A Change Gonna Come…

In the digital age, it would be easy to suggest that print media has gone the way of the do do. People are becoming less inclined to pay for information that they can easily dig up on the internet in their daily blogs or social networking sites, and subscription magazines are starting to feel the effects. Whether it is the result of our busy lifestyles or our increasingly short attention spans, the magazine business is seriously hurting these days. One might say that it’s easy to revolutionize the internet (as the rules of the game are still so new), but print press has certain guidelines and codes to stand by that it seems advertisers are not too willing to bend.

In 2007, Paste Magazine took a page from Radiohead’s book and started offering a pay-what-you-want subscription to its monthly magazine. While subscriptions went up, advertisers started pulling out, and Paste Magazine is now on teetering on the edge of its demise. As a last ditch effort to keep the print media alive and well, Paste has launched a “Save Paste” campaign that allows fans and readers to donate any amount of money in exchange for some rare, exclusive tracks that artists such as The Decemberists, Neko Case, Indigo Girls, The Avett Brothers, and Band of Horses have donated to the cause.

As you can imagine, this particular form of fund raising has generated quite a bit of low-level whispering amongst the industry folks, but I for one find it refreshing. For so long, magazines like Rolling Stone and Spin were the make-all or break-all of an artists career, and lately we have been showing the print press no love. People have grown accustomed to logging into their daily blogs and getting their fill of the latest gossip and CD Reviews without considering that many of these bloggers have little or no experience in journalism. People go to school for this. People spend the greater part of their adult lives hoping to someday interview their idols for Rolling Stone, and I think the bloggers have made all of this just a little too easy. Sure, you met the next big thing backstage at a dive bar in Brooklyn, but does that make you the authority on rock bands in the new millenium? Probably not.

I know it’s probably not in the best interest my blog stats to be ragging on the bloggers (oh the irony), but I think it’s time we really consider how and where we get our information. Paste Magazine has been a reputable music magazine and a great supporter of independent music for over 10 years, and I am happy to see that so many artists are finally giving back to the press that has helped build their careers. We have become so comfortable blaming the press for the mishaps and missteps in people’s careers that we neglect to realize that many of these people would not have careers to speak of without the media. Now I’m certainly not condoning the stalker-esk behavior of the paparazzi or any of that business, but good print is good print, and Paste Magazine is good print. Promote the people who promote you, and all will come full circle.

Fortune Cookie:

Go to your favorite bookstore or magazine stand and pick up a copy of a small music magazine.  Paste, Performing Songwriter, and Jazziz are all great ones to check out.

Listening to:

“Been and Gone” – Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen