When a School Project Becomes a Business Adventure

What began as a school project, evolved into something much bigger for these University of King’s College Journalism classmates

By: Azim Ahmed, Staff Writer

When 24-year old Jonathan Briggins and a group of his classmates at the University of King’s College Journalism program embarked on their final project, they had no idea that it would one day evolve into a promising Canadian business venture.

Image courtesy of Creability Pictures via Flickr

What started as a student assignment is now Mixtape Magazine, an insider’s guide to the Canadian music industry, showcasing new talent while giving fans an intimate and unique look at the Canadian music scene. With a sneak preview unveiling this summer through its summer festival guide, the first full issue is set to release in September 2013.

“This is information you’re not going to get from a press release, this is stuff we can only get because we’re spending a lot of time with the artists,” explains Briggins in an interview with Arbitrage. “We really know them, and spend time with them and where they’re working.”

“We’re also going to have a lot of outside contributors with featured bloggers, industry pros; not necessarily musicians writing columns about stuff you normally wouldn’t hear about,” Briggins, a Halifax native, adds. “On top of that we’re also going to look at fashion and technology trends and specifically how they relate to music in Canada.”

A promising beginning

A big part of the transition to an actual business venture was in January 2013 when Briggins – an award-winning music blogger since 2010 – attended a music industry mixer in Halifax. Many people from the Nova Scotia music industry saw the copy of the issue he brought with him and subsequently gave it positive reviews.  He now had the validation and professional encouragement needed to make it real.

One of the individuals that Briggins met that night was Scott Long, the Executive Director of Music Nova Scotia, an association that promotes local artists and the city’s music scene. Long directed Briggins to a provincial government funding program called the Emerging Music Business Program.

At that point Briggins and his fellow classmates/co-creators Samantha Chown, Hilary Creamer, Ryan Hemsworth and Chelcie Soroka already had the talent, the will and the ambition. They now just needed a more experienced hand; enter Bill McEwen.

McEwen had been an engineering officer in the Navy for nine years, and had attended Military College in Kingston, obtaining a B.Sc in Computer Science. He had been deployed in parts of Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. However, his true passion was writing, so he left the military to attend journalism school, ultimately winning an Atlantic Journalism Award for his coverage of Occupy Nova Scotia.

“I didn’t have a ton of business experience myself, but I love the entrepreneurial spirit so I was really game to help, and I’ve always been really big on trying to create journalism jobs,” McEwen tells Arbitrage. “If we can create jobs where people are happy doing what they’re doing, then why not?”

With McEwen’s guidance and his new role as Publisher and Business Manager, the group applied to the provincial grant program and eventually were approved, receiving $4,000.

Though it has only been a little over a year, some members of the original group have parted ways as life and careers have drawn them elsewhere.

[pullquote]“If we can create jobs where people are happy doing what they’re doing, then why not?”[/pullquote]

“One person who helped start the magazine was Ryan Hemsworth, who left to pursue his own career and has been quite successful as a musician,” recounts Briggins, who is Mixtape’s Editor-in-Chief and Publisher. “Another contributor/editor went to medical school, and another moved to Paris. So the team kind of went in different directions in life. Except for me and Creative Director Hillary Creamer, who is based in Calgary.”

Other creative talents have since joined the team, and many are scattered throughout Canada, giving the venture a more national brand. In addition to Creamer in Calgary, there are team members and contributors in Montreal, Saskatoon and Ottawa.

However, in terms of subscribers, the initial foundation will be in the Halifax area before ultimately establishing strongholds in other regions.

“To start, we’re focusing on building a base in Nova Scotia and the Martimes for the first six months or so, then I see in the following half-year we’ll stretch from our base to the Montreal and Ottawa markets,” outlines McEwen. “By the end our first year to 18 months in, our plan is to be across the country in select retail stores. With a real presence throughout Canada as well.”

The business plan

The group started to hammer out a business plan in February, and with the help of Scott Long, pinpointed their market niche. Their strategy calls for a focus on attaining and retaining subscribers for an affordable price and then building upon that healthy base to attract advertisers.

With that spirit, they decided to get creative and run a crowd funder, which promotes subscriptions and has give-a-ways to help fund the initiative. Originally, the crowd-funder was going to be a backup in case the grant funding did not come through. When they found out it did, they used the money to fund the printing costs of the summer festival guide, a teaser that promotes the crowd funder.

“In order for advertisers to see real value we need a strong subscriber base, and to attract that base, we’re also forming partnerships with advertisers to offer unique, subscriber-only benefits like retail discounts, free tickets, and other products and services for free or reduced pricing,” McEwen explains.

“As an example, everyone who pledges $10 or more in our crowd funder not only receives a free copy of our first issue, but they also get a chance to win a pair of wristbands (valued at $75 each) to Halifax Pop Explosion, a music festival in October.”

Image courtesy of thetaxhaven via Flickr

So while the group’s focus is on attracting subscribers, it works in lockstep in partnering with potential advertisers. The aforementioned Halifax Pop Explosion festival, for instance, signed on as Mixtape’s very first advertiser.

“We want advertising partners who are personal, approachable, and who appreciate our elegant minimalist design,” says McEwen. “We want partners who have something truly valuable to offer to our readers. That means anyone from a cell phone company, to a festival in B.C, to a beer company in Quebec, to an independent retail store in Nova Scotia – as long as it’s something we think our readers will want to know about.”

A passion for music

Mixtape Magazine is a collaborative effort by a group of young journalists who possess an unbridled passion for music. This fervor fuels their work, and in viewing the impressive summer festival guide, the passion pours through its pages. However, passion alone allows any group – however talented – to only go so far. This group of talented individuals has also made inroads into the industry – establishing contacts and solidifying relationships. For a magazine set to differentiate itself from others through its role as an insider’s guide, this is a vital factor. Jonathan Briggins is particularly crucial here.

The journalist started his Broken Speaker blog in 2010, profiling the Canadian music scene with a special focus on Halifax. Within its first year, the blog was named a top 10 music website as voted by CBC radio 3 in their annual searchlight contest.

“It’s been a great experience watching artists such as Rich Aucoin, Ryan Hemsworth and Ben Caplan develop in Halifax and then take their talents to the international scene,” says Briggins, who also says nothing beats the feeling of taking in a spectacular concert.

Before completing his journalism degree at King’s College and embarking in the school project that made history, he studied at Dalhousie University, focusing on Environmental Science and International Development Studies.

When asked about the importance of making connections in this industry, Briggins was direct.

“I feel it would be impossible to get to where I am right now if I hadn’t done the Broken Speaker the last three years,” he says. “It makes the conversation with industry insiders and musicians that much easier. You can send them an email and they know who you are, they trust you and know you are legitimate and credible.”

[pullquote]“We want partners who have something truly valuable to offer to our readers. That means anyone from a cell phone company, to a festival in B.C, to a beer company in Quebec, to an independent retail store in Nova Scotia – as long as it’s something we think our readers will want to know about.”[/pullquote]

The group’s goal is to marry a love of music with sharp journalistic integrity and quality. Fashion trends will be explored, technological impacts will be looked at, concerts will be analyzed, musicians will be profiled, and deep over-arching industry issues will be delved into. Mixtape aims to include stunning photography, relevant info-graphics, exclusive columns and in-depth reporting. As described in its press release announcing the launch to the world, subscribers will “get taken even further backstage with access to secret contests, deals and behind-the-scenes footage.”

In terms of scope, Briggins, McEwen and their team are aiming to keep it broad and open. Any and all genres will be covered, with a strong emphasis on the independent – or  “Indie” genre, featuring independent artists as well as musicians that are more established.

“Our main thing is we want to be covering Canadian artists that we think are good and that the general public will like,” says Briggins. “I mean, we’re not going to have Nickleback on our front cover,” he continues, laughing. “I think the best way to describe it is as new and emerging artists.”

A bright future?

Those in the magazine industry are often skeptical of start-ups. It can painfully difficult to secure advertisers, and even tougher to retain long-term subscribers. Then there’s the increasingly saturated market populated by bloggers, social media and television. However, recent history demonstrates that the right elements combined with good luck and effective market placements allows room for success stories. On the surface, at least, it appears Mixtape Magazine checks off these required ingredients.

Image courtesy of Mixtape Magazine

Their numbers are still modest, but keeping in mind that they began only this year, it holds promise. On June 11th, a crowd-funder netted the group $1,000 in one night, with 20 subscriptions sold. The goal, says Bill McEwen, is to hit 500 subscriptions by the end of the summer.

“That’s a lofty goal, but if we do that we’ll be able to print the first two issues comfortably,” he says.

The summer festival guide and their marketing plan are expected to attract more attention and get them closer to that goal. While still in the early stages, that plan is beginning to become something more tangible.

“We define our market by behavior rather than age range,” says McEwen. “But the market we’re looking for is comfortable both online and in print. The response so far online has been really good, with subscriptions coming from people across the country and in that industry that I have never met before. So online is good but it really only is a small piece of the pie.”

For one thing, the team will be leveraging this country’s always-busy summer concert season and their accompanying guide to help meet more people face-to-face.  They will be there at the concerts and festivals, handing out their guides and asking people what they think.

“We haven’t really put the gears to the physical marketing yet, but we’re right there, and it’s tremendously exciting.”

With any new venture, there are intertwining emotions consisting of excitement, fear, and reward. It’s safe to say Mixtape’s publishers are feeling that.

“The absolute hardest thing is that none of us have done this before,” says McEwen.  “We’ve all had to wear a lot of different hats, in terms of coming up with content, running with the crowd-funder idea, formulating a business plan, writing grant proposals, all of these different things. That’s probably been the biggest challenge.”

“Identifying a unique selling proposal was crucial,” he continues. “All of the things we’re working on, all of the marketing, the entire business, is based on that sell.  And if it’s not good enough, you’re not going to be able to do that, and people won’t listen to you. When I say to you that we’re an insider’s guide to the Canadian music scene, that is what all of our business operations and content is based off of.”

Co-founder Jonathan Briggins shares some of the early rewards they’ve experienced, such as seeing the proof of the festival guide. It helped validate their months of hard work, and finally being able to see a tangible product out there gives hope for the coming months.

As of now, Mixtape Magazine is not seeking outside investors, but if and when it does, the team hopes they can help not only financially, but also in their expertise. McEwen would love to ultimately relinquish his Publisher hat so he can focus more on content and the journalistic elements.

For now, though, this quintessentially Canadian business story is in its infancy. There is a lot of passion, talent, and optimism. And as always, there’s hope.

Azim Ahmed is a public relations professional with over five years of experience as a journalist. Azim has a special interest in writing on the business of sports and on Canada’s role in a global economy. 

Twitter: @azim_w_ahmed
LinkedIn: ca.linkedin.com/in/azimahmed1

Originally Created by: Jonathan Briggins, Samantha Chown, Hilary Creamer, Ryan Hemsworth, and Chelcie Soroka

Source
Mixtape Magazine Website: http://mixtapemagazine.ca/
Interview with Publisher and Business Manager, Bill McEwen
Interview with Co-founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, Jonathan Briggin
Image courtesy of Creability Pictures via Flickr
Image courtesy of Mixtape Magazine
Image courtesy of thetaxhaven via Flickr