Got the new mag. The Cd is no more.
30 pages, 10 of which are charts, and 1 is the notice about no more discs.

They do promise to be monthly again.


hahahahahahaha

Ha!

Just the other day, I was wondering what to do with all the back issues I had saved for some reason.

Good luck to 'em.

i have never read or seen an issue of CMJ.

CMJ was good at spotlighting a wide variety of bands, but it was never that interesting. The internet rendered the cd useless anyway.

Confirmed.

I'll also add that its winning streak that I don't mind extending to include forever.

So I'm interested in how some of you wound up in this whole vortex if you never read the mag. I know Derris brought the GA fellows. But Dale? What's the story?

Me, I started reading it in late '95 after a radio DJ recommended it and it was pretty much my portal to new music for a good five years, give or take. It's weird having written for and met Scott Frampton, I realize how much of his voice and humor was all over that thing and wound up kind of absorbed into me since I read it so exhaustively.

I used to read CMJ about ten years ago. I discovered more than a few bands from the discs.

I was a dedicated CMJ reader. There wasn't a month that I didn't look forward to receiving my copy in the mail. I mean, sheesh, with writers like Whiney, Katie, Chad, and especially Frampton, it was easy to be hooked. The day Frampton left the mag was a sad day indeed.

I don't know if this is worthy of celebration because you've missed out on a lot of good writing especially from before internet blogs took off.

F'real. Had an amazing instinct, was funny as fuck and was just a genuinely great human being. I'll never forget right before he left we had kind of a parting ways talk on the phone; "I want you to know that when we had an opening here not long ago I was super close to offering you the job. But I could see then that this magazine won't be around for long, and I didn't want you to leave a good job you already had and move here (NYC) for that."

Bittersweet info at the time, but knowing what I know now he totally made the right call. That always impressed me.

Rev Moose and crew do their best, but its not all that interesting these days.

I bought one from a book store as supplemental proof they existed. It was self-indulgent because at that time no one on the BB was receiving their subscription issues. A big complaint I remember. The BB was enough as far as music discussion. I never had a copy since then. Not meant to furl any feathers that was about 2001.

For a several years in the mid-90s it was my best source to find new music... both the writing and the CDs. The RIYLs were often brilliant.

I think it was one of the best music magazines going from 1993-1998 or so.

I remember the tall skinny format, and then the slightly-smaller-than-magazine format. Good stuff.

yep

I think 9/11 really hurt them as they were scheduled to have their 2001 band showcase at the time


Back then the annual CMJ bash was like what SXSW is now

This. I started reading it regularly when I worked for my college radio station. Around '97 or '98. Never had a subscription but I have more than a few of their CD samplers so I obviously bought it a few times.

I found the internets and the website around '00 or '01? Still visited the site daily and it was my go to for reviews until Pitchfork started up. I can actually remember the days when CMJ.com would put up a review and we'd actually discuss the album on the message board.

I found it in a bookstore just out of high school when I was really into matchbox twenty and, thus, thought I was a huge music person. I never would have picked it up or subsequently ordered a subscription if it hadn't come with a CD.

Needless to say, I didn't really like much of the music I heard, so I wrote a completely naive and uninformed letter to the editor, which was published after I had not renewed my subscription, but a regular on the message board, Leonard Shelby (?) sent me an email which 1) informed me my letter had made it into the magazine and 2) introduced me to the message board, where I lurked... until he accused me of stalking him and I had to defend myself.

That is an awesome story.

Oh crap, I remember that! He was pretty harsh on the board accusing you of that. I felt so sorry for you -- though, I do recall you defending yourself brilliantly.

The guy was emailing me anywhere from three to five times a day and then just stopped. I wasn't well versed in communicating with people through the internet, so ended up sending him a couple "are you okay" emails and an IM. Then came the "I have a CMJ stalker!" thread.

I remember when they took BB submissions for what would go on the spine of one issue and they ended up using mine, which was a saying my great uncle used: "Drinking non-alcoholic beer is like kissing your sister"

Holy crap I COMPLETELY forgot about that.

Yep. Only national magazine I've ever been "published" in. They used to take a blurb or two from the BB and put it in the magazine for awhile. I've still got the issue around somewhere.

Back in the day, CMJ was a fun read.