Zines

[Obdurate]

Don't know what kind of debate we'll get going here, if any, but lessgo.

Are magazines and the like dying?
Should more emphasis be put on this kind of stuff?


Well I for one love zines of whatever kind, be it about music, movies, politics, whatever, and they're easy to read on the toilet. I'd like to make one myself but I do think they're dying. They certainly aren't as popular because of the internet, which yes, is more convenient. And they're bombarded with ads, unfortunately.

If magazines aren't slowly dying I'll be pleasantly surprised. Go on!

 

[Peter Parka]

I love football fanzines, always get a copy of OLAS when I go down to West Ham, its great seeing real fans giving their uncensored take on the club.

 

[Obdurate]

I thought of this today while I was reading AP and they talk to someone who runs a label and the guy was lamenting how there weren't any zines going around at the hardcore shows he'd go to. And he went on to talk about how it's nice to have hard copies of things because they'll be around forever. Then he said, well let me quote him:

Originally posted by some dude I don't know, who probably wouldn't care that I'm quoting him:

I really hate the fact that people only document things digitally anymore. People aren't making fanzines and people aren't making flyers. Ten years ago, you'd find at least three fanzines available at every show. It's a shame to think that the 2000 to 2007 era will have very little tangible documentation. They say that something on the internet lives forever. That may be true of naked pictures of celebrities. But a site with good interviews with good bands -- who knows?

If he's wrong, he's wrong, but it's worth discussing.

And I agree. It's nice to see uncensored opinions and it builds a sense of community.

 

[Natasha]

I don't know that they'll ever FULLY die out...but I can see the majority of them being taken out by the plague.

 

[Obdurate]

Haha yeah.

Well there are so many advertisements in "popular" magazines (I mean things like Maxim, Blender, AP, etc etc), which I'm assuming keeps them going. I used to be subscribed to EGM back in the day and I noticed that the issues were much thicker than they are now. Just a sign of the times, y'know...
They may never die but they don't seem to be improving either.