del.icio.us
Digg It!
E-Mail to a Friend
Printable Version
Comments
The urban-music magazine Vibe, founded by Quincy Jones in the early 1990s, is shutting down, dailyfinance.com reported Tuesday.
The New York Times blog, Media Decoder, reported that the magazine is closing immediately.
A spokeswoman, Tracy Nguyen, told Media Decoder that Vibe employees would receive official notification in an afternoon meeting. She said she did not know how many staffers would lose their jobs as a result of the shutdown.
The magazine reached its height of success in the late 1990s and earlier this decade as hip-hop and R&B grew in popularity among pop music genres. But in recent years, dailyfinance.com reported, the magazine has fallen victim to the recession under new owner the Wicks Group, which purchased it in 2006. The Web site said Vibe in February cut its circulation and frequency of publication, reduced salaries and shifted its staff to a four-day workweek.
The closure of Vibe leaves just The Source as the only large-circulation magazine focusing on hip-hop and R&B, Media Decoder reported.
Quincy Jones and the company then known as Time Warner started Vibe in 1992, and private equity firm Wicks bought it in 2006.