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Plenty of magazines have announced a re-design, but never one quite like this. Launched today, Paste magazine’s new mPlayer opens doors for the integration of visual and audio content and reader/social interaction in ways that were impossible through print. The mPlayer is now available in a Beta Preview, until early September, when the web-based mPlayer becomes a paid subscription platform available to all consumers, with native apps for iOS and Android also in the works.
The mPlayer delivers a new issue of Paste every week, and heralds the return of the acclaimed Paste New Music Sampler, now seven weekly downloads paired with editorial features. The debut issue includes free songs from Bright Eyes, Dawes, Rye Rye and an exclusive live track from The Decemberists.
mPlayer also welcomes back the long-form journalism for which Paste garnered three consecutive National Magazine Award General Excellence nominations. However, these long-form pieces are now coupled with exclusive visual and audio content. For example, in the deubt issue of the mPlayer, a piece on The Low Anthem also contains a video tour of the band’s cathedral-like studio and a song from the band’s latest album Smart Flesh.
“We decided to resurrect the magazine electronically, but rather than just pretending that a computer screen, tablet or mobile device was a piece of paper, we wanted to start from scratch and reinvent what a magazine could be in digital form,” said Tim Regan-Porter, Paste’s president.
Paste editor-In-chief Josh Jackson adds, “When we launched the print magazine in 2002, we included the sampler CD so our readers could experience the music we wrote about. The mPlayer takes that original idea to the next level with an intuitive, integrated experience."
Advertising in the mPlayer will appear later this summer. “In the age of instant-everything, a monthly magazine doesn’t make sense, and so by being weekly, we can serve our readers as well as offer unique single-sponsor advertising options,” said Nick Purdy, Paste’s publisher.
In September of 2011, each weekly issue of the mPlayer will sell for 99 cents per issue or $36 for a yearly (48-issue) subscription.
Paste’s re-emergence was made possible through the support of Norton LLC, who acquired the assets of Paste Media Group in January of 2011. Norton also operates ConcertVault and Daytrotter. Content from both sites will appear in mPlayer, including a weekly song download from Daytrotter.
Check out the mPlayer now and visit the FAQ for more information.
For interviews with the founders of Paste, please call Mark Ballard at 212-680-0179.
Paste is one of the most acclaimed voices in entertainment journalism and analysis, whose coverage has resulted in four National Magazine Award nominations, dozens of Plug, Folio and Gamma Awards and endorsements from USA Today, The NY Daily News and The Wall Street Journal, who called Paste “the finest among American music titles.” The more than one-million monthly unique visitors at PasteMagazine.com comprise a highly engaged and devoted audience of entertainment lovers hungry for authenticity and creativity, looking to discover the best of what’s next in music, movies, TV, books and video games. As Utne says, “Paste brings together the best elements of the mainstream and indie press.”
Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.
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What does this mean for those people who had subscriptions when print went belly up? Are those subscriptions still honoured? That would be great!
From the email I received this morning:
"Free issues for loyal subscribers: This summer, as a way to show our appreciation to you for being a subscriber to Paste in the past, you’ll enjoy the Paste mPlayer free for 9 weekly issues during our Beta Preview (and when the paid version launches in September, you’ll receive a token for more free issues)."
So in a nutshell it would seem that the people who paid for full subscriptions only to be rewarded with frowns at an empty mail box will get to be beta testers and then have to pay again.
Dear Paste Team,
Upon receiving the e-mail below, I experienced a curious mixture of betrayal, sadness, and frustration. I've been a subscriber to your magazine for years. When I stopped getting them in June/July last year, I figured my neighbor was having them end up in his mailbox again.
Come to find out that you announced the dissolution of your print magazine via your website. Could you not have at least sent your faithful physical subscribers a postcard?
On December 23, 2009, my wife paid 50 dollars for a two-year subscription plus the sampler CD. I received about 3 issues. And the recourse is . . . to offer me nine weeks of mPlayer free, at a value 99 cents a week? This is not a just deal. Yes, I read the FAQ, and the bankruptcy restructuring provides for no reimbursement for lost subscriptions.
But could you not at least offer us a year--even two--of mPlayer? That isn't cash, and I don't think it a great loss for your parent company.
A further betrayal is Paste's absolute machinations at avoiding customer contact. The Contact Us page at pastemagazine.com is a list of FAQs. That's it. I didn't hold my breath for a phone number. And of course the old customer service number from the front of the magazine doesn't work. But not to even include an e-mail address on the Contact Us page? This is avoidance, and it yields very little trust from those spurned already. Your team comes off as rogues.
I know this comment is venomous, but I had hoped for . . . better from you guys. Your readership is (was) largely a body of intelligent, compassionate, and articulate people. For your to treat them otherwise is beyond disheartening. Why hide?
what about those of us that were loyal customers, paid for multi-year subscriptions and got screwed, with zero feedback or refunds? thieves.
Purdy is a fking snake and should get a bat to his skull. No direct contact information? Pathetic.
I agree with Chad Mozley up there. Though I'm happy to see new things from Paste, I also paid for a two year subscription and only received one or two issues. I think that should be taken into consideration for those of us that subscribed. I would love to get one or two years free of the mPlayer.
I do have a technical question on how the mPlayer will work. Since it changes every week, will we not have access to the "back issues" or will they be available to a subscriber as long as they are subscribed? Will the "issues" you pay 99 cents for always be available to your account? Even if one day you may no longer be subscribed? It's an interesting question, seeing as how I still have all my issues of the actual Paste magazine... which I miss.. a lot.
And will the other content, the content that is on pastemagazine.com right now, always be free?