Vibe is the publishing business' latest casualty.
The hip-hop, R&B and soul magazine will close its doors as it enters its 16th year of publication. Multiple sources both within and outside the magazine confirmed that it is shutting down, reported AOL-owned business news site Daily Finance on Tuesday. Vibe editor Danyel Smith penned the following letter from entertainment and media industry blog Gawker:
On behalf the VIBE CONTENT staff (the best in this business), it is with great sadness, and with heads held high, that we leave the building today. We were assigning and editing a Michael Jackson tribute issue when we got the news. It's a tragic week in overall, but as the doors of VIBE Media Group close, on the eve of the magazine's sixteenth anniversary, it's a sad day for music, for hip hop in particular, and for the millions of readers and users who have loved and who continue to love the VIBE brand. We thank you, we have served you with joy, pride and excellence, and we will miss you.
Founded in 1993 by Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) and musician Quincy Jones, the magazine made its name during the late '90s and early part of this decade as hip-hop and R&B became the nation's predominant forms of pop music. But in recent years, the title has fallen on hard times with falling advertising under its new PE owner, New York's Wicks Group of Cos. LLC, which acquired the publication in 2006 for undisclosed terms.
In February, the magazine reduced its circulation and publishing frequency, cut salaries and moved employees to a four-day workweek to conserve cash, say reports. Its circulation, reported to advertisers at 818,000 late last year, had fallen to 600,000, according to statistics quoted in The New York Times.
Does the print medium have a future in the digital world? That's unclear. Vibe, at least, is now a relic of the past. -Thomas Zadvydas
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