Powder Mag is Done

[yeahman]

The vast majority mobile advertising/influencer world is a giant pyramid scheme, propped up by advertisers paying a tiny commission on app downloads, to get people to download ad laden spyware apps ("candy crush" etc), that run ads to get you to download another/different app loaded with ads and spyware, that get you to download another app, and so on...

I don't know if that's true. Instagram "influencers" make money because they have lots of followers and they promote certain products, and they get paid for that promotion, same as any print magazine gets paid for publishing an advertisement. It all depends on how many eyeballs you got looking at your stuff. YouTubers make money from Google purely based on advertisements and how many views/subscribers they have. Google splits the ad revenue about 50/50 with the content creator. Probably more like 60/40. But you can make a lot of money on YouTube if you get lots of views because the advertisers will pay for that, same as they pay for TV ads. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying. But I make money with online publishing, and it's pretty much a standard advertising model for standard products (and these days political ads).

[Flexon Phil]

and you don't have to if you seen the companies catalogs because they just copy and paste the description into the buyers guide

Yup, most look like either well placed ads or at best, regurgitated rhetoric. Their awards have been the best ads money can buy.

[Stikki]

I am too much of a Luddite to understand how this tiktok and influencers work. I just can't fathom how that is worth millions

It's all about reaching an audience. The problem with mass media is the waste, you reach way more people that aren't your target demographic. Digital has created the opportunity to target extremely specific demos and potential customers since they (Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc) have our browsing and shopping history. How influencers work is they have specific followers or audiences and advertisers can use them for product placement, endorsement, etc.

The traditional model was spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to send a crew and talent (model, athlete, etc) to a location to shoot an ad, create the ad (editing and producing print and/or video) and then paying to put that ad in print or on the air. Even putting that ad onto a digital platform still requires the upfront cost of creating the ad and all associated costs.

With the influencer model an advertiser can throw down a fraction of that to pay an influencer who is the talent and has their own crew or themselves to make content. Then this content is delivered using social media to a very targeted audience. This saves a ton of money, less costs for an advertiser to reach their target audience with minimal waste. Bottom line is influencers can be an incredible return on investment for advertisers. Some platforms also pay for views, likes, etc creating additional revenue for the influencer as the platform can sell ads (think pre-roll Youtube ads) on popular influencer channels.

[TAFKALVS]

Yup, most look like either well placed ads or at best, regurgitated rhetoric. Their awards have been the best ads money can buy.

When I was in marketing in the Outdoor Industry, there was definitely the "advertorial" aspect ie commit to x number of insertions and we'll make sure the "right" reviewer gets hands on your gear *wink wink*.

[TAFKALVS]

I don't know if that's true. Instagram "influencers" make money because they have lots of followers and they promote certain products, and they get paid for that promotion, same as any print magazine gets paid for publishing an advertisement. It all depends on how many eyeballs you got looking at your stuff. .

Sure, if we're talking about a celeb like KimK. But if we're talking about the TikTok influencers etc that's a different deal, imho.

And as always with a LVS post, there is a degree of sarcasm and over simplification for humors sake.

YouTubers make money from Google purely based on advertisements and how many views/subscribers they have. Google splits the ad revenue about 50/50 with the content creator. Probably more like 60/40. But you can make a lot of money on YouTube if you get lots of views because the advertisers will pay for that, same as they pay for TV ads. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying. But I make money with online publishing, and it's pretty much a standard advertising model for standard products (and these days political ads)

yup, agree and understand and we agree on all of this. I've been on both sides of the campaign.

[telefreewasatch]

I’ve list track of the hundreds if not thousands of images I had published in the magazine over the years. As a young kid growing up obsessed with skiing Powder was the Bible. There was nothing that I wanted more in life than to become a photographer for Powder. Luck would have it I managed to score an internship there and then eventually became one of the Senior Photographers... A true life dream come true. So it’s with a heavy heart to learn the news of the demise of 3 of the most influential titles ever in the action sports genre. Powder in its hay day was truely a special entity always at the cusp of style, progression and culture. The sheer number of people that worked and interned their over the years that went on to greatness not just in the publishing world is a statement to its domination of print coverage of the ski world.

You had some of the finest photos in the mag, mag.
Love your northwest b+w phat snowpack shots.
Look forward to however you display your craft...

[chaka]

No idea. Every year for the last two decades I have had no idea how it’s all going to work out, yet each year is better than the previous one. All I know is that as long as I keep producing images that motivate people to go skiing it will all work out.

you, sir, are an amazing photog. some of my favorite Powder images of all time are yours.

[hutash]

.

If you're sad about the loss of Powder mag, support the Ski Journal.

This

...and this. https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...n-Anon-Goggles

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Seriously, how does an outdoor photographer even make a living anymore?

My sister is documentary a photographer. Sort of. She makes all her money shooting commercial video for small and large businesses (tequila, pianos, dental office, interior decor...). I think the photo biz is now less than 1/10th of her income.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using TGR Forums mobile app

[EWG]

post #62

Good, but you and I both know it’s embarrassing it lasted till post 62.

[EWG]

you, sir, are an amazing photog. some of my favorite Powder images of all time are yours.

And this.

Thanks for getting me off my couch those days when I didn’t want to go.

[XXX-er]

GF told me about the good old day when she would cut stencils on a real typewriter and use a mimeograph machine to duplicate what sounded like subversive material,

apparently she did some publishing when she was in Czech, CSIS had or has a file on her and " visited " her parents

but that was way back in the day when they did real publishing

[SirHeady]

The vast majority mobile advertising/influencer world is a giant pyramid scheme, propped up by advertisers paying a tiny commission on app downloads, to get people to download ad laden spyware apps ("candy crush" etc), that run ads to get you to download another/different app loaded with ads and spyware, that get you to download another app, and so on...


Topic at hand - I have been a subscriber of the Ski Journal since the beginning. If I'm going to pay for something, I want it to be durable and feel thoughtful. Ski Journal issues get reread by me often.

Powder over the last 5 or so years has shifted hard to the advertorial model, and felt more and more like Ski Magazine, but for millennial yuppies rather than mid-level business managers.
It felt like the entire editorial content was designed around someone trying to check boxes for San Francisco dwelling 4x trips to Mammoth a year Audi buying Facebook employees. "You'll never believe that in Montana, they don't all ski with guns. Find out more in this 9 part video series whoring out small town ski culture and areas with a snappy and cute Californian Millennial ex-ski racer blonde from Sun Valley who grew up privileged JUST LIKE YOU!"


Even the SJW stuff, never felt heartfelt. (I can appreciate it, if well done/thoughtful.) Add in the wanton consumerism and increasingly thin page count... go figure.

If you're sad about the loss of Powder mag, support the Ski Journal.

This X10000. There was a shift that catered less to "core" Freeskiers and more to gaper millennials who demo Soul 7s on trips to Vail.

I remember first reading powder as a 10 year old during a family to Snowbird in 1998. Had a subscription all through high school and college. Huge part of the formative years growing up.

The aughts were a great time for ski mags with Axis, SBC Skier, Powder and Freeze. Freeskier, while always being the weakest Ski Mag offering was pretty good between 2003-2007.

The slacktivism and self-righteousness that came from Powder's editors and writers after 2015 killed the magazine. If I want to hear an ex racer Cornell grad wax poetic about social justice and virtue signal I'll hang out on the roof top of No Name in PC

[Creeker]

While disappointing, Powder has had an obvious decline in the last 5-10 years. While the Mags talk about its heyday, with talented writers and unique perspective, that brand disappeared years ago.

The last few years featured articles written by first year East Coast transplants to JH or Vail opining about...well, not much. They became the magazine version of the newbie ”local” on the barstool talking about how Rad and local they were/are. SJW attitudes aside, it doesn’t sell subscriptions.

Bummed about Surfer Mag.

[altacoup]

The content of powder certainly went downhill. Most of the articles were just ads for ski movies. The last editor’s first story in print was an exposé of emp life in lcc. He lied and sold people out in his article. Few years later he was the lead editor and the mag sucked ( west coast, pdx, Jesuit Private school kid, so not totally to blame on ice coasters).

The Instagram thing is also a game changer. I’ve had two FWT athletes tell me that sponsors tell them that the brands get more views and value from lifestyle beaters posting shit on Instagram than the value they get from sponsoring athletes on the tour. These guys seriously rip, but the brands see more value in the posts that beaters put up. Plus it’s cheap. Give the cool kids that are hip in the apres scene a hook up on shop form skis and they get you tons of views for free. No photog needed, just an iPhone. And they even buy their gear, albeit at a discount.

[Upper]

As someone who bought Powder #1 at my local 7-11 back in the day and still have it, this totally sucks. 2020 keeps giving. I hope those aliens who land next brought their boards. Jesus Christ, my sub is through like, 2024. Tactile print, it rocks.

[splat]

This bears repeating:

Liked this quote from Casimiro:

So much this^^^^^. Steve Casimiro is a top notch editor with old school journalism sensibilities. First to go, he left as the squeeze started, then, Leslie Anthony, who told contributors, "Don't quit your day job." About the time this group left the Powmag site and came here, we, the correspondents, editors, and photographers at Powder, were discussing how pics and video would accompany print stories on the internet in the future. Didn't quite understand how it would all fit together but knew that was the future. That was 20 years ago. This has been coming for a long time. Watching every blogger in the world think they were a journalist - and people believeing they were - was kind of a prelude to the insanity and bickering that prevails on the internet today with the political and fake news/outright propaganda sites. It saddened me deeply knowing this day would come. But it's not a surprise at all.

[TahoeJ]

The strange part is TEN supposedly is not taking offers to buy the brand. I have some friends with $$ who are interested in saving / reviving Powder and so far it's been crickets.

Some of the content has gone downhill here or there (and no more Jaded Local??), but I actually thought last season with various skier profiles was pretty well done.

Too much is being made of the SJW angle. I'm generally in support of that stuff but it was also becoming a bit much. There was a piece about how different Chamonix skis throughout a season due to climate change and that's great because it's about the skiing... so there's a balance there.

[Tap]

Powder Magazine gave this suburban Chicago kid a view into aworld he wanted more of. A member of the local Snowflake Ski Club, we’d ski Wilmot and Alpone Valley in jeans and clamps with straps. But I’d walk to the White Hen Pantry by my house multiple times to see if the new issue had arrived. It brought the world of mountain culture to me, and the sickness was nurtured. Even as I became a snowboarder, Powder was still the Bible. Moved to Telliride in ‘94 and would still hunt out the new issue at the market around the corner from Baked In Telluride, lavishing over the pages, stoned to the gills, with my housemates in Sawpit. Kept up the collection thru the years. Found PowderMag online and all of you fucking JONGS. Got a letter to the Editor published. But my attention waned as the writing truly declined and most of the photography and stories were sourced from movie companies. Kept all the old issues tho, until they burned in a house fire last year. RIP Powder Mag, and thank you to any of the writers and photogs who inspired me.




ps - Micah Black is still the most overrated skier. Suck it, Punani!

[smartyiak]

Have tits and a big ass in a thong, go to outdoor area with a selfie stick, post on Instagram and tik tok make more
Money in a day than the greats in powder ever made in a lifetime.
Have you seen what passes for fishing photos these days.
Just read an article about 16 year tik tok “stars” make 5-6million a year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just wait for Viva to post it for free!

I have a subscription (and to Freeskier). This makes me a bit sad as I loved getting the Buyer's Guide every year (from both). LOVED!

I sorta just paid for that one issue. The rest of them I paged through for to look at cool photos...and maybe an article every third or fourth issue. I know people are bagging on people who were turned off by SJW stuff, but, honestly, I was a bit too. Skiing and MTB are the two places I go to just ski (or just bike); it's my escape. I don't need reminding everywhere I go. I'm fully aware of issues of global warming, race relations, BLM, and everything else going on...even if it was never mentioned in Powder. So, while those articles didn't stop me from subscribing, I wouldn't totally dismiss it as, at least, an additional factor.

I'll miss it, but I guess I'll just switch over to Journal...photos are better anyways...I always think of Journal as half-way between a magazine and a coffee table book.

[ill-advised strategy]

Any thing, company, publication, town, club, workplace, political party, whatever, is just a group of people. If the people under the name change and the vibe under the name changes with changing personnel, our ability to describe or invoke the old thing by using the name that now applies to the new thing is fractured. Is Powder the brand that’s bought and sold and now shuttered? Is it the business that employed people? Is it a way to describe our point of view, our slice of a diverse and fragmented skiing culture? To me (and surely many of us) it was more about the latter, but that ship had been adrift for quite some tine.

Powder is gone, but the thing that was Powder under very different people with different values and approaches in very different times was gone with them and with those times. We’re out here living. The spirit lives on.

I say it’s time to hit that caps lock and give Tanner the keys to the office:
SKIBOSSS MAGAZINE

[smartyiak]

SKIBOSSS MAGAZINE

NewSchoolers Mag - Keeping you up to date on the World of Tall Tee's!

I like it!

[powdrhound]

The first time that the Shot in the Back wasn’t inside the back, replaced by an ad, was a sign that the focus of the magazine had changed.

Nonetheless, Thank you - all that contributed to Powder. Many good memories.

[Upper]

"Powder is gone, but the thing that was Powder under very different people with different values and approaches in very different times was gone with them and with those times. We’re out here living. The spirit lives on."

Exactly. That said, we are seeing a revival of the ski town / mountain town publication here:
www.mountaingazette.com

Enjoy !!

[Benny Profane]

The strange part is TEN supposedly is not taking offers to buy the brand. I have some friends with $$ who are interested in saving / reviving Powder and so far it's been crickets.

To own a printed magazine today requires major fuck you money, like Benioff at Time and Bezos at WAPO. It's like funding a money losing biz for the trophy wife to keep her happy and help her fool herself she's doing something productive, but on steroids (Benioff's wife essential manages Time).