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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

R.I.P., Radio & Records



Another publication bites the dust. Radio & Records -- better known as "R&R" -- covered both the radio business and the music industry... and let's face it, that's a double whammy, given how poor a shape both are in. So it's probably no surprise that R&R's days were numbered.

Owner Nielsen -- which also publishes the music industry bible Billboard -- finally cut the cord on Wednesday. But they were pretty harsh about it: Rather than at least let the publication's web site sit there long enough for staffers to say goodbye, or for readers to use it as an archival tool, Nielsen yanked the site immediately. In other words, R&R has already been scrubbed off the Internet. Instead, users are redirected straight to Billboard's home page.

Kind of a slap in the face to the once-proud R&R brand. Radio & Records was founded in 1973 and purchased by Nielsen (then VNU) in 2006, when it was merged with Billboard Radio Monitor. Meanwhile, sites such as All Access and Radio-Info continue to offer radio news... but the death of R&R silcenes one of the industry's biggest news and information sources.

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