Bye bye, Q Magazine.

[Cat Burrito]

I remember when Q magazine first came out and they ran an article about how the Rolling Stones were now all in their early 40s, so it asked the question how much longer can they realistically have playing rock n roll?!

Times change.

[Grassie]

I used to buy it religiously every month from around 1993 until around 2003.

The end for print magazines is inevitable (hoping that newspapers go the same way to be honest), and a sign of the times. 😶

[Nail Soup]

17 hours ago, Drax said:

Hasn't died because of the content. It's died because it's a magazine. 

The magazine racks still look pretty full in the shops.

Do you therefore think Q is simply the first to go, and the others will follow?

Are the actual sales numbers down (compared to pre-internet publishing), even though there are plenty of titles?

 

[BigRedX]

The problem with Q is that it has always been too mainstream.

You have to be more niche than that these days.

[Rich]

17 hours ago, Drax said:

Hasn't died because of the content. It's died because it's a magazine. 

Sad but entirely true. Print media is probably doomed.

16 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

I only buy magsfor holiday, long hotel stays and so on anyway.
 

I'm trying to think what the last paper magazine I bought was. Apart from Private Eye -- my only regular print purchase -- I honestly cannot remember.

Edited July 21, 2020 by Rich

[Dad3353]

33 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

The magazine racks still look pretty full in the shops...

Exactly. If magazines were popular, they'd be empty. 

...

[Drax]

42 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

The magazine racks still look pretty full in the shops.

Do you therefore think Q is simply the first to go, and the others will follow?

Are the actual sales numbers down (compared to pre-internet publishing), even though there are plenty of titles?

 

There's way less titles, and those still in print are almost all in decline, many of them terminal. 

Q's circulation in 2000 was 204K. When Bauer announced it was closing in May in was limping along at 28K. Sadly just not selling enough copies to support the operation needed to make it worthwhile.

Q readers from 2000 aren't buying other magazines, they're not buying magazines at all. See also, most regional newspapers. 

[NancyJohnson]

31 minutes ago, Rich said:

Sad but entirely true. Print media is probably doomed.

I'm trying to think what the last paper magazine I bought was. Apart from Private Eye -- my only regular print purchase -- I honestly cannot remember.

I used to buy so many monthly magazines...Q, What Hi-Fi, T3, Bass Player, Alternative Press, plus the two I still have on subscription (SFX & Empire).  I don't read newpapers (I don't know anyone who does).

While all these publication likely started as endearing and well intentioned, as one of the earlier posts pointed out, all of them are just in the pocket of the businesses they report on.  I suppose there's an inevitability that SFX (Sci-Fi) and Empire (films) will fall along the wayside at some point, circulation has to be very low and unsustainable.

[Drax]

36 minutes ago, Rich said:

Sad but entirely true. Print media is probably doomed.

I'm trying to think what the last paper magazine I bought was. Apart from Private Eye -- my only regular print purchase -- I honestly cannot remember.

Interestingly Private Eye is one of the rare UK successes of recent years, one of the few to increase circulation.. 

[Nail Soup]

How about the "inky" music papers? There used to be four and now down to some very different version of the NME.

The death knell rang for those seems a long time ago?

[uk_lefty]

Used to buy Q in the early 2000s but only if there was a decent free CD. Found the content a bit smarmy and "you won't have heard of this band but I'm better than you so I like them but you won't" and I remember a reader letter moaning that all music now is by private school kids (who had grown up and left school so jot that relevant) when referring to Keane and Coldplay. It's sad that it's gone but I think the digital age is perfect for someone like me who can only read or look up things in between work calls and while on the loo. Otherwise I'm either on work calls or stopping my kids electrocuting themselves so I haven't had time to sit down and actually read a magazine for nearly four years. 

[Bassfinger]

2 hours ago, Rich said:

I'm trying to think what the last paper magazine I bought was. Apart from Private Eye -- my only regular print purchase -- I honestly cannot remember.

That'd be Razzle, yesterday afternoon.

[Barking Spiders]

29 minutes ago, Bassfinger said:

That'd be Razzle, yesterday afternoon.

I think it must've been him I was vying with for the last copy.

Total mag sales were over 820 million copies in 2011, down to 374 million in 2018. The 2020 number will be well down on that too. Can't think of the last time I bought a music related mag and quite few glossies have gone bust during the last few months.

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, uk_lefty said:

...haven't had time to sit down and actually read a magazine for nearly four years. 

Maybe find time to sit down with the tots and read them stories..? Kids are greatly influenced by example; if they see their parents with books, there's a better chance of them doing it themselves. Just sayin'; no offence intended. 

Edited July 21, 2020 by Dad3353

[uk_lefty]

2 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

Maybe find time to sit down with the tots and read them stories..? Kids are greatly influenced by example; if they see their parents with books, there's a better chance of them doing it themselves. Just sayin'; no offence intended. 

Believe me storytime is a MASSIVE part of my life, and one of the most enjoyable. 

[Andermtc]

9 hours ago, Rich said:

Sad but entirely true. Print media is probably doomed.

I'm trying to think what the last paper magazine I bought was. Apart from Private Eye -- my only regular print purchase -- I honestly cannot remember.

There is still a market, but there does seem to be a change in the type of magazine that’s doing well.

The more expensive, less adverts, almost A4 paperback book version seems to be becoming more prevalent. I can think of a few, non-music, magazines that have started in the last couple of years that are doing well. 2 that I get on my other interests of mountain biking and cars being Cranked and The Road Rat, the Road Rat being very book like. 

 

[steantval]

Niche/hobbyist titles are holding their own.

The older glossy large circulation titles are on their knees, sales figures are falling year on year and several have already folded, some with reasonably healthy circulation figures (that some publishers would give their right arm for) are no longer sustainable.

I worked in magazine publishing for over 25 years and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, times have now changed and I’m glad I no longer work in that sector.

The problem with the very large glossy titles is that they rely heavily on advertising revenue, the advert rates they can charge are based on their circulation figures, big circulation figures attract wealthy advertisers who will pay big money, as circulation figures fall, advert rates reduce and at some point the publication becomes unviable.

[PaulWarning]

the internet is slowly killing off all print media, it's just a natural progression, we don't stand still otherwise we'd still be reading stone tablets.

The Razzle comment made me smile, when I was a newsagent I used to sell shed loads of 'Girly' Mags (how unPC), why would anyone buy them now? it's all free on the web.

[yorks5stringer]

Looks like the days of getting YFS Towers featured in 'Hello' are now numbered then?

[Monkey Steve]

On 20/07/2020 at 17:36, alyctes said:

I get (got!) Q as a freebie from my bank account (all the other options being less interesting ... !).

I won't miss it, personally. 

Me too.  The slightly anemic, trimmed down version the the bank supplies gets a quick flick through before being put to one side, and binned a few weeks later. I’m just not interested in the bland music they focus on. I’m not sure if it’s a very different beast from the magazine I used to buy regularly in the 90’s, or if it’s actually the same and has failed to move on with the rest of the world. The last copy they sent was literally a load of articles about great articles and interviews they ran in the past

if I can’t be bothered to read it when it’s free, I can’t see why anybody would pay for a copy

I’m a bit sad to see it go, but sadder that they couldn’t be @rsed to try making it a magazine that people actually want to read

Edited July 25, 2020 by Monkey Steve

[Monkey Steve]

By a weird coincidence my free copy of the final issue from the bank has just dropped though the letter box

more of the same as the last issue - old interviews (Radiohead, Adele from 2011, Liam Gallagher from 2017, Bowie from 1996, Prince from 1994), sorry, I mean Classic Interviews. FFS

I guess they’ll sell a load because it’s the final one, but there’s nothing new in there, nothing of interest about the current music scene, and it’s not even a great celebration to say farewell to the magazine.  All feels half @rsed, as it has done for a while 

[spectoremg]

On 20/07/2020 at 16:57, stewblack said:

Used to love Q when it first came out. We subscribed at the bar I ran and had quite an impressive, well thumbed collection by the time I left 13 years later. 

Sadly I suspect the above description is all too accurate. 

 

I had a subscription and it used to be a good mag. 

[Monkey Steve]

Having previously got a trimmed down version of Q from my bank, it didn't really occur to me that I was no longer getting this freebie.  But yesterday a replacement arrived - Mojo

More than happy with the bank's choice - I've never really read it before, maybe the odd copy here and there over the years, but it's pretty good.  Feels like Q in it's heyday but without the pretence that they are keeping up with today's music, just good writing for grownups on music from the past.  And best of all it came with the free CD, something that was never included with the stripped down Q

[Mickeyboro]

Mojo and Classic Rock seem so predictable, rehashing the same old staples. 

I do feel Record Collector try harder, largely cos they have a stuffy/nerdy image to counteract. Disclosure: I do half a dozen reviews a year for them.