The publication launched on August 26, 1993, under the name The Dayton Voice by the husband and wife team of Jeff Epson and Marianne McMullen.

The DCP cherry-picked editorial covering the region's performing and visual arts, cultural diversity, entertainment offerings (occasionally including Cincinnati and Columbus), nightlife, recreation, dining, beer, wine, festivals, and a blend of political debate and opinion.

This shift, alongside other changes in 2010, such as moving its street publication day from Wednesdays to Tuesdays, converting its presentation from 50% color/50% black & white to an all-color publication printed on brighter paper stock, and increasing its regional availability footprint by securing at least twenty-five regional Kroger stores along with other key pickup locations such as the Dayton International Airport and the entire University of Dayton campus, the paper increased its readership from under 30,000 weekly readers to over 50,000 by 2017.

This allowed the publication to expand editorial content and increase critical display advertising (its only revenue source).

The Dayton City Paper attempted to remain politically neutral in regards to arts and culture while still covering the myriad of lifestyles throughout the region, especially with respect to local and independent music coverage.

In addition to over 80% locally written content, the publication featured a roster of syndicated content, including Amy Alkon's "The Advice Goddess", Chuck Shepard's "News of the Weird," Cariel's "Sign Language Astrology", and the New York Times Sunday Crossword, as well as weekly editorial cartoons including Don Asmussen's "Bad Reporter," Donna Barstow's "Daily Special," and political satire by Ted Rall (raised in Kettering, Ohio).

The resulting investigation by the City of Dayton Police Department over the next several months became the basis behind the Montgomery County Prosecutor's indictment.