Spin (magazine)

Spin

File:Spin-logo.png
Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, and their daughter Frances on Spin, December 1992
Categories	Music
Year founded	1985 (1985)
Final issue	September/October 2012 (print); 8 years ago
Company	Next Management Partners
Country	United States
Based in	New York City, New York, U.S.
Language	English
Website	spin.com
ISSN	0886-3032

Spin (often stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. The magazine stopped running in print in 2012 and currently runs as a webzine, owned by NEXT Management.

History

Spin was established in 1985. In its early years, the magazine was known for its narrow music coverage with an emphasis on college rock, grunge, indie rock, and the ongoing emergence of hip-hop, while virtually ignoring other genres, such as country and metal. It pointedly provided a national alternative to Rolling Stone's more establishment-oriented style. Spin prominently placed newer artists such as R.E.M., Prince, Run-D.M.C., Eurythmics, Beastie Boys, and Talking Heads on its covers and did lengthy features on established figures such as Duran Duran, Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Miles Davis, Aerosmith, Lou Reed, Tom Waits, and John Lee Hooker—Bart Bull's article on Hooker won the magazine its first major award.

On a cultural level, the magazine devoted significant coverage to punk, alternative country, electronica, reggae and world music, experimental rock, jazz of the most adventurous sort, burgeoning underground music scenes, and a variety of fringe styles. Artists such as the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, X, Black Flag, and the former members of the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and the early punk and New Wave movements were heavily featured in Spin's editorial mix. Spin's extensive coverage of hip-hop music and culture, especially that of contributing editor John Leland, was notable at the time.

Editorial contributions by musical and cultural figures included Lydia Lunch, Henry Rollins, David Lee Roth and Dwight Yoakam. The magazine also reported on cities such as Austin, Texas, or Glasgow, Scotland, as cultural incubators in the independent music scene. A 1990 article on the contemporary country blues scene brought R. L. Burnside to national attention for the first time. Coverage of American cartoonists, Japanese manga, monster trucks, the AIDS crisis, outsider artists, Twin Peaks, and other non-mainstream cultural phenomena distinguished the magazine's dynamic early years.

In late 1987, publisher Bob Guccione Jr.'s father, Bob Guccione Sr., abruptly shut the magazine down despite the fact that the two-year-old magazine was widely considered a success, with a newsstand circulation of 150,000. Guccione Jr. was able to rally much of his staff, partner with former MTV president and David H. Horowitz, locate additional new investors and offices and after missing a month's publication, returned with a combined November–December issue. During this time, it was published by Camouflage Associates. In 1997, Guccione sold Spin to Miller Publishing.

In 1994, two journalists working for the magazine were killed by a landmine while reporting on the Bosnian War in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A third, William T. Vollmann, was injured.

Later years

In February 2006, Miller Publishing sold the magazine to a San Francisco-based company called the McEvoy Group LLC, which was also the owner of Chronicle Books. That company formed Spin Media LLC as a holding company. The new owners replaced editor-in-chief (since 2002) Sia Michel with Andy Pemberton, a former editor at Blender. The first issue to be published under his brief command was the July 2006 issue—sent to the printer in May 2006—which featured Beyoncé on the cover. Pemberton and Spin parted ways the next month, in June 2006. The following editor, Doug Brod, was executive editor during Michel's tenure.

For Spin's 20th anniversary, it published a book chronicling the prior two decades in music. The book has essays on grunge, Britpop, and emo, among other genres of music, as well as pieces on musical acts including Marilyn Manson, Tupac Shakur, R.E.M., Nirvana, Weezer, Nine Inch Nails, Limp Bizkit, and the Smashing Pumpkins. In February 2012, Spin relaunched the magazine in a larger, bi-monthly format and expanded its online presence, which covered reviews, extended editorials, interviews, and features on up-and-coming talent.

In 2011, Caryn Ganz became editor. In July 2012, Spin was sold to Buzzmedia, which eventually renamed itself SpinMedia. The September/October 2012 issue of Spin was the magazine's last print edition.

In 2013, Jem Aswad was named editor. Craig Marks became editor in 2014.

In December 2016, Eldridge Industries acquired SpinMedia via the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group for an undisclosed amount.

In 2016, Puja Patel became editor. In 2018, Matt Medved became editor. In 2020, the publication was sold to the private equity group NEXT Management Partners.

Spin Alternative Record Guide

Main article: Spin Alternative Record Guide

In 1995, Spin produced its first book, entitled Spin Alternative Record Guide. It compiled writings by 64 music critics on recording artists and bands relevant to the alternative music movement, with each artist's entry featuring their discography and albums reviewed and rated a score between one and ten. According to Pitchfork Media's Matthew Perpetua, the book featured "the best and brightest writers of the 80s and 90s, many of whom started off in zines but have since become major figures in music criticism," including Rob Sheffield, Byron Coley, Ann Powers, Simon Reynolds, and Alex Ross. Although the book was not a sales success, "it inspired a disproportionate number of young readers to pursue music criticism." After the book was published, its entry on 1960s folk artist John Fahey, written by Byron Coley, helped renew interest in Fahey's music, leading to interest from record labels and the alternative music scene.

Contributors

Contributors to Spin have included:

• Brad Auerbach
• Barry Michael Cooper
• Dave Eggers
• Chuck Klosterman
• Byron Coley
• Kim France
• Tad Friend
• Elizabeth Gilbert
• Andy Greenwald
• James Greer
• William T. Vollmann
• Will Hermes
• Dave Itzkoff
• John Leland
• Bart Bull
• Greil Marcus
• Matt Groening
• Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Glenn O'Brien
• Norman Mailer
• R. Meltzer
• Marilyn Manson
• William S. Burroughs
• Anton Corbijn
• Snorri Bros
• Bob Gruen
• Jonathan Ames
• Strawberry Saroyan
• Paul Beahan (founder of Manimal Vinyl)
• Michael O'Donoghue
• Bönz Malone
• Hari Kondabolu
• Dan Ackerman
• Marc Spitz
• David Kushner
• Bob Larson
• John Holmstrom
• Brandon McCulloch

Year-end lists

SPIN began compiling year-end lists in 1990.

Single of the Year

Year	Artist	Song	Nation	Source
1994	Beck	"Loser"	United States	[1]
1995	Moby	"Feeling So Real"	United States	[2]
1996	Fugees	"Ready or Not"	United States	[3]
1997	The Notorious B.I.G.	"Hypnotize"	United States	[4]
1998	Fatboy Slim	"The Rockafeller Skank"	England || [5]
1999	TLC	"No Scrubs"	United States	[6]
2000	Eminem	"The Real Slim Shady"	United States	[7]
2001	Missy Elliott	"Get Ur Freak On"	United States	[8]
2002	Eminem	"Cleanin' Out My Closet"	United States	[9]
2003	50 Cent	"In da Club"	United States	[10]
2004	Justin Timberlake	"SexyBack"	United States	[11]
2005	Gorillaz	"Feel Good Inc."	England || [12]
2006	The Network	"Money Money 2020"	United States	[13]
2007	Flo Rida	"Low"	United States	[14]
2008	M.I.A.	"Paper Planes"	England || [15]
2009	Yeah Yeah Yeahs	"Zero"	United States	[16]
2010	CeeLo Green	"Fuck You"	United States	[17]
2011	Adele	"Rolling in the Deep"	England || [18]
2012	GOOD Music	"Mercy"	United States	[19]
2013	Daft Punk	"Get Lucky"	France	[20]
2014	Future Islands	"Seasons (Waiting on You)"	United States	[21]
2015	Justin Bieber	"What Do You Mean?"	Canada	[22]
2016	Rae Sremmurd	"Black Beatles"	United States	[23]
2017	Calvin Harris, Frank Ocean, and Migos	"Slide"	Scotland	[24]
2018	Valee and Jeremih	"Womp Womp"	United States	[25]
2019	Big Thief	"Orange"	United States	[26]
2020	Bartees Strange	"Boomer"	England || [27]

Album of the Year

Year	Artist	Album	Nation	Source
1990	Ice Cube	AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted	United States	[28]
1991	Teenage Fanclub	Bandwagonesque	Scotland	[29]
1992	Pavement	Slanted and Enchanted	United States	[30]
1993	Liz Phair	Exile in Guyville	United States	[31]
1994	Hole	Live Through This	United States	[32]
1995	Moby	Everything is Wrong	United States	[33]
1996	Beck	Odelay	United States	[34]
1997	Cornershop	When I Was Born for the 7th Time	England || [35]
1998	Lauryn Hill	The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill	United States	[36]
1999	Nine Inch Nails	The Fragile	United States	[37]
2000	Radiohead	Kid A	England ||
2001	System of a Down	Toxicity	United States
2002	The White Stripes	White Blood Cells	United States	[38]
2003		Elephant		[39]
2004	Kanye West	The College Dropout	United States	[40]
2005		Stronger		[41]
2006	TV on the Radio	Return to Cookie Mountain	United States	[42]
2007	Against Me!	New Wave	United States	[43]
2008	TV on the Radio	Dear Science	United States	[44]
2009	Animal Collective	Merriweather Post Pavilion	United States	[45]
2010	Kanye West	My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy	United States	[46]
2011	Fucked Up	David Comes to Life	Canada	[47]
2012	Frank Ocean	Channel Orange	United States	[48]
2013	Kanye West	Yeezus	United States	[49]
2014	The War on Drugs	Lost in the Dream	United States	[50]
2015	Kendrick Lamar	To Pimp A Butterfly	United States	[46]
2016	Solange Knowles	A Seat at the Table	United States	[51]
2017	Kendrick Lamar	Damn.	United States	[52]
2018	The 1975	A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships	England || [53]
2019	Big Thief	Two Hands	United States	[54]
2020	Fiona Apple	Fetch the Bolt Cutters	United States	[55]

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. Kid A was listed as number 2, the highest ranking given to an actual album.

See also

• 1994 roadside attack on Spin magazine journalists

External links

• Official website
• Spin, for full view on Google Books

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