Editor In Chief Chris Well First issue July/August 1995 | Frequency Bimonthly Final issue 2004 | |
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Categories Christian alternative music Company Royal Magazine GroupVoxcorp | ||
7ball is a discontinued Christian music magazine, first published in 1995, founded and created by Frank Chimento. They focused on rock, hip-hop, and other "alternative" forms of Christian music. The magazine was initially published by the Royal Magazine Group (a division of Thomas Nelson) alongside Release magazine and others. Its primary competition were magazines such as HM, True Tunes News, Diganote Publication, and CCM.
Background
7ball magazine was initially edited by Chris Well, former editor of the Christian rock magazine Syndicate, until 1996. At that time the magazine had a circulation of about 5,000. In 1997, the magazine was sold to VoxCorp (Nashville). Well was promoted to editor in chief of the entire company, overseeing 7ball, Release, and others, and former CCM assistant editor Bruce A. Brown hired in his place. Brown edited through the end of 1997, and was eventually replaced by Cameron Strang. In 1998 Chimento resigned from the organization to head up KMG Records.
In early 1999 7ball gained distribution to Family Christian Stores, the largest Christian bookstore chain. By 2000 the magazine had achieved a circulation of about 50,000. HM Magazine editor Doug Van Pelt would later report that during its tenure 7ball cost them some of their advertising base. Strang edited into 2000, then founded the Relevant Media Group, which began publishing Relevant Magazine in 2003.
Their parent company, VoxCorp (Scott Henson, Sean Helton), was taken to court in 2002 by Capital Across America for defaulting on over one million dollars in loans. The eventual judgment against the publisher was one of the largest litigation awards in the Nashville area in 2003 according to the Nashville Business Journal. 7ball ceased publication in 2004.