Print Version of Blender Magazine // R.I.P.
From The New York Times 3/26/2009:
“Blender magazine is ceasing publication with its April issue, its owner, the Alpha Media Group, announced on Thursday. The music and entertainment magazine’s Web site, blender.com, will continue.
“We went as far as we could in a difficult environment,” said an Alpha Media spokeswoman, Nora Haynes.
About 30 people will leave the company as a result of the magazine’s closing , she confirmed.
Alpha also is combining its magazine Maxim with Maxim.com, which means a few staff changes and, potentially, more layoffs. Joe Levy, the editor in chief of Blender, will become editor in chief of the newly combined Maxim and Maxim.com, while Jay Woodruff, formerly editor in chief of Maxim Digital, will become chief content officer of the operation.” Continue Reading NYtimes.com
March 27th, 2009 at 9:03 am
It’s definitely sad that folks are losing their jobs, but Blender is/was a pretty mediocre magazine and no great loss whatsoever for music coverage. Rolling Stone can drop off the face of the earth as well. I look to Uncut or Mojo for music journalism, reviews, etc. Those titles are probably not top-40 enough for the Blender crowd, but still excellent pubs.
March 27th, 2009 at 9:41 am
I agree with you Jeff regarding people losing their jobs, it’s a shame. Blender was a below average publication. They tried to be the Maxim Magazine in the music space. The other problem is the web. The ad market is declining, but it was inevitable that print publications would have difficulty dealing with the old distribution model and competing with real-time music news on the web. I think there is a strong possibility that Rolling Stone shuts down the print side of the business in the near future. I also read Uncut, Mojo and Word magazines.
Hope you’re well.