Paste Magazine: 'Save Paste' campaign hits halfway point
Magazine says it's raised $148,000; has a $300,000 goal
Paste Magazine, the Decatur-based music mag that's reaching out for help during a crushing advertising downturn, says it's reached the halfway point in its campaign.-
From the magazine:-
When we launched the campaign, we had no idea what to expect. We knew some readers had offered to help, but we braced for the worst. The response has been phenomenal. Readers, press and even advertisers showed remarkable support. We've been amazed, humbled and inspired.-
So far we have raised $148,000! That was the minimum that we needed to keep us going into the summer; we never expected to hit this goal so quickly. Thank you! We have the most amazing readers in the world, and we now know-in a very real way-that we hold this thing called Paste in trust for you and will work diligently to honor that.-
We still have a ways to go. Most of our debt will be paid out of revenues when the economy starts to rebound and advertisers return, but we need $300,000 to take care of bills that spiraled up during the ad slump. We're halfway to that goal and more confident than ever that Paste will make it.-
If you're one of the thousands that have donated, you have our deepest gratitude. This crazy campaign is working. If you haven't donated solely because you thought the effort was futile, it is not. And just check out those amazing songs that are yours for whatever you want to donate.-
More musicians - including Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices, Neko Case, Cee Lo Green - have been added to the Paste Station Download Vault, a 120-song repository available to contributors. There are also contest prizes, such as tickets to the Austin City Limits Festival and "an entire Of Montreal Skeletal Lamping Collection." For more information about the magazine or to contribute to the effort, visit Paste Magazine.-
Dear Paste Readers,
We wanted to give you a quick update on the Save Paste campaign.
If you haven't had a chance yet to read about the campaign, you can start here. We're asking our loyal readers to help us with a one-time gift to help us survive recent advertising shortfalls so you can continue to enjoy Paste. Think of it as akin to a public radio pledge drive. No, we're not a charity (don't let this distract you from saving Darfur or helping to end human trafficking) or a non-profit (but we work and earn like we are). But all money raised goes into operations, not staff or owners' pockets. And don't give out of guilt; just give if you place value on what we do and are in a position to donate a little. We're not just asking for money with nothing in return—more than 120 artists have lined up to donate some awesome rare and exclusive songs for our donors. We think that's valuable even if you don't read Paste regularly. You can see—and sample—all the artists in the Download Vault. Got questions? We might have answered them already here or you can email savepaste at pastemagazine.com.
SURVEY AND NEW TOOLS
To those who have already made a donation, have you had a chance to listen to all 120+ songs from the Download Vault? Which ones are your favorite? We'd love to know, so we set up a survey asking for your top 5 songs. Please take it when you have a minute.
We've also added a Facebook group you can join to help spread the word to your friends. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter; we've started giving out prizes and announcing them via Twitter.
We've added a "download all" zip to the vault, as well as a sortable "date added" column so you can easily find songs added since you downloaded. If you've had problems downloading, try again and if that doesn't work, email help at pastemagazine.com.
In the next day or two, we'll also release embeddable versions of the Download Vault. You'll be able to share individual songs or the whole collection on your blog or other website. When we update the vault, we'll also let you listen to entire songs before you download. We'll announce this in the Lifeline email newsletter (see the email icon on our homepage if you're not signed up).
STATUS OF CAMPAIGN
When we launched the campaign, we had no idea what to expect. We knew some readers had offered to help, but we braced for the worst. The response has been phenomenal. Readers, press and even advertisers showed remarkable support. We've been amazed, humbled and inspired.
So far we have raised $148,000! That was the minimum that we needed to keep us going into the summer; we never expected to hit this goal so quickly. Thank you! We have the most amazing readers in the world, and we now know—in a very real way—that we hold this thing called Paste in trust for you and will work diligently to honor that.
We still have a ways to go. Most of our debt will be paid out of revenues when the economy starts to rebound and advertisers return, but we need $300,000 to take care of bills that spiraled up during the ad slump. We're halfway to that goal and more confident than ever that Paste will make it.
If you're one of the thousands that have donated, you have our deepest gratitude. This crazy campaign is working. If you haven't donated solely because you thought the effort was futile, it is not. And just check out those amazing songs that are yours for whatever you want to donate.
More Music Has Come In!
Great news: Since the campaign has begun, artists have continued to stand up to support Paste by sending in unreleased and rare MP3s—and your donation entitles you to ALL of this great music—there are now over 120 tracks in the Paste Station Download Vault. Since we've launched, you may have missed these, so log in to the Paste Station Download Vault and grab 'em:
Cee Lo Green (exclusive demo from upcoming solo album)
Yoko Ono (world premiere of new song)
Emmylou Harris
Neko Case
Erin McKeown
Mark Kozelek
Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices)
Ra Ra Riot
Glen Phillips (from Toad the Wet Sprocket)
Todd Snider
Mugison
Eleni Mandell
Plus Anchor & Braille, Andy Shauf, Band of Skulls, Born Again Floozies, Dan Dyer, Damion Suomi, Dex Romweber Duo, Dodd Ferrelle, Fabiana Cozza, Gasoline Heart, Ghost of Summer Suns, Islands, Joe Pug, John Austin, Katie Herzig, Megafaun, Morning After Cuts, Mike Dunn & The Kings of New England, Paul Melancon, Ralston Bowles, Sarah Mac Band, Sila and the Afropunk Experience, The Boxing Lesson, The Watson Twins, Theresa Anderson, Ben Sollee, Tori Sparks, WAND and others.
Again, you can see all the artists and preview the tracks in the Paste Station Download Vault.
More cool stuff for the random drawings
There's still time to join the campaign - and more reasons than ever to give at least a few bucks. Record labels and others have offered some really cool stuff that will be given away at random to our donors. Check out these recent additions:
* Collection of cool indie-rock concert posters from artist Clinton Reno including Neko Case, Franz Ferdinand, Over the Rhine, The Decemberists, The Gutter Twins, Rilo Kiley, Death Cab for Cutie, and Nada Surf. (Note: these are not signed by the musicians.)
* 2 Free tickets to the SOLD OUT Austin City Limits Festival
* Special items:
• 2 original Sufjan Stevens Illinois promo posters from before the image of Superman was removed (rare collector's item)
• An entire Of Montreal Skeletal Lamping Collection
• Cheap Trick Live at Budokan CD/DVD Box & autographed Budokan poster
• Billy Joel The Stranger autographed 30th Anniversary Legacy Edition Box Set
• Signed items from Morrissey, Marianne Faithful, James & Duncan Sheik, Brian Wilson, Randy Newman, k.d. lang, Ry Cooder & Wilco
• Concert tickets from Aimee Mann, The Wrens & Joan Baez
• More to come!