Paste mag sends out an SOS

I can tell you first-hand, from my day job (well, night job, actually) at a newspaper, that it's tough for print media right now. The Internet is eating its lunch, mainly because the print media has let it. But also because sometimes people don't realize how much they miss something until it's gone.

The next thing we might miss?

Paste.

Yep, Paste magazine is in a bad way, and they're looking to you and me for help. There's a "Save Paste/Donate Now" button on the magazine's home page, and a more elaborate explanation here. You'll see on those pages that some big-name artists we love have stepped up to do their part, offering rare and exclusive MP3s for download for those who donate any amount. There are prizes, too, drawn randomly from donors at any level of giving.

We encourage you to donate if you can. Not because of guilt, because I don't think HickoryWind.org eats too much into Paste's subscriber base, and I know for sure, since we're ad-free, we don't eat into their shrinking advertising pool -- the root of the problem. But because Paste is a wonderful source of news about the music we love, and insights into the artists who make it. And, on top of that, it's a whole lot of fun.

Sure, you can get their content online for free. But if they fold and the talented writers, photographers and illustrators who work for them are forced to find another way to make a living, well, you'll be getting what you pay for.

Donate here.