LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — One of the biggest music mags in the U.S., Vibe, has announced that they are closing up shop.
According to a report in the AOL-owned website Daily Finance, Vibe Media's CEO Steve Aaron sent a memo to all their employees that the company VMG, was closing down, effective June 30th.
Aaron pointed to the collapse of capital markets limiting available investment resources and strong declines in print advertising, particularly in key categories like automotive and fashion ads as the leading motivators in the magazine's demise.
Originally founded in 1993 by Quincy Jones, the magazine saw success during the 1990s. Although Vibe initially primarily covering hip hop, Vibe grew in scope and attracted a wider audience as hip hop became mainstream, they had a wider focus on a diverse range of issues than their nearest competitors such as XXL and The Source.
Vibe joins the growing ranks of dead music magazines such as Blender and Radio & Records, which also hung it up this year due to similar conditions. Vibe had been struggling for some time and had cut their publishing frequency, circulation and even salaries and even shifted to a four-day work week as cost-savings measures, apparently, to no avail. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
