PUNK IS SHIT = I QUIT!

..actually punk's NOT shit but I thought the title would grab your attention!

There's some big changes in the wind and I thought I would give everyone a head's up before you start hearing stupid rumors on the internet.The basic gist of it is that I am officially quitting as the coordinator and chief financial backer of PE. With the very real possibility looming that my wife may be laid off her job, I no longer have the luxury of donating my spare time or income keeping PE alive. In spite of all appearances, Profane Existence has not been a success financially and has only survived because of my willingness to dump in tens of thousands of dollars and working without pay year after year. I don't expect to be paid back any of this money, but I am cutting PE loose financially. This means I will not be personally bailing out PE from it's current financial situation nor will I be funding any more records or the magazine "out of my own pocket."So does this mean PE is dead? OF COURSE NOT! I have been working behind the scenes to enable PE to be done without my day to day input. PE has a great staff of volunteers and contributors and I feel that the time is right to pass along the duties of keeping PE alive. The main purpose of PE is to be a media outlet and resource for the international anarcho-punk / activist punk community. This can and will still happen even after PE transitions to its next phase.For the last couple of years PE has relied on a single coordinator (i.e. me) to keep it all together and the results have been burnout on my part and a general failing to keep it all completely together. However, the difficulties of the last couple of years have given me time to reflect on what works for PE and what doesn't work and needs to be changed. Therefore, before the torch is officially passed on there are some pretty major changes I would like bring about. They are as follows:

PE RECORDS MUST DIE!

The physical music medium (CD's records, tapes, etc) is no longer necessary to spread the songs and sounds of our movement. Yes, there will always be people who prefer certain formats, but by and large records, CDs, etc. are luxury and convenience items in 2009. Therefore I believe it is a waste of our movement to spend money and obsess over the formats, when the music, message, and ideas are what's really important. For those who stubbornly hold onto format fixation, I must ask if you are a reflection of your record collection or the ideas you hold in your head? Are you a format or a threat?In real terms this means any represses or new releases are now shelved as far as I am concerned. The remaining stocks of PE's vinyl and CDs will be sold off and all money raised will go towards paying off PE's the lingering debts. I am putting myself at the very end of the list of people to be paid and doubt I will see anything when all is said and done. As for the music, I will be contact every band on PE Records to ask if they would be willing to let PE host their music for free downloads as the starter seed of a FREE anarcho-punk music library.

PE PRINT MAGAZINE = GONE TOO!

High printing and postage costs, declining readership, and totally unreliable distributors mean that PE magazine as you have come to know it can no longer be published. There has probably never been an issue of PE that has "broken even" financially and the last few have been total disasters. Without the financial backing of the record label (or myself) there is no way PE can continue in printed form. Therefore I am declaring the printed version of PE to be a dead format with PE living on over the internet. However, this happens with some important changes as outlined below.

WEB MAGAZINE TO BE FREE!!!!

Starting today I am canceling all of the paid subscription requirement for the online edition of Profane Existence magazine. PE WILL BE FREE! This also means that PE magazine will no longer be assembled in "issues" but will be updated regularly. I have gone through great pains to build the the web magazine using a system that allows the content to be updated by numerous editors and contributors and am now beginning to train people how to use it. The idea is that PE magazine will no longer be something that comes out every few months, but will become more like a daily news magazine for the anarcho-punk / active punk movement. "Every day" folks will be encouraged to contribute and the magazine will be edited by a collective.

PE YEARBOOK

With the print magazine going the way of the dodo bird, there has been talk of creating some kind of annual or biannual compendium that preserves the best articles and content into some kind of permanent document or book/CD. This would be a much more cost-effective method of publishing a printed document of PE and could be a goof fund-raising project for PE. There is also talk of a limited printed broadsheet edition of PE for prisoners, but this will depend on financial support and volunteer time with construction and mailing.

COVERING PE'S COSTS

Even without dumping money into endless record and magazine projects, it will still cost money to run PE for such things as the web server lease + connection, software updates, and postage costs to deliver materials to reviewers. The transition from a product-based financial model to a purely information-based organization will also have some unique one-time costs that can not be overlooked. Ads will continue to be sold for the web site (new rates posted soon) and memberships will be encouraged. If you are a current PE subscriber consider donating the rest of your subscription instead of asking for a refund.

PE DISTRO:

The clearance sale of PE's remaining distro stocks continues and I will be making price reductions over the next couple of weeks. I will not be restocking the distro so please do not ask if I will help distribute your releases or make any more trades.

PLEASE BE PATIENT!

I'm sure this message is going to generate a million questions and I have to ask that you please be patient while waiting for a response. In addition to my PE obligations I have a full time job plus kids and animals demanding my time. I will be working as much as I can to keep distro orders going out and teaching the staff the inner workings of the web zine. Any other questions or issues will be dealt with as soon as I can.Thanks for reading!

Dan P//E