MUSIC NEWS - Today, the staff at Blender were informed that the magazine was the newest causality of the world economic crisis, thanks to lower magazine sales, declining subscriptions and fewer ad pages. Their Kelly Clarkson covered, April 2009 issue will be the last. Around since 2001, " Blender has provided unmatched music coverage and entertainment news in its unique voice to a profoundly dedicated audience of music enthusiasts," Alpha Media Group CEO Stephen Duggan said in a company memo, reports Advertising Age.
"We are particularly grateful to the sales team and to the tremendously talented editorial staff for their hard work and commitment to Blender" he said.
Duggan’s memo to staff blamed the global financial crisis. This leaves the Alpha Media Group with only Maxim in its portfolio of titles. According to company reports with the Audit Bureau of Circulations, paid subscriptions at Blenderfell 8% to 768,000 last year, while newsstand sales declined 18% to 44,233. The only plus was distribution of the publication to places like waiting rooms, which grew from 13,000 copies in the 2nd half of 2007 to 100,000 the following year. But, their ad pages didn’t do any better with sales falling 31% in 2008 plus another 57% from January through April, according to the Publishers Information Bureau and Media Industry Newsletter.
No word on whether Blender will continue a web presence.
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