Spin (stylized in all caps asSPIN) is an Americanmusic magazine founded in 1985 by publisherBob Guccione Jr. Later owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. It returned as a quarterly publication in September 2024.[1]
Spin was established in 1985 byBob Guccione, Jr.[3][4] In August 1987, the publisher announced it would stop publishingSpin,[5] but Guccione Jr. retained control of the magazine[6] and partnered with formerMTV president David H. Horowitz to quickly revive the magazine.[5] During this time, it was published by Camouflage Publishing with Guccione Jr. serving as president and chief executive and Horowitz as investor and chairman.[5]
Editorial contributions by musical and cultural figures includedLydia Lunch,Henry Rollins,David Lee Roth andDwight Yoakam. The magazine also reported on cities such asAustin, Texas, andGlasgow, Scotland, as cultural incubators in the independent music scene. A 1990 article on the contemporarycountry blues scene broughtR. L. Burnside to national attention for the first time.[citation needed] Coverage of American cartoonists,manga,monster trucks, theAIDS crisis, outsider artists,Twin Peaks, and other non-mainstream cultural phenomena distinguished the magazine's early years.[citation needed] In July 1986,Spin published an exposé by Robert Keating on how the funds raised at theLive Aid concert might have been inappropriately used.[18][19] Beginning in January 1988,Spin published a monthly series of articles about theAIDS epidemic titled "Words from the Front".[20]
In 1990,Spin hiredJohn Skipper in the new position of publishing director and president while Guccione, Jr. continued to serve as editor and publisher.[21] In the early 1990s,Spin played an influential role on the grunge era, featuringalternative rock artists such as "Nirvana andPJ Harvey on its covers when more mainstream magazines often failed to acknowledge them".[2]
In 1997, Guccione Jr. left the magazine after sellingSpin[18] to Miller Publishing for $43.3 million. The new owner appointed Michael Hirschorn as editor-in-chief.[23][24] A partnership made up of Robert Miller,David Salzman, andQuincy Jones, Miller Publishing also ownedVibe,[23][25] which together made up Vibe/Spin Ventures. In 1999,Alan Light, who previously served as editor ofVibe succeeded Hirschorn atSpin.[26]
Sia Michel was appointed editor-in-chief in early 2002 to succeed Light.[27][28] With Michel as editor, according to Evan Sawdey ofPopMatters, "Spin was one of the most funny, engaging music publications out there, capable of writing about everyone fromthe Used toKanye West with an enthusiasm and deep-seated knowledge in genre archetypes that made for page-turning reading".[29] In 2003,Spin sentChuck Klosterman, a senior writer who joined the magazine in the 1990s, on a trip to visit the death sites of famous artists in rock music, which became the basis of his 2005 book,Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story.[30][31] Klosterman wrote forSpin until 2006.[32]
In February 2006, Miller Publishing sold the magazine to a San Francisco-based company called the McEvoy Group LLC, which was also the owner ofChronicle Books. The purchase price was reported to be "less than $5 million".[33][34] That company formed Spin Media LLC as aholding company.[35] The new owners appointed Andy Pemberton, a former editor atBlender, to succeed Michel as editor-in-chief.[36] The first and only issue to be published under Pemberton's editorship was the July 2006 issue which featuredBeyoncé on the cover.[37][38] Pemberton resigned fromSpin in June 2006 and was succeeded by Doug Brod, who was executive editor during Michel's tenure.[39]
In 2008, the magazine began publishing a complete digital edition of each issue.[40] For the 25th anniversary of Prince'sPurple Rain, in 2009,Spin released "a comprehensive oral history of the film and album and a free downloadable tribute that features nine bands doing song-for-song covers of the record".[41]
In March 2010, the entire collection ofSpin magazine back issues became freely readable onGoogle Books.[42] Brod remained editor until June 2011 when he was replaced by Steve Kandell who previously served as deputy editor.[40] In July 2011, for the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's 1991 album,Nevermind, the magazine released a tribute album including all 13 songs with each covered by a different artist. The album released for free on Facebook included covers byButch Walker,Amanda Palmer andTitus Andronicus.[43]
With the March 2012 issue,Spin relaunched the magazine in a larger, bi-monthly format and, at the same time, expanded its online presence under digital general manager Jeff Rogers.[44][45][46][47] In July 2012,Spin was sold to Buzzmedia, which eventually renamed itself SpinMedia,[48] which was founded in 1999 by Anthony Batt and Marc Brown.[49] The September/October 2012 issue was the magazine's last print edition.[50][51] It continued to publish entirely online with Caryn Ganz as its editor-in-chief.[51] In June 2013, Ganz was succeeded by Jem Aswad,[52] who was replaced by Craig Marks in June of the following year.[53]
In 2016, Puja Patel was appointed editor[54] andEldridge Industries acquired SpinMedia via the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group for an undisclosed amount.[55]Matt Medved became editor in December 2018.[56]
Spin was acquired in 2020 by Next Management Partners. Jimmy Hutcheson serves as chief executive officer[57] with Daniel Kohn as editorial director[58] andSpin's founder, Guccione Jr., who rejoined the magazine as creative advisor.[57]
In late 2023, the publication received backlash for Guccione Jr.'s article defending formerRolling Stone editorJann Wenner after the latter made racist and sexist comments that got him ousted from theRock and Roll Hall of Fame board of directors as well as for "Stand Together Music", an initiative used "to launder the reputation of Koch Industries".[59] In 2024 its week-longactivation at theSouth by Southwest conference was sponsored by the United States Army,[60] one of the factors that led to over 100 bands dropping off the festival in protest.
In May 2024, the magazine announced it would relaunch its print edition and publish quarterly starting in August.[61][62][1]
In 1995,Spin produced its first book, entitledSpin Alternative Record Guide.[63] It compiled writings by 64 music critics on recording artists and bands relevant to thealternative music movement, with each artist's entry featuring their discography and albums reviewed and rated a score between one and ten.[64][65] According toPitchfork Media's Matthew Perpetua, the book featured "the best and brightest writers of the 80s and 90s, many of whom started off inzines but have since become major figures in music criticism," includingRob Sheffield,Byron Coley,Ann Powers,Simon Reynolds, andAlex Ross. Although the book was not a sales success, "it inspired a disproportionate number of young readers to pursue music criticism."[66] After the book was published, its entry on 1960s folk artistJohn Fahey, written byByron Coley, helped renew interest in Fahey's music, leading to interest from record labels and the alternative music scene.[67]
Note: The 2000 album of the year was awarded to "your hard drive", acknowledging the impact that filesharing had on the music listening experience in 2000.[135]Kid A was listed as number 2, the highest ranking given to an actual album.
Additionally, the following albums were selected by the magazine as the best albums of their respective years in retrospective lists published decades later for years prior to the magazine's 1990 introduction of year-end album lists:
England
