Herbivore Magazine - Editor's Blog

Well. Crap.

Dan over at Punk Planet announced they have just put out their 80th and final issue. I knew this a while back but was sworn to secrecy. And now that it’s official, even though I’ve known for a couple months, this really hurts.

I worked on Punk Planet for a long time. I was there putting in long hours with Dan as the magazine went from being pretty crappy and amatuer to being a real political and social force. I left around 2000 and things were on the rise, things looked hopeful and the future full of promise. Now here we are 7 years later and they are closing up shop, reportedly due to distribution problems (you may know our own distribution woes, PP and Herbivore had the same distributor) as well as problems with their advertising base being another industry that is suffering: Independent music. The two income streams dried up at the same time, plus, people are supporting indy media less and less. Not much way forward in that situation.

It’s all very sad. You can read my column in the final issue for my attempt at hopefullness in all of this. I believe what I wrote, I believe the end of something is the beginning of something else. I know the viewpoints and energy that made Punk Planet happen for 13 years won’t disappear just because it’s physical form has stopped being made. Some days, however, it takes me a little longer to convince myself. Especially as I sit here typing this and six inches to the right of my right hand is the final issue of Satya that landed on my desk last week.