Loud and Quiet hhave consistently been supporting Rocket bands over the years – they even put GOAT on the cover of one of their issues so it is sad to hear they need some support to ensure their survival, please read and help if you can, they say:
A statement about the future of Loud And Quiet (and how you can save it)
Dear readers,
Since the COVID-19 crisis hit we’ve been trying to work out how to keep Loud And Quietgoing. Or, should I say, if we can keep it going.
Most recently, you may have noticed that this month’s edition of the magazine was not published as planned. In the current climate, it’s probably no surprise. For one, all of the stores and venues we stock in remain closed, their businesses suffering as much as anyone else’s. But there’s long been a bigger problem that we’ve faced – our dependency on advertising to fund everything we do, from the mag to the site to the podcasts. Needless to say, with the cancellations of festivals and live shows, the delay of record releases, and general uncertainty across the board, our advertisers (and therefore our revenue stream) disappeared overnight as soon as the lockdown kicked in in March.
We knew this was going to happen, just as we’ve known for the last 15 years how vulnerable our position is in making a print magazine that we’ve always given away for free.
For a long time (until 2018, in fact) we felt too embarrassed to ask our readers for help. Since we have, many of you have responded by subscribing to the magazine, for which we are extremely grateful. But the truth is that we need more of our readers to sign up, to be able to break away from an unsustainable model where we’re banking on advertisers each month and undervaluing our work. This is especially going to be important once the pandemic is over, as many companies will have even less to spend on advertising than before.
Of course, we’re not the only ones in real trouble within the music industry. From venues and promoters who feel like they can’t put a ticket price on the door anymore, to artists playing for low fees and battling with streaming services, it’s all felt like it’s been hanging by a thread for years. Hopefully, one of the positives to come out of coronavirus (within society as a whole, but especially within the arts) will be a reset in what we consider a fair price for the things we love.
So below is what we’ve come up with as a new subscriber package. It really is our only chance of survival.
If enough people sign up, Loud And Quiet will continue from August. If not, our issue released last month will be our final edition and we will close down.
If you are a reader/listener who enjoys what we do, and if you can afford it, now is your chance to save us.
Thank you for reading and supporting independent music journalism. Underground media and culture can survive COVID-19 if enough of us really want it to.
Stu
Please help and subscribe here: Loud and Quiet
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