Paste Magazine In Danger of Folding
May 13, 2009 | 1:53 pmDrive a Faster Car reports that Paste Magazine is in serious financial trouble and is “trying to scrounge up enough money to put out the next issue.”
According to DaFC, Paste will launch a “Save Paste” campaign later today offering exclusive music in exchange for donations.
Very sad news. If Paste folds, we’ll lose a venerable “New Decatur” institution.
Thanks to Lump for tipping me off to this.
I guess I’m partly at fault – don’t think I ever looked at it. Apparently, not enough other people did either.
Paste is great.
lumpintheroad, good point. I obviously don’t know how magazines work!
paste is a nice magazine and i have given gift subscriptions to people.
but donations? wtf? is this a business or a non profit?
what would dave ramsey say? first, all staff goes to raman noodles and cheese sandwiches. doesn’t the editor have a scooter? i remember reading an article about that. sell and walk. sell everything. live in the office. wait, close the office. work at home. slower internet. no cable tv. don’t eat out. sell sell sell ad space like crazy. then sell more. barter adds for other things like food. then sell everyhitng you have. no ipod. no wii. no vacations. its a start-up. work your ass off-sell ads, then work some more. yeah it sucks. deliver pizzas. hey, actually. deliver pizzas and include a free copy of paste magazine with each pizza! talk it up. pizza, music paste. seriously, donations? wtf, are you a museum ? you’re a frickin magazine. quit the coffee fix, drop the gym membership, and go sell ad space.
and people giving donations; its your money, do as you wish. but also ponder animal shelters, homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters, whatever. yeah. whatever. so good luck paste guys, no go sell ad space.
I don’t think Paste is a very good magazine. I currently have a subscription, and I’ve decided not to renew. The recent issue with Neko Case on the cover was the most content-light publication I’ve seen in a very long time.
You should check it out. It’s a great publication. I’ve been subscribed for years. And with their “Buy One, Get One Free” and “Pay What You Want” subscription deals, it was easy to get the magazine for a pittance (or free, if you are evil).
Of course, getting hooked at this point may only lead to heartbreak. =(
“Pay what you want” subscription deals? I think we may be onto one reason they are going under….
Only if you have no conception of how magazines work. The bulk of most magazines’ revenue comes from advertisers, not subscribers (for better or worse). The more readers you have, the more you can charge advertisers. Actually getting readers to pay is nice, but you’re more interested in circulation.
Of course, in the current economy, no matter where your revenue comes from, you’re hurting.
Perhaps, but advertisers like to see subscribers pay for the product also. If you don’t charge you also lose advertisers because they’ll assume if people aren’t willing to pay a significant price for the product, the product isn’t worth the cost of advertising. And that’s not necessarily a wrong assumption to make.
Don’t feel bad. As someone who works for a magazine that also asked its staff to take a 20% pay cut about two weeks ago, it’s safe to say we don’t know how they work either.
yeah, the editor has a scooter. And three kids. And otherwise they are a one-car family.