Groove Guide gone - publisher

Photo / Supplied

Local music magazine Groove Guide is to close, just months after a merger aimed at making it financially viable.

Owners Tangible Media today confirmed the upcoming issue 171 of the free weekly mag will be its last.

The move comes six months after the title was merged with the long running monthly music magazine Real Groove.

Publisher Vincent Heeringa said Groove Guide was not financially sustainable in a modern music market marked by the rise of social media.

Large commercial and public sector organisations did not advertise enough with the magazine to allow it to continue, he said.

"It just can't stack up financially. We've tried lots to make it work.

"There are people clinging to nostalgia and the past as if it means something. But things change. It's very hard to pay people's wages out of nostalgia.

"It feels very sad for us. No-one is enjoying this."

Editor Sam Wicks and brand manager Emily Govorko would lose their jobs at the magazine, Mr Heeringa said.

Mr Wicks said the closure was disappointing, but accepted it was a business decision.

He said the magazine was held in high regard by promoters, who saw it as their "bread and butter" for listing upcoming shows.

"They go back to the drawing board as well now."

A free streetzine - either operating as Groove Guide or under another title - could still be profitable if it was picked up by new owners, Mr Wicks said.

It would need to merge the best qualities of print media and music blogs, he said.

Mr Heeringa said the closure showed a change in the way music would be covered in New Zealand - with amateur blogs set to take a more prominent role.

"We're heading into the age of the amateur. We're actually already in it, which is good and bad. It's hard for people to make a career out of it now."

Tangible Media described Groove Guide as New Zealand's only free, weekly, nationwide streetzine.

It featured artist interviews, reviews of music, films and games and a large listing of upcoming shows.