Rolling Stone, the US pop culture and music review magazine, founded by Jann Wenner, and music critic Ralph Gleason, is up for sale.
One of the few independent print publications, and rarer still, one of the few print magazines still published by the original founder, Rolling Stone has defined and critiqued pop culture in the US for over 50 years. Described as a counter-culture bible, Rolling Stone created stars on its covers, and critiqued every genre, and generation, of music. The magazine was also known for its highly charged political stories, which critiqued big organisations, conservative politicians, and put Bill Clinton and Barack Obama on its cover. The magazine was also the first “home” for legendary photographer Anne Leibovitz, whose portraits of stars such as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Madonna, Meryl Streep, and other stars of music and cinema adorned the magazine’s cover.
Jann Wenner spoke to The New York Times about the magazine, and why they’re now selling it. “Rolling Stone has played such a role in the history of our times, socially and politically and culturally. We want to retain that position. I love my job, I enjoy it, I’ve enjoyed it for a long time,” Jann said.
But letting go was “just the smart thing to do.” Financial pressures, and changing advertising and subscription models are forcing the founder and editor, to sell the magazine he has nurtured for 50 years. Last year, they had already divested a 49 per cent stake in the magazine to Singapore’s BandLand Technologies.
Gus Wenner, Jann’s son, and president and COO of Wenner Media which publishes Rolling Stone, said, “Publishing is a completely different industry than what it was. The trends go in one direction, and we are very aware of that.” Wenner Media also published two other magazines — US Weekly, and Men’s Journal. But both magazines were sold off last year.
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Jann Wenner hoped for a “buyer with lots of money” to take over the magazine. Both Jann and Gus would like to stay on with the magazine, but they said the final decision will be the new buyer’s.
Anthony DeCurtis, a music critic and Rolling Stone contributing editor, said, “That sense of the magazine editor’s hands on the magazine — that’s what’s going to get lost here. I don’t know who’s going to be able to step in and do that anymore.”
Feature Image: Variety.com