NPR story...small music magazines hurting (& No Depression among
grady
grady at ibiblio.org
Tue Feb 26 10:02:15 EST 2008
Hmm, and yet, from all obvious indicators, small music websites (such
as, say, Pitchfork) seem to be thriving. Perhaps it is simply the
grinding up of trees & applying words to them, and then mailing the
resulting product individually to people that is becoming obsolete?
I have to say, I was kind of surprised that No Depression decided to
simply pack it in entirely, rather than going web-only. Sure, a few
years ago "going web-only" was essentially the same as packing it in,
but I would argue that in 2008, going web-only is the only logical move
for small-circulation niche magazines.
Sure, I still subscribe to a half-dozen magazines, but I think this year
is the year that a lot of those are going to lapse without renewals.
Everybody except for the New Yorker, in fact. I get tired of not reading
them & then having to recycle them. So much easier to not-read online
magazines, and you don't have to lug anything out to the curb when
you're done.
Speaking as one of the earliest contributors to No Depression, I have
nothing but respect & admiration for Peter Blackstock (and not just
because of his seemingly bottomless collection of "Wichita Lineman"
covers). I'm sorry to see them backed into this corner, and I certainly
have a fair amount of nostalgia for the days when a lovingly-assembled
bimonthly magazine could be a magical gateway into a whole universe of
undiscovered music.
But those days were obsoleted by Teh Internets long before ND announced
it was ceasing publication. I will say that there's a certain amount of
fascination in watching one obsolete distribution medium dragged down by
its over-reliance on income from another obsolete distribution medium.
Ross
DJ Golf wrote:
> No Depression will stop publishing this summer, acc. to this story.
> Small music mag publishers cite decreased advertising buys from record
> labels as the main cause of their struggles...
>
> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19357366
>
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