The Stool Pigeon closes down

Long-running music freesheet The Stool Pigeon has announced that the December/January issue was its last. In a statement on its website editor and founder Phil Hebblethwaite blamed the increasing pressures on print journalism, stating: “Running out 60,000 copies of a free newspaper six times a year and distributing them to 100 cities/towns across the UK has become untenable.”

The paper was founded in 2005, and its distinctive voice and at times sardonic take on the music industry quickly won it fans throughout the UK. By 2011 The Stool Pigeon had a bigger circulation than NME and Kerrang!.

Hebblethwaite indicated that he sees online journalism as a more interesting prospect than traditional print, and though thestoolpigeon.com will be mothballed along with the paper he hinted that it could return in some form in the future, saying: “I reserve the right to come back and do something with this site, hopefully alongside my distinguished deputy editor Alex Denney, but not unless we can find a way to fund things properly.”

For eight years The Stool Pigeon was a unique voice in music journalism, described by Hebblethwaite as “a publication that was determinedly independent, sought to be truthful and we tried to be funny. Not easy. We printed some absolute rubbish over the years, and plenty of good stuff. We won awards and, more importantly, secured a dedicated fanbase.”

It will be missed.