[1] The magazine was founded by Peter Hugh Reed in May 1935 as the American Music Lover.

[2] Since 1992, with the incorporation of the Musical America editorial functions into ARG, it started covering concerts, musicians, ensembles and orchestras in the US.

The magazine prides itself in having "500 reviews in every issue, written by a freelance staff of over 80 writers and music critics.

"[3] In addition to new music releases, many issues in past years contained an overview of the recordings of a single composer's works.

The editor, Donald Vroon, had been an NPR classical radio broadcaster and record reviewer in Buffalo, New York in the 1980s.