British music magazine Q is publishing its final issue on July 28. The beloved long-running monthly, which has been integral to U.K. rock and alternative scene, will cease publication after 34 years due to financial constraints caused by the coronavirus crisis.
“We’ve been a lean operation for all of my tenure, employing a variety of ways to help keep our head above water in an extremely challenging print market,” wrote editor Ted Kessler in his final Q editor’s letter. “Covid-19 wiped all that out. I must apologise profusely for my failure to keep Q afloat.”
Parent company Bauer Media listed Q for sale among several other titles in May, following a sharp decline in sales and advertising revenue during the pandemic.
The publishing industry has been hit hard by the pandemic, with layoffs and furloughs at media giants including Condé Nast; Bustle Digital Group, which shuttered millennial news site The Outline; Vox Media, which folded real estate blog into New York Magazine; and Playboy Enterprises, which ceased the print edition of Playboy.
Founded in 1986 by journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, Q was known for its engaging longform features and greatest hits-style song and album lists. The upcoming final issue, titled “Adventures with legends,” compiles some of the magazine’s best interviews over its history, including with David Bowie, Joni Mitchell and Prince. “Hopefully, these final issues will provide inspiration for someone canny enough to fill that huge Q-shaped hole on the newsstand,” Kessler wrote.
