A SPIN on Resurrection

Page size is all the rage this year. Hot off the heels of a post about the resizing of physical publications, SPIN is attempting to turn itself around by making the magazine bigger in hopes of attracting more advertising. Now in the midst of turning around a turnaround, SPIN has decided to add inches for bigger pictures and ad space and expand its coverage from alternative music (what does that even mean, anyway?) to include hip-hop.

You know what? It just might work.

SPIN has had a tumultuous history, and there is more than one person I know who haven't exactly held the title of SPINtern with pride. SPIN's readers want to read the magazine; they just haven't been able to bear it. But SPIN is ultimately a glossy - a physical music magazine in a Pitchfork and Freshout era - and tangible images are the best calling-card it has against its digital cousins. For magazines, words are often second to design and graphics. It's simply impossible to get the same experience with an online magazine as a tangible one - that includes newsmagazines like Salon. For an entertainment subject like music, the images are necessary - just like they are for MTV.

With a great art director and better coverage than some other faltering music magazines, SPIN can only go up from here.