The Source has just sp@mmed me at every email address I’ve ever made public on a hip hop related website using a FanBridge account including email addresses that haven’t been used for such a purpose in years, literally, years.

This is worse than the MP3 pushers and mixtape merchants’ sp@m.  At least they’re generally up-to-date and their methods fit the sometimes quasi-legal nature of their enterprise!

And, even if I don’t like it, I understand why up-and-coming artists and their publicists and even bloggers fall into sp@m practices.  It’s tough getting visibility in this world and it’s easy to be tempted.

But, at this point in time, The Source has no reasonable excuses.  Doubly bad for The Source is that I was going to cover what they were pushing until I’d worked through various email accounts and realized just what losers these people continue to be.  It’s like it’s in the DNA of the magazine.  Even with a totally different crew, shadiness just seeps out of that company.

I wrote before about the ReverbNation powered sp@m mailings and the folks there convinced me they’re doing everything they can to fight it.  FanBridge is probably doing the same so I’m not upset with the newsletter providers.  Those are important services.

To be honest, I’ve never contacted one of these services about a specific sp@mmer, cause not everybody even realizes what they’re doing is sp@m, but I’m going to contact FanBridge about The Source.

But don’t call it snitching!  Let’s call it, whittling away at the competition!

[lol]

Actually, I don’t care what you call it.  There’s no reason for them to be doing this so any form of name calling will just reveal you to be as big a punk as they’re being.

In fact, I would have let them keep sending stuff to hiphoppress(at)netweed(dot)com, where hip hop sp@m has a happy home, but I accidentally unsubscribed myself from that address as well and I think that will remain a policy for The Source’s publicity efforts from here on out.

Since I can’t say anything good, and that’s their own damn fault, I won’t say anything at all.  Unless I get annoyed like I am at the moment!

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Artist Sp@m to Kill ReverbNation Email Marketing?

Slav Kandyba posts An open letter to L. Londell McMillan, Esq. (co-owner of The Source magazine) in which he details the work he did for the new owners of The Source and their lack of payment for that work.

You can take these claims as you will, knowing Slav I take them at face value, but Slav was a huge supporter of the new Source, one of the few out of the gate that consistently championed the mag, and I don’t believe he’d be sharing this information without having honestly reached the end of his patience.

Lots of people expressed strong connections to The Source during the transition and many wished the new publication well but, truth be told, I don’t think most people really care anymore once they get past the nostalgia stage.

But it’s sad to see the list of writers ripped off by The Source apparently continuing to grow.

On a related note, their website, which is basically a big blog, doesn’t link out and is pretty darn boring.

They’re getting closer but they’re still pretty clueless about the web.

So much for rescuing that brand.  The ambulance got there on time but after an extended period of life support, the visitors are starting to dwindle.

The Source is supposedly getting evicted from their Manhattan offices.

I guess this is one of those "stay tuned" moments.

Via wordonthestreetsmag.com.

I’m not sure when this announcement at The Source was first made but I was checking out the Zinio digital version from October and saw this news:

Attention!!
Independent Labels and Artists

The Source Magazine…will now dedicate an additional 20 pages of each issue to independent music and artists.  We invite you to call today to register your label and/or artist to become a part of our Independent Hip-Hop Network.  Members will receive in-book or on-line profiles, special advertising discounts, giveaways, invites to high profile events, and more…

For More Information Please Contact:
Che’ Johnson: 212.253.3712 – [email protected]
Shalinda Flemmings: 212.253.3738 – [email protected]

I can’t believe I had to actually type that.  But that’s the sacrifice I’m willing to make for you, dear reader.

The important thing is that this is exactly the kind of move they need to make to revitalize and focus The Source as a magazine.

The Unsigned Hype feature is the thing I’ve always heard the most about from other people in terms of positive response to content and it has always struck me as one of The Source’s true differentiators.  It capitalizes on the positive history of The Source in an honest way.

I’m not sure how the Unsigned Hype Showcases are doing but the YouTube channel seems to be in stasis, the blog is covering the same news as everybody else and the Unsigned Hype forum is not about the features or showcases.

On a related note, The Source‘s blog and forum both open in new windows from the home page which is not a good look but the move to simpler online tools is a solid move forward.  Honestly this is an improvement over the previous version of the site and that’s a good thing for The Source.

Yesterday the Associated Press reported that The Source has filed for bankruptcy:
Source Magazine LLC and affiliate Source Entertainment Inc. have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after dishonest business practices by former management caused the hip-hop media outlet’s advertisers to flee, according to court papers.

Apparently on December 31st, the "company listed consolidated assets of about $1.3 million and liabilities of $35 million".  Furthermore:
LP Harrison III, an attorney for Source, said the company plans to "exit bankruptcy as a reorganized entity."

So that’s all to the good rather than a statement of defeat, i.e., this should clear up some crippling debt and would then also give the investors some incentive to adequately fund the magazine’s operations.

BIG CED of The Industry Cosign announced in an email that he is joining TheSource.com as the website’s "Online Coordinator".  However, he assures his readers that The Industry Cosign will not only continue but that he’s working on growing that as well.

Best of luck at the new Source!