MUMBAI: Vibe magazine, the music and entertainment magazine founded in 1992 by legendary musician Quincy Jones, has announced on 30 June that the publication is folding and will no longer produce print issues. The closure of Vibe follows the folding up of another rock-focused magazine, Blender last year.
Vibe publication predominantly featured R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. The closure of Vibe leaves just two large-circulation music magazines, XXL and The Source, focusing on hip-hop and R&B.
A company spokesperson mentioned that the print advertising collapse hit Vibe hard, especially as key ad categories like automotive and fashion, which represented the bulk of its top 10 advertisers, have stopped advertising or gone out of business. Vibe had tried to either find new investors or to restructure the huge debt of the company.
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Vibe magazine, sources mention, had its own troubles going through bankruptcy and emerging under new ownership last year.
Quincy Jones and the company, then called Time Warner, created Vibe in 1992. The Wicks Group, a private equity firm, bought it in 2006. Vibe reported circulation of 818,000 in the second half of last year, but like many magazines it suffered from falling advertising.
However, reports over the web point out that Quincy Jones, the original founder of the magazine is in the process of buying back the music magazine from The Wicks Group. Jones said in a report that although print might seem unviable, Vibe might continue with their online publication.
