Once again, we present Rock-Critically Correct, a feature in which the most recent issues of Rolling Stone, Blender, Vibe, and Spin are given a once-over by a writer who's contributed to many of those magazines, as well as a few others! In this installment, he looks at the new issue of Blender:
More »
Rob Sheffield's column in Blender now has a name: "Station To Station." The former Rolling Stone writer, who recently joined Blender's masthead, will be the first monthly columnist in the magazine's short history. [FishbowlNY]
This year has been a rough one for music magazines: their ranks are thinning, the business they're covering is becoming more notable for being one that's putting out a product people don't want to pay for than anything else, and now Crain's New York Business puts into numbers what anyone who picked up a music magazine probably noticed already: Ad pages at the big four magazines are down substantially from last year's tallies, even as the magazines are increasing their rate bases. (Only Spin has weathered the downturn, with its ad pages actually up 22% since 2007.) Why?
More »
Yes, that's right: If you buy a ticket to the May 2 New York City show by the Ellis Unit, which features Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner's son, Gus, on guitar and vocals, you get a free subscription to Blender—a $9.97 value that brings your real price for the $20 ticket down to a mere $10.03 (plus service charges, which will probably mean that you're out $20 anyway). I wonder if this means that Jann has no hard feelings about the Joe Levy decampment? Click the screenshot to enlarge.
More »
Once again, we present Rock-Critically Correct, a feature in which the most recent issues of Rolling Stone, Blender, Vibe and Spin are given a once-over by an anonymous writer who's contributed to several of those titles—or maybe even all of them! After the jump, a look at the new issue of Blender:
More »
As sorta-predicted by the Anono-Critic, pop omnivore and Love Is A Mix Tape author Rob Sheffield is leaving his post at Rolling Stone and following that mag's former executive editor, Joe Levy, to Blender, where he'll write a monthly column. [Page Six / Photo via Random House]
Blender, the mag where you come for the reviews and leave quickly before you see how bad the features are, has a list of the "20 biggest record company screw-ups of all time." Some are obvious, like the industry's inability to deal with the internet (No. 1) and that guy who turned down the Beatles (No. 2). But should Berry Gordy selling Motown for only $60 million really be No. 3, given that he kept all the copyrights? Does signing R.E.M. to a major-label deal qualify at all? Is Chinese Democracy really the worst cash-hole ever? [Reuters]
Once again, we present Rock-Critically Correct, a feature in which the most recent issues of Rolling Stone, Blender, Vibe and Spin are given a once-over by an anonymous writer who's contributed to several of those titles—or maybe even all of them! After the jump, a look at the new issue of Blender:
More »
Once again, we present Rock-Critically Correct, a feature in which the most recent issues of Rolling Stone, Blender, Vibe and Spin are given a once-over by an anonymous writer who's contributed to several of those titles—or maybe even all of them! After the click-through, he contrasts the Britney Spears cover stories in the new issues of Rolling Stone and Blender:
More »
The next issue of Blender will reportedly feature Britney Spears on its cover, with whatever poor sap who was contracted for the story spending "a month on a Britney safari, following her actions and talking with those closest to her." (When I think of the words "Britney safari," I think of the 2001 VMAs, but that could just be the PTSD talking.) While this does square with those reports of the mag needing a Britney body double a few weeks ago, and it certainly will sell copies off the newsstand, wouldn't an expedition like this be better suited to a blog? Or is the whole story going to be prefaced by an explanation of the concept of "lead times" for less savvy readers? [Page Six / Photo: Getty]
And now it's time for a special edition of Rock-Critically Correct! Usually, this space presents analyses of the most recent issues of Rolling Stone, Blender, Vibe, and Spin by an anonymous writer who's contributed to several of those titles—or maybe even all of them!—but this time, our critic gives us his take on yesterday's announcement that Joe Levy would be taking the top post at Blender:
More »
VH1 talking-head staple and former Rolling Stone executive editor Joe Levy has been named editor-in-chief of Blender, according to a release that just landed in our inbox. Levy is apparently replacing Craig Marks, who had been Blender's editor-in-chief since 2004; the magazine also appointed a new publisher in December. Guess this means Levy won't be on the next season of I'm From Rolling Stone! Full release after the jump.
More »
Once again, we present Rock-Critically Correct, a feature in which the most recent issues of Rolling Stone, Blender, Vibe, and Spin are given a once-over by an anonymous writer who's contributed to several of those titles—or maybe even all of them! After the click-through, he takes in the year-end issues of RS, Spin, and Blender:
More »
Blender's year-end issue did, in fact, have its list of the year's top 25 albums—although you wouldn't know it by looking at the mag's cover, which did take the time to tout a) its list of "the 209 best songs of 2007" (which run in eight-point type underneath the list); b) its readers' poll, which allowed visitors to Blender's Web site to choose the "best of 2007" from a narrowly defined set of parameters (how else do you think the Arcade Fire placed in the "Best Band" category?); and c) the 20 essential CDs of 2008. M.I.A., whose Kala landed at No. 1 in Blender's estimation, only gets a passing mention on a "Plus:" coverline, and she's billed third to Rihanna (No. 25 and Best Single in the readers' poll) and freaking Feist (No. 13 and "Breakthrough of the Year" in the readers' poll).
THE GOOD: This list is a near-perfect execution of the Blender-patented blend of mainstream music (Brad Paisley, Jay-Z, Amy Winehouse), just-outside-the-mainstream music (Spoon, Okkervil River), and hot babes (Rihanna, Feist, Miranda Lambert).
THE BAD: I can think of about 10 albums that came out last month that are more interesting than Band Of Horses' Cease To Begin. Just... no.
THE WHAAAA? For an album that just came out last Tuesday, The Dream's Lovehate sure made an impact! It's No. 7, just behind In Rainbows.
Once again, we present Rock-Critically Correct, a feature in which the most recent issues of Rolling Stone, Blender, Vibe and Spin are given a once-over by an anonymous writer who's contributed to several of those titles—or maybe even all of them! After the jump, a look at the new issue of Blender:
More »
Hey look, Jay-Z is on the cover of the upcoming issue of Blender, which is no great surprise as Jay-Z has been and will be on the cover of everything for the foreseeable future. But what's this other item being teased on the front cover? Some kind of... list? Some kind of indie rock list?
More »
Idolator
