Is Paste next?
A friend who’s been working at Paste updated her Facebook status thusly this afternoon:
Alright. Here it is. It leaked earlier today, but now it’s official. Paste needs help, or else it will go under. Please, please please help out this wonderful magazine, and tweet, post and link to this to spread the word. I’m gonna keep posting this for the next few days, so you all see it.
It may or may not be inevitable at this point. Certainly if you’ve frequented this site since we went live a couple of months ago, you’ve read plenty of blog posts about the future, such as it is, for niche publications. Paste is pretty nichey, so whether or not it survives is anyone’s guess.
Donor-fans helped ND move online last year and have helped artists like Jill Sobule get their albums made. Peter recently opined on how this donation model affects artistry for musicians, but it remains to be seen whether this could be a viable option for media and the arts. Regardless, it’s in that spirit that Paste has launched a Campaign to Save Paste, which includes incentives for donating to the cause, like signed posters, an ocean-view cabin on Cayamo ’10, etc. For those of you inclined to help save print publications who are inclined to cover rootsy music, they’re accepting donations.