Source Interlink (the parent company of the ASG Group) has decided that if the magazine companies aren’t going to pay the 7 cent per copy increase, then there is a conspiracy against them, according to a story on Folio.com.
Source Interlink filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming rival wholesalers, as well as publishers, are attempting to force the company out of business. . . . The suit, filed in New York federal court, seeks emergency court intervention to prohibit the defendants—including publishers Time Inc. and Hachette—from monopolizing the U.S. magazine wholesaler market, a Reuters news report said. In the suit, Source alleges that the defendants “conspired” to force the company to sell its distribution business at a steep discount to rivals Hudson News and News Group.
Questions: what does this mean for Surfer, Surfing, Snowboarder, and Skateboarder? If the distribution business is sold, then who will distribute the Source Interlink magazine titles? Or will those be sold, too?
No Eddie in sight, but Mark Healey goes spearfishing and brings back some great video (including a Tiger sharkie). Sometimes these Healey videos are the next best thing to being on the North Shore.
Looks like getting printed action sports magazines that last mile to the newsstand is going to get a little harder now that Anderson News has “suspended normal business activities,” according to a story on Folio.com.
The decision comes roughly three weeks after the Knoxville, Tennessee-based Anderson, along with fellow wholesaler Source Interlink, threatened publishers with separate 7-cents-per-copy price hikes. . . . Publishers largely balked at the 7-cents-per-copy surcharge and refused to pay, upset at the wholesalers’ sudden and “unilateral” decision to boost costs. . . . In a statement announcing the suspension, the company said it will “continue to hold discussions with publishers and retailers, trying to develop a viable model that allows it to remain in business.” Anderson said the situation is “a mess for us all.”
It was Ryan Sheckler Fight Night at The Grove in Anaheim and apparently former pro skater, satellite radio DJ and all around funny guy Jason Ellis won his match by submitting “Tony Gianopulos with a guillotine choke in the second round.”
Apparently, MMA is the new skateboarding. Yes, that was Sal Masekela on the mic.
Dean Spunt and Randy Randall, the guys behind No Age, were recently named music “team managers” for Altamont’s Spring 2009 limited edition catalog, according to a story on Pitchfork.
Twice a year, Altamont issues a catalog highlighting that season’s line that comes with an exclusive 10″ vinyl record. Starting with the Spring 2009 collection, Spunt and Randall are in charge of curating what bands contribute to that 10″. Naturally, their first one features music from No Age themselves. The 10″ includes “Goat Hurt”, from an early EP, their cover of Björk’s “It’s Oh So Quiet” from Stereogum’s Björk covers project, and “Recovery and Everything Else”, which according to Spunt, is the “isolated noise track” from “Everybody’s Down”.
Apparently, music makes the Altamont world go ’round.
Disney is churning out its first “original novel” based on the hit TV show Hannah Montana. The 247-page hardcover book is titled Rock the Waves and features Miley longing for a “hunky” Australian surfer.
The Breakpoint Surf Series is coming to Malibu which, of course, means the appearance of its top star, hunky Talen Wright. Before Miley can convey her daydream of meeting the Australian surfer, it becomes a potential reality with the announcement that Hannah Montana has been asked to perform at a big concert at the end of the two-week contest.
A 14-year-old boy died February 9, 2009 while snowboarding near the Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, according to a story on Rian.ru.
Rescuers said a group of four teenagers ventured off piste on Mount Sopka Mishennaya when they were caught in the avalanche. . . The body of the victim, who was trapped under the snow, was found early on Monday. The teenager is believed to have died of various fractures and suffocation. Three other teenagers were unhurt in the accident.
It was the battle of the boardercrossers as Nate Holland and Maelle Ricker won the Pro divisions of the 24th Annual Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom event. Here’s more coverage (Jake Blauvelt Photo: Brooke Geery/Yobeat):
A Gold Coast Australia Billabong retail store was robbed by a man wielding a syringe, according to a story on Goldcoast.com.au.
The man allegedly held the Ashmore Billabong store employee at syringe point on Saturday morning before taking an unknown amount of clothing and leaving.
