Novel Solutions for Desperate Times: ‘Paste’ Pledge Drive

Scrappy music mag Paste is feeling the squeeze of the economic downtown and anemic ad market. Hey, aren't we all! Facing a company-crushing cash crunch, Paste has elected to go the charity route -- in the for-profit sense, at least. They're circulating a letter preparatory to launching a "pledge drive" to get readers and fans to support the magazine with donations. It's a fine line of sentiment vs. desperation, though they put forth a yeoman effort to explain it's a one-time thing, their biz plan will rock once we all get past this, Ted Turner made it work once, etc. They mostly succeed in coming across as more sincere than sad about it, and for that they get a salute. Full letter after the jump. Read generously.

Dear Paste readers,

We write this letter with great appreciation for all you’ve done for Paste, as well as sorrow at its necessity. The economy has taken its toll on Paste, and we need to call on you for further support to continue.

As the global recession has continued, many of you have written us (especially as ad pages shrunk) to say, “If you ever need help, let us know.” That day has come.

Today, we are launching the “Paste Pledge Drive” to raise money to keep Paste coming to your mailboxes and computer screens. If you are in a position to give even a little, please consider donating. As thanks for your generosity, a number of amazing artists (such as XXX, XXX and XXX) have gathered and donated some rare & exclusive MP3s for all who take part.

As a completely independent magazine, Paste has struggled for the past nine months as advertisers have decided to wait out the recession. As most of you realize, magazines are heavily subsidized by advertising. Industry experts estimate that an average subscription for a monthly publication would cost $60-$80 per year without advertising support.

But last month was brutal. Cash received unexpectedly reached an all-time low, and turned a tough situation into a short-term crisis.

Long-term, Paste will emerge in good shape. Last year was our best year across the board—print subscribers, print ads, online readers and online advertising were all at record levels. Readers (print and online) remain strong and new advertisers have come on board and more are ready when their advertising budgets come back.

We’ve also adjusted our business to weather this storm. We’ve cut costs, and we developed a robust online business that’s among the best in the industry. Fundamentally, we’re in good shape and won’t need another appeal down the road. But it’s taken us until this point to get there—leaving us critically low on cash, without some large corporation behind us to bridge the gap.

We’ll make it through this short-term economic crisis—but it’s only with your help. Our fate is (and has been and always will be) in your hands. Big-time investors are not “in the game” right now—but readers can rise up and “invest” in Paste’s future. Will you be a part?

We appreciate all of your support so far—everyone who’s subscribed, given a gift, or even read a story online or opened a newsletter. It’s all enabled us to make it this far. Now, we humbly ask you to consider giving a little more.

It doesn’t take much. Every little bit helps and you can be a part of continuing our efforts to help you find signs of life in music, film and culture. If $1 came in from everyone on our e-mail lists (or $10 from 10% or $100 from 1%), we’ll reach our goal and emerge from this recession as a stronger magazine and website. While we’re not a non-profit (this isn’t a tax-deductible gift), know that every dollar you give goes into keeping Paste alive and, ultimately, making it even better.

While you’re at it, also let us know what more you’d like to see from Paste. What should we do (or do better) online to help you discover new music, film and more? As advertising comes back and the magazine thickens, what would you like to see in print?

With our sincerest thanks,

Josh, Tim and Nick for the entire Paste family

PS. As thanks for your help, a number of our favorite labels and musicians have donated free MP3s (from artists including XXXX, YYYY, ZZZZ) for everyone who donates. (Also note, this is not a tax-deductible gift. You can read more about the drive in our Pledge FAQs.)

FAQs

We’ve anticipated a few questions some of you may have. If you have other questions or comments, let us know.

Will my donation line someone’s pocket?
In short, no. Paste is owned by the people who run it, and we’ve sunk our meager life savings into the business. No one—no investor, no owner, no employee, no vendor, no writer (God knows)—has ever received any windfall from Paste. We’ve been blessed with fun jobs, but this is and always has been a labor of love.

Of course, in some sense, the money you give will line lots of pockets. It’ll pay for printing, Internet bandwidth, writers and photographers, mailing, etc. And ultimately that keeps paychecks in people’s pockets (and Paste coming to you).

Are you a non-profit? Is there a precedent for this sort of thing?

We are not a non-profit, and it is unusual—but not without precedent. One of the most prominent examples comes from Ted Turner, who solicited donations for a for-profit station he owned in Charlotte. The station survived and went on to become an NBC affiliate. A few magazines have done this sort of appeal. Most don’t try, presumably because they are too big to successfully downsize, too small to have enough readers to contribute or too far gone to rescue. We’re blessed to still be small and nimble, with a sizeable and passionate group of readers—and to have started adjusting our business to lower advertising dollars over nine months ago (though, admittedly, not quickly enough).

Is this just a temporary fix?
No. We’ve adjusted costs to survive our current levels of income, and we can’t imagine that getting significantly worse. We just need a little cash infusion to make up for running at a loss for a while. We’re excited about finally getting to a sustainable level that puts us in a great position when the economy comes back—whenever that is.

Isn’t print dying? What makes you think you will survive?
Certainly, many have proclaimed the death of print. And it’s true that newspapers and magazines have been hammered by the advertising environment. Magazines, however, are in much better shape to continue. Every study shows that magazine readership overall is strong, even among teens and twentysomethings, and advertising in magazines is more effective than any other medium. Large news-focused magazines (serving much the same purpose as newspapers) have seen readership decline, but most others have fared well. While we might get our daily news from blogs and other websites, nothing beats good, old-fashioned paper for settling down to read a good profile.

Why weren’t you prepared for this?
That’s a good question. We saw signs of the recession early on, with some advertisers pulling back. Nonetheless, our business was up until the last four months of 2008. Since then, we’ve been adjusting costs but that takes a while for a magazine. As just one example, despite knowing that 70% of subscribers said they’d rather have our sampler as a download, we wanted to give everyone else ample opportunity to indicate their choice for a physical CD. That led to an almost five-month process (planning, printing, two issues of notice, etc.) before those costs savings could take effect.

Have you considered going online only?
We’ve certainly talked about that often, and that’s not out of the question. But we still believe in print, and many of you have indicated you never want to lose that tactile experience. Going online only eliminates many costs; it also eliminates a lot of revenue. And many subscribers would be owed refunds (a sizeable amount of money, much less than we are trying to raise).

Why don’t you sell or get an investor?
While we value our independent voice, we’ll consider all options. The investors we’ve quietly talked to are mostly waiting for the economy to turn around (especially for advertising-based businesses).

Are you bi-monthly?
Sort of. “Normal” issues of Paste will go out every other month. In between, we’re sending out single-topic special editions in a smaller format. Each month, subscribers will also get a sampler. The smaller format every other month saves a lot of cost and will allow the standard issues to get even thicker as advertising comes back, while allowing us to focus on topics such as a festival guide and best-of-what’s-next in the intervening months.

Did the CD go away?
No. We’ve defaulted existing subscribers to digital samplers, but they can request physical CDs. For new subscribers, we’re going to ask their preference up-front but there will be a shipping-and-handling charge for the physical CD.

I just subscribed. Will I get what I paid for?
Barring a worst-case scenario, absolutely.

I haven’t subscribed yet. Would subscribing help?
Definitely. FYI, if you buy on the newsstand, you pay more but we see a fraction of that money, many months later. We’re also offering lifetime subscriptions to anyone who gives $500 or more.

I’m a musician. Can I contribute a song?
If you’d like to donate a rare song to the effort, click here.


Josh Turner Tickets