Those words come directly from the latest issue of BPM Magazine. They know first-hand just how hard it is to be a print magazine these days. In fact, they seem to be slowly transitioning to be exclusively online. Their website is a little clunky and disorganized right now, but it gets better every month.  Two years from now BPM Magazine will probably be out of print.

A thing of the past?

It is not just music journalism that’s being eaten alive by the internet; newspapers and magazines everywhere are losing readership and advertising revenue. But music journalism seems particularly different in the Internet era because the entire music industry is changing, too. Not long ago, every garage band dreamed of being on the cover of Rolling Stone. Now, most musicians would gladly trade a magazine cover for another hundred thousand myspace plays.

But don’t mourn the death of the magazine. Even though print music journalism is barely hanging on, online music journalism has never been stronger. I use the term “online music journalism” to refer to anything written about music– a review, a full-length article, a blog post, etc. Never in history have so many people been writing so much about music.

It’s all for the better. The Internet simply provides a richer, more interactive experience than a magazine. When I read about music in a magazine or newspaper, I usually  put down the article halfway through and jump on my laptop.  Reading online is completely different– with a few clicks and a handful of new tabs I can download music, watch a live concert video and buy a pair of concert tickets.

All that being said, BPM is one of the few magazines left that I look forward to. Part of their appeal is the music they cover; but BPM also gives us crazy features like the one found in the latest issue: a half-magazine, half-comic book called “Revenge of the Rebel DJ” that chronicles the adventures of DJ Z-Trip, MSTRKRFT, and the Bloody Beetroots. The best part is that it’s all available online for free. Music journalism is changing; BPM is smart enough to change with it.

Oh, and be sure to check out the new teaser mix posted by The Bloody Beetroots  on their myspace. But be warned: the teaser will leave you desperate for more. The Bloody Beetroots are currently opening for labelmate Steve Aoki on his European tour. If you can’t make it to one of their shows, here are a couple of tracks to tide you over:

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Goose – Black Gloves (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)

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The Bloody Beetroots – Mac Mac

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 at 8:23 pm and is filed under Disco Daily. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.