In the late 1980s, Bob Guccione Jr's rock mag "Spin", and not just because of Celia Farber and Bart Bull though it didn't hurt at all having two of the best writers around working for you. And then he sold it and started "Gear", not a great move, and "Spin" has been a squeaky wheel of rock and roll writing ever since. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, never memorable. When last heard from they were cutting all album reviews to the length of a tweet. I don't mind the arrogrance, or even entirely disagree with the concept, what I don't dig is the writing.Is Spin's Print Edition Dead?
While the deal does not mean the immediate death of Spin's print magazine, according to sources, new ownership by a company focused on digital is part of media's accelerated shift to online. "As our audience has migrated to digital platforms, so too has SPIN," acknowledged Alan Nichols, CEO of SPIN Media. "This deal greatly accelerates our digital transition."
The combined properties make BuzzMedia the fourth largest digital publisher of original music content in the U.S., alongside MTV, Yahoo! Music and AOL Music, according to comScore. Together the sites are among the top 40 most trafficked online destinations in the U.S."
This appears to be wrong, I don't believe Buzzmedia own all these properties, they actually provide sales for these sites (I wish they would for us!).
But more to the point, it looks like Spin is gonna give up on print media and so whither the rock mag? Helen has told me a similar bit of info about Alternative Press folding their print arm. It is so expensive and there is no audience out there. Plus, rock mags themselves to being interactive.