End of the tune for Vibe magazine

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Magazines
End of the tune for Vibe magazine
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Jul 1, 2009 - 8:57:24 AM

Vibe magazine, founded by Quincy Jones as a music magazine focusing on urban culture, is going the way of a number of music titles--into extinction.

Vibe Media Group says it is ending publication of the 16-year-old title, leaving some 50 employees without jobs.

This ad recession has been particularly harsh for music titles, coming on top of deeper incursions by the internet, which has been spiriting away readers and advertisers for some time.

In the first quarter, Vibe's ad pages tumbled 42 percent from the year-earlier period, while the category was down 37.8 percent, compared to a drop of 26 percent for consumer magazines as a whole, as tracked by Publishers Information Bureau.

Just one magazine in the category saw a worse drop, Blender, which ceased publishing at the end of March. Even longtime category leader Rolling Stone was down 22 percent.

Earlier this year, the Vibe's new owner, Wicks Group, which bought the title in 2006, undertook cost-cutting measures, including cutting circulation and frequency.

But Vibe may not be down for long.

Founder Jones is saying he had been trying to buy the title back when it closed and that if he can pull it off, the magazine will find a new life as a web-only publication.

Jones tells EbonyJet.com: “Print and all that stuff is over, we gotta remember that. The Chicago Tribune, The Seattle Post Intelligencer. The Miami Herald. They’re over the same way as the record business. We have got to get into this century.”

Music First quartet 2009 versus 2008
Titles	2009 $s	2008 $s	% chnge	'09 pages	'08 pages	% chnge
BLENDER	5,324,291	10,741,741	-50.4	48.27	109.58	-55.9
ROLLING STONE	25,353,099	31,239,762	-18.8	151.09	194.83	-22.5
SPIN	5,131,382	7,976,356	-35.7	88.68	146.08	-39.3
VIBE	10,762,770	18,099,518	-40.5	107.34	185.02	-42.0
TOTALS	46,571,542	68,057,377	-31.6	395.38	635.51	-37.8
Source: PIB