Vibe has been revived.
The hip-hop magazine and its web site have been acquired by InterMedia Partners, a private equity firm, and Uptown Media, a luxury magazine publisher backed by InterMedia, and will be relaunched with a greater focus on the internet.
The print edition of Vibe won’t be out until year’s end, and next year the publication will become a quarterly rather than a monthly.
Vibe.com will be posting fresh content by month’s end, coming as InterMedia readies the seminal urban dance show “Soul Train” for a relaunch this fall.
The new Vibe, both online and off, will cast its coverage wider than the magazine had in recent years, including a broader range of music and also features on African-American celebrities, such as athletes, outside the music community.
Former owner Wicks Group shut down Vibe in June after ad pages in the publication, which was co-founded by Quincy Jones, fell 40 percent during the first half of the year.
Jones mused over trying to bring the title back, but nothing apparently came of it.
The new Vibe will have a much more modest rate base, 300,000 versus 600,000. The first issue reportedly will be available in November.Vibe magazine, the urban-music magazine founded in 1993 by Quincy Jones, is the latest victim of the media recession.
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OLD POST - JULY 2009
Multiple sources both within and outside the magazine confirmed that it is shutting down.
Reached for comment, chief financial officer Angela Zucconi said, “We will be making a statement by the end of the day. That’s all I can say at this point.” She referred further questions to CEO Steve Aaron, who was not immediately available. Messages left for editor in chief Danyel Smith and publishers Edgar Hernandez were not immediately returned.
Vibe enjoyed significant success in the late ’90s and early part of this decade as hip hop and R&B became the nation’s predominant forms of pop music. But in recent years the title has fallen on hard times under its new owner, the Wicks Group, which bought it in 2006. In February, it reduced its circulation and publishing frequency, cut salaries and moved employees to a four-day workweek to save money.
This article was pulled from the below link:
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/06/30/vibe-magazine-shutting-down/
