50 Quid Bloke

"This is the guy we've all seen in Borders or HMV on a Friday afternoon, possibly after a drink or two, tie slightly undone, buying two CDs, a DVD and maybe a book - fifty quid's worth"

The 50-Quid Bloke was defined last July in a speech to the BPI's AGM by David Hepworth of Development Hell, an independent magazine company. He wrote for the NME in the late 70s and then edited Smash Hits before becoming an executive at Emap and supervising the birth of Q, Empire, Mojo and Heat. He presented Whistle Test in the days when it was the only alternative to Top of the Pops, anchored the BBC's coverage of Live Aid, and later turned up on VH1, the older branch of MTV. And now he has launched Word magazine.

For the rise of the music media ways such as Spotify and iTunes, some people say that The 50-Quid Bloke's costume is fading. However, other people disagree with this statement as magazines such as Kerrang!has proven so by showing the majority by 20 disagree with the theory.

However since Word, lunched in 2003, the high street has been emptied of almost all entertainment shops and the rise of music apps has rendered physical music purchases less likely. Straitened financial times might have made him £20 bloke.