Editor Josh Jackson Frequency Digital, monthly First issue July 2002 | Categories Online, American music Publisher Wolfgang's Vault Final issue 2010 (print) | |
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." The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication from 2002 to 2010 before converting to online-only.
Contents
History
The magazine, headquartered in Avondale Estates, Georgia. It was founded as a quarterly in July 2002 by Josh Jackson, Nick Purdy, and Tim Porter. It later switched to a bimonthly format. In 2005, Paste fulfilled remaining subscriptions for the competing magazine Tracks, which had ceased publishing its print edition. Paste became a monthly with its August 2006 issue.
For two years in the mid-2000s, Paste had a weekly segment on CNN Headline News called "Paste Picks", wherein editors would recommend new albums and films every Tuesday.
In October 2007, the magazine tried the "Radiohead" experiment, offering new and current subscribers the ability to pay what they wanted for a one-year subscription to Paste. The subscriber base increased by 28,000, but Paste president Tim Regan-Porter noted the model was not sustainable; he hoped the new subscribers would renew the following year at the current rates, and the increase in web traffic would attract additional subscribers and advertisers.
Amidst an economic downturn, Paste began to suffer from lagging ad revenue, as did other magazine publishers in 2008 and 2009. On May 14, 2009, Paste editors announced a plan to save the magazine, by pleading to its readers, musicians and celebrities for contributions. Cost-cutting by the magazine did not stem the losses. The main crux cited for the financial troubles is the lack of advertiser spending.
In 2009, Paste launched an hour-long TV pilot for Halogen TV called Pop Goes the Culture.
On August 31, 2010, Paste suspended the print magazine, but continues publication as the online PasteMagazine.com.
Reemergence
On May 28, 2011, Paste announced it was bringing back its weekly subscription services in a digital layout. The digital magazine now covers music, movies, TV, comedy, books, video games, design, tech, food and drink. Each issue also includes a digital version of the Paste Sampler with seven new songs each week.
Content
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.
Awards
In 2005, Paste was listed at #21 on the Chicago Tribune's list of "50 Best Magazines"; it appeared on the list again in 2007. 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.