My aim in this dissertation has been to give an overview and appraisal of fanzine publishing, concentrating primarily on music zines, that encompasses their history, current situation and the motivation behind them.

What has been uncovered in my research is that there is some level of difficulty in making generalisations about fanzines as a cohesive group of publications. Whilst the original punk fanzines can be considered comparatively homogenous, from this point of self-publishing inspiration onwards the range of fanzines produced has extended to such a scale that making comparisons between one zine and another on any grounds other than their shared lack of financial resources is extremely problematic.

This difficulty is visible in almost all the areas that I have looked at. Although David Rowe talks about fanzines being "established as alternatives to the major music papers" (1995: 36), I have found that this is not a universal view. Whilst some fanzine writers are publishing their fanzines in order to consciously create an opposition to the mainstream music media and industry in general, others have little interest in posing such an opposition. On the contrary, the experience of fanzines creates in some publishers a respect for the mainstream media's skills, rather than an increased cynicism for 'professional' writers and the belief that magazines such as the New Music Express has little to offer in comparison with fanzines.

What can however be successfully argued is that fanzines have made self-publishing a viable option for almost anyone seeking expression, in many ways prefiguring the Internet in bringing publishing within the grasp of the general populace. The drawback is however that fanzines have severe problems in distribution and promotion. There is so little information about fanzines available outside of fanzine culture itself that there can be little chance of reaching an audience outside of fanzine producers themselves and their white, middle class and educated social group.

The lack of any widely available review zine, such as Factsheet Five in its prime, is a huge drawback for fanzine writers who are forced to limit themselves to flyers and reviews in other zines to gain publicity for their publication.

The Internet poses significant opportunities for fanzines as a whole as an area where small-scale publishers can have as good a chance as professionals to be recognised for the quality of their work. At the same time, the electronic media has been suggested as meaning the end of fanzine's personalised style. It is clear that the Internet will have a huge impact on what is thought of as a 'zine'. However, the exact shape that this impact will take is less than clear in any area of modern life, and is even less so in a field where the individual people and publications are as heterogeneous as in fanzines.

What can however be predicted is that fanzines and the spirit that leads to their production will continue indefinitely. The original punk fanzines were created by a youth movement that wanted to take the power of the printed word into its own hands and since then there has been no shortage of people with the same desire to publish their own work. Even if it is on a small scale and generally limited to its own cultural group, fanzine publishing still means that, in theory, anyone can print whatever they want and get it to a reading audience. This concept has if anything grown in strength due to the availability of technology that broadens the options of the prospective self-publisher and will not now just die away.

Fanzines are perhaps never to achieve a true 'dominance' of the media but at the same time they are not to be discounted. Fanzine publishing and its ideals will always provide an undercurrent of free expression that balances out the established media.