A year after donations from fans totaling $250,000 kept the magazine from going under, Paste ended its farewell tour yesterday when staffers were told they had two hours to clear their desks, Gawker reports. The Decatur, Georgia-based publication, launched by Josh Jackson as a quarterly in 2002, spent the better part of the last decade devoting its pages to indie rock, indie film, and indie books. One time, Paste asked “Is Indie Dead?” and eventually decided it was.
In May 2009, in dire financial straights, Paste introduced what was called its Radiohead experiment, referring to that indie band’s album In Rainbows and the decidedly indie method of distribution associated with it. Paste asked its readers to donate however much money they wanted, and in return they would get exclusive outtakes and b-sides from indie bands. The stunt earned the magazine 28,000 new subscribers, but not enough money to float its publication for good.
Is indie dead? Probably not. Is Paste dead? Unfortunately, yes.
