| Editor | Josh Jackson |
|---|---|
| Categories | Music magazines |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Publisher | Wolfgang's Vault |
| First issue | July 2002 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Website | pastemagazine.com |
| ISSN | 1540-3106 |
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."[1]
Contents |
The magazine, headquartered in Decatur, Georgia, was founded as a quarterly in July 2002 by Josh Jackson, Nick Purdy and Tim Porter. It switched to a bimonthly format amid increased popularity and the addition of Joe Kirk to the managing team, and continued to grow in 2005, when Paste fulfilled remaining subscriptions for the competing magazine Tracks, which had ceased publication of its print edition. Paste became a monthly with its August 2006 issue. During its eight-year run, Paste was nominated for a National Magazine Award four times.
For two years in the mid-2000s, Paste had a weekly segment on CNN Headline News called Paste Picks[2], where editors would recommend new albums and films every Tuesday.
In October 2007, the magazine opted to try the so-called "Radiohead" experiment, offering new and current subscribers the ability to pay what they want for a one year subscription to Paste.[3] The results were excellent, raising subscriber base by 28,000, but Paste president Tim Regan-Porter noted that the model is not sustainable and that the magazine would lose money on the deal; there were hopes that the new subscribers would renew the following year at the current rates, and that the increase in web traffic would also increase subscribers and attract additional advertisers.[4]
Amidst an economic downturn, Paste began to suffer from lagging ad revenue, much like other magazine publishers had been feeling in 2008 and 2009. On May 14, 2009, Paste editors announced a plan to save the magazine, by pleading to its readers,[5] musicians and celebrities for contributions.[6] Cost cutting by the magazine did not stem the losses, and rather than shutter the magazine, Paste has hopes in receiving donations to help lift the magazine out of the crisis. The main crux cited for the financial troubles is the lack of advertiser spending.[7] A similar situation happened with the magazine JPG, which led to subscribers and fans of that magazine to create a 'buzz' about JPG online, garnering enough attention for a buyer to continue the contribution-based model of that magazine.
In 2009, Paste launched an hour-long TV pilot for Halogen TV called Pop Goes the Culture[8].
On August 31, 2010, Paste suspended the print magazine[9], but PasteMagazine.com continued to cover music, film, books, TV and video games online.
On May 28, 2011, Paste Magazine announced it was bringing back its weekly subscription services in a digital layout. The mPlayer is currently available as a beta until September, when subscription services will begin and native applications for the iPad and Android tablets roll out, making use of new digital capabilities such as Apple's Newstand application.
Although Paste's focus was music, covering a variety of genres with an emphasis on adult album alternative, Americana and indie rock, the magazine also covered independent film and books. Each issue originally included a CD music sampler, but was dropped in favor of digital downloading as a Going-Green initiative. Featured artists included Ryan Adams, Blackalicious, Paul McCartney, Regina Spektor, The Whigs, Fiona Apple, The Decemberists, Mark Heard, Woven Hand, Milton and the Devils Party, Liam Finn, The Trolleyvox, and Thom Yorke. Many of these artists also contributed to the Campaign to Save Paste.[10]
In 2005, Paste was listed at #21 on the Chicago Tribune's list of "50 Best Magazines", and appeared on the list again in 2007.[11] Paste was also named "Magazine of the Year" by the PLUG Independent Music Awards in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2008, 2009 and 2010, Paste was nominated for a National Magazine Award in the category of General Excellence, and in 2010, associate editor Rachael Maddux' writings were nominated for Best Reviews.