Artrocker: Don't look at it as the loss of a print edition

I'm sure it's not putting on a brave face, as Artrocker closes its print edition:

As of 28th February 2013 Artrocker Magazine will be going 100% digital! We can’t express in words how excited we are about taking the magazine 100% digital and the opportunities it brings for an independent music magazine publisher like us; but we’re jubilant, to say the least.

Hey, don't weep for us, readers. This is exciting, yes?

Since the worldwide, and much-heralded, launch of the magazine on the iPad and the release of our Official Special Edition Gary Numan App, we’ve been overwhelmed by the positive response and the opportunities for forward-thinking, innovative applications of digital when making a new music magazine.

It's like seeing someone being thrown out of their flat talking about how exciting sleeping in a tent is.

“Artrocker has always been an innovator,” says Artrocker Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief Tom Fawcett, “When people were still ‘clubbing’ in the noughties we started a rock’n’roll night and put on the first London shows by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, The Black Keys, Interpol, Maximo Park and so many more great bands that went on to reshape music and culture on a global level. When people were saying the music industry was dead we launched a record label and suddenly the tide turned and vinyl sales rose for the first time in over a decade. People were saying ‘Magazines are over’ so we started a magazine, and here we are, almost 10 years later, still going strong and again utilising the technology and tools available to us.”

"It's brilliant, you don't have to pay council tax when you're sleeping in a tent. When I moved into this flat three years back, everyone said 'paying a mortgage is tricky, you know', but look at me now, still in the neighbourhood, discovering new corners of the park where the police don't check at night."

It's okay to mourn the loss of what was a beautifully-produced physical asset, guys; you can even do that without having to imply that a digital version is a fall-back position. I really hope in ten years' time we'll all still be around to celebrate the tablet version of Artrocker being replaced with an edition that uses the new 'being lasered directly into your brain' technology.