And it’s so long then to fRoots, which is to cease publication. Probably no great surprise to anyone even though it obviously a shame. Even a someone who’s musical taste puts me in the target demographic I rarely picked up a copy, and it may be that such specialist music is better served by online communities.
https://frootsmag.com/froots-magazine-statement-2nd-july-2019
Never ever saw it on sale – cant buy it if it ain’t out there
I’m sorry – but not too surprised – to read this.
I was an overseas subscriber to Folk Roots, then fRoots for 15 years, from about 1990 to 2005.
I thought it was an excellent publication, and it introduced me to countless folk and world music artists that I still listen to today.
Thank you for everything you did over the 40 years, Ian.
Not all paper.
Private Eye and The Economist are doing rather well.
Yes, I’m a subscriber to The Wire, and it seems to be doing all right, as well … which is strange, considering that the content it covers is just about the most willfully obscure, non-commercial, avant garde, experimental, non-selling music on the planet …
I should imagine the Wire’s subscribers are incredibly loyal and it doesn’t strike me as being a particularly expensive magazine to produce. Magazines fail when they go large and try to be all things to all heads.
Spectator too. Record sales.
The Whitesnake effect.
That is a great shame. There are many artists, both in the UK and far beyond, who will be sad about this news, fRoots covered such a broad range of musical styles and had writers who really knew what they were talking about.
I did sometimes feel that there was a little too much preaching to the converted. The writers would often tend to presume that you shared their encyclopaedic knowledge of a particular genre. And if you did not, you were made to feel a bit of a dunce. Not a good way to attract new readers! Or new enthusiasts of the music you love.
It feels very churlish though to grumble about a mag that did so much to spread the word about so many wonderful artists. May the fRoots spirit live on!
Agree with what you say. I am/was a subscriber. Every issue would amaze me with the depth of knowledge of every style from every territory, wondering how anglophones could become so authoritative, not least when none of them could have been making a living from what they wrote. I write the occasional review for a local publication, and I knew that my words never came close in quality to those in fRoots. Yet, it also meant that that knowledge could be spread very thin. I tend to read subscription publications thoroughly, so I would find myself reading page after page on artists for whom there was little chance that I would ever encounter them live, despite my extensive gig-going.
When the magazine relaunched in 2017, I was surprised at the decision. An even fatter mag, produced less frequently? Why would that work? It made it less nimble for reporting on events, releases, listings. In fact, it never was much of a forum for current news – gossip, if you like – and I think that could have spiced it up a bit. This tome arrived every quarter, very often before I had finished the previous issue, and I would find myself wading through reams of reviews, some of them obscure to the point of perversity.
And yet, at the time when the Word folded, I acknowledged that I was far more likely to be prompted to buy something by fRoots, as it was targeted more precisely. Indeed, I will have to work harder to find information now that it’s gone.
Sad day. Goes to prove that the market knows nothing but price, while quality remains undervalued.
I used to be a regular subscriber 1984 – about 90, when it gradually became rather too world for my anglo-celtic folkie ears, much as I was/am grateful for their opening my ears to all sorts of exotica. I still peep(ed) at the few reviews available without a sub, Colin Irwin continuing to be a viable and very readable opinion.
Oh, that is bad news. Someone gifted me a years subscription recently. I found some very good recommendations through it too. Will go on checking out Folk Radio uk website for reviews. Has anyone got any other folk websites they use to look for reviews?
For Folks Sake ( https://www.forfolkssake.com ) offer a more transatlantic interpretation bit can be worth the odd browse.
Still, I think, in print is R2R nee Rock n Reel ( http://www.rock-n-reel.co.uk ) but lord knows how. It seems to no longer distribute to WH Smith, even at airports, and, while I had a sub a year or so back, it just stopped without any attempt at seeking me to renew. It is often written with more spit than polish, enthusiasm rather than expertise, missing out on quality by the sheer quantity of news and reviews. Cover discs can include relative names alongside bottom of the bill festival jetsam from the 88th Cleethorpes St Mungos Solstice Fayre.
Thanks a lot, Retro. I like transatlantic sounds so will give for folks sake a go. I had an old copy of R2R ages back which was good but the text size was microscopic, so unless they have enlarged it, I won’t try again.
Yes I had a sub to R2 which expired without me noticing which I guess shows how much I’d read it but it did have some good stuff in it – as you say you don’t see it anywhere.
I nenver fel motivated to subscribe but would have felt happy to buy a copy if I spotted one in the rack. Here in Oz, I never did, not even in specialist magazine shops.
I was a subscriber for a few years, but found that it was becoming more and more wilfully obscure. It got to the point where I was reading little more than news, reviews and tour dates, so I let it lapse.
Which reminds me …
What of the future for Mojo?
This month’s edition carries a 4 page advertisment feature for the Jaguar XE.
Remember David Hepworth writing glowingly about the new Bentley. How long was that before Word shit down?
When they launch an app you’ll know they’re really f*cked.