Hits Magazine Fires Managing Editor

Hits magazine, the best-read trade tipsheet in the music business, fired its managing editor this week, the latest sign of how the industry’s woes have stung the publication.

Insiders say the exit of Bud Scoppa could be followed by more cutbacks at the firm, which has declined from about 110 employers to fewer than 40.

Every major label advertises in the magazine, and many pay the Sherman Oaks-based company additional fees to promote new releases to retailers and program directors at radio stations, though declining album sales have slashed the labels’ promotion budgets. “If this down cycle continues another two or three years, we’re not going to make it,” said co-owner Lenny Beer.

-- Jeff Leeds