Berlin-based electronic music culture magazine De:Bug has announced that its next issue will be its last. The staff broke the news today in a one-word Facebook post [“Finale”] linking to a statement on the magazine’s blog detailing the decision to shutter. Using our basic knowledge of German and Google translate, under the headline Willst Du eine Zeitung kaufen? (Do You Want to Buy a Newspaper?) the team cited the all too common death of print and changing media landscape that led to the magazine’s closure.
“The world exploded in the media, the competition for free is everywhere, the margins are getting smaller and the mixing calculations always escalating.”
“We are happy and proud to have endured this for sixteen years,” said the missive. “… We are happy to have been a voice that has meant something. Happy with the more than 50,000 reviews that we have written for you and all the music that we were able to push….”
The statement thanks the magazine’s readers and left open the possibility that De:Bug could be sold or exist online. But then again, do you want to buy a newspaper?