Since Blender magazine reinvented itself with a drab new look (and — let’s be honest — less content) earlier this year, tongues have been wagging about their choices in article fodder, from interviewing Lil Wayne more times than he probably conducts an interview with his sizzurp cup (with his nutty ass) to sizing up tween stars usually reserved for Tiger Beat like barely-legal country singer Taylor Swift (who?). Nothing got readers and critics alike talking more, though, than the June cover featuring Tila Tequila, known for her reality show on MTV, MySpace stardom, rumored faux bisexuality and not much else. The closest Tila has ever come to a widespread music career is this hot mess, which was prestigiously offered as a cell phone download. Supa-staaaah!

But Blender — which I used to be able to read from cover to cover and is now in danger of being shut down by its parent company due to waning interest — isn’t the only music-geared bible looking more like a Hari Krishna handout published on two-ply these days. The once relevant and cutting edge Rolling Stone alternates weekly between covering pop stars three months past their prime, blowhard politicians and aging rockers, none of which it covers convincingly or with passion anymore. Hip-hop rags like The Source and XXL have hit rock bottom with their eds-in-chief being replaced in recent years and cover story potential going by the wayside (check out who XXL thinks the new generation of hip-hop is — yeah, the new generation of ringtones, maybe). And Spin… well, I won’t go there. I didn’t even know they still published that until I picked up a copy of Reader’s Digest instead at the airport a few weeks ago.

Vibe has recently tried to reinvent itself as an “urban” take on People with dreary results while lifestyle mags like Giant and Complex move in on their former audience. Both of the latter mags are quality and entertaining, but neither caters directly to the music fan.

So, are music mags on their way out? It may be true that the blogosphere killed the print star much the same way all forms of print entertainment — like newspapers — are struggling to stay afloat with so much new media out there for the masses to choose from. Nearly everything becomes obsolete at some point, so this may have been inevitable. But for the magazines that once presented quality instead of gimmicks or A.D.D. attention-grabbers, this is a depressing time. I’d rather see a massive au revior issue from a magazine like Blender than have it go out with a whimper and The Jonas Brothers on the cover. Oh shit, I just gave them an idea. Someone keep them away from our blog.

–J