TeamRock: Fade To Black

Yesterday was a dark day for anybody who truly calls themselves a metalhead, a rocker or any fan of music. Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Prog magazines have been shut down.Working for these magazines as a freelancer, I wake most mornings to find various emails from the staff of Metal Hammer or Classic Rock about new assignments, interviews and other fun stuff. Pulling my iPad onto my chest while still in bed, I've gone from half-asleep to leaping out of bed at subject lines like "Black Sabbath," "Metallica," and "Cruise?" Yesterday was more of the same- I awoke to a few emails about pending assignments this week, which I planned to attack that day. Two hours later, a friend in Ireland cabled over the news - TeamRock had announced that it was going into administration and that 73 people were made redundant. Metal Hammer was no more. Social media confirmed the worst: all of my friends at Metal Hammer and Classic Rock magazines had been let go just six days before Christmas, and they were looking for any freelance opportunities that might be available. One wrote that the team had been called into a room and announced they'd been laid off and that they should leave there and then. Worse, he shared that those laid off will not be paid for the month of December. Safe to say that the men and women behind such this heartless decision will not be depriving themselves of their monthly pay this holiday season.For nearly a decade, I've considered it the highest privilege to write for both of these magazines. I never lost my sense of awe that these thick, glossy and ridiculously well-written magazines that I grew up obsessively reading now featured my name as a contributor in the masthead. It's been a source of pride and the launchpad for adventures that I'll cherish for the rest of my life, like sailing on the 70,000 Tons Of Metal cruise, hanging with Chris Jericho and Devin Townsend at the Golden Gods, covering the Metallica 30th anniversary shows, interviewing Tony Iommi at the Black Sabbath reunion press conference, spending three glorious days with TeamRock at Rock on the Range, traveling to Wisconsin for Metal Hammer's Trespass America tour, etc. Then there have been the interviews- mind-blowing chats with the most talented and visionary artists of our time. It has been one hell of an exciting ride.I'm a freelancer who's blessed with a killer day job - I'll be fine. But my kind, hard-working, passionate colleagues at TeamRock now have Christmas presents to buy, mouths to feed and roofs to keep over their heads without the money they rightfully earned this month. Few people understand how hard it is to run a magazine these days, when print is going the way of the dinosaur and anybody with an internet connection can throw together a blog, steal your content and share it for free. And those who think that music journalists live on generous expense accounts and spend their days consorting in five-star hotels with rock stars are way off - the pay is modest, to say the least. Know this- the people who work at music magazines are passing up far more lucrative opportunities so they can do something that they deeply believe in so that they can share that passion and hard work on to you, the reader. The end of the year is brutal in this business and Metal Hammer publishes two issues at once to end the year- a heroic task that requires late nights, weekends and long hours away from partners and children to make deadlines, interview musicians, create art and manage the multiple social media platforms. But they did it, just like they always do and for those tireless efforts, the liquidators have given them a big "Fuck You" and sent them out into the cold - literally, in this case.Hopefully some buyers emerge to keep Metal Hammer and Classic Rock up and running, preferably with the same folks on board now, who have built these magazines into bona fide cultural institutions. So I'm sending shit tons of love to my extended family in the UK. I believe that everybody is going to end up on their feet with some new and fascinating opportunities, either in the journalism biz or elsewhere. The level of talent and dedication that these people possess is exceedingly high and even in an industry in such dramatic flux, they won't remain long on the job market. But if you know of anybody looking for some top line journalism, please reach out to one of these beautiful people. They'll be happy for the work and they'll make you fiercely proud to put their names on your masthead. Love and thanks to Merlin Alderslade, Jonathan Selzer, Luke Morton, Eleanor Goodman, Lewis Somerscales, Vanessa Thorpe, Dom Lawson, Louise Brock, Dave Everley, Scott Rowley, Sian Llewellyn, Fraser Lewry, Jerry Ewing, Ian Fortnam, Polly Glass and all of the other editors and freelancers, past and present, who have lent their time and considerable talents to something of such profound meaning to so many across the planet.(20-Dec-16) Post Script:In what I hope will be the first of many compassionate responses from the music community, Orange Goblin frontman Ben Ward has put together a crowdfunding page to help the Team Rock family who were made redundant get through the holidays. No doubt our timelines are deluged with similar pages from bands, sick friends, artists, travelers and others. If you've enjoyed any of TeamRock's free online content, if Metal Hammer, Classic Rock or Prog have turned you on to an album or band that proceeded to blow your mind, if reading any of their content has helped you win an argument, score a date or look smart in front of your friends,  or if you've derived any sultry pleasures from something you've read in those pages, please consider kicking in a few bucks to bring a small bit of comfort to good people who could really use a lift right now.