A letter to all Getintothis readers and supporters.
When my former boss, the Liverpool Daily Post sports editor suggested I start writing a music blog in early May 2007, I had no idea it was going to change my life forever.
The word ‘blog’ was derided; scoffed at in certain quarters of the old print establishment. Yet it meant something entirely different to an online audience; an audience locked into a world of MySpace, Hipster Runoff and Soulseek, one which was already in-tune with the vast network of sites which shape today’s digital landscape.
Back then (it’s ridiculous how long ago it seems) there was a level of innocence and naivety to digital culture but in many respects the blogs were ahead of the game. Pitchfork, Vice and numerous others were the daily go-to sites; their influence already gripping millions – and suddenly a medium struck a chord and felt vital once again. So it was only natural, that myself, like many other Trinity Mirror employees around the country, began writing our very own online blog.
More than eight years later and I’m not even sure blog culture exists anymore – everything is simply ‘on the internet’. Laptops and PCs have been overtaken by mobiles and in this relentless digital age it’s both amusing and also alarming that retrospective pieces have been written about the rise (and death) of bands formed during the halcyon days of blogging (quick point: we can surely all agree Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are the ultimate blog band, right?).
Seriously, where did all that time go?
Well, for me, much of it went into creating this: Getintothis.
What began as a one-man DIY online punk diary has evolved into an independent webzine updated around the clock by a small voluntary team of fiercely dedicated music lovers.
But here’s the thing. Since last August, Getintothis is an entirely independent entity.
Shit’s gotten real. Hopefully, you can see that.
Our quality, productivity, creativity, writing, design, photography, engagement with you guys and the mountains of other stuff we do has gone through the roof. And the team that do all of this is the same voluntary team of fiercely dedicated music lovers. All of whom work second jobs, or are indeed studying or training to get jobs.
So this really is the thing.
On the suggestion of some of our long-time supporters, we’re starting a donation PayPal system and hoping readers of Getintothis will help us continue to do what we do – writing, photographing and documenting the best new music and pop culture there is.
So why should you donate? Well, it’s simply really, to help us continue doing what we do.
Not only that, we aim to reinvest donations into making Getintothis grow and support those that make it happen.
We’ll be able to sustain a server that can handle our volume of readers. At the minute, when we publish a half decent breaking news story up, the server squeals like a mid-90s guitar band hurtling into the indie landfill pit.
When we host events (like our free relaunch show at The Kazimier) we’ll be able to support the running costs and pay everyone involved who puts it together.
There is of course, the advertising revenue route (at the time of writing, we’re completely ad-free), and it’s something we will in time explore. But with such a small team managing so little time, maintaining the day-to-day running of the site alone is a testing experience. If ever you spot a spelling mistake it’s probably because we were sat up at 2am on our fourteenth coffee editing copy while compiling a playlist and resizing a picture all the while thinking, ‘I have to be up in five hours for work…‘
We’re not complaining of course, we love doing Getintothis. That’s the reason we’re still here. And judging by our growing readership – so do you.
But right now, simply put, we can’t keep shelling out ourselves to fund this eight year, 4012-posts-and-counting experiment which has spiraled beyond all expectations.
So that’s the thing.
From myself and the rest of the Getintothis team we would like to thank you for your continued support – and to those who donate, we heartily salute you.
Keep on keeping on.
PGx
[paypal-donation]
