Team Rock going under... so that's Metal Hammer, Prog and Classic Rock

[visog]

Sad to see this in the news...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-38370464

I suppose it's partly my fault as I was only an occasional buyer of 'Prog' magazine but I worry a little that this is yet another nail in the coffin for what is increasingly becoming the music of the last century.

[Mykesbass]

Very sad. We see quite a few posts berating the industry side of the music industry, and yes, it has many faults, but I personally think the world is becoming a poorer place with its decline.

[MacDaddy]

Bugger.

[LayDownThaFunk]

No more Golden Gods!

[KevB]

I did begin to wonder how they were doing a while back, it seemed a lot of the places I used to see CR and Prog had stopped stocking them. I'd urge anyone that's looking for an alternative to give the Classic Rock Society a go. The magazine only comes out every other month so it's a bit lighter on the pocket.

Edited December 20, 2016 by KevB

[mike257]

The frontman of Orange Goblin has set up a justgiving page to raise money for the 73 team rock staff who have been made redundant with immediate effect and with no pay six days before Xmas. Already raised over £10k.

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ukrockcommunity

Edit: Just checked in and it's now blown past its original £20k target and over £30k has been donated!

Edited December 20, 2016 by mike257

[thodrik]

Pretty rubbish news but I always wondered if there was really any need for separate rock/prog and metal magazines by the same company. I always found there was so much crossover of stuff that separate magazines were not really necessary when a single prog/rock/metal magazine would have done well enough.

Since there has been long term financial problems, I'm wondering why they didn't try to restructure things already.

Hopefully administrators find someone willing to bail them out and restructure everything. Really crap time of year for it to happen as well.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='visog' timestamp='1482262034' post='3199076']
I suppose it's partly my fault as I was only an occasional buyer of 'Prog' magazine
[/quote]

Likewise. Plus I stopped buying it altogether after they got in touch with my band & offered us a slot on the cover CD. Only after we excitedly clamoured "yes please!" did they mention the £1000 it would cost.

Unsurprisingly, we declined and I don't feel guilty about that - but it's a damn shame this has happened.

[spectoremg]

I liked Prog Rock mag at first but after a while it seemed there was only so much '70's stuff they could regurgitate and that was always going to disappear up it's own chocolate channel.

[bazzbass]

A Prog mag? really? how many copies of that can you sell every month?

but then again I'm part of a dying breed that buys mags, and CDs.

[Barking Spiders]

'Classic rock' does look like it's now going the way of jazz here in Blighty. I'm not a fan myself but I've noticed that six shops that used to stock Classic Rock and Metal Hammer pulled them off their shelves early this year even though two them still have Bass magazine. Seems the under 40s are generally not interested.

[Jacqueslemac]

I did wonder what the rationale was for putting on a hugely expensive (I assume) awards ceremony in Japan and flying lots of (presumably expensive) rock stars out there just for a couple of pages in one of the magazines. Perhaps a last-ditch attempt to break into a new market and/or find a new backer than does not appear to have worked.

Worrying time of the year for it to happen for the staff, though. I've been made redundant several times, but luckily no closer than October.

[Oopsdabassist]

Bugger is right..as a regular buyer of both Classic Rock and Prog Rock, my reading matter will be seriously reduced

[toneknob]

Are there any decent music magazines left?

[Mickeyboro]

Sorry for Dave Ling, news editor, whose idea it was.

[Thunderbird]

I used to buy metal hammer but it got a bit like kerrang most of the bands were not really metal as such I feel sorry for the people that have been put out of work and at Xmas but I am not surprised that the mags have gone bust

[Rich]

Can't help feeling that print media is doomed.

[Heathy]

Will also miss the website and radio station. This seems like bad news for the genre as a whole.

[T-Bay]

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1482320655' post='3199495']
Can't help feeling that print media is doomed.
[/quote]
I agree but it's a shame, I love flicking through a magazine and online versions just don't do it for me.

[HengistPod]

I bought CR from Issue 1.

I eventually stopped buying it 3 or 4 months ago. I was fed up paying a fiver to read lists of things that I already knew about. It got to the stage where the "100 greatest rock guitar solos" or whatever would take up half the magazine. It became nothing but a vehicle for advertising, and I wasn't going to cough for that anymore.

All things must pass, everything has its time. Kerrang used to be a must-read up til sometime in the 90s, and then CR came along and was bloody good for a while. The onset of all the Prog, Blues, etc versions is what killed it. Without material to fill a mag, LISTS appeared.

I'd imagine, if they find a buyer with any sense, that the titles will be amalgamated and one good monthly read will come out the other end.

[jacko]

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1482321496' post='3199505']
I love flicking through a magazine and online versions just don't do it for me.
[/quote]

My Mrs would kill me if I tried moving the PC into the downstairs loo.

[T-Bay]

[quote name='jacko' timestamp='1482322188' post='3199517']


My Mrs would kill me if I tried moving the PC into the downstairs loo.
[/quote]
Lol my copy of practical classics goes straight from the front door to the loo and doesn't come out until it's finished. I only read it on the loo or in the bath.

[MacDaddy]

Does this mean my collection of Metal Hammer's from the 80's will increase in value?

[mentalextra]

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1482320655' post='3199495']
Can't help feeling that print media is doomed.
[/quote]

I remember people saying that back in the '80s

[RhysP]

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1482320655' post='3199495']
Can't help feeling that print media is doomed.
[/quote]

They were saying that about "real" instruments when synths & drum machines became affordable, and also about vinyl.