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Motorcycle Consumer News closes its doors

No advertising is a tough approach.

PBS is supported in part by various foundations ... MOA Foundation?

Occasional issues with 50s music and pleas for donations?

Grants from manufacturers, the Air Force Research Lab (that’s my state), ... ?
 
I have had my Auto Restorer subscription for about 20 years, too bad a lot of great information.
 
MCN has been in a bit of a decline in the last year or so. It still was a good read however and it will be missed. I now know why they pushed their 2020 calendars so hard! :(
 
Sad for sure but most magazines are in trouble.
Most peeps these days get their, more and faster, updated information via the internet and that makes mags a tough sell..
 
MCN was available as a digital publication, which is how I received mine for the past year.
 
Wait 5 or 10 years. The current electronic information business model is not sustainable. Ads block content, are a constant aggravation, and are systematically ignored. Ad blockers trigger warnings which then cause folks to simply skip the ad and the content they intended to read. Advertisers will discover that their ads simply don't reach people and somebody will need to invent a new business model. Maybe we will see printed matter emerge for people with attention spans longer than 22.5 seconds. Or not. The movie Idiocracy (look it up) was intended to be a comedy, not a documentary.
 
We heard those same “ski is falling” warnings back at the turn of the century in the music industry, yet 20 years later it is alive and well and to many, even more vibrant as the studio-mogul roadblocks have been lowered for more artists. The night before my FIL’s funeral the family decided they wanted to play and sing-along the first verse of a song he used to sing to his wife and kids. $.99 and 60 seconds of download time later we had a nice participatory addition to the service-no running out to find and buy an overpriced CD.

I’m too old to be a digital native, yet all the newspapers I subscribe come to me digitally, by my request. Tablet apps enable reading books and allow an entire library of books to be carried along in less space than a single dead-tree version. My MCN subscription was digital and I am doing new subscriptions only to publications that offer digital versions. The subscription model is still viable in the digital age, and yes—advertising will still be a part of it.

MCN’s problem was that they never had a truly viable business model from the beginning. The “no advertising” model only works for organizations that get under a non-profit banner and actively seek outright donations and endowments above and beyond subscriptions, as continually raising subscription rates to pay the bills, sans advertising, eventually hits a breakover point where the consumer won’t ante up. Consumer Reports is one example. The Salt Lake Tribune newspaper recently filed non-profit status for the same reasons.

It’s an old saw but true, that the only thing constant is change—both external and internal—and one adapts or ends up left behind.

Best,
DeVern
 
I was informed recently by the local magazine purveyor that one of the automotive magazines I read was no longer available. An internet search revealed that TEN Publishing, which had published 21 titles, has discontinued 19 magazines that have served the automotive hobby for many years. Car Craft and Street Rodder, et al, are gone.

Print magazines sadly appear to be in a difficult position these days.
 
179212 said:
I just restarted my subscription the first issue was January
Click to expand...

Did MCN cash your check/charge your card? I renewed late last year -- pushing my subscription out to 1/22. Checked my bank statement, and apparently they never processed my check. If they processed your payment, there is a procedure outlined in their notice (link above), telling how to apply for a possible refund. No guarantee there will be enough funds to process refunds for all subscribers.

Good luck!
 
This is the worst news I've heard in a long time. MCN and Rider are my two mainstays. (along with MOA, of course) Other magazines come and go, but I always renewed those two. I'm heartbroken.
 
Stebe said:
This is the worst news I've heard in a long time. I'm heartbroken.
Click to expand...

Pardon me for saying this but....seriously? The worst news you've heard in a long time? And you're heartbroken?

I'd hate to hear your reaction if, say, there was a disease outbreak that's killed over 900 people and disrupted the lives of millions.

Apologies to all for the thread derail.
 
BC1100S said:
Pardon me for saying this but....seriously? The worst news you've heard in a long time? And you're heartbroken?

I'd hate to hear your reaction if, say, there was a disease outbreak that's killed over 900 people and disrupted the lives of millions.

Apologies to all for the thread derail.
Click to expand...

OK, I sometimes forget how many out there live in the world of PC hyperbole.

This is the worst MOTORCYCLE RELATED news I've heard in a long time, and yes, despite how it makes the all important YOU feel, I'm as heartbroken as one can be about such a thing. It's my favorite publication. (Motorcycle related, that is.) Not nearly as heartbroken as knowing that every gallon of gasoline I burn releases 5 pounds of carbon into the atmosphere, helping cause the highest concentration of CO2 in the history of the planet leading to the inevitable destruction of all life on earth. Have you buried your motorcycle yet?

That should do for the apples vs oranges comparison department.
 
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