In summer 2015 I started writing occasional music features and reviews for Electronic Sound Magazine. At the time it was an, admittedly handsome, online only publication, but I was pleasantly surprised to witness the magazine launching a fully fledged print version in 2016, bucking the trend witnessed by most music publishers, who generally have gone in the opposite direction or towards a free-sheet distribution model.
Of course I’m a little biased, since I have had the opportunity to contribute pieces in most issues since, but it really is a high quality production, not just in terms of its editorial (affording top notch electronic artists, both new and old names, the same level of reverent attention that the likes of Mojo or Uncut do to guitar bands and songwriters) but also in terms of its production values.
It’s perfect bound, with a gorgeous quality of print production applied. Its waxy pages are satisfyingly tactile, with rich photography and beautiful, eye-catching illustrations dotted throughout. It even smells rather delicious, a true multi-sensory experience that’s all too rare in these disposable digital days.
Simply put, it’s a real triumph for lovers of print magazines and electronica anoraks alike. (They still publish an online version too, via the rather nifty app for Android and Ios.)
Plus they do actually pay freelancers for their contributions, in a time when many bigger music publishers sadly simply do not.
Invest in the Best
Now the magazine is crowdfunding in order to offer more merchandising, special limited edition music releases and generally up the ante for the next phase of its development.
The Norwich-based publishers PAM Communications also have plans to launch a number of other titles in the coming years, including some music ones apparently.
Now monthly, the magazine is stocked in hundreds of branches of WH Smith, McColls and Sainsbury’s and comes with a cover-mounted CD.
You can read the full investment pitch on this page of their site.
This is the first time I’ve invested in anything, albeit modestly, and even though it still feels slightly strange to be doing so, it’s not a pure ‘quid pro quo.’
As someone who grew up religiously stumping up pocket money as a teenager on copies of NME and the Melody Maker, week in, week out, and later on titles such as Q, Uncut and the now sadly defunct and much-missed the Word Magazine, it’s important to me that magazines not only survive but continue to thrive. In my younger years they were an essential portal to a wider sphere of knowledge and ideas.
Among Electronic Sound’s back pages, you’ll find articles on topics as diverse as the alternative therapy of radionics, the British Library’s Sound Archive and the harsh life of Russian inventor and sound pioneer Leon Theremin.
My own debut came from writing about my Trans Europe Express-inspired train travel odyssey across Europe, which says something about the publication’s lateral outlook.
I still believe that a good music title these days doesn’t just reflect exciting musical artists and trends, but also enhances our wider cultural discourse, charting threads between music and the complementary worlds of visual art and film, where there is ripe cross fertilisation.
We surely don’t want music publishing to go the same way as music television in the UK, that is virtually disappearing, save for brief slots on light ent shows and my own namesake’s BBc2 show. And besides, these guys do what they do with a serious amount of knowledge, passion and wit.
So I do hope that you will join me in backing their crowdfunding campaign and also adding your voice of support via social media.
Investment Levels and Benefits
You can own a share of the magazine for as little as £10 and they’re offering a range of enticing goodies into the bargain, including some rare Kraftwerk swag, to make it well and truly worth your while.
There are further special incentives for those investing £50 (your name immortalised in the credits), £100 (a special printed bumper compendium of the best pieces gleaned from all back issues of the mag) and £500 (an exclusive live event with a chance to see one of the word’s rarest synths unveiled.)
And of course there are certain tax breaks available too.
For full details, just check out this link.
But be quick about it, this ship sails in just 9 days, when the crowdcube campaign officially wraps up.
You can read a selection of my pieces for Electronic Sound Magazine here.