The magazine, headquartered in Avondale Estates, Georgia, was founded as a quarterly in July 2002[2] by Josh Jackson, Nick Purdy, and Tim Porter. It later switched to a bimonthly format. In 2005, Paste fulfilled remaining subscriptions for the competing magazine Tracks, which had ceased publishing its print edition.[citation needed] Paste became a monthly with its August 2006 issue.
For two years in the mid-2000s, Paste had a weekly segment on CNN Headline News called "Paste Picks",[3] wherein editors would recommend new albums and films every Tuesday.
In October 2007, the magazine tried the "Radiohead" experiment, offering new and current subscribers the ability to pay what they wanted for a one-year subscription to Paste.[4] The subscriber base increased by 28,000,[citation needed] but Paste president Tim Regan-Porter noted the model was not sustainable; he hoped the new subscribers would renew the following year at the current rates, and the increase in web traffic would attract additional subscribers and advertisers.[5]
Amidst an economic downturn, Paste began to suffer from lagging ad revenue, as did other magazine publishers in 2008 and 2009. On May 14, 2009, Paste editors announced a plan to save the magazine, by pleading to its readers,[6] musicians and celebrities for contributions.[7] Cost-cutting by the magazine did not stem the losses. The main crux cited for the financial troubles is the lack of advertiser spending.[8]
In 2009, Paste launched an hour-long TV pilot for Halogen TV called Pop Goes the Culture.[9]
On August 31, 2010, Paste suspended the print magazine,[10] but continues publication as the online PasteMagazine.com
