Late last year, Spin released 20 Years of Alternative Music, a history/celebration of the bands and movements they had covered. While there were some great new articles by the likes of Chuck Klosterman and Dave Eggers, the book often swayed from self-congratulatory paragraphs about Spin's influence to ultra-cynical excerpts from years past. Regardless, after 20 years of trying to be on the cutting edge, the magazine will be seeing some major changes. Last week, San Francisco's McEvoy Group purchased the magazine, and quickly named some replacements to the editorial staff. CEO Nion McEvoy wants to "bring it up to date," and I'm not quite sure what he means by that. The latest issue seems to be showing a move towards a younger audience - hence, the appearance of My Chemical Romance (again) with the Tiger Beat-ish headline "YOUR FAVORITE BAND." That title refers to a readers poll which shows that - get this - Spin readers LOVE My Chemical Romance, but HATE Fall Out Boy. Try and wrap your heads around that one. At least the issue contains another installment of Klosterman's brilliant column, "My Back Pages," though it may be the last since - according to Gawker - he wasn't invited to stay on.
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Changes on the Way for Spin
Late last year, Spin released 20 Years of Alternative Music, a history/celebration of the bands and movements they had covered. While there were some great new articles by the likes of Chuck Klosterman and Dave Eggers, the book often swayed from self-congratulatory paragraphs about Spin's influence to ultra-cynical excerpts from years past. Regardless, after 20 years of trying to be on the cutting edge, the magazine will be seeing some major changes. Last week, San Francisco's McEvoy Group purchased the magazine, and quickly named some replacements to the editorial staff. CEO Nion McEvoy wants to "bring it up to date," and I'm not quite sure what he means by that. The latest issue seems to be showing a move towards a younger audience - hence, the appearance of My Chemical Romance (again) with the Tiger Beat-ish headline "YOUR FAVORITE BAND." That title refers to a readers poll which shows that - get this - Spin readers LOVE My Chemical Romance, but HATE Fall Out Boy. Try and wrap your heads around that one. At least the issue contains another installment of Klosterman's brilliant column, "My Back Pages," though it may be the last since - according to Gawker - he wasn't invited to stay on.
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5 comments:
Hmm..should be interesting to see what happens with this publication. I read Spin occasionally.
Spin is falling woefully behind the leading edge - still not as bad as Rolling Stone, though. I will wait to see what transpires - hopefully a little variety (enough MCR, already!)
Personally I prefer NME and Chart.
I'll still read it, because the subscription's cheap and I like to keep up with everything, but it certainly won't be on the cutting edge.
I like Rolling Stone, but over the last several years they've been trying to compete with Maxim as opposed to trying to continue their historic legacy.
I just got a subscription to Fader ... I like NME as well, and will have to check out Chart. Thanks for the tip.
It is sad about Rolling Stone. They used to be so relevant. I'm not familiar with Fader; I'll need to look into it - thanks.
Yeah, I don't know what's up with RS. Maybe they'll hire Chuck. I've been searching for a music magazine with good coverage and good writing - I think Fader might be it. I like NME because there's no bullshit and they have good taste. Actually, though, I have found some of the best coverage from Bust ... but they're not just music. Great mag, though.
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