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A spokesperson for media group Emap said: "We are reviewing our titles. The Face and Just 17 are under particular consideration."
Emap bought The Face in 1999, nearly two decades after it launched. Just 17 is another oldie, aged 21.
The Face's sales figures have dropped dramatically over the years. It now sells an average of 40,000 a month, with 24,500 of those sold in the UK and Ireland, and is now losing Emap money.
The mag has, since 2002, been edited by Neil Stevenson, who runs the infamous Popbitch website and newsletter. While Popbitch has suffered brief flirtations with legal lawyers, The Face nearly closed in 1992 when Jason Donovan successfully sued the ass off them after they insinuated he was gay, and called him a liar when he denied it. The Oz actor then saved the mag from bankruptcy by accepting only 30% of the £290,000 bill for damages.
Emap are now considering either selling the title, or launching a website version instead. A final decision isn't expected for a few more weeks.
Launched a year after Thatcher came into power, The Face has since been at the forefront to champion every major youth movement, and was pivotal in launching the career of model Kate Moss. It's been influential in its design and forward thinking. Even issues over the last year have seen coverage of far more unsigned bands and hot-tips than you'd see in the 'normal' music magazines. While Emap haven't drastically changed the outlook of the title since they acquired it, the mag has, somewhat ironically, just seen itself fall out of fashion.
Meanwhile, Just 17 has steadily been losing readers to the increasingly cut-throat market of teen publication rivals. It sold just 134,000 copies last month compared to 250,000 sold for Bliss, a mag by the same publishers, aimed at the same age group.
