Crowdfunding Campaign Launched to Help 73 Laid Off Metal Hammer / Team Rock Employees

News broke yesterday that Team Rock Ltd., the publisher that owns Metal Hammer as well as several other music-related magazines, has gone into administration, a UK precursor to liquidation. Seventy three employees were laid off immediately while seven were retained to help see the administration process through. To say that this news is agonizing is an understatement; as a metal publication ourselves we know all too well the difficulties of keeping this ship afloat.

Now there’s been a crowd-funding campaign launched to help support the 73 laid off staffers, all of whom were let go without any pay or severance, and right before the holidays to add insult to injury. Here’s a message from the campaign’s organizer, Ben Ward, who also happens to be the frontman for Orange Goblin:

Today, 73 members of the Team Rock staff were told that the company is going into liquidation and that they are being made redundant with immediate effect with ZERO pay. These are good, hard-working, committed people that through Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Prog Rock, TeamRock Radio and more, have supported the rock and heavy metal scene in this country for decades and now we, the rock community, need to pull together to help give something back.

Please spare what you can so that everyone may enjoy the festive spirit.

The campaign’s goal of £20,000 has nearly been met in less than 24 hours; as of the time I’m writing this post, over £18,000 has been donated by 729 supporters (an average of nearly £25 per person!). Let’s keep the train rolling and make sure all the good people who kept these magazines running for years have at least enough money to get through the holidays before worrying about what’s next. Donate here if you can.