Is SPIN really circling the drain?

The sectional breakdown, so you never have to waste your money on this:

COVER: Dismal layout/design, pathetically cloying typeface, a thudding dumbing-down that simply could not have been imagined. Gag on this: "America's 101 Wildest Parties!" At least the new tagline is mediocre; it could have been outright bad.

MASTHEAD: Pemberton's name makes me anxious. Having Charles Aaron as music editor makes me feel like I'm 40.

FOB - SPIN OUT: awful, 2nd-rate VICE photo gag featuring the absolute worst NYC nightlife has to offer. I don't want to know these people, let alone read about them or hear their response to the inane question of "If you were a musical instrument, what kind of musical instrument would you be?" Seriously, who the fuck wrote this?

FOB - Editor's letter: Embarassingly unfunny. Predictably poorly written. Wow.

FOB - "The Download 20": ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

FOB - "Barometer": worst lead-off FOB article in a music mag, like, ever. This is how you introduce "music for life"? The second article is actualyl even LESS FUCKING RELEVANT; why is there an article on French rioters?

FOB - "The Joy of Text": this appears to be an unclever idea for a column...Ariane Marder (WTF?) interviews people by text messaging.

FOB - More "Barometer" featuring one of those really, really interesting updates on Pete Doherty. Somebody wake up the fucking editor there and tell them that there are at least 10,000 junkies more interesting than this guy, and probably several hundred who sell more records.'

FOB - "SPIN Looks": This is another VICE-ly stab at relevance where they take a picture of some fame-seeker in New York and then ask a bunch of fashion related questions. Not only dumb, but poorly executed. Several pages later, we have "My Brilliant Career", which is sort of the same thing except they have some editorial assistant's friend who doesn't even work in the music business playing "ten questions." Oh, and then to show how much Pemberton doesn't get it, he repeats the "SPIN Looks" sidebar a couple of pages later with someone who is even more uninteresting than the first.

FOB - "The Brain" : In yet another idea repurposed from Blender, Charles Aaron "answers your ticklish questions" about music. What's with everyone in the mag with even a partial column getting their picture by the header. I'm a fan of Aaron but dude seriously looks like he's got a physics class to teach. Nearby "The Brain" we have one of those advertorials called "SPIN Genius Thing", which tells us how great the $350 Pentax camera is.

FOB - "Send Me An Angel": Here we have the slut column. Words fail me.

Interview - LL COOL J: He was the coolest rapper when I was in high school. In 1986. The "buying guide" sidebar is handy, if pretty much ubiquitous (thanks to Pemberton's alma mater.)

Summer Concert Preview - Kind of better than I thought it might be, but it's nothing new to the magazine.

Feature - Kelis: Is she really going to be hot this year or yet another one-hit wonder?

Feature - "Welcome To Ghost Town": thousands of words on...Chernobyl?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Have these people lost their fucking minds?????????

Feature - Eddie Vedder: a decent Q&A, although since he's hitting all the major mags it's sort of seems...dated already. Hopefully they've got a Nirvana interview to run next month as a follow-up.

Feature - Parker Posey's picture scrapbook: kind of a good idea, although Posey seems like one of those celebs that only New Yorkers are in love with. That, and I kept wondering where the pics of Ryan Adams were.

Feature - Jack White and his backing band: Is this guy blowing someone at SPIN? Because they are on his jock like white on rice.

Reviews - now called "In & Out": The thing that happens when you slice reviews down to 100 or so words is that you pretty much make them stylishly indistinguishable. In other words, there's no need for bylines since every writer sounds exactly the same. Or, in this case, every review reads like it was lifted from Blender. The section is totally without personality. Same with the video reviews. Congrats, SPIN. You've really cooked this goose well.

BOB - "SPIN Out": Distressingly titled, but simply the absolute worst waste of copy space I've ever seen in a glossy. Ever. Worse than any events listing in any alterna-weekly. And as if listing over a hundred bar nights in a ploy to raise ad revenues wasn't bad enough, SPIN brings back the dingbat known as Ultragrrl as a feature events writer. There are SIX FULL PAGES OF THIS WITH NO ADS TO BREAK ANYTHING UP. It's worthless, unimaginative, and ugly in a way that I am stunned any graphic designer could tolerate.

BOB - "Navigator": Cribbed from CMJ Monthly, this is a city guide. CMJ did this much better. Terribly ugly to look at, so bad that you will never read one entry.

Backpage - "25 Questions For Bill Maher": The biggest question of course is, "Who gives a shit about Bill Maher?"

Admittedly, I had low expectations but this issue floored me. The design alone is so pathetic, so lifeless. The editorial direction has absolutely no focus and the execution is what I might expect from Parade magazine; I'd credit part of this to a new editor but there is no promise anywhere. Blender is ten times better than this.

These things were such a fucking pain in the ass to put together! They can have them!

Also, I don't know who this person is, but that's a totally fucking genius idea for an front-of-book feature.

Look under UPDATE

http://www.gawker.com/news/spin/andy-pemberton-nearly-sacked-again-177681.php is the one I meant to post.

response: "BUT PLAYBOY IS GOOD!!!!!!"

I can. It was a deep red cover with a picture of Flea jumping in the air with a flourescent green mohawk in the "Mother's Milk" era. I was in 9th grade and, actually, my girlfriend gave it to me. So, I guess I didn't even buy it.

Chuck Eddy IN ?

Is Chuck the only person that can save SPIN?

What about this as a "dream team" CHUCK & GEETA as a new management editor duo at Spin ?

Chuck ensuring METAL/ Rock coverage, GEETA ensuring the best ELECTRONIC coverage

Pemberton Exits Spin
http://tinyurl.com/lybuz
"A replacement has not yet been named."

Well it's time to pitch a new strategy / concept for SPIN?

WTF?

their coolest parties section and last night parties picture seciton is really just plain awful

Spin (online, I hope) conflates Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein:

CORIN TUCKER

Dates: October 7-29
Price:$16
Opening Acts: Golden Bears, Hungry Ghost
Why You Should Go: SPIN named Sleater-Kinney's 1997 release Dig Me Out one of the 125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years—and it's not like all that talent just evaporated since the trio went on hiatus in 2006. The Portland, OR-based singer-guitarist—who has been moonlighting as an actor (she starred alongside the Shins' James Mercer in 2009's Some Days Are Better Than Others), comedienne (she performs with SNL's Fred Armisen as ThunderAnt), and blogger (for NPR's Monitor Mix)—will debut songs off her debut solo album, 1,000 Years (out October 5), which she has called her "middle-aged mom record." Yeah... if by "mom" you mean one of music's fiercest feminists and guitar goddesses who happens to have two kids.

http://www.spin.com/gallery/preview-25-best-fall-tours?page=15#main

chicks, man

that clause has been taken out btw

lol

In the old days it would have been in print, and Kathleen Hanna would have set fire to a copy on stage. I miss the old days.

In the old days there's no way it would have made it to print, because five editors would have looked it over before it reached the printers.

in the old days they would have gone 'wtf is a blogger?' and waited way too long to establish any kind of web presence by which point it was too late and some schmuck in chicago could run circles around them.

Oh no, according to google the Bikini Kill/Magazine Burning thing has vanished from history completely. How sad.

I want to say March 5, 2002. Stupid internet.

I mean 1992. Duh.

in the old days they would have gone 'wtf is a blogger?' and waited way too long to establish any kind of web presence by which point it was too late and some schmuck in chicago could run circles around them.
― balls, Thursday, September 2, 2010 1:32 AM

Touche!

I hate these reviews where the writer presumes the audience is some fifty year old ignoramus. Like some fat suburban guy is going to get off his butt to see Corin Tucker.

I have nothing against feminism but this preview tells me nothing about the music. I don't go to a show to get a political lecture.

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/spin-magazine-going-bimonthly-135459

Yeah, I quit buying this a long time ago, but recently subscribed to it via my Nook because of a deal for 50 cents an issue. But, tbh, after the awful Skrillex cover this week, its not even worth the 13 seconds to download anymore.

this could be cool

i'm not sure if SPIN will ever have much if any presence on the web tho

"if any"? They do have a fairly frequently updated site now, but its a nightmare because of all the damn click-through listicle shit.

SPIN has done a horrible job preserving its history. You gotta go to Google Books to read an old story.

sorry, i didn't mean "presence" as in, like, they literally have a web site that is updated. i mean in terms of hits and/or people going "i read this thing on spin.com today..."

oh yeah, thats totally otm

'will ever'? i mean i dont read spin & havent ever really but i dont see what's stopping them from having a web presence

like, just hire ppl that draw traffic. there's no big trick to it

I've never written for Spin, and I can't even remember the last time I read it (10 years ago, maybe?) but this is bad news for a lot of writer friends of mine

i just started writing for them so i'm sure they'll fold any day now