Rolling Stone issues to be standard size

New York. -- The U.S. music magazine Rolling Stone is scrapping its usual large format for a more traditional size this fall in an effort to increase ssles.

Starting with its Oct. 30 issue, Wenner Media will be publishing the 41-year-old Rolling Stone in the 8-by-11-inch standard adopted by most U.S. magazines, instead of its usual 10-by-11-3/4-inch size, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

All you're getting from that large size is nostalgia," Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone's founder, publisher and editor, told The Times.

The newspaper noted that while the magazine's distinctive size made it easily recognizable, it also meant it didn't fit in the standard-size racks at bookstores, newsstands and checkout counters and sometimes had to be displayed wherever it fit, even if it was in an undesirable place.

"The consumer we want to reach watches 'Lost' on a big TV screen, on a computer screen and on an iPhone," Gary Armstrong, chief marketing officer for Wenner Media, told The Times. "They're agnostic on format."

The magazine also said it plans to add 16 to 20 pages per issue and print on heavier, better quality paper.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.