NoteWorthy. Seems Maxim parent company Dennis Publishing, with its new title Blender in the works (PRN, Jan. 22), isn't the only one tapping into
the music scene as an instrument of revenue growth. Music.com and Milor Entertainment Group (publisher of JAZZIZ magazine) will perform a duet this spring with the April
launch of Music.com Magazine. The consumer book promises "unique, edgy, yet elegant editorial content" (don't they all) but with a particular focus on the convergence of
music and the Internet.
Watch for big time coverage of hardware such as mini disk players, MP3 players and related software. Also music to editors' ears: any inside skinny on controversial lyrics,
contentious business models, and, of course, hot artists. The print magazine will hit newsstands as a quarterly with a circulation of 250,000, working in harmony with its dotcom
half, which promises daily breaking news.
According to a company spokesperson, the title will be "genre agnostic," with pop, country and alternative riffs in the editorial mix. Stories will cover the indy music scene
to boot - not just major record labels. The editorial staff will be housed in Boca Raton, Fla., at Milor central. Chief editor to be named shortly. (Milor Entertainment,
561/893-6868)
Calamitous News Network. Less than a week after its parent company, Time Warner, sealed the deal with AOL, CNN unveiled plans to eliminate roughly 400 jobs - including
about a third of its interactive staff. Under the organization's new, integrated newsgathering model, journalists will provide comprehensive reporting for all of CNN's TV, radio,
Web and ancillary services. The business shows known as "Movers," "Your Money," "Entrepreneurs Only" and "Street Sweep" are being cancelled. AOL , meanwhile, has eliminated
2,000 jobs. (CNN, 404/827-1895) Oath Under. The Massachusetts Medical Society has placed a DNR order on its monthly primary care journal, Hippocrates,
which will close after the February/March issue. The pub was purchased from Time Inc. in 1999 and relaunched later that same year, but readership dwindled because apparently
physicians are reading fewer print journals these days. According to executive editor Gardiner Morse, the magazine's editors have been offered other positions at the MMS, though
specific job changes are not yet finalized. Source: Press Access. (MMS,781/893-3800)