This afternoon the news broke that Groove Guide had been sold, and would be relaunched on June 8. The story first appeared on stoppress.co.nz (also owned by Tangible Media, who were shuttering Groove Guide).
The Groove Guide's new owner is Grant 'Grunter' Hislop who has spent many years in the music biz, most recently as Programme Director of Juice TV and former director of Channel Z and The Rock as well as A&R head of Warner Music. See The Corner , Under the radar.
Tangible Media publisher Vincent Heeringa has alternately blamed the demise of Groove Guide on shrinking ad revenue and no support from major corporates, social media and blogs, lack of support from the music industry, due that industry's declining fortunes. He said "It's a sad day for the music industry and we tried very hard to make it work ... it's a reflection more of the nature of the industry than of publishing in general."
Pointing out the dilemma of another industry could be seen to be conveniently glossing over the failings of the publishing industry. If street media can survive in other major metropolitan cities around the globe (as Tangible Media highlighted when they relaunched Groove Guide), then what was Tangible Media doing wrong?
The possibility of a new owner emerged on Tuesday, with Heeringa saying "We are a reasonably large company now and that comes with expectations of return on investment. Overheads are reasonably high.
"We've got a set of publishers here like me who we've got to keep smoking cigars and driving fancy cars. There are costs to be saved by the owner being the guy who runs the business."
I have heard reports that Heeringa was seen to have his tongue firmly planted in cheek while delivering the above blather.
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