I just heard that music magazine Blender folded today! I must say that although it’s not that suprising, I am really still shocked.
Blender and Maxim were formerly owned by British Publisher Felix Dennis, but then were sold in 2007 to Alpha Media. Unfortunately, the new owners could not do much to help the publication do well in the market place. They had heavy debt and declining income. Some felt that Blender didn’t have any true identity in the music category and that was its downfall.
Paid subscriptions fell 8% [from 2007-08] to 768,000, while newsstand sales declined 18% to 44,233.
Ad pages at Blender also plunged 31% last year and another 57% from January through April, according to the Publishers Information Bureau and Media Industry Newsletter
Blender editor Joe Levy is now the new editor of Maxim, and Maxim’s former editor Jim Kaminsky is leaving for undisclosed
This is a sad day, another one bites the dust and 30 people have lost their jobs. Read the whole story on Ad Age.