Punk Planet, RIP
From: Punk Planet magazine theend@punkplanet.com Date: June 18, 2007 4:15:01 PM EDT Subject: News about Punk Planet
Dear Friends,
As much as it breaks our hearts to write these words, the final issue =
of Punk Planet is in the post, possibly heading toward you right now. =
Over the last 80 issues and 13 years, we’ve covered every aspect of =
the financially independent, emotionally autonomous, free culture we =
refer to as “the underground.” In that time we’ve sounded many alarms =
from our editorial offices: about threats of co-optation, big-media =
emulation, and unseen corporate sponsorship. We’ve also done =
everything in our power to create a support network for independent =
media, experiment with revenue streams, and correct the distribution =
issues that have increasingly plagued independent magazines. But now =
we’ve come to the impossible decision to stop printing, having =
sounded all the alarms and reenvisioned all the systems we can. =
Benefit shows are no longer enough to make up for bad distribution =
deals, disappearing advertisers, and a decreasing audience of =
subscribers.
As to the latter two points, we could blame the Internet. It makes =
editorial content=97and bands=97easy to find, for free. (We’re sure our =
fellow indie labels, those still standing, can attest to the =
difficulties created in the last few years). We can blame educational =
and media systems that value magazines focused on consumerism over =
engaged dissent. And we can blame the popular but mistaken belief =
that punk died several years ago.
But it is also true that great things end, and the best things end =
far too quickly.
As to bad distribution deals, we must acknowledge that the financial =
hit we took in October of 2005, when our newsstand distributor =
announced that it was in dire straits, was worse than we originally =
thought. As the dust began to clear from their January bankruptcy =
announcement, we began to realize that the magazine was left in =
significantly worse shape, distribution-wise, than they let on.
Add to that the stagnation that the independent record world is =
suffering under and the effect that has had on our ad sales, not to =
mention the loss of independent bookstores with a vested interest in =
selling our publication, and it all adds up to a desperate situation. =
This has been made far worse by the exhaustion felt from a year and a =
half of fighting our own distributor. It was a situation that didn’t =
have an exit strategy other then, well, exiting.
The books line will continue to publish, and the website will =
continue to be a social networking site for independently minded =
folk; Dan will be staying with both, but Anne will be moving on, only =
blogging occasionally at punkplanet.com while she pursues other =
interests. All further inquiries about the magazine should be =
addressed to theend@punkplanet.com.
There probably isn’t much else to say that we haven’t already said in =
PP80=97in articles about new activist projects, SXSW, the demise of the =
IPA, and transgender media, and in interviews with the G7 Welcoming =
Committee, Andre Schiffrin, and The Steinways. Read it, enjoy it, and =
find in it enough inspiration to last until we come back in some =
other form, at some other time, renewed and ready to make another =
outstanding mark on the world.
Thanks so very much for everything,
Dan