The whole "print is dead" theme has been tossed around for at least a hundred years. It isn't true this time either. What may be dead is corporate magazine conglomerates. Say what you will about CKD/OSR, they are put out by rodders, not suits. In fact, almost all of the car mags left on the grocery store shelf are put out by small publishers. That is the way to the future. Millenials are always talking about 'authenticity'. Unless the suits figure out how to manufacture that, the only way to reach the kids will be mags put out by enthusiasts. The magazine suits are always talking about 'engagement' and 'experience' but they believe that they can 'drive' them, aka push them to the consumer. The thing about enthusiast-led publications (and forums like the HAMB), is that there really isn't a 'push', it's a two-way interaction between people who are, for lack of a better way to put it, 'on the same page'. Funny thing, the 'engagement' and 'experience' follow. In a minor bit of irony, while I'm looking at the last issues of the disco'd titles on the store shelf, who comes on the PA but the Buggles: Video Killed the Radio Star.
I'm wondering when I will get official notice from CC and SR that I will get the remainder of my subscriptions on the web. Still better than getting a few months of Motor Trend when R&C died.
Better be careful on that web deal. It looks to be one of those places that wants a credit card on file to automatically renew your "subscription" after the cheap introductory offer. They claim they will notify you in advance of charging your card. Guess it all depends on your willingness to trust them.
Print is dead because it failed to deliver content that the buyer/consumer wanted to read and see. They also failed to anticipate (hindsight being 20/20 admittedly) that the "old" way of magazine production was far, far too slow. So I reject that it is the consumers responsibility or narcissism that caused the print magazine's death spiral. Magazines are dead because the money side forced them to suck so bad readers grew hungry for better sources. The interwebs just happened to be there at the right time and better options prevailed.
These were waiting for me tonite, now all I need are the ones left on my card and I’ll have them all! Anybody giving up some “dead” print?! Probably not!
Well said Mark. First time my car was ever in CKD, was a Passing shot @2019 CCR. MAN I was excited for a week. Lol Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
I was at B&N today looking through the car and motorcycle magazine section, and I agree there are still quite a few of them there.
Here are my thoughts: 1. TRJ and HOP UP are doing it right 2. I'd like to see a section in a magazine dedicated to shops across the country 3. There's still a lot of crossover material in those two magazines, and there are more than enough cars to where that shouldn't be an issue 4. Even the HAMB has changed, as it seems like now more than ever it takes a really neat project to stand out. 5. The biggest problem with these publications going away is continued interest with the younger generations. Without accessibility to a tangible form of education, it will have to be searched for, instead of stumbled upon, which in turn decreases the overall audience. No longer will kids be able to find a magazine at the gas station that features old cars... Perhaps more is lost than we realize. 6. I am lucky enough to have a large collection of print from the 50's and 60's, and perhaps these magazines will become more valuable as a resource as time goes on. 7. The future is here... Cybertrucks, electric motor transplants... It's very likely that things will change more rapidly than we think. At 32, I've got 9 old cars, and I wonder about parts availability and how the lack of advertising left by the absence of these publications will effect the aftermarket parts sector. 8. I'll still build 'em till the sun goes out... Keep 'em on the road, folks. If we keep driving kool shit there will still be kids riding bikes that dig it.
I think the change was that kids don't look at magazine racks any more. It's not that there weren't magazines there to look at. The worlds is moving on, there just isn't much demand for buggy whips these days.
I know some of you folks hate Goodguys but there was an interesting observation in the latest issue. An editorial on SEMA. The author noted a low number of pre 49 rides there this year and noted that this has steadily declined. This demographic of cars may be headed the way brass era cars have. Lots here have mentioned worrying about young folks not becoming interested in cars due to a magazine decline. This presents a couple of observations. One is if you visit where the young folks are hanging out you will discover they are still modifying vehicles. The other is the type of vehicle. no 32s, no As, no fill in the blank HAMB friendly ride. The conclusion is that young folks still modify vehicles and just like the 50s kids, they modify what they have. Where are their influences coming from? movies, internet, other cars they see cruising around. Looks like paper is being replaced with IG, FB, snapchat and others. The movies and cars they see on the road are still an influence just like before. So I guess if you folks are actually concerned, maybe drive your rides more. Another observation is that a large portion of the pre 65 rides I see being built, even by the big name shops are not HAMB friendly builds. The fact is that the demographic displayed here is either in decline or being overshadowed by a different style.
This thread inspired me to buy a bunch of Kustoms Illustrated that I didn't have. They got here lightning fast, too. They're in the living room, the bedroom, and I take 'em to the bathroom. Life is good.
Let me go off on a somewhat related tangent. Okay, print is dead or at least on life support, we have the HAMB so we carry on. What takes the place of "features" we used to get in the mags? How about a more diligent effort to document your cars / builds by using the album feature? More times than I can count I've wanted to see more of a car or build only to find there's no album at all on the members profile page. Plus there's the added benefit of free photo storage. This is a suggestion not a complaint, carry on.
It looks to me that the "input costs" exceed the ability to make any money. Printing costs and delivery, especially. They aren't charities, so if they can't pencil it out it will go away. For my part I have a decided aversion to advertising. Or, what I would call excessive advertising. See this everwhere, not just print. Websites that hijack my phone and plaster popups all over that can't be killed, leaving a 1/64" narrow strip of readable material. WTF? I make it a point to go out of my way and never buy anything from a company that advertises that way. Radio & Television is the same thing. There is a certain level or "critical mass" in the number of commercials that I can stand, before it just makes me say "FU" and turn the damn thing off completely. The print magazines kept getting smaller and thinner, with less and less content. And the content seemed to be thinly disguised advertisements themselves. Overall the business model today seems to be suckering everyone into paying a monthly subscription fee for what is mostly advertising. Cable TV is classic. Nice work if you can get it. We already pay for the advertising- the cost of advertising is rolled into the price of everything we buy. No thanks.
totally agree on all that... the neat thing about the internet, is that we can use adblock on a browser, and not see many ads. And TVs all come with a remote with a mute button.
I used to be able to buy a mag with my paper route money. Spend all of study hall reading it. I see the mags above (granted they are slicker than the mags I bought) priced at $12.95. I make good money now but I'm not paying that.
Too bad for the small business owners that advertised in Street Rodder. It gave them good exposure for a decent price.
Six of the magazines I am subscribed to from TEN Publishing are being discontinued. In total I have 62 months of unused subscriptions that have been canceled. As compensation I was offered a 6 month subscription to digital Hot Rod Magazine ( I get the print copy subscription good through 2022) and a 6 month free subscription to Motor Trend streaming ( My Motor Trend subscription is good through 2022 as well). Streaming has a lot more content but 62 months of superscription for 6 months free of streaming? So I figured what the heck let me check it out. So I used their free code to sign up and what is the first step, give them my credit card number. Let me see I paid for 62 months of magazines I'm never going to get and now you want more money from me to sign-up for your free offer. Are they crazy? Look I have no problem with a business decision; but to me TEN Publishing just erased a ton of debt off the books (subscribed magazines for delivery in the future is debt). They erased this debt by trading print magazines for digital subscriptions and did it at a way inflated rate (62 months of magazines = a 6 month digital subscription) In the past when magazines have stopped publishing I was either offered a refund on my unused subscription or I could roll the owed months over to another publication they offered. Not this time. To me they just wiped a bunch of debt off the books on the backs of people that had already bought subscriptions. Look for more of this to happen in the future with other mags from TEN Publishing and from other publishers as well.
Which of the cancelled mags is $12.95? All of the ones on our local newsstands run $6.99-8.99. Even so, mags do cost more than they did in the old days. I don't know how old you are, so I picked 1964 as a start year. That 50¢ mag from 1964 would be $4.15 today after inflation.
I called today and transferred my remaining (35 issues) of Street Rodder to Hot Rod. I was surprised they would transfer but I had just renewed Street Rodder last month.
The Big Corporate companies have killed print due to the fact there is not enough $$$ in it for them selves. If you look you will find private companies still print great magazines. I posted before we have Rodding USA, Rodders Journal, we also have (in Australia) Cruzin Magazine and Australian Street Rodding Magazine. I also believe a New Zealand Publication (NZ Hot Rod!) owns or has a connection to Rodding USA and these private publication companies are the ones that are now grass roots based that we need to support. Hop Up has also been listed as another that we need to support. Long live print from true Hot Rodders.
Unfortunately local newspapers are on the same way to oblivion, as magazines. My local paper costs way too much, but I still subscribe. Every day I get an email from them telling me that since I subscribe I have total access to the digital version. I suspect that my paper will be gone in a couple of years
While I have no problem reading online I did enjoy my magazine subscriptions even though a lot of them were down to the thickness of a pamphlet some months and mostly irrelevant others. The problem with the internet is everything is definitely NOT there. The magazine companies have always kept only what they chose to keep available online. Want to read or refer to info from an older story? You better have that copy of the magazine in your stash or you're out of luck. I'm very happy I saved many, many, issues from back when they had content that mattered.
I agree 109%. And yes the world is turning to shit. Thank God we still the hamb and Rodders Journal. I still have all my old magazines that go from the ‘50 all through to the mid ‘70’s. I also have many of the great recent mags from the last resurgence of rodding . Hop Up, HR Deluxe, old school rods, etc. so I will always be able to grab a short stack , kick back reminisce the good times . Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I was reading about the richest people in America. It says the Diff? publishing company is worth about 14 Billion. They put out Motor Trend. My numbers might be a bit off, I read it a week ago.
You maybe thinking of ZIFF. They put out a number of publications in the IT world. MOTOR TREND is still part of TEN.
Very sad and many great points and explanations are covered here in the preceding pages. I just recently visited the Peterson Museum in LA. I had been there once before in 2005. Well worth the price of admission and the additional fee for the "vault tour" just an amazing reminder of how a family run business; touched so many, made great profits and used the profits by wisely investing, ensuring future generations can still learn and visit the facility as well as benefit from the Petersons many philanthropic contributions to the LA community. I am Somewhat sad to realize that many outside the automotive community do not realize the magnitude of the Peterson's contributions. If you ever in SoCal this is a must. Now I just need to get off my ass and subscribe to TRJ. and Ol Skool rods. And show my support and Join the alliance something I've been forgetting to do for years now.
The Jalopy Journal
