Hello, everyone. Welcome to the first Industry Spotlight of the week. The following feature has been in the works since mid-February, and has been the topic of several request emails since at least November 2013. We do our best to speak with everyone you hope to learn from as soon as their names come up, but scheduling is often a tricky proposition. If you would like to learn more about the efforts of this blog, or if you would like a tour of our servicing platform, please do not hesitate to contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
It is rare that more than a month or two passes without another print publication going digital or shutting down entirely, but as we will today there are still people in the publishing industry who believe in the future of physical products.
Jason McMahon is not the first person you expect to meet when you meet the owner of Substream Magazine. He does not consider himself much of a journalist, and even though he went to college twice he never once majored in anything related to the publishing world. He actually had no idea what he wanted to be when he began his post high school journey, but fate first placed him in the medical field before eventually turning Jason’s focus to the world of music production.
Following a second stint in college, Jason took an internship in New York and left Ohio to pursue his music industry ambitions. One gig lead to another, and over the course of several years he found himself back in Ohio. This time, however, Jason had a partner in creative endeavors, and together the two launched Substream Magazine as a way to expand their horizons in the music business. Jason took on full ownership a few years after that, which is the position he holds to this day.
As someone who has spent the entirety of their career writing online, I am always a bit more excited than usual for interviews when the opportunity to speak to someone working in print comes along. The battle to maintain a physical presence in a world with an ever-increasing demand for digital access has claimed many great business, but Substream has survived and even thrived.
I spoke with Jason about his history in music, as well as the origin of Substream, but when our conversation really took off is when I approached the topic of the magazine’s plans for the future. While others are running from print, Substream is hoping to maintain their physical presence for as long as they are able. They see a value in the way people engage with their physical product that can not be duplicated when fingers dance across the glass surface of smartphones, and they are doing whatever it takes to nurture that value for the foreseeable future.
If you would like to learn more about Jason and his efforts with the Substream Magazine team, be sure to bookmark Substream’s official website and follow the company on Twitter. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.
H: To begin, please tell everyone your full name and the publication you’re here to discuss:
J: My name is Jason McMahon, owner of Substream Magazine.
H: Thank you again for joining us.
J: Thanks for having me.
H: I’m curious, when did music become more than an interest in your life?
J: I was always really into music, but I didn’t really take any interest from an instrument standpoint until high school. That is when I picked up the guitar and I think it was through playing that I developed a different appreciation for it, and better insight. I started paying attention to the music itself and not the song as a whole.
I also became a huge fan of going to shows, finding new music, discussing new music, and those kinds of scenarios. Like every high school senior, however, I had know idea what I wanted to do with myself when I graduated. I went to college because I thought that is what you were supposed to do and found I really enjoyed the medical field.
Graduation came and I found work at a hospital in Columbus, Ohio. A little later in my twenties I realized that I wanted and kind of needed to do more music stuff. I noticed I had developed an interest and attraction to recording, so I returned to school for music production and as soon as I graduated took a job at a recording studio in New York City.
That kind of kicked off my music career, really. I left the medical field and never looked back. Working at the studio turned into working at an independent label, which turned into working on various projects in Nashville. It was during this time that I met the kid who would eventually become my partner in the magazine. We kicked it off, I bought him out three years later, and just recently revamped the magazine.
I think I got a little carried away there, but yea, that is how Substream came to be.
H: That’s perfectly fine. Giving us the whole story up front makes it easier to talk about other topics. You mentioned leaving the medical field for music. Can you pinpoint the moment in life when you realized music was the business for you?
J: When I was working at the hospital there were a couple other guys I knew who were into music. One of them brought up the fact you could go to school for sound engineering and recording, which I really did not know at the time. I think a lot kids are geared towards and told to do certain things. Law school, medical school, and so on. Counselors do not sit them down and ask, “What’s your passion?” They don’t always have someone willing to help them find something in life that interests them and show them how to make a career out of it.
So, I was working at the hospital and this guy told me about this program for music production. I loved my job at the hospital, but the more I thought about it I realized that going back to school for music was for me.
I don’t regret what I did in my early career though. I loved it, and when I look back now I still do.
H: Music production was where your interests lied originally, but you now work in the journalism field. When did the world of writing come into the picture for you?
J: It really never did to be completely honest with you. I always looked at Substream as a springboard to bigger and better things in the music industry. I love working with bands, working with labels, bringing people together, and setting things up, but to actually sit down and write something was never really a passion of mine. Substream was more something that would allow me to exercise the things I enjoy about the music industry while allowing our writers and photographers do their thing. I have done a few articles and I do enjoy it, but it is not my forte. I am more into the business end of things and finding bands. That is what I enjoy.
H: Interesting. Can you tell us a little about the early years of Substream and how you, as someone who recognizes your own skills lie outsides of writing, went about building your team of editors and contributors?
J: That was back in the MySpace days, when we were just getting started. We had a really good following on social networks and we sought out fans to contribute to our efforts. We were a magazine that was produced by fans of music for fans of music, so we were not looking for high quality, outstanding journalists, we just wanted young people who were passionate about the music we were covering. As we started putting out phone calls and messages via MySpace we began receiving feedback from people who wanted to help us create conten. At that point our jobs became weeding out the good from the bad, and we built our team that way. It’s probably a strange method, but it’s literally what we did.
We started in central Ohio as well, and we know a lot of people in the area who were willing to help us out.
H: How large is the Substream team today?
J: We probably have, on average, a team of 25-30 contributors from all over the world. It’s really pretty cool.
H: Do you actively seek new writers?
J: We don’t really have to seek new people, they tend to find us. We get a lot of messages from aspiring writers and college students who are looking for work. They send us stories and portfolios, which we review, and if looks good we will follow up.
H: I’ve noticed that you guys also have internships available. Can you tell us a bit about what interns do at Substream?
J: If you’re located in the Columbus (Ohio) area, our interns will meet with us once a week and do a variety of tasks. They will go to shows and pass out magazine, help out on social sites, run contests. If any are aspiring journalists we will try and find content for them to work on. It’s really about finding where the individual intern can help us best. We have one intern who helps us edit. She does not want to go to shows all the time or write articles necessarily, but she has an interest in editing.
Our interns do a little bit of everything.
H: What advice would you offer someone aspiring to become a professional in the music industry?
J: Be prepared to be broke for a while. You have to pay your dues. The best advice I can offer someone pursuing a college degree right now with an interest in this industry is to run out an find internships that you are passionate about. That is where I got my start and it’s where I learned a lot about how the business works.
H: Substream is one of the few music publications still in print. You probably get this all the time, but do you plan to keep making a physical magazine for the foreseeable future?
J: Yes. I think having a print edition of anything is far more enjoyable than reading something off a device, like an iPad for example. They are two different experiences, and there are pros to each. The digital side of things keeps you from having to carry around a stack of book, and it also allows for a lot of interactivity, which is great.
But I think to actually have a physical copy in your hands. To see and to have that product on the shelf in a store where someone has to make a true effort to come in pick it up is pretty special. I think that we will always put out a print magazine. I just hope everyone else quits printing, as that seems to be the trend right now. If everyone else wants to stop that is great for us because we know there is value there. I know that when we go out on Warped Tour it’s exciting to see our fans pick up a magazine and flip through it. It’s a different kind of excitement than picking up an iPad and dragging your finger across the screen.
This doesn’t mean we are not going to grow our digital side because we definitely are, it just means that the magazine will adapt and change as needed so that we can continue to print.
H: On that note, how can we expect to see Substream change in the months and years ahead? Is there anything on the horizon you can discuss?
J: We are constantly evolving and reworking our design, and we are also stretching the genres we cover. When we first started out everything was very pop-punk and hardcore-related, but now we are starting to branch out a little bit. We are still covering those scenes, but we are also bringing in some pop, a few alternative acts, and the like. Our focus will always remain on those initial scenes, but we like seeing where the magazine can go.
As far as the company itself, we launched our digital edition on a new platform at the end of last year. I’d also like to launch an app at some point. It’s pretty exciting right now. I have a few ideas on how to diversify what it is Substream does. It’s all music-related, but I would like to see our company grow into more of a multi-level company that does many music things. We’re getting there. Slowly, but surely.
H: You have accomplished a lot with Substream. What are your personal career goals moving forward?
J: I like to start companies and build them, so I would really like to see what we just spoke about coming to fruition. Making Substream a springboard to launch more endeavors. Personally, I would like to get more into the recording side of things. That is where I got my start, and it is where I would like to get back to. Finding bands, signing bands, and help them sell records.
You say personal career goals, but Substream is my life. It all comes back to this, and I am working towards constant growth.
H: Great response. I think that covers everything I have, but before I let you go are there any final thoughts or observations you would like to share with our readers?
J: I think I gave you a quick background on us and how we got to this point. We are seven-years-old now, and to be honest the odds were against us from the start. We have seen magazines like Spin go away and I think we are here to stay the course and create a product music fans want to buy every other month. We are here to stick it out.
