Oor is the oldest currently published music magazine in the Netherlands, founded in 1971. Oor is the Dutch word for ear. Until 1984, it was published as Muziekkrant Oor.

History

The magazine was first published on 1 April 1971 as Muziekkrant Oor, being founded by Barend Toet. Toet used the United States' Rolling Stone and the United Kingdom's Melody Maker as examples to model Muziekkrant Oor after.

Of the first issue, 20,000 copies were printed and paid for by Berry Visser, one of the co-founders of Mojo Concerts. The magazine was sold to Levisson on 1 January 1972. In 1978, the magazine was bought by Elsevier. Throughout the 1970s and 1990s, Oor was seen as "the only source of information in the Netherlands when it came to 'serious' pop music", because other magazines only dealt with Top 40 pop and foreign magazines could only be purchased in large cities. Oor also received exclusive interviews with musicians such as Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Prince and Fela Kuti. The magazine's album reviews and concert schedules were a key part of its popularity.

Halfway through the 1990s, Oor was sold to the Telegraaf Media Group. In 2002, Oor was bought by Erik de Vlieger's Imca Media Group. Since 2006, Argo Media is the owner.

Originally, Oor was published as a newspaper, hence the word 'krant' in the name. From the 1980s onward, the word Muziekkrant was dropped from the title and Oor had become a magazine. In 2005 the publication frequency changed from bi-weekly to monthly.

In 2021, the book Want More? Het beste van 50 jaar Oor was published to celebrate the magazine's 50th anniversary. The crowdfunded goal of €22,500 was easily reached, and a total of €100,000 was raised on www.voordekunst.nl.

Albums of the year

YearArtistAlbumSource
1990Living ColourTime's Up
1991NirvanaNevermind
1992Tom WaitsBone Machine
1993The LemonheadsCome on Feel the Lemonheads
1994SpearheadHome
1995Oasis(What's the Story) Morning Glory?
1996DJ ShadowEndtroducing.....
1997RadioheadOK Computer
1998Massive AttackMezzanine
1999Tom WaitsMule Variations
2000EminemThe Marshall Mathers LP
2001The StrokesIs This It
2002Queens of the Stone AgeSongs for the Deaf
2003The White StripesElephant
2004Franz FerdinandFranz Ferdinand
2005Antony and The JohnsonsI Am a Bird Now
2006Arctic MonkeysWhatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
2007Arctic MonkeysFavourite Worst Nightmare
2008TV on the RadioDear Science
2009The xxXx
2010Arcade FireThe Suburbs
2011PJ HarveyLet England Shake
2012Alt-JAn Awesome Wave
2013Nick Cave and the Bad SeedsPush the Sky Away
2014The War on DrugsLost in the Dream
2015Sufjan StevensCarrie & Lowell
2016David BowieBlackstar
2017LCD SoundsystemAmerican Dream
2018Janelle MonáeDirty Computer
2019Lana Del ReyNorman Fucking Rockwell!
2020Eefje de VisserBitterzoet
2021Little SimzSometimes I Might Be Introvert
2022Big ThiefDragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
2023Caroline PolachekDesire, I Want to Turn Into You
2024Charli XCXBrat

External links