Longstanding music magazine SPIN Magazine has let go of an unconfirmed number of employees, including SPIN Magazine editor-in-chief Steve Kandell; Spin.com news editor Devon Maloney; and several photo and production department staff members.
According to Billboard, the layoffs come only weeks removed from the acquisition of SPIN by BuzzMedia, which purchased the 1980s established rag at the beginning of July. Buzzmedia CEO Tyler Goldman said the reduction of staff comes during a time when the future of the print-side of SPIN Magazine is in transition.
“We believe there is a unique role for print and see it as another outlet for people to access content about their passion topics… In the longer term, we’re still defining how print fits in from a platform perspective,” Goldman said.
The layoffs of editorial and photographic roles comes somewhat as a contradiction to Goldman’s statement at the time of BuzzMedia’s takeover of SPIN.
“As music consumption continues to grow, there is an enormous demand for deeper context and engagement with thousands of diverse artists…Spin’s category-leading editorial and photographic content provides the added social context that the audience is seeking by identifying, exploring and documenting the trends and scenes that shape music culture. While content is now being consumed across numerous devices, the key for all platforms is the type of great storytelling that Spin provides.”
