Comments on: Four Reasons Music Magazines Are Doing Almost As Well As The Music Business

By: porkch0p31

porkch0p31 — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:50:44 +0000

I haven’t read Rolling Stone for years and years. It’s just not an enjoyable magazine anymore … and they certainly don’t “keep it real.”

By: Butch Huskey

Butch Huskey — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:02:50 +0000

SPIN gives out tons of free or heavily discounted subs, i’ve got it free or near free until (checks) Oct 2012, i’m guessing that pads their readership and thus ad revenue

By: SuperUnison

SuperUnison — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:38:16 +0000

Just from a standpoint of being someone who likes to read thoughtful reviews, I don’t see how any of the magazines are really worth my attention. Pitchfork does 20ish reviews a week, AV Club does a half-dozen, and Cokemachine glow and Popmatters both to 10 or so. That doesn’t even begin to get into niche stuff like scenepointblank, not to mention the clusterfuck unleashed by Metacritic. Also, those are actual articles, where someone forms and argues an opinion. They’re not just uber-captions with 3 bad puns about where the band is from, one insinuation that they sound like something that I don’t give a fuck about, and a star rating assinged at random. As Egon Spengler says, “Print is dead.”

By: Clevertrousers

Clevertrousers — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:32:19 +0000

RS’s readers are “early adopters”? Of what? Depends?

By: MameDennis

MameDennis — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:03:15 +0000

@lukobe:
Don't know about ad sales, but circulation has taken a hit...
[www.brandrepublic.com]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:02:43 +0000

How’s MOJO doing?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:24:53 +0000

Maybe Rolling Stone should spend more time getting a lock on those “young, early adopters”…

By: Maura Johnston

Maura Johnston — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:57:45 +0000

@beta.rogan: Well, there's that, too, but I don't know how much the quality of writing falls into "reasons that ad buyers take out ads in publications." If it mattered more, Harper's would be a lot thicker than it is.

By: Lucas Jensen

Lucas Jensen — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:50:28 +0000

If a music mag doesn’t have lifestyle ads I can’t see it staying around for much longer.

By: beta.rogan

beta.rogan — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:48:05 +0000

I’d say SPIN has been doing a better job of actually writing interesting articles. They have been admitting the weakness of print, with not being an instant-news source like a blog, and at the same time improving the quality of writing. I’d rather read a magazine than a blog any day of the week. Call me old fashioned by I like the old ink / paper method for 90% of my reading.