VIBE Magazine FOLDS
Word has it VIBE magazine is shutting its doors and closing the pages on the company today. They’ve been suffering through tough times this year despite being one of the top magazine throughout the 90’s. But new owners took over in 2006.
Calls were placed to EIC Danyel Smith’s office and publisher Edgar Hernandez’s office and sources there confirmed the shut-down. This past February, VIBE reduced its circulation and publishing frequency, cut salaries, and moved employees to a four-day work week to save money. First VIBE Vixen and now the flagship mag itself is dunzo. R.I.P. VIBE.
UPDATE: Here’s the official statement from Editor In Chief Danyel Smith:
On behalf the VIBE CONTENT staff (the best in this business), it is with great sadness, and with heads held high, that we leave the building today. We were assigning and editing a Michael Jackson tribute issue when we got the news. It’s a tragic week in overall, but as the doors of VIBE Media Group close, on the eve of the magazine’s sixteenth anniversary, it’s a sad day for music, for hip hop in particular, and for the millions of readers and users who have loved and who continue to love the VIBE brand. We thank you, we have served you with joy, pride and excellence, and we will miss you.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:32 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Vibe wasn’t one of my favorites, but it sucks to hear that it’s gone.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:33 pm (Quote) | Reply |
YAY!! I was FIRST!!!
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:33 pm (Quote) | Reply |
does anyone still read that mag anyways?
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:33 pm (Quote) | Reply |
2nd?????????
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:33 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Ugh! I am so tired of this damn recession!!
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:34 pm (Quote) | Reply |
omg!! ciara??? were getn 2 bold i c……well, itz her body n a nice 1 at that , s0…..she shoulda left that shot inside the mag….now noone will buy,theyve seen it all…still luv her tho’
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:34 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Guess not
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:34 pm (Quote) | Reply |
That’s kind of sad. I’d rather go to the website though than buy a magazine.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:35 pm (Quote) | Reply |
maybe they can start a blog….
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:35 pm (Quote) | Reply |
I only would read it at the beauty salon when I got my hair did, lol.
I thought they folded awhile ago.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:37 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Only when I was at the salon getting my do done, other than that, negative
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:37 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Sorry for the double post.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:41 pm (Quote) | Reply |
VIBE was my FAVORITE magazine back in the day and kept me abreast of all the hip-hop news! I am sad to see it go. My youth is slowly dying….
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:43 pm (Quote) | Reply |
I used to read Vibe faithfully back in the day….
20 questions was my favorite part…
Another one bites the dust….
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:46 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Used to have a subscripton for over 10 years, that was until YBF and other FREE outlets
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:48 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Wow, times are tough!!! I never thought Vibe would fold.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:51 pm (Quote) | Reply |
EWWWWWWWWWWWWW.
why did you have 2 use that HORRIBLE PIC OF CIARA?!?!?!?!?!?
VIBE IS WACK NOW ANYWAYS.
it was bound 2 happen.
the last issue i bought was in summer of 2001 when janet was on the cover promoting ALL FOR YOU.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:52 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Quincy Jones is not hurting for money ya’ll…trust!!!
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:52 pm (Quote) | Reply |
And I meant free websites like this, not their website.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:54 pm (Quote) | Reply |
thats crazy…I wonder how long wil it take for the economy to get back on it’s feet
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:55 pm (Quote) | Reply |
@keki!….micheal jackson waz livin’ art!!!!!!,UM WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?LOL
that ciara vibe issue came out LAST YEAR and thats what turned most of her fans against her.
alot of people saw that this WASNT SEXY AT ALL.so ciara was SHOCKED that most people didnt like it and she lied and said VIBE PHOTOSHOPPED HER CLOTHES OFF.
funny thing is,all that was over in 3 days and nobody has talked about it since.
IT BACKFIRED ON HER.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:57 pm (Quote) | Reply |
I rarily read Vibe but that is sad, times are hard everywhere. And one less magazine devoted to us, but I think most people don’t read magazines anyway. I mean up to $5 just for a booklet with mostly ads in them is a waste of money, when you can go online and get the same info.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 1:59 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Agree while it had defintely fallen off as of recently back in the day VIBE was my source for everything before there was blogs,websites or anything there was VIBE.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:03 pm (Quote) | Reply |
I’m sorry for those who are now out of the job but as for the magazine, I really could care less.
Vibe sold it soul the day they hired Danyel Smith. She may not have been the catalyst but she is definitely part of its downfall.
Essence, Ebony & Jet better get on the ball because their magazines are crappy as well. If I want to read hearsay and innuendos, I will read a blog not a magazine I bought.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:03 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Well, I’ve never bought a copy, read somebody elses copy or ever saw anybody else reading a copy so I’m not surprised it folded
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:05 pm (Quote) | Reply |
everything about this paticular comment/commenter seems false
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:12 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Guess this is what Danyel Smith meant when she came to speak to us at NYU and said “alot of magazines are closing down this year…you’ll be surprised”
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:12 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Nobody buys hip hop magazines anymore. Pictures are always available on the internet. It’s not like people actually read the articles lol.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:14 pm (Quote) | Reply |
bad karma for playing my girl cici and so many other celebs.
their shady dealing caught up
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:17 pm (Quote) | Reply |
IS RIGHT ON AND BLACK BEAT still selling?
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:17 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Im not suprised that magazine was too expensive and there was never anything to read it was just pure adverts inside..
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:18 pm (Quote) | Reply |
damn. this was my favorite magazine. it WAS getting kinda skeet lately though. and people DO still faithfully buy magazines. im one of them. im sad to see it go. i have been reading Vibe since i was 13, and im 24 now, so it has been in my life a looong time..
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:23 pm (Quote) | Reply |
This recession ain’t no joke, folks…harder times are coming. RIP Vibe
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:38 pm (Quote) | Reply |
what about the source mag? I prefer the source over vibe.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:39 pm (Quote) | Reply |
It is sad that another magazine has went under especially one dedicated to blacks. It makes me upset to see how careless you all are about people not having jobs now or other comments that say GOOD Riddens…Are you serious? These are careers that are NOW GONE! How would you like if your mommy lost her job or better yet, you and somebody say good riddens! A lot of the comments written are about how people don’t read and don’t buy them, that’s why it went under. In order was us to keep our businesses going we have to support them. I am a college journalist with a passion in reading and writing and value a magazine, ads and all! Appreciate the things the people before us worked so hard to have, while we still have them. Because please believe if we don’t fight and we just settle- it will be taken from us! Hence- Vibe Magazine RIP
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:40 pm (Quote) | Reply |
That’s good for ‘em. I knew they were tanking when they proclaimed “Plies” of all people as the “Future of Rap”. And they did it again with that blasphemous rapper torurnament list–I’m actually impressed they lasted this long. VIBE was to Hip-Hop as what BET is to black people. Good Riddance!
OnJun 30, 2009 at 2:55 pm (Quote) | Reply |
sorry but vibe is one of my fav magazines. I still collect them!! Sad to see it go….
OnJun 30, 2009 at 3:08 pm (Quote) | Reply |
I’m lost… How did she contribute to the downfall?? I know they were lacking something in the past years!
OnJun 30, 2009 at 3:11 pm (Quote) | Reply |
I loved the issue with the FUGEES on the cover! Thats back when VIBE was still good and it really got to the urban community.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 3:28 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Danyel Smith was on her second round as the editor in chief of VIBE. Mimi Valdes started the decline (it was winning awards when Emil Wilbelin was over there.) She left/got fired, then Danyel took over.
The magazine has been terrible in recent years. I can’t remember the last time I bought it.
Still sad to see it go. My first national story was published in VIBE. That was 01.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 3:32 pm (Quote) | Reply |
ummm wtf ciara…lookz like she poppin a squat….y does every 1 have 2 b neked on magazines now a dayz???
OnJun 30, 2009 at 3:45 pm (Quote) | Reply |
Oh yeaaaaa I forgot about MiMi Valdez, she’s over at Latina mag now and that doesnt even seem to be doing that good either
OnJun 30, 2009 at 3:55 pm (Quote) | Reply |
wat am i gonna do i paid for my magazine and im suppose to recieved magz till 2011 of june..i am so sad to see it go i grew up on vibe now it’s closing it’s door so sad so sad…
OnJun 30, 2009 at 3:56 pm (Quote) | Reply |
omg, for real! i loved VIBE magazine! wtf am i gonna read now, the source? *rolls eyes* does THAT magazine still run, anyways?
OnJun 30, 2009 at 4:04 pm (Quote) | Reply |
they should be a shamed. they ended up with a topless christina millian and dream on the last cover
OnJun 30, 2009 at 4:12 pm (Quote) | Reply |
No loss. Vibe has gone down in recent years.
OnJun 30, 2009 at 6:04 pm (Quote) | Reply |
I was a loyal VIBE subscriber….sooo glad I didn’t re-new
OnJun 30, 2009 at 9:55 pm (Quote) | Reply |
WOW! It is still a shock to know that he isn’t with us anymore, pretty scary actually.
OnJul 1, 2009 at 1:45 am (Quote) | Reply |
Forget VIBE. I miss Ebony Jr