The staff of independent music monthly Tuned, which left staff unpaid when management closed the title without warning, have launched a new website, write Rachael Gallagher.
Editor Leander Gloversmith and his design and editorial team have unveiled Tuned AD, an online magazine.
The website will feature reviews, features, editorial and fashion blogs. The team has changed the name and logo slightly, but Gloversmith said it is close enough to have an obvious attachment of the Tuned brand.
A PDF of issue nine of Tuned magazine – which never made it into print – has been made available to download.
He said: ‘The plan is to start it out with online content and features and an archive of album reviews and film reviews and blogs.
‘The unique feature of the site is that there’s going to be an online magazine that is going to be laid out as if it was going to print. You can download a bundle of features in one PDF package and read it online.”
Gloversmith explained that the team also plans to release one-off specials next year, and will start charging for advertising.
He said: ‘We hope to make enough revenue to make it a full-time endeavour and to be able to pay freelances. We don’t want this to just be a free webzine.”
Gloversmith said staff have yet to hear from Tuned magazine’s publishers. ‘We’ve tried to contact them because we’ve had people say they’ve placed orders through the web store to get back issues and haven’t received them, even though they’ve paid for them.
‘The publishers have just ignored me. We’ve had to advise people to report them to PayPal to try to get their money back,’he said.
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