500 to Go: Join Under the Radar’s Summer Subscription Campaign
Every New Subscriber Helps Fund Our 25th Anniversary Issue
Jul 16, 2026 By Mark Redfern Photography by Mark Redfern
Get 50% off Under the Radar print subscriptions—just $9.99 for four issues (only $2.49 an issue) with promo code SPRING2026 (valid worldwide on four- and eight-issue subscriptions).
Mark from Under the Radar here. Today we’re launching a new 500 to Go summer subscription countdown.
Our goal is to welcome 500 new and renewed subscribers before the end of the summer to help fund our 25th Anniversary Issue this fall.
Over the coming weeks we’ll be photographing this handwritten countdown in music locations around the UK and beyond. As the number comes down, we’ll know we’re one step closer to keeping Under the Radar in print for another issue.
Our first stop is Rough Trade East in London, where my daughter Rose wrote and held our very first sign.
Subscriptions are currently 50% off, starting at just $9.99 for four issues—only $2.50 an issue.
For that you’ll receive one of the last remaining independent music print magazines, delivered straight to your mailbox or doorstep.
Wendy and I founded Under the Radar in 2001 and have remained its sole owners ever since. There are no corporate owners deciding who we interview, photograph, or champion—just two lifelong music fans trying to keep independent print journalism alive.
If you’ve never subscribed—or if it’s been a while—we’d love to have you aboard. Every subscription brings that handwritten number down by one.
Print is permanent.
Print isn’t dead. It’s just Under the Radar.
Support a music magazine made by fans, for fans.
What you’ll get:
Each issue features 20–30 in-depth interviews, 20–50 album reviews, original photography, and exclusive print-only features, plus a downloadable sampler of up to 40 new tracks and writing from people who genuinely love music.
When you subscribe you’ll get immediate access to the extended digital versions of two recent issues and then you’ll receive our next 4 (or 8) issues in the mail. If you’ve been looking for a way to discover music beyond the algorithm, this is it.
There’s a difference between discovering music and scrolling past it. Between holding something in your hands and watching it disappear in a feed. Under the Radar was built for the former—for people who want to slow down, dig deeper, and connect with music in a way that lasts.
Jenny Lewis photographed for Under the Radar in 2005 by Wendy Lynch Redfern
Elliott Smith photographed for Under the Radar in 2003 by Wendy Lynch Redfern
St. Vincent photographed for Under the Radar in 2007 by Wendy Lynch Redfern
More About Under the Radar
First known photo of Under the Radar founders Mark and Wendy Redfern, in December 2000.
Founded by music writer Mark Redfern (that’s me) and photographer Wendy Lynch Redfern, Under the Radar began in 2001 as a black & white zine distributed around Los Angeles. Wendy and I met and fell in love in December 2020 and a year later our first issue was born. Above is the first known photo of Wendy and me. Over two decades later, it’s still run by the same couple—we’re now married with a daughter (Rose, currently 13), living in Virginia, and still putting out print issues featuring original photography, passionate journalism, and a deep love of indie music.
We’ve weathered the collapse of Borders Books (which wiped out half our distribution), the death of traditional print advertising, and more, but never lost sight of what made us start this magazine: a belief in the power of great music and meaningful journalism.
We were the first national print magazine to interview Vampire Weekend and Fleet Foxes, the first U.S. outlet to talk to Wet Leg and The Last Dinner Party, and early champions of now-beloved artists like Charli XCX (on our cover in 2013, 11 years before Brat). We helped define the indie boom of the 2000s—featuring Death Cab for Cutie, Bright Eyes, Interpol, The National, TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and many more—and have also interviewed older legends like Brian Wilson, Yoko Ono, Peter Gabriel, New Order, and Depeche Mode. We were also the last magazine to interview and photograph Elliott Smith before his tragic death.
And we’ve done it all without corporate backing or billionaire investors.
We’ve outlasted most of our print-era peers not because we had the deepest pockets or the biggest staff, but because we’ve kept it personal. Because we care. Because we believe music journalism should be driven by heart, not algorithms.
If you want a deeper look at how Under the Radar survived the last 20+ years—through births, deaths, cross-country moves, and a rapidly changing media landscape—read our behind-the-scenes secret origin story, written for our 20th Anniversary Issue in 2021.
As printing and shipping costs continue to rise, while advertising sales lower, we now depend more and more on subscribers to keep us in print. You can also support us on Patreon, buy back issues for 50% off, or advertise.
If Under the Radar has ever helped you discover a band, inspired you, or reminded you why print still matters—this is the moment to help us keep going. Or if you’re new to Under the Radar then this is a great time to dive in.
Each issue includes:
- 20–30 in-depth interviews.
- 20–50 album reviews.
- A downloadable MP3 sampler of up to 40 new tracks.
- Original photography and exclusive features that often remain print-only.
New subscriptions currently start with Issue 76, our 25th Anniversary Issue due out at the end of the year. But new subscribers will be sent an exclusive promo code to get 50% off our current issue, The ‘90s Issue Part 2, with new conversations with Pulp, Suede, Garbage, Air, De La Soul, Slint, the cast and creators of the acclaimed TV show Homicide: Life on the Street, and Clueless’ director Amy Heckerling, and more. It also features our first ever list of the best albums of the 1990s.
New subscribers will also be sent an email with complimentary codes to access the digital versions of Issues 73 and 74 of Under the Radar to read while you wait for the next print issue to arrive in the mail.
Below is a look inside the magazine, with some spreads from previous issues, as well as some of our original photography and some of our previous magazine covers. We’ve always shot our own covers with our own photographers since Issue 1. Plus there are some behind-the-scenes photos.
Cassandra Jenkins in 2024. (Photo by Shervin Lainez)
Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle, Kamasi Washington, Weyes Blood, Bat For Lashes, and CHVRCHES’ Lauren Mayberry in 2021 for our 20th Anniversary Issue. (Photo by Koury Angelo)
Wendy and I in the kitchen of our old apartment where we started the magazine, boxes of back issues in the corner behind us. (Self-Portrait)
Wendy and me at the Hillside Festival in Guelph, Canada in 2005 for our O Canada Issue. (Self-Portrait)
Wendy and our daughter Rose with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth in London, England in 2016 during a Protest issue photo shoot. (Photo by Mark Redfern)
Elliott Smith in Los Angeles, CA in 2003. (Photo by Wendy Lynch Redfern)
Our daughter Rose with Future Islands in Charlottesville, VA in 2014 during a cover photo shoot. (Photo by Wendy Lynch Redfern)
Subscribe now for 50% off with promo code SPRING2026. If you’ve ever wanted an alternative to the endless scroll—and a way to support truly independent music journalism—this is it.
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