Q magazine to close after more than three decades
British music magazine Q has announced it is set to cease publication this month after more than 34 years in publication.
Editor Ted Kessler confirmed the news on Twitter, announcing that the forthcoming issue will be its last. “I have some bad news about Q magazine,” he wrote. “The issue that comes out on 28 July will be our last. The pandemic did [it] for us and there was nothing more to it than that.”
In his final editor’s letter, Kessler said: “We’ve been a lean operation for all of my tenure, employing a variety of ways to help keep our head above water in an extremely challenging print market. Covid-19 wiped all that out. I must apologise profusely for my failure to keep Q afloat.”
Bauer Media, the music magazine’s owner, in May put the title and many of its peers under a review, after a sharp slump in sales and advertising during the coronavirus pandemic.
Bauer also said it will shut down almost 50 local radio station brands as it restructures its media empire to form the UK’s largest commercial radio network.
It subsequently announced that it was considering selling Q, however, the monthly title failed to attract a buyer.
“The pandemic and lockdown has further accelerated the trends already affecting the publishing industry,” Chris Duncan, the chief executive of UK Publishing at Bauer, told the Guardian. “Some titles that were already challenged, unfortunately, are not expected to be sustainable after the crisis.”
Q was founded in 1986 by Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, under its original name Cue, as in the sense of cueing a record ready to play. The name was changed to Q to avoid confusion with snooker magazines. The title was known for its interviews with prominent musicians, and its “100 Greatest” compilation articles.
Its last edition will be a special commemorative issue, featuring archive material from the magazine’s interviews over the past 34 years.
It comes as the pandemic continues to batter the publishing industry, with the Guardian last week announcing it will continue printing its weekend supplements in a bid to shore up finances.
The Guardian said it is considering closing its Weekend, The Guide, Review and Travel print supplements, with further shake-ups to the newspaper’s size also expected, as the newspaper group last week said it will axe 180 jobs to ease wide-scale losses expected for the full year.
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