in the magazine. Michael would produce a new issue on a Bi-Monthly basis. When he was not in class or waiting tables he was selling ADS, soliciting features, and producing Skope Magazine.
In April of 2001, the second phase of Skope Entertainment Inc was launched. Skopemagazine.com had come to the Internet. The website was designed to be a supplement to the magazine. It gave readers all over the world an opportunity to check out Skope online. Michael posted news, features, giveaways, and anything that he knew his readers would be interested in.
In November of 2002 Michael decided that it was time to celebrate all that Skope had accomplished. It was decided that the next phase of Skope was ready to be launched. This phase came to be known as Skope Live! Skope Live! is the live music concert promoter division of SEI. Since the first show in which Jon Brown’s Body sold out Harper’s Ferry in Allston, MA, Skope Live! has put on shows throughout the northeast at such venues as Bill’s Bar, The Middle East, The Cutting Room, FELT, and The All Asia.
In March of 2004 Michael had grown weary of the black & white version of Skope Magazine. He always saw Skope as an international venture that enthusiasts could enjoy from Amsterdam to Miami. He decided it was time to add pages, gloss, & lots of color. In April of 2004 the first full color edition came out. This new upgrade made Michael realize that this magazine was good enough for retail and should no longer be given out for free. Within weeks, meetings were set up with Newbury Comics and Tower Records in New England. Both chains agreed to sell the magazine at $1 to start. Skope began attracting top cover stories as The Donnas, Young Buck, D-12, Thrice, Fall Out Boy, The Dresden Dolls, just to name a few. Sales at retail were strong and subscriptions began to come in from across the US. Skope had now gone from a free local publication to a regional magazine with a domestic subscriber base.
By January of 2006 Skope Magazine had grown to over 60 pages and was selling quite well at Newbury Comics & Tower. In May of 2006, Michael was offered a contract through Ingram Periodicals for national distribution in all bookstores that Ingram services. These bookstores included Barnes & Noble, Hastings, Borders, and many more. Michael was thrilled, as he knew Skope would now get the chance to compete on a national level. The hot cover stories kept coming with My Chemical Romance, Ludacris, Linkin Park, Taking Back Sunday and much more!
In May of 2007, CTC Magazines in Canada contacted Skope to see about taking on distribution of Skope on the newsstands beyond just bookstores. This was going to make Skope available in even more outlets, which was crucial considering Skope’s demand. Michael brought on a whole new staff to help take Skope to the next level. He knew that if Skope was going to compete he was going to need help in all areas of this blossoming media conglomerate.
Today, almost 6.5 years after the first Skope Magazine was published, Skope has become an impressive company. The magazine is sold in retail on an international level for $3.99 US/$4.99 CA. The magazine is now 168 pages, full color & gloss. A new staff was brought on board to raise the level of excellence & readership and take it to the next level. Skopemagazine.com is clocking over 500K hits per month. The website now has features, Podcasts, radio, ADS, news, giveaways, blogs, columns, tour dates, forums, & much more. Skope Live! is still putting on some of the most fun live music shows. They have also teamed up with Autism Speaks to help raise money for a great cause while people party the night away.
The story of Skope Entertainment Inc continues to this day so get on board and join the fun!
