A Q&A with Stereogum’s Scott Lapatine – Indiegogo Weblog

Stereogum is among the most influential music blogs of the final 20 years. However nice style doesn’t at all times include nice luck: After they lately grew to become unbiased in late February 2020, a world well being and financial disaster was lurking simply across the nook. 

That’s why they launched the Save Stereogum marketing campaign on Indiegogo — to showcase the very best in unbiased music and to maintain the music alive. They’ve raised over $300,000 in just some weeks, sufficient to maintain the lights on and the grooves going for a very long time but.

We caught up with Stereogum founder and Editor-in-Chief Scott Lapatine to get the complete story about their marketing campaign, ‘00s nostalgia, and common music nerdery. Right here’s what we came upon.

What’s your story, and why did you launch this crowdfunding marketing campaign? 

I began Stereogum about one million years in the past, again in 2002, to share details about the very best up-and-coming bands and the music business. We’ve at all times been a small group of individuals very enthusiastic about music. 

And earlier this 12 months we had an enormous alternative to lastly purchase the Stereogum web site from our father or mother firm, which is one thing I had wished to do for a protracted, very long time. 

I accomplished the deal for Stereogum in February, after which the coronavirus hit, leading to a dramatic drop in our advert income.

So Stereogum grew to become unbiased simply 2 weeks earlier than the lockdowns started?

It was probably the worst case situation for our enterprise. However I remembered a crowdfunding marketing campaign that one other music publication launched over the last monetary disaster. They raised some huge cash from their readers to assist them keep in enterprise throughout these powerful occasions. 

We have now a really engaged group. Our content material has at all times been free. And every time we placed on live shows in cities world wide, these have been free too. I’ve at all times tried to be clear with our viewers about adjustments in our enterprise, and after I communicated a few of our promoting struggles, readers had been already providing monetary help.

How did you get the concept to place collectively a compilation of canopy songs? 

A number of occasions through the years we’ve put out these track-for-track covers of basic albums. We did one for Radiohead’s OK Laptop, REM’s Automated for the Individuals, Bjork’s Publish, and the Strokes’ Is This It. And people had been actually standard. And we’re at all times on the lookout for alternatives to work on a inventive mission and put one thing new into the world. It appeared like a very good way for us to supply one thing to backers of the marketing campaign. I used to be thrilled by the caliber of artists that volunteered to donate their time and music to this marketing campaign. 

Let’s speak concerning the report itself. What sort of songs can backers count on? 

I obtained over 50 artists to contribute, specializing in acts that Stereogum has championed most through the years. In some circumstances we had been their first nationwide media publicity. A few of the extra established teams, just like the Nationwide and Dying Cab For Cutie, we’ve lined intently for over 15 years. A youthful era of songwriters we’re actually enthusiastic about is represented by acts like Charly Bliss, Julien Baker, and Moses Sumney.

These artists acknowledge the worth of unbiased media, particularly when there are so few retailers solely centered on music. And I believe there’s an appreciation of the weblog format, which might be each authoritative and conversational. There’s a surprisingly excessive degree of discourse among the many common commenters. And we don’t give rankings with our album critiques — it’s very a lot a dialog with our readers. There’s numerous positivity, which is tough to search out today.

How did you resolve on a 2000s cowl album? 

Because the nostalgia cycle appears to occur in durations of 20 years, the timing lined up completely for us to revisit the Aughts. Seems discovering songs to cowl from this decade has proved irritating for most of the artists. I believe our marketing campaign supporters can be actually happy with what everybody got here up with, although.

Are there any songs that you just’re notably enthusiastic about on the comp? 

The track decisions can be a shock till backers obtain the comp, however I’ve been floored by the standard of the productions, particularly as a result of most of our contributors had been nonetheless caught at house, like the remainder of us. It goes to indicate how superior house recording has develop into and the way self-sufficient indie artists might be because of know-how.

I suppose followers can’t go to live shows now, and artists can’t both. They’re caught at house too, proper?

It’d theoretically be nice timing for musicians with “nothing to do.” However I’ve heard from so many artists how tough it’s to be inventive below present circumstances. And also you even have to contemplate that their livelihoods are at stake, so it’s a disturbing time. 

What’s the format of the recording? Is it a obtain? A CD? Vinyl? 

Within the spirit of early Stereogum, these are all going to be downloadable information. We began out as one of many first MP3 blogs the place day-after-day we had been internet hosting tracks from obscure bands. And we’re not going to be streaming it! It is a restricted time provide.

I do know some readers would need vinyl however I didn’t need to get slowed down with the logistics of manufacturing bodily media. There are already prices related to making and delivery the merch, and success to hundreds of supporters can be complicated sufficient. I’m doing this all myself so I simplified the place I may.

You simply talked about merch. Let’s discuss these Stereogum t-shirts. What’s the story?

Properly, I’m an enormous music t-shirt collector. That’s my true ardour, not Stereogum, however rock t-shirts. [laughs] We truly haven’t made t-shirts obtainable in 13 or 14 years. And we at the moment don’t have a merch retailer. So that is the primary time lots of our readers have been in a position to get any swag from us in a very long time.

I’m additionally going to be relaunching the location, which may have fully new branding. So as a substitute of attaching our present emblem, which can be altering, I put a spin on some basic rock iconography.

That REO Speedwagon t-shirt positively made me chuckle. 

Stereogum lately reviewed certainly one of their songs in our recurring collection The Quantity Ones, the place we’ve been diving into each primary single in chronological order, and they are going to be within the column once more. They usually had been on Ozark, which I binge watched this 12 months. The Wagon’s again, child.

What about this VIP Zoom get together? That’s a fairly candy perk. 

We’ve been placing on mini-festivals for a very long time, and below totally different circumstances this may be an IRL occasion. However I believe it is going to be fairly particular as a livestream. Stay-from-home performances have proliferated throughout quarantine, however Stereogum hasn’t broadcast any. We’re gonna put all our vitality into this single personal digital pageant for VIP degree and above backers, which can be a number of hundred folks. We’ll have performances from artists on the Save Stereogum album, and plenty of shock massive names who wished to be on the comp however couldn’t make it work for no matter purpose. It’ll even be a possibility for us to attach with our common readers who we solely know by their display screen names.

And the “All Entry” perk? What’s that every one about? 

There’s a beautiful group that has fashioned across the Quantity Ones collection. Individuals who again the marketing campaign at this $1,000 “All Entry” degree can request any track that was a Scorching 100 hit and get a The Quantity Ones-style write-up. Tom from Stereogum, who writes the column, will do all the mandatory analysis to offer historic context alongside along with his evaluation of the track. And the donor will be capable to introduce the article and clarify why they selected it. Six folks have claimed that already. 

How has it been operating the marketing campaign itself? Have there been any challenges?  

Fortunately the Indiegogo platform has been actually intuitive and did what we wished it to do. A giant a part of our success to date comes right down to the power to supply perks at totally different ranges. So it ended up being excellent for us. 

One problem was the marketing campaign video, which up till the final minute was going to be supplied by Insane Clown Posse. After they flaked we had like three days to place one thing else collectively. Apparently ICP may nonetheless do one thing for us down the road. There’s at all times the following pandemic.

What’s it been like working with the backer group on Indiegogo? 

I knew our Stereogum viewers can be excited concerning the marketing campaign, however I believe we’ve gotten fairly a little bit of engagement via Indiegogo’s newsletters and social media as nicely. We’ve been getting questions on our Indiegogo web page that I’ve been responding to. And it has additionally given me the chance to take a look at all of the actually cool initiatives which are on the platform. In one other life, possibly I’ll have a foldable bicycle to crowdfund. For now we’re simply doing an album.

Do you’ve the rest that you really want potential backers to find out about your marketing campaign? 

I might simply remind everybody that this actually is an excellent limited-time providing. We’re not going to place the compilation on Spotify. We’re not going to promote it sooner or later. It’s only for this crowdfunding marketing campaign. 

And on the identical time, I need to talk how a lot everybody at Stereogum appreciates all of the help and the way grateful we’re to everybody who helped us attain our aim so rapidly.

To help Save Stereogum, try the Indiegogo marketing campaign web page right here.