Placed an Add in the May edition.Just got word that the Magazine is going out of business.

http://www.mjmrecords.com/

I just recieved the newest issue today and didn't see anything about it going out of business. I hope I don't have to change my signature

It's a shame..Another mag with integrety goes under.

Yeah.. it's weird to see all these folks who have been around and in many case either got their start around the same time as JPF or shortly before or after sort of disappear off the landscape. I can remember meeting with them when they were still tiny (as were we) and talking about our plans and dreams and goals and it's sad to see them have to give it all up. There's only a small handful of folks still around that existed when I started JPF and most that started after us are also gone. We seem to just be getting our momentum right now and it's particularly bitter sweet when others who seemed so on top of the world fall by the wayside. But I guess that's simply life... at some point we ALL fall by the wayside.

The question is will anyone replace them? Or has their way of life and species basically become extinct? I know it's a tough world for publications of any type, but it seems like we still haven't see a true replacement for what a magazine is/was in our lives. Simply getting info on a screen is different than the relationship you have with a book or a magazine. Being able to take it with you and leave it on the subway or table or counter for someone else to check out when you are done was such a part of life for folks 30 and over.

I considered them the leader in publications in the music industry right now. Rolling Stone has been irrelevent for decades. The various instrument focused mags have changed a great deal as well. Even Billboard is a mere fraction of what it once was. Is the printed word a dying species, or can a smart entrepreneur figure out a way to ressurect it?

The Amazon Kindle is cool but still unsatisfying in many ways to that ability to take a book where there's no electricity to recharge it and no worries about breaking the machine or losing it.

Brian

Well said, Brian:

Naturally, we all wonder about the root cause. Is it the economy or is the music world forever changed due to all the "net" negatives... such as illegal downloads? Did they just run out of energy or suffer from "information overload?" Strange and sad.

Dave

http://www.ShowCaseYourMusic.com/DaveRice

It is a pity for all of their staff. I like that mag a lot better than American Songwriter. I wonder it they can't be far behind?

Even the equally great "No Depression" went by the wayside for a while, then re-emerged as an "internet only" mag.

I doubt many people will care about Internet Only Mags. I think having a print version actually increased the credibility and stature of a publication. Online you're just a websearch. People don't feel and touch you so to speak. And I say this as someone who exists on the web and uses it to communicate almost exclusively. We do try to supplement it all face to face in ways most others don't do (i.e. Roadtrips and Chapters) but I always wanted to have a JPF Magazine. But I know the cost of making an issue is tremendous and the technical requirements (page set up, design, color choices, photos, licensing of the content, fact checking because you only get 1 shot to get it right, etc.) were overwhelming to understaffed and underfunded entities. And when people stop running those expensive full page ads, you're dead meat. I can say though, as someone who ran a million bucks worth of print ads in my former life, they never really paid off to sell products. They were fantastic for product/name recognition and validation in the marketplace, but I always thought they felt far short when it came to call to action type of motivation. Of course email is nearly useless to do any of that either. Your best bet is to partner with entities that people use and trust (like JPF) and understand that a long term relationship is the answer versus a short term advertisement. I think that every member here would at least check out our sponsors when the time came to need their services and our long term relationship with most of our sponsors bears fruit in ways often short sighted folks miss completely. There no longer is a great resource to run "call to action" sorts of advertisements. Only long term relationships where you get your name/product/service in front of someone on an ongoing basis so that when they need arises, they are the name that people think of and check out currently work in my opinion. Magazines were always laying around. But now the net people are only in one place long enough to jump to the next. Communities like ours where people hang out long term are perhaps the new future homes to the magazine crowds. Hopefully we can attract more regular readers of mags like PS to hang here with us and get much of the same content just by hanging around.

The net is a great thing, but the unintended consequences keep adding up.

Brian

I agree. I don't understand this trend of print publications going by the wayside. I'd rather have a physical product in my hands than read it on the internet..I guess I'm a relic!

I think I understand it. I used to buy magazines before I got on the Internet.
My favorites were the Electronic Musician, and several Mac magazines. But I got used to getting free information on the net and after a while stopped looking for it in the magazines. Every once in a while, I will buy a Mac magazine, but usually I am disappointed because they have far less content and they seem more of an excuse for full page ads. In the old system 9.2, there was more tweaking needed to maximize the use of the computer and the mags were full of tips and tricks and additionally they usually included a CD full of freeware and demos. Less tweaking is needed in the new system.

I used to buy Electronic Musician at Comp USA but they closed the stores in California.

I like magazines too but I feel it's my own fault that they aren't what they used to be. If I liked the magazine, I should have continued purchasing it.

I think I need to switch over and subscribe to online mags but I just don't like using my credit card on the net that much.

I got a very nice explanation letter in the mail from them. It was nicely written and didn't list any reasons other than "It's time." I hope something takes their place. I really loved getting that magazine - they were great.

Linda:

It probably isn't that much different then when a restaurant closes. It often happens when they want to spend more time with their families, etc. As far as music magazines go, there still are Sing Out and Dirty Linen. I may have been part of the problem here, as I only bought a couple of edition of this particular mag, but it may be another sign of the failing economy.

In the early 70's the top general interest mags, Life, Look and Saturday Evening Post, also had run their course. Yet two of the three eventually came back in different forms.

Jean:

I agree with you about not wanting to use the credit cards so much. Our addiction to them has created a situation which can be accurated termed as financial alcoholism. Am not that familiar with how it works, but PayPal is an alternative. And their is the debit card if you trust using it online. I think it's going to be hard for our society to break its credit card addiction. But the same was said about smoking, and never thought I'd see the day when smoke-free would be so heavily mandated. I believe your state was the first to do it.