Save Music Journalism Archives

Sites raise money and gain access based on traffic, but the numbers can be deceiving.

The beginning of 2019 has been hard on writers and creatives at a number of the web’s most recognizable sites. Between recent cuts at Buzzfeed and Vice, not to mention a number of smaller publications, estimates show at least 2,000 people lost jobs in media over the past six weeks. Some analysts are referring to these losses as a ‘bloodbath,’ and many expect more downsizing announcements in the near future.

The explanations for the cuts run the gamut from restructuring to cost-cutting. Either way, traffic most likely played a role. Everything related to online media companies boils down to traffic, especially for businesses who rely on outside investors to keep their properties afloat.

To gauge traffic, most investors and industry analysts rely on ComScore, a company dedicated to measuring media online. Faking a score in their system is practically impossible, but some forward-thinking media conglomerates have found a way to game the service’s measurements, at least in the short term, to raise their value.

As Tim Pool explains in the video above, digital media companies adjust their traffic and engagement by acquiring clickbait-heavy platforms and folding that audience into their brand. Here’s an example of the kind of articles these sites generate, which you’ve probably seen promoted at the bottom of articles on numerous media sites:

*Articles like these offer little information, but boost engagement by requiring numerous clicks to view their content in full.*

Between the clicks and added traffic, media companies can boast big numbers for their community of sites without having to show the performance of individual publications. Big numbers attract big investors, and investments keep the lights on.

Believe it or not, there is nothing illegal about this approach to promotion. The numbers are legitimate. The deception lies in how sites describe what pulls in readers. Here’s an example:

Let’s say a media conglomerate buys a clickbait-heavy site to boost its numbers. The conglomerate may claim their audience turns to them for news and essays on culture when in reality their audience is driven by articles like, ’25 celebrities who had plastic surgery.’ The investors would need to sift through the data for all sites to determine whether or not the company is lying, which requires time and money most do not want to sacrifice.

Over time, however, the truth about most sites comes out. Whether through internal investigations or a drop in traffic that the conglomerate cannot explain away, investors and readers inevitably see through the deception of inflated numbers. Even if they don’t, a number of services have emerged in recent years that can separate real and fake engagement into easy to read reports that anyone can follow.

The cuts we are seeing in media right now are bound to continue unless this trend changes. The problem is that few, if any sites have found a way to generate a committed audience large enough to draw the investment capital needed to build a media empire through legitimate means. When Facebook boasts a potential audience in the billions, what incentives do investors or advertisers have to work with sites whose monthly audience lies in the hundreds of thousands, or even millions?

But there is a catch-22 to the entire affair that will inevitably need to be addressed. Facebook and similar social media platforms are the primary way people consume news and media, but those services rely on countless third-party publishers to create the content users click. Without investors and ad sales, those publishers will go under, which will leave social media giants to generate news and content on their own.

Something has to give. The only questions are, what will it be and when will it happen?

It’s true that starting a blog on platforms like Tumblr come with no initial cost, but anyone trying to make a legitimate site knows that going the ‘free’ route rarely results in success. Just to get on the radar of most publicists you at least need a URL, which comes with an annual cost, and unless you have a strong grasp of coding you will likely have to pay for site customizations at some point along the way. You may also incur server costs, which range anywhere from ten bucks a month to thousands of dollars every year, and as you grow the rate will continue to go up.

The point I’m trying to make is that, while arguably incredibly cheap compared to barriers preventing entry into other industries, there is some cost associated with creating and maintaining a proper music blog. Most will pay out of pocket at first, but as a site begins to flourish the cost of upkeep can often become too much for some people to afford on their own. This leaves them with only a handful of options, the most popular being to either allow advertisements or shut down completely. Neither of these are necessarily the best options, but all too often they’re the only ones most writers consider.

Recently, a service called Patreon has been rising in popularity. The service, which admittedly was not created with blog owners in mind, allows anyone to create a donation/support system for their project. People can choose to donate as little as $1 a month every month or they can opt for a one-time payment. Additionally, projects and websites seeking support can offer gifts/rewards to people who support their efforts. It’s kind of like Kickstarter, except the funding period never ends.

The reason I tell you all of this is because one of our favorite sites, The Runout, has recently launched a Patreon page in hopes of finding reader support for their ongoing efforts in punk journalism. You can read a message from the site’s founder, former featured professional Bryne Yancey, below:

It’s that time. We’re eight months into The Runout’s existence, and now I’m going to ask you nicely for something.

I was laid off from my day job at the beginning of 2015, a day job that essentially paid for The Runout to keep going; the site had no income, per se, so I used my own, like everyone tells you you’re supposed to do when you love something. I didn’t mind doing it, but given what my income was (small), it was far from a sustainable model. I knew that.

I really, really don’t want ads on The Runout. I’m guessing the majority of you don’t want them either. You know how everyone says the separation of church and state doesn’t really exist? Neither does the separation of advertising and publishing. I don’t want The Runout’s content to be influenced by ad partners. I’ve been in meetings with ad departments before where some, not all, but some editorial coverage was bargained over based on who was spending the most ad dollars that month. Even recognizing it as a necessary evil in that situation for keeping the lights on and everybody paid (I don’t know for sure, but I would guess that almost every magazine functions this way to some degree), it was routinely as soul-crushing as it sounds.

I didn’t get into this to placate ad partners, but I can’t feasibly keep The Runout going on income earned as an underemployed freelancer. So I’m asking you to help.

We’ve set up a Patreon page (thanks to PropertyofZack for the inspiration) where you can donate as little as $1 a month to keep The Runout up and running and constantly improving. If even 20% of our followers on tumblr gave $1/month, I could afford to run the site full-time, like, *as my job.*
There are also higher tiers, where if you give more, we will give you more in return:

—For $5 a month, you’ll get access to a monthly, members-only podcast that will feature roundtable discussions of topics covered on the site, interviews, new music and more.

—For $10 a month, you’ll get access to the podcast as well as a membership in our new mix CD club. Every month, we’ll mail you a new CD with tracks curated by The Runout’s contributors and special guests. The CDs will be themed each month, with artwork, liner notes and all kinds of other cool stuff. If you don’t want CDs but want to join at this level anyway, we’ll send you digital files instead. But as a 30 year-old, CDs are cooler, in my opinion.

—We’re also taking pre-orders for a year-end zine. For a one-time donation of $25, we’ll mail you a year-end physical zine with some of the site’s best work, as well as exclusive essays, interviews, artwork and more. We’ll package the zine with some music and other stuff to make it even more worth the price.

Check it out here, and please give if you can. Thank you.