Drum Media was founded in 1990 as a free weekly tabloid-sized music magazine (street press).

The first issue of Drum Media appeared on 16 September 1990 with a distribution of 40,000 and featured Midnight Oil on the cover.

The magazine rented its first office in Orwell Street, Potts Point and the first issue was released ten days later.

The magazine was published every Tuesday and distributed primarily throughout music stores, hotels and entertainment venues, cafes and university campuses in Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and Canberra, as well as satellite areas including Wyong and Gosford and the Blue Mountains.

In Western Australia, the readership was estimated at 100,000 with distribution covering Perth, Bunbury, Margaret River, Geraldton and Albany.