somebody mentioned awhile back that you can get a Spin mag subscription for free by just providing your address, so I did and now I do


it's alright for toilet reading

Did the same thing & usually don't pay much attention to it. The interviews in this month's issue, though, really are pretty interesting.

I don't even read it when it shows up for free.

should be called coaster.

i'd do it but i'm trying to simplify, maaan.

oh but speaking of mags. has anyone gotten any of the last couple issues of MOJO? i want to hear those comps.

I did the free thing, and read it at work when things are slow. So really, I get paid to read Spin.

I got lucky and got the Britt Daniel cover on my issue. Haven't read it yet, though.

i sometimes check out the ones at work.

I got the freebie deal, too - it was a Lollapalooza promo thing. I've gotten 3-4 issues now, & I'm actually surprised by how much I've enjoyed the magazine. As cheap as it is, they'll have me as a paying customer when the gratis sub runs out.

I've never really understood the disdain for Spin or Rolling Stone. I mean, they're music entertainment rags that, in the case of Rolling Stone, also cover politics and national affairs. I get that they cover vapid pop artists at times but they also cover great bands as well. Just seems like a stupid thing to get snobbish about.

I did the free Spin thing as well. That article that Rabbit posted about was pretty interesting, if a little fluff. Still, hard to beat free and it must've been a logistical nightmare to get all of those people together.

I also get Rolling Stone. Hell, this month's issue had an article about the final months of Hendrix and details about his recently released music, a should be required reading article on the toxic waste of the Coal industry, an interview with Iggy Pop, and a great investigative article about the GWEEG industry in the NoCal.

All for 77 cents an issue.

Hell, I'd get it for Matt Taibbi's pieces alone.

I think RS still has the best writers, but they make some pretty poor editorial decisions. It's not that they merely cover pop artists, it's that the coverage can go overboard - there was very little difference between RS and Sixteen magazine at the height of N'Sync.
It's gotten a lot better since then, but indie music has risen in profile since then too.

I agree with Derris' thoughts on RS 100%; the key is to read it in one sitting an move on.

I used to subscribe to RS for what seemed like forever, but after multiple covers with pop stars or whomever they were trying to lure in to sell the magazine I let it lapse. I still buy it occasionally though, just bought the most recent one with Jimi on the cover. The same goes with SPIN but I let it lapse because I didn't care about most of the indie artists they seemed to be featuring.

Spin has content that is more appealing to fans of good music. Rolling Stone has seemed to be more of an entertainment magazine for the last 15 years.

I've actually been pleasantly surprised when I get around to reading my Spin issues I get for free. Like the RS suggestion above, read it in one sitting and be done with it.

I disagree on both counts. To wit, Rolling Stone has always covered politics and pop culture and to use a blanket term like "the last 15 years" is ignorant because the magazine has seriously gone through 3 or 4 incarnations since then. They still cover good music. They still review good albums. They still employ better writers than most other magazines.

Spin hasn't been readable since Klosterman left and hasn't been good since about 1994.