Vibe magazine RIP

Sez here:

Vibe magazine, the urban-music magazine founded in 1993 by Quincy Jones, is the latest victim of the media recession. An assistant in the office of editor in chief Danyel Smith confirmed that the title is ceasing publication. No further information was immediately available. A call to Vibe Media CEO Steve Aaron went to voicemail.

Had a terrible interview there in 2007. It was invariably a blessing for all parties concerned that I didn't get it.

damn that's terrible :(

at least blenders still publishing

how are the mags keeping afloat? i had an interview for an internship at a music magazine recently, and it seems like most of the ones that are still around are using unpaid interns as labor...

that said, i still want the internship

I was actually planning on applying for an intership at vibe next summer :( I guess I'll try The Fader, that seems to be running smoothly

how are the mags keeping afloat?

how are you asking this question when they're clearly not?

is brainwasher carles

carles?

shit. i wonder how xxl andd the source are still going.

vibe was getting good - it had been my fav magazine since blender folded, esp after they redesigned. the issue with the long kanye interview and a terius feature was a reeeeally good issue. they employed good writers too, people who i think are way better gatekeepers than whoever the hell works for xxl now.

my fav music magazine*

yeah they'd been doing good work towards the end, can't hate

how are the mags keeping afloat? i had an interview for an internship at a music magazine recently, and it seems like most of the ones that are still around are using unpaid interns as labor...

question asked, question answered

kinda blown away by the fact that alex in nyc coulda been working there the last 2 years

From Neil Drumming at Ta-Nehisi Coates' blog:

Having worked for Vibe as an editor for a short time and done some freelance for the magazine in recent years, I wish I could say I was more distraught. But as Ta-Nehisi was fond of telling me back in our earlier days in the magazine business: "Some things aren't meant to last forever."

Somebody tell that to the guys at RollingStone.

i am kinda curious how vibe is keeping afloat...

unpaid interns prob

I guess I'll try The Fader, that seems to be running smoothly

Hasn't Fader had a number of editor changes over the last year or so?

i am kinda curious how vibe is keeping afloat...

― Michael tapeworm much talent for the future (s1ocki), Tuesday, June 30, 2009 3:42 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

please let's not re-do the same stupid meme from the RIP Blender thread

what a disaster for memes

this is so weird. i remember getting free copies of the first couple issues of VIBE when i was in high school - i guess they snagged my address from the RS mailing list or something - and being pretty impressed. read it on and off again from there on, it was just okay - but everytime i hear about a music mag of any stripe biting it a part of me dies a little death too

(then again, Scratch was the only hip-hop mag i really found fascinating, so what do i know?)

you know that Scratch was awesome! i'm still hurting in my heart over that one.

i wish i'd subscribed! all i have is 3-4 issues. reading about rap producers >>> reading about rappers

It's a good things we have music blogs to pick up the slack!

bye vibe :(

heaven needed a list of the top 50 rap blogs

at least we wont get bumped off it next year

i hope all the academic elites up there in heaven are checking out so many shrimp as we speak

damn cant believe so many shrimp is folding, you guys did a lot of good work... RIP

RIP heaven needed a blog updated once every two weeks

heaven i need a blog

I was actually planning on applying for an intership at so many shrimp next summer :( I guess I'll try hollaboard, that seems to be running smoothly

"lolz"

It's a good things we have music blogs to pick up the slack!

― makeitpop, Tuesday, June 30, 2009 10:00 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^^ this guy is good

So I guess Vibe's Danyel Smith is gonna join hubby Elliot Wilson (ex-editor of XXL) at his website thang Rap Radar, or maybe she's gonna go back to writing novels and teaching (or all of the above)

I wasn't trolling, just being sarcastic!

shitty week for Quincy Jones huh

must be really hard for him to open the envelopes w/ the immense royalty checks from michaels sales boost :/

Had a terrible interview there in 2007. It was invariably a blessing for all parties concerned that I didn't get it.

I interviewed there too; they told me they wanted someone more attuned to hip-hop culture. I remember thinking, which is easier, finding someone who knows how to put a magazine together and teaching him/her who the big names in hip-hop are, or finding someone who's steeped in hip-hop culture and teaching him/her how to put together a magazine?

i hope you said that out loud

if only vibe had hired unperson, they would still be around - RIP

i had an interview there too and i got the job as CEO and decided to shut down the magazine - sorry yall - RIP

phil & alex in nyc stay killin em

hopefully vibe magazine can find the peace that was so elusive to it on earth

If only every person from this thread who'd interviewed there had bought a subscription, maybe it would be the biggest magazine on the planet by now.

My chances of getting a job there at the time were monumentally slim at best. Danyel Smith was none too impressed with my witty banter, alas. Also, given the fact that I really don't give the slightest whiff of a damn about 99% of the stuff they covered, it once again should be noted that it would not have been a good fit for any of the involved. Still, I lament that they're yet another music mag that has surrendered.

maybe you should've practiced your witty banter on ILM now and again.

I interviewed there too; they told me they wanted someone more attuned to hip-hop culture. I remember thinking, which is easier, finding someone who knows how to put a magazine together and teaching him/her who the big names in hip-hop are, or finding someone who's steeped in hip-hop culture and teaching him/her how to put together a magazine?

― unperson, Tuesday, June 30, 2009 5:54 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

If only it were humanly possible for someone to have BOTH of these things! They would be the perfect candidate for such a job!

unfortunately with the death of so many shrimp i dont think i know anyone whos steeped in hop hop culture

it aint where u post, its where u @

back - http://www.foliomag.com/2009/uptown-intermedia-partners-acquire-vibe

this could be potentially be really really good as a quarterly

Just got the August/September issue in the mail for free, and didn't even know this was still alive. Apparently they still don't like the idea of publishing reviews.

Marketing decision I guess--They've never had that many. I'm also guessing Robe Kenner who used to do a nice reggae column there,has moved on.

The reviews section could span a dozen pages in the '90s, and lasted through until 2008, when after a couple months of theme-oriented/retrospective sections (i.e. not real review sections) they cut "Revolutions" altogether in October: "This magazine will no longer be reviewing albums in our print edition. People--you--still buy albums (many of you at online stores), but in 2008 the most passionate conversations about music revolve around singles and remixes and playlists and who's downloading what from where and how."

Plus, I'm guessing, they involved opinions that could piss off advertisers.

God, Vibe was a beautiful in the '90s:

http://books.google.com/books/serial/ISSN:10704701

Vibe was to the '90s what Spin was to the '80s, visually speaking.

Ah. I meant "Rob Kenner" btw.

Dead again.

Spinmedia/Buzzmedia hates print publications

Yeah I know, it's the right financial decision to make ...blah blah blah

Tony! Toni! Toné! Albums From Worst To Best (page 1 of 9)

genuinely had no idea vibe still had a magazine

I didn't either. Don't recall seeing lately on my grocery store or drugstore newsstand. But I did like some of it in the '90s

I have a ton of back issues in a box somewhere.