Popular fan magazine, Bluegrass Music Profiles has announced that their current September/October issue will be the last.
From their launch in 2003, BMP focused on the personalities behind the music with interviews designed to get to know influential figures in bluegrass, including artists, songwriters, event producers and business people. This mix, along with news items and CD reviews, seemed like the sort of niche product – with a potentially loyal audience – that could find and keep an audience, even in tough times.
But, alas.
Recent news in the wider print media has been rife with similar stories, as rising paper costs and pressure from online new sources have turned subscription-based periodicals, delivered by mail, into a declining market. Just today, the venerable Newsweek brand revealed that they would go to a digital-only format at the end of 2012.
The publishers of Bluegrass Music Profiles are in the process of issuing pro-rated refunds for current subscribers, and back issues will be available for purchase through the end of 2013.
