Spin Magazine Review

Of the three music magazines I subscribe to, I find myself regretting more and more my decision to renew with Spin last year more than anything else.   

At one time, Spin was a nice alternative to Rolling Stone.  Now, however, they seem unable to decide if they want to be Rolling Stone minus the politics, or if they merely want to cover whatever the flavor of the month is.  Spin's biggest problem at the moment is that they jump all over whatever is hot, only to rag on it six months later, pretending they never supported it.  And that's to say nothing of the artists they apparently are in love with at the moment at the Spin offices.  

The columnists are mostly boring, offering what they no doubt feel is witty commentary on pop culture.  In reality, they lack the bite and wit of Chuck Klosterman, who, sadly, left the magazine shortly after it's sale last year.  And while the magazine was seeing a decline in quality before the sale, since said sale, it has gone downhill even further.   The articles lack the warmth that previous writers were able to get out of bands and artists.  They focus more and more on mainstream hip hop and pop, moving away from their once credible rock writing. 

They seem perfectly happy to worship about 3 artists who have been around for longer than a couple of years (U2, Nirvana, and the now reunited Smashing Pumpkins), and outside of those 3 (one of which has been effectively dead for 13+ years now), seem uninterested in any other band that has carved out a devoted following over any number of years.  And the length of articles is oftentimes embarrassing.  Rarely does Spin get very in depth with artists, and just when it looks like they ARE going to get in depth, the article ends abruptly, leaving the reader with a "what the hell" feeling.   

I'm still hoping Spin can turn things around.  After all, it was so cheap to renew for 2 years, I'd be stupid to not keep getting the magazine until the subscription runs out next year.  But compared to four or five years ago, Spin is languishing badly behind their two main competitors (Rolling Stone and Blender), each of whom have settled on an identity.  Meanwhile, Spin, after having an identity for so many years, now seems lost as to what they want to be.