"We heard earlier today that Paste Magazine was in imminent danger of folding. Looks like it's already happened.

A tipster tells us "They announced it internally yesterday in an afternoon meeting, giving employees approx... 2 hours notice." Rough. A few (former) Paste editors took to Twitter:" [Gawker]

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UPDATE: a message from Paste below...

Continue reading "Paste Magazine, RIP"

"Vibe Magazine--one of the biggest music magazines in America--is folding. The entire music magazine landscape is full of the dead and dying." [Gawker]

Alpha Media Group closed Blender magazine today, eliminating about 30 jobs and reducing its portfolio of titles to Maxim alone. The April issue of Blender out now will be its last.

The decision, delivered to Blender staff in a meeting this morning, came as part of broader changes that also included the departure of Alpha co-CEO Glenn Rosenbloom and the integration of editorial staff for Maxim and Maxim Digital.

The remaining CEO, Stephen Duggan, said in a company memo that the company was closing Blender with great sadness. "Since 2001, Blender has provided unmatched music coverage and entertainment news in its unique voice to a profoundly dedicated audience of music enthusiasts," Mr. Duggan wrote. "We are particularly grateful to the sales team and to the tremendously talented editorial staff for their hard work and commitment to Blender." [Advertising Age]

Gramercy Theater is also getting its original name back.

Relix Magazine was launched by Les Kippel in 1974, stemming from the underground network of Grateful Dead concert-goers who taped and traded live recordings. The newsletter was originally distributed under the name Dead Relix and featured hand-drawn black and white concept artwork covers created by artist Gary Kroman. Averaging 20 pages per issue, the articles focused on taping tips and Grateful Dead news.

Even as early as the second issue, non-Dead editorial found its way into Dead Relix's pages and, with the addition of an editor, the young magazine expanded its scope to cover the music of the San Francisco Bay Area psychedelic scene. By 1978, Dead Relix contained reviews, essays, short features and artwork, and had dropped the "Dead" from its title. In a world that was moving away from hippy culture, Relix managed to remain relevant, by expanding its scope of coverage beyond "Bay Area psychedelic rock" to cover genres as diverse as reggae and heavy metal, with varying degrees of success. [Wiki]

To quote an anonymous source, someone "bought RELIX and Jambands.com and saved both from going under." The investor "didn't buy any of the other Zenbu entities though."