I received the December 2019 issue of Rolling Stone magazine. The cover story is about Star Wars. Finally, a non-musical topic I am actually interested in. But the cover photo is of an actor who a friend of mine refers to as “it’s just that guy from Girls.”

There are 102 pages inside this issue counting the insides of the front and back covers. By my count, there are only 30 pages devoted to music/pop culture and a whopping 33 pages of advertisements! So even though I’ve already paid for a subscription to the magazine, somehow I have to endure 1/3 of it with ads.

Without fail, there is an abundance of non-names referenced (and I bet sir @abrahamkim recognizes them all): Tekashi 6ix9ine, FKA Twigs, Lil Tjay, Lil Nas X, and DaBaby.  

At least the articles are well written, even if some of them are not worth skipping to the back of the magazine to finish (a big pet peeve of mine). 

I’m trying to assess the demographics of this magazine, and I wonder how long it will remain in print. Young people may pick up and browse through magazines, but are they buying them? Nowadays most people want content online.