Admittedly, any post-print brand trying to make a case for a paperless digital future has to convince a skeptical audience. We have grown up with publishers that did one thing really great: distributing entertainment and information on dead trees. How coveted print magazines become must-visit Web and mobile brands is a developing story with far more failures than successes as evidence. But even knowing this, I couldn’t be more excited about what the leap beyond ink and paper means for URB. From viral video, to expanding our coveted Next 100 list, to live Webcast of music events, our plan is to step into our 20th anniversary next year with the same brashness and indie bravado we had on day one. And, yes, even back into print whenever it makes sense.
The real-time Web is technology I couldn’t have remotely imagined when URB began. But looking back, we were shifting our own paradigms of the day. For our readers, we were a de facto blog long before the term would be born. Our pages were the first to spread the word about emerging bands, artists and DJs. The record reviews we printed shifted album sales much like a Pitchfork review moves the iTunes needle today. Our club and event pages were The Cobra Snake of their time. And we were a rowdy town hall, from our letters pages to our rant-ready voicemail number, where readers would spout off about last night’s party. In southern California in the ’90s, URB magazine was where the coolest of the cool kids spent their time. But that was then. And in the current fight for online audience, magazine brands need much more than nostalgia working for them.
If I think about it, URB might never have even been printed had the WWW been around in 1990. Our mission was and is to document progressive music movements, (re)present culture in a beautiful and deserving manner and incite conversations. But it was never solely about the medium. Back then, in a world dominated by immense cost barriers to publishing, we hijacked the best technology on the shelf just as it became affordable for the proletariat. At the time, it was a $3000 Apple II and a clunky laser printer. Today it’s an iPhone and a Tumblr account. In the early days, our masthead read, “Exploit technology before it exploits you.” So with that, here’s to the next adventure.
Raymond Leon Roker is co-founder and publisher of URB, an online music and culture magazine (http://www.urb.com/). For almost 20 years, through web, video, print and events, URB has covered progressive urban music, DJ culture, indie rock and their orbiting lifestyles. You can also find Roker on the Huffington post writing about race, media and politics. Check for more at http://roker.tumblr.com/ or on Twitter @raymondroker.
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This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
