This a sad bit of news for the punk scene. As I write this, the last issue of Punk Planet magazine is hitting the newsstands.

Since its inception, Punk Planet has been a valuable resource for the punk scene, and not just for music. Within its covers, the magazine covered all aspects of the scene, including activism, politics, interviews and DIY lifestyle articles that included vegan recipes.

The thing I always liked about the magazine was that, as the punk scene got older, so did the focus of the magazine. While there was plenty of information on hot new bands for young punks to get into, the magazine’s political and cultural focus catered to punks that were older, had families and were voting.

It also refrained from being overly pretentious. Many publications have the tendency to get “punker than thou,” making their readers feel that they will never be as punk as the writers of the magazine. Punk Planet focused on the bigger picture, realizing that punks had lives and jobs that may not always align closely with the “true” punk ideals, yet didn’t seek to alienate them. This magazine was a true voice of unity for punk culture.

In January, the Independent Press Association, who distributed the magazine, ceased operations, and the publication took a massive financial hit. On Punk Planet’s Web site, they made this statement:

Dear Friends,

As much as it breaks our hearts to write these words, the final issue of Punk Planet is in the post, possibly heading toward you right now. Over the last 80 issues and 13 years, we've covered every aspect of the financially independent, emotionally autonomous, free culture we refer to as "the underground." In that time we've sounded many alarms from our editorial offices: about threats of co-optation, big-media emulation, and unseen corporate sponsorship. We've also done everything in our power to create a support network for independent media, experiment with revenue streams, and correct the distribution issues that have increasingly plagued independent magazines. But now we've come to the impossible decision to stop printing, having sounded all the alarms and reenvisioned all the systems we can. Benefit shows are no longer enough to make up for bad distribution deals, disappearing advertisers, and a decreasing audience of subscribers.

As to the latter two points, we could blame the Internet. It makes editorial content—and bands—easy to find, for free. (We're sure our fellow indie labels, those still standing, can attest to the difficulties created in the last few years). We can blame educational and media systems that value magazines focused on consumerism over engaged dissent. And we can blame the popular but mistaken belief that punk died several years ago.

But it is also true that great things end, and the best things end far too quickly.

As to bad distribution deals, we must acknowledge that the financial hit we took in October of 2005, when our newsstand distributor announced that it was in dire straits, was worse than we originally thought. As the dust began to clear from their January bankruptcy announcement, we began to realize that the magazine was left in significantly worse shape, distribution-wise, than they let on.

Add to that the stagnation that the independent record world is suffering under and the effect that has had on our ad sales, not to mention the loss of independent bookstores with a vested interest in selling our publication, and it all adds up to a desperate situation. This has been made far worse by the exhaustion felt from a year and a half of fighting our own distributor. It was a situation that didn't have an exit strategy other then, well, exiting.

The books line will continue to publish, and the website will continue to be a social networking site for independently minded folk; Dan will be staying with both, but Anne will be moving on, only blogging occasionally at punkplanet.com while she pursues other interests. All further inquiries about the magazine should be addressed to theend@punkplanet.com.

There probably isn't much else to say that we haven't already said in PP80—in articles about new activist projects, SXSW, the demise of the IPA, and transgender media, and in interviews with the G7 Welcoming Committee, Andre Schiffrin, and The Steinways. Read it, enjoy it, and find in it enough inspiration to last until we come back in some other form, at some other time, renewed and ready to make another outstanding mark on the world.

I urge you to check out the Web site, as it’s a valuable source for the exchange of ideas and information. The fact that they will also continue to publish their books is a great thing as well, as they have always been a great publisher, giving a voice to underground writers.

Stop by their site and express your condolences. While you’re there, check out the vast supply of back issues they have available (many of the older ones are just $1); if you haven’t already, get acquainted with this publication that has given a valuable voice to the scene for well over a decade.

Image courtesy of Punk Planet