Observer Music Monthly closes

 The Observer Music Monthly supplement is to close as part of a major reshaping of the entire publication. The popular and widely respected monthly publication is part of three out of four monthly sections to be abolished, with only the ‘food monthly’ remaining.

Speaking with reporters at Media Guardian, Observer editor John Mulholland said: “It has been a difficult few months for staff while we have worked through these changes as part of Guardian News and Media's publishing review, and some hard decisions had to be taken given the extremely challenging economic environment for newspapers".

As previously reported by The Gen, the latest ABC circulation figures revealed that the entire sector of music consumer magazines showed a combined circulation drop of 10% in the first half of 2009.

The Observer will be significantly revamped, consisting of a main section, a sports supplement, an expanded review supplement and magazine. The Business, media news and travel sections will also lose their own supplements and become merged into the main paper.

The Observer Music Monthly was launched in 2003 and was edited by Caspar Llewellyn-Smith from inception up to closure.