I’ve just been sent a link inviting me to have a free copy of Mojo. Recalling that I signed up to “The Word” about 2 copies before it was closed, I fear the worst for our worthy but sometimes rather dull remaining music magazine for persons of a certain age. Maybe it’s all moved on-line now?
Mojo on the way out?
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I signed up for a free copy of Mojo at least 18 months ago. It still hasn’t turned up!
On the few occasions I bought it over the last few years I found it’s become even duller. I can’t believe it’s still survived along with Uncut.
(I’ve not bought a music mag since The Word went under.)
Last figures I saw it sold about 70,000 (Q around 45,000. NME around 15,000)
All these titles will be losing sales though.
It’s a shame. I like reading music papers and I still don’t find the online equivalent a ‘like-for-like’ replacement. It’s not really “moved online” it’s gone – there is nothing the equivalent of The Word magazine on or offline.
I persevere with The Mojo, it has some good stuff in it from time to time. I’ve pretty much given up on Uncut which makes Mojo looks positively cutting edge (can’t face another Dylan/Neil Young retrospective).
I’m not sure how a magazine like The Wire endures, but there it still is in WHSmiths. I find it a bit painfully niche and humourless but it seems to be able to survive on what is presumbaly a hard core of subscribers and occasional impulse purchases – I’ll pick a copy up from time to time. Similarly Record Collector, which I like to read – and can’t be doing huge business but it survives and seems to be doing OK.
This makes me think that although the figures will be alarming for the big media group/mass market titles – the fact that these smaller, niche publicatioms seem to hang on suggests there is a future for music magazines albeit as bit of a cottage industry for a much smaller audience – much like Vinyl records.
Crumbs, Q is plummeting then. Back in 2009, I think, we discussed sales on the Word site. The Word was selling 20,000+ against about 110,000 for Q iirc.
Anyone know what The Word’s peak circulation was?
Yes, the Wire is a strange one. It’s been going for 33 years now. Its readership must be unusually loyal. I suppose few other periodicals/websites cover (some of) the more obscure sub-genres that it specialises in.
After a couple of years as a non-subscriber, I’ve just started subscribing again. It’s a strange publication: sometimes I find there’s plenty of interesting stuff in an issue. Some months nothing at all.
I bought he U2 issue around Christmas but never read it. It hung around for a bit, being moved from one side table to the next until finding it’s way into the recycling bin. There was a huge sense of relief once I was rid of it. Mojo has become about as interesting as a well poured concrete slab.
I’ve just read the NME is going to be relaunched as a freebie. Apparently, most of their audience is reached across social media and when everything is included they reach 3.9 million people a week (It says here)
The Madonna cover issue was fantastic (brilliant interview) and I loved, loved, LOVED the way it riled the Mojo trads into a “Dylan going electric” moment. “How dare you put one of the globe’s most successful artists on the cover!” “She’s a GIRL!!”
Every now and then it’s very good and still has much stuff you can’t access elsewhere – that Madonna interview case in point and the current Blur/Albarn issue. The previous issue though was another snoreathon retrospective on the Physical Graffiti re-issue with another worthy interview with Pagey. Does the world really need to hear any more about the drum sound in the Headley Grange hallway? Even I could write a book on that nowadays.
I also remember the outrage when it was proposed that the covermount CD be replaced with a link to download that months tracks for free, or perhaps just a cardboard sleeve rather than a jewell case. Uproar! Apparently people keep them and file them, in order, on their shelves. I throw them in a heap for the charity shop, unwrapped and unplayed.
Over the years there have been some fantastic CDs. Often the best part of the mag. IMO. The Man Machine and OK Computer immediately spring to mind. I’ve still got 20-30 on my shelves and they get an outing occasionally. But I think I’ve finally parted company with mag. Wish it had more jokes and more sense of fun.
Big mistake, huge.
I rather enjoy Mojo still. Even Uncut has its moments, but Mojo often delivers a longer form piece that’s genuinely interesting. Apart from the Madge fawning. Yawnarama.
The Mojo CDs are often excellent. I bought a big fat CD binder from WH Smith that holds a gazillion CDs, and stuff them in there, binning the polycarbonate shelf-space-stealers. They often have hard-to-find tracks tucked away.
I like MOJO and still find it as interesting as the first issue. Every issue has one or two articles that dig deep into the backgrounds or history of someone. I surely don’t buy it for the cover story, so I’m not disappointed when they’re doing another Zeppelin/Beatles/Clash/Kate B**h/Blondie story – there’s still another 100 pages to read. Where else will you get 6-page articles about Sleater-Kinney or Scandinavian metal that really tell you something (and come in meticulously great design)? And the long interviews are always a good read, whether it’s road warriors like Nile Rodgers and Mick Fleetwood or idiots like Kim Gordon.
So – long live the Mojo!
Haven’t bought Mojo, Uncut, Q or NME for years. I still buy Record Collector though. Judging by their modest, but loyal, figures I suspect there are quite a few people like me out there who like the object as much as the music. Sometimes even more so.
People who wouldn’t know how to switch on an ipod. (Or would want to)
I lived Mojo when it first came out, and in its day it was a mile more satisfying than Word with its interviews with comedians and game show presenters, Big Brother contestants etc, but I haven’t bought it for ages. I could say the same for Uncut 10 years later actually.
I didn’t mind the interviews with non-musicians in Word. It wasn’t just a music mag.
I used to flip through the technical section they sometimes did. I did realise that that product placement was what was financing the publication though.
New issue v nice piece on the Blurs band and Beach Boys in the 70s plus other stuff that floats my boat
I likes MOJO
both Uncut and Mojo have their good and bad months, but presumably sales of magazines are falling across the board generally anyway – as in the closure the other day of Loaded for example.
Wouldn’t pay nearly a fiver per issue for either mag, but they’re not bad value on subscription at about £1.70 each per month – at that price you can afford the occasional dull issue..
Kate B**h? Who is that? Never heard of her – can you tell me more?
Apparently, the more specialist music mags still sell though i.e. Prog, Shindig, Classic Rock, Vive La Rock!
Anyone pick up a copy of Classic Pop?
http://www.classicpopmag.com
Well maybe that’s the way it’s going, lots of niche publications rather than more general music monthlies. That’s a shame in a way, the variety in Word and Mojo meant I’d read about stuff I might not read about in a more specialist music mag.
I usually buy Uncut and rarely Mojo.
Uncut has never at any time been as good as Mojo in its heyday – it’s first five years or so. However I’d say Uncut has never plumbed the tedium of the areas Mojo so often explores and Uncut does introduce me to new bands from time to time.
I was wondering about Mojo’s existence because I noticed in our newsagent yesterday that they still had the Zep cover issue on the shelf, though DFB says there is a new issue.
I’ a subscriber so we get ours early. Guess its out in shops Thursday
Subs editions arrived end of last week. Bleurgh on the cover. Pretty good issue I think.
I suspect that any printed media that requires thought, concentration and consideration and contains articles that take more than 30 seconds to absorb are all gradually losing sales, as the attention-span of the core music consumer demographic judders ever more closely to the nappy stage. Once the boomers are gone, there will be nobody left who gives a shit.
Hey Carl, the new issue was actually late arriving – I am a subscriber and only got mine on Saturday. Also subscriber to Uncut and buy Record Collector most months. Call me an addict, call me old fashioned but I still like my monthly fix of both- as Fatima said I never buy it for the cover artist and only get pissed off if the lead article is about someone I don’t like i.e.. Queen or U2 but that isn’t every month by any stretch. So long may they live.
I bought the first 200 issues of Mojo right from the start, and kept them all until the ceiling looked like it might collapse under the weight. By the time I gave up on it, it had become incredibly dull and worthy and in desperate need of a new typeface, content overhaul, or some other kind of revamp and new ideas. I eventually chucked all 200 away because no one on ebay wanted them. On the other hand, I’ve stuck with Uncut and still buy it every month, although these days I tend to read the review section and put it aside. God knows how any of them survive, but I guess we should be thankful that they do.
I didn’t buy any magazines of any sort for years – Word was an exception. During the past year or so I’ve slipped back into buying the odd Record Collector, and usually enjoy it when I do. In fact, they have a ’13 issues for £13′ subscription deal flyer in the new issue. And I think I probably will. Hard to beat that sort of value.
13 for £13? Blimey, that’s a good deal – it’s £39 on the website at the moment. I’ve come close to subscribing to RC a couple of times but if I can track that flyer down I’m definitely in this time.
The one with Strummer on the cover, Yorkmeister. If you have any bother finding the flyer PM me…
Some of those MOJO CDs have indeed been very nice (the NY punk one was a particular fave). I’m aware of a site that offers download access to the entire MOJO CD archive (157 compilations, it appears), as a service to subscribers who may have misplaced theirs. Wouldn’t want to clutter up this place with any links to such low-rent affairs, but easy to find if you were to search for that archive.
I’m a MOJO subscriber and I usually buy the latest Uncut when I see it in Sainsbury’s magazine rack. I burn the CDs to harddrive and file the physical object away. Sometimes there are pearls among the dungballs. If particular articles take my interest I’ll read them. Quite often the mags themselves go in the recycling unread. I never ever keep them even if enjoyed
Mojo subscriber who nearly wavered and went elsewhere, but didn’t cancel Direct Debit so another 12 months on the way.
Always readable, if not entirely. And yes do get fed up with the same ground, but its always worthwhile and where else would I get a print fix from
Only Vive Le Rock comes close for me, but I find it to niche/restrictive. VLR gives me my Punk/New Wave fix, Mojo (and the CDs) might introduce me to new stuff.
Its the best “mass market” magazine out there – Q and Uncut are a bit crap, and Razzle isn’t available on subscription (it also doesn’t have star ratings for its album reviews)
I bought Word, Mojo & Uncut all from issue 1, both Mojo & Uncut always have something of interest to me, I still have the last issue of Word, I`ve never read it. I got fed up of Hepworth`s sanctimonious blathering. The best music mag is Prog, but if progs not your thing it`s probably the worst music mag.
Lovely Irishism there, Baron. Know this?
http://www.irishslang.co.za/irisha_m.htm
Blather’s there, between blackguard and bleedin’ deadly.
Thanks Declan I should have said `sanctimonious blathering blarney` ; ))
There’s always ‘just’ enough in Mojo to grab my attention, though this month’s issue only has one feature of interest to me (Sandy Denny).
I tend to use it more as (a) a source of what reissues are coming out and (b) a reminder of what to dig out of the ol’ collection upstairs.
A recent double-whammy costing almost £10 of Record Collector and Uncut for a train journey from Penzance to London left me extremely underwhelmed and with nothing to read from Truro to London!
Maybe they were just weaker issues.
I though the Sandy Denny article was a good read. Maybe the x-factor generation of wannabes have so little character or artistic merit that the magazines are running out of anyone new to write about. I can’t see 1D being written about in 20 years time in the way Blur have been this month.
I think you will find it goes way back before the X Factor generation. How much is there that has emerged post 1990 that would a) warrant a 6 page feature or b) attract a large enough audience who wanted to read about them.
Well if (and its a big if) Mojo is still around in 20 years I presume they won’t start writing about X factor acts and boy bands which is something they have never done (and why in spite of their vintage you won’t find any articles about Westlife or New Kids on the Block in recent editions of Mojo) so that’s not a fair comparison.
The fact is we don’t know which acts of today will still be written about in 20-25 years. Back in the early 90s Blur were seen as Baggy bandwagon jumpers when they first started, Manic Street Preachers were seen as a bit of a bad music press joke and Pulp were a third division indie band still trying to break through after ten years of being ignored…not sure I could have predicted these would be cover stars and filling enormodomes all these years later but they are.
My point was that we are now 20 years on from 1995. Yes, there are features abou t the Manics, Blur etc. And you could trundle out the likes Teenage Fanclub and Tindersticks, But the pool was getting much smaller 20 years ago and that trajectory won’t change.
Don’t really read music magazines since the big one went down. Q is always really disappointing, and I meant to buy the Madonna issue of Mojo (really good idea for a cover star) but forgot.
The only mags I read now are Edge, Huck (very occasionally) and the US edition of Wired.
AAh, come on, , Boho and Unshod are OK if increasingly short reads, but at least they have a shedful of reviews. Where else will you find that? Word for all our love was quite slim on the new releases. Rock n Reel has even more, but even I haven’t heard of most of em.
I buy them all (well; Mojo, Uncut, Q, Classic Pop and Swedish music mag Sonic), but I’m a bit of an obsessive reader (if you hadn’t noticed…)
Also, I still find it’s the easiest way to find out about new albums and if they’re any good.
…but how you find time to listen to any of the things you find out about from your unbelievable amount of reading is one of the great unanswered questions of physics!
Ah, but I always listen to music while I read (but I don’t always read while I listen to music).
A lot of people don’t seem to be able to do that from what I’ve been told. I also listen to music while I write, another thing that most people apparently find difficult.
Do you listen to music while you write your books, Colin? After all, you write about music, it should go very well together, right? No?
You would be amazed how little I listen to music Loki! Whole days can go by… I can’t ‘listen’ while writing/researching though I’ll often listen to something related to whatever I’m writing when I’m doing something with the text that requires less headspace (editing, tweaking, formatting, proofing…)
Funnily enough, the only time I’ve listened to music today was one side of Jan Akkerman’s little-remembered 1990s LP ‘The Noise Of Art’, about half an hour ago while ironing. Ironing is good relief from writing, or thinking…
Music makes ironing a lot easier, in my experience!
Read NME for about 20 yrs, Q for 10, Mojo for 15, Uncut for 10 and The Word or Word for however long it lasted. Nothing now, except I pick up the occasional Ultimate Music Guide or suchlike, eg the recent Kate Bush one which is excellent.
Don’t want them to go under, but I agree with some of the Mojo comments, ploughing the same furrow over and over again gets tedious and I find the layout just awful, needs to.change completely to have a chance bit it’s almost certainly too late, baby.
I bought the Bowie 100 Mojo and really enjoyed it, the CD excellent for once. Just like old times – like many here I bought the first couple of hundred issues and got rid of them all a couple of years ago. I still remember the first Mojo I bought, it was about no 5 and had Zappa on the cover (just after he died). I took it into a noodle shop and had my first ever chicken laksa while I read it. What a heavenly experience that was!
I subscribe to R2 (previously Roots ‘n’ Reel) but they have a weird subscription model where you have to keep renewing every quarter or something and I forgot so it has stopped appearing. I also subscribe to Guitar mag which is always exactly the same format / content, but then guitarists are a very conservative bunch.
I’ve also bought a few guitar mags lately – the UK Acoustic magazine notably. They have a free cd of artists who play acoustic guitar. The thing that strikes me is how much of the music is dullsville. In this month’s issue they are championing James Bay. ‘It’s time for a guitar music revolution!”
That may be James but I don’t think you’re really in the vanguard.
I subscribe to Mojo out of habit and because whenever I think about cancelling another 6 monthly direct debit seems to crop up, so I think I may as well hold on for a while. I can’t remember the last time I read something I would really have regretted missing, and I know the download site Camille refers to above for the discs.
My other subscription is Songlines, where I have rarely heard of the performers but always find at least a couple of items on the CD worthy of further investigation.
I subscribe to Mojo and Classic Pop. I find the former pretty up-and-down, either one month having a great range of articles and reviews providing cover-to-cover reading, or another just about managing one interesting piece. Of course it all comes down to personal tastes and preferences; having very little interest in Floyd or Zep for example, I wouldn’t relish yet another in-depth look at their careers, yet give me something on the TheBeatles, Bowie or The Smiths, say, and despite having read copiously about them I would always be interested as I find their stories endlessly fascinating.
Classic Pop is a strange one; I have bought it from the first issue and there’s much to like, although most of it is celebratory and informative rather than insightful and/or critical. I just get the feeling that having such narrow terms of reference (‘Eighties, Electronic, Eclectic’) it has pre-ordained its own longer-term redundancy (unless it copies the Mojo/Uncut template and starts repeating its focus on certain artists).
The only subscription I still have going is fRoots. I got tired of all the others after a while. I subscribed to R2 when it was Roots n Reel (and a paper, rather like Melody Maker etc, way back when), but they went bust, taking my subscription with them, so I’ve kept clear of them since they reappeared.
This is a very good point – people bang on about how music mags and newspapers are obsolete and it’s all online
Papers absolutely but music mags no. I will dread when they finally go under
But it also seems partly self inflicted. Uncut used to be a superb mix of music AND movies then they ditched it
Still a market for a mag like Word
the danger is a mag that tries to be allthings to all men and covers music, films, dvds, books etc ends up satisfying no-one.
a magazine like that would definitely need the backing of one of the big publishing companies, as Word found out – unfortunately.
Ordered NME from corner shop in 1977. Thought I should cancel after children started turning up in early ’90s, but never quite got around to it…
…also still buy Q, Uncut and RC if particular issues look interesting. Have all Mojos, eventually subscribing when a brilliant offer of Elektra box set was part of the deal. The publishers confirmed subscription and despatch of gift, then claimed that box set was no longer available anywhere. 3 months later, escalating e-mails and pointing out where they could obtain a copy of “my” box set, I got it. Mighty fine e it was/is too!
Classic Pop is fab as well
I might be alone in thinking that Q isn’t half as bad as it once was, although I run away with a competitive level of pace when I see it’s a list-based issue.
Mojo…ahh, Mojo. When I first started buying it, it was a great source to read about Bob Dylan and the Beatles. Nowadays, if I see a Dylan or Beatles article, I haven’t the strength to read it: it’s always the same piece rubik’s-cubed around. And if I read one more article on how Fleetwood Mac were in relationship turmoil whilst making Rumours…
NME not a freebie….yet.
http://www.completemusicupdate.com/article/time-inc-is-considering-a-free-distribution-future-for-nme/