First off, I went o see Asia last night in San Juan Capistrano. They were better than I thought they would be. I’ll be posting a full review later this week on Vintage Rock.
Now on to the subject at hand. I’ve been reading lately how several large and small hard copy music magazines are folding due to the loss of advertisers and readers — essentially the bread and butter on which these mags survive. My own opinions vary, but most are fairly obvious. For one, the economy is in the tank, so many industries (besides the oil barons, energy companies and Google) are seeing their profit margins shrink. Secondly, print magazines and newspapers in general are losing their readers to the Internet. Thirdly, the music industry is hurting, so by extension, it’s only logical that music mags would feel their pain. Finally, there are just too many damn music magazines to begin with.
Admittingly, I see the newer rags catering to tastes I don’t follow. But I’ll open their pages, breeze through the ads, struggle through the articles, and maybe marvel at the graphics, which seem to drive any interest, especially if they’re filled with chicks and guitars. Oh, they all look and sound nice with their glossy photos and witty repartee, but they have no real value to the general public, in my opinion. And when you have the flash and immediacy of the web, it’s a no-brainer.
When I launched Vintage Rock 11 years ago, I had no expectations for it to become anything more than what It is — an informative and straightforward series of articles and reviews. I never ever thought it could make money, and so far, I’ve been right. I upped the ante a couple of years ago, adding a forum and multimedia enhancements, streamlining the design, updating more frequently and adding advertisements and whatnot. Without a staff, it can be trying at times. Still, it gets a good amount of traffic, but it’s far below the numbers Rolling Stone or Pitchfork are pulling in. Maybe that’s because I write mostly about classic rock bands on the site. I’m certainly not staking my living on it.
That being said, I commend those adventurous souls who dig deep and espouse their views on music and the culture that surrounds it. I will continue to do the same. But I have no grand illusions of where it will take me. After all, I assume people would rather listen to music instead of read about it. Like my reviews, however, that’s only an opinion.
