From Simon Haines
I am passing on the email below just received from the editor of LIVING TRADITION MAGAZINE, the only serious national folk magazine since the demise of Foots. Like many involved with music industry, this not-for-profit magazine has been affected financially by Covid19 and the resulting cancellation of folk festivals, on whose advertising they depend for much of their annual income. The editor's email, which was originally sent to all subscribers, suggests a number of ways in which people can help them. I am already a subscriber, but the offer that attracted me was the reduced advertising rates for the next issue. We are buying advertising for Hadleigh Folk and Acoustic Music Nights.
If you are already a subscriber, you may have read this email already, but if not, you might consider supporting the magazine in one of the three ways suggested in the editor's email.
Hello again,
Hope this finds you and your family well, and that you are finding ways to survive these strange and worrying times. Rural Donegal has never looked more beautiful, and in many ways not much has changed for Jim and me, as we worked from home in semi-isolation most of the time anyway. But we really are aware of how lucky we are to be able to do that, and in such a beautiful place.
Anyway, we promised we’d get back to you after our last email newsletter to let you know about a couple of ways you could help us to keep to our publishing schedule through this coronavirus pandemic. As we explained, we are hoping to be able to proceed as normal and print our next issue at the start of June, but with the loss of so much advertising from festivals and individual artists’ tours and the like, we need to ‘plug the gap’ in our income stream somehow in order to ensure that the future of the magazine isn’t impacted.
Many of you have been in touch already with kind words and suggestions, but for now, here are three ways you can help.
- Make sure your personal subscription is up to date! Although we rely on advertising revenue, subscriptions are our lifeline, and without subscribers there would be no point. You can subscribe at any time at www.livingtradition.co.uk/subscribe, and we will add any issues you have left to run on your current subscription onto your new subscription. And do tell your friends that they should subscribe too!
- If you feel able, you could make a one-off donation, by cheque or on our website at www.livingtradition.co.uk/donate (part of the ‘Subscribe’ menu). Individual donations have made a huge difference to us in the past and could really help now. We are aware, though, that we are just one of a huge group of artists, organisations and businesses who need similar support at the moment, and that people’s ability to help financially is limited. But if you can, the option is there.
- One thing we do have to offer is space in the magazine, so in addition to our normal rates, we have devised a special one-off advertising offer that may help both us and you. For a limited period, we are offering everyone the chance to have an eighth page colour advert in the magazine for only £50+VAT. This can be used to advertise anything from CD releases, future festival or tour dates, artists plans and contact details, club updates, stock clearances, instrument sales, personal ads – anything! The idea behind these specially reduced rate adverts is that they makes promotion affordable for those who may be struggling at the moment, they allow you to support us while getting the word out about something you have to offer, and they also help us towards our printing and postage costs – everybody wins. If you can possibly avail of them, please do. We can even help with artwork if needed. In terms of timing, for our June issue we would need to have these adverts booked by Monday 4th May. Size details in the attached rate card… get in touch if you want to discuss them further.
Please do continue to support us in any way you can – every little thing helps.
With gratitude,
Fi, Jim, Pete & Heather.