Growing up on this side of the water, in the early days of the internet, American magazines were one of the only ways to read about new music. When it came to Hip-Hop, there were 3 specific magazines that allowed you to tap into the mysterious, distant rap scene; The Source, XXL and Vibe Magazine. It would appear that for the latter, today could be the death knoll for the illustrious print magazine.
Today, the rights to the 21 year old magazine, along with it’s entire web presence, was sold to SpinMedia, a company with a record of trashing the print format, releasing staff and focusing soley online. In 2012 the same company bought Spin Magazine, promptly laying off almost half the staff and shutting down the print publication.
In all likelihood it will only be a matter of time before the iconic Vibe Magazine suffers the same fate.
The words from SpinMedia’s chief executive will not do much to ease the fears of staff and fans when he said, “We are still trying to find a print model that makes economic sense in the digital age,” . It doesn’t take much to read between the lines there.
