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Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
V. Developing the
Integrated Marketing
Communications Program
12. Evaluation of Print
Media
Rolling Stone Reinvents Itself
For more than three decades Rolling Stone magazine
has been considered the bible of music and
popular culture. The magazine’s founder and
publisher, Jan Wenner, was able to build Rolling
Stone into a publishing empire because he was
one of the first magazine moguls to recognize
that rock ‘n’ roll was the language of choice for
the baby-boom generation. Wenner also had the
insight and daring to move the magazine
beyond music into movies, politics, and other significant
cultural issues. Rolling Stone took its
readers to the bloody streets outside the 1968
Democratic convention in Chicago, to Woodstock,
and to the Vietnam war. It also led its readers
into the minds of some of the greatest
performing artists of the time, such as John
Lennon, Bob Dylan, and Mick Jagger, with long,
penetrating interviews by Wenner himself. The
magazine attracted some of the finest writers in
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
the country and featured the work of gifted photographers
such as Annie Leibovitz. It was an
honor for writers to be published in the magazine
and for musicians to be on the cover.
Rolling Stone dominated the music/pop cultural
space for more than two decades. However, in the
late 80s and early 90s the music scene began to
change with the emergence of new genres such as
alternative rock, metal, rap, and hip-hop. Critics
note that Rolling Stone’s music focus began to
blur and it fell behind in its coverage of new artists
and musical trends, a situation that created an
opportunity for new publications. One of the
major competitors to emerge was Spin magazine,
which was started in 1986 by Bob Guccione, Jr.,
who moved the magazine aggressively into alternative
rock and metal in the early 90s. Guccione
notes that he modeled the magazine after Rolling
Stone: “My model for Spin was Rolling Stone of
the 70s, which meant something to me when I was
a young man. My romanticism was to parallel
what Rolling Stone meant to me when I was 18
and have Spin be that to today’s people who are
18.” In addition to Spin, Rolling Stone is now
being encroached upon by other direct competitors
such as Vibe, Blender, and Alternative Press as
well as publications targeting the young male
audience, ranging from ESPN The Magazine to
“lad mags” such as Maxim, Stuff, and FHM.
Rolling Stone must find a way to make the
magazine essential again in a publishing world
that has been inspired by it and has long been
chipping away at its relevance. Jan Wenner says:
“Maybe there is a generational change. Maybe
there is a larger significance. But Rolling Stone
has got to be as relevant today as it was 25 or 30
years ago.” Rolling Stone is taking steps not only
to remain relevant but to recapture its position
as a cutting-edge publication that is the bible of