I subscribed to Paste on a promotion and paid one dollar for a year. I was excited to have an antidote to Pitchfork's pretension. Paste did not satisfy. While I appreciated some of the content and perspectives, I found most of it trivial. If you're looking for thoughtful insights into current media, I do not recommend Paste. If you're looking for a forum in which Scarlett Johansson can tell you about everything you never wanted to know, check it out.

I say, Onion A/V Club, all the way.

Starting picking up Paste Mag while in Iraq and have really discovered some new and fresh music to listen too. Every issue comes with a sampler CD with 20 or so songs on it of new music. If you are looking for new music of every genre....try checking out a copy.

Paste is aimed towards post-college adults whose musical tastes veer left of center. Unfortunately, they miss the mark badly. Readers are offered an unchallenging menu of staid triple-AAA and commercial-ready indie. The sampler CDs are heavy on mid-tempo ballads and are eminently boring. Admittedly, I have been spoiled by several years of The Wire and its series of sampler CDs that rarely fail to dazzle the ears. While I didn't expect Paste to be as adventurous as The Wire, I also didn't expect it to be as wan and passive as it is.

I have subscribed to Paste since 07/05. They used to include a CD of all new artists featured that month. I think they got bought out by a mainstream company cuz now if you are a current subscriber you can only get the CD if you pay an additional $10 for the remainder of your subscription. I used to love the true "indie" aspects of this monthly rag. Not only music but BOOKS & movies. Now those features are scaled way down. Now they are leaning more mainstream(if I wanted Spin of god forbid Rolling Stone I would of gotten it) & want you to pay an extra $10 for a CD that cost pennies to make. I will NOT be renewing my subscription! Also whats up with no cancellation/no refund policy? I always thought if you stand behind your product & reputation the consumer is ALWAYS right? Bottom line Paste USED TO BE A GREAT RAG if you want a truly insightful & non mainstream publication go for MOJO or FILTER.

When I first heard of Paste Magazine, I thought "What a great idea!" Of course there should be a music/culture magazine for adults - and including a sampler CD was a fantastic innovation. But then I read Paste and realized that, as others have noted, the writing isn't very interesting. Articles that should grab and hold my attention just...don't. It's not that the articles are bad (one exception: the profile of Christopher Guest was quite possibly the most self-serving and poorly written piece of entertainment journalism I've ever read), it's that they all seem kind of the same. It's just one blandly written profile/review after another. Honestly, I enjoy reading Entertainment Weekly more. For a well-written music magazine for adults, check out Q Magazine (UK). They cover a wide range of music (so you'll undoubtedly have to sift through it), but it's fun to read and they also include samplers with some issues. The only drawback is that it costs $150/year to get it in the US, so I've had to limit it to being an occasional treat.