First Floor Needs Your Help
Paid subscriptions are the only thing that keep this newsletter financially afloat, and right now they're available at a discount.
Hello everyone.
First Floor is technically taking a few days off right now—the normal publishing schedule will resume on Thursday—but I wanted to send out a reminder that paid subscriptions to the newsletter are currently available at a 20% discount.
This offer is only available through this Friday, September 19, so move fast if you’d like to receive full access to all First Floor content—including the complete archive—for just €4 per month. Annual subscriptions are an even better deal, and cost just €40.
Either way, that’s literally less than €1 per week.
Need a little extra convincing?
Remember that First Floor has no ads, no branded content, no paid sponsorships and no corporate investors. It’s not a front for a creative agency or a ticketing company. The newsletter is a 100% independent operation, and while that enables me to routinely dive into topics that other music publications won’t touch, that’s only possible because of reader support. Electronic music may be full of secret rich people and trust-fund “creatives,” but I can assure you that I am neither of those things. I’m just a single music journalist who’s been on this beat for a very long time. First Floor is not a lucrative endeavor, but it is effectively my full-time job, and it’s something that actually requires much more than a full-time-commitment. I have no staff and few resources, yet I still manage to publish this thing each and every week.
So if you like what I do here, I could really use your support.
First Floor is about to hit 21,000 total subscribers. That’s incredible, and considering the sheer volume of content on offer these days, I deeply appreciate anyone who’s dedicated even a bit of their attention to my scribblings during the past six years.
Here’s the problem though: Only about 5% of First Floor readers are also paid subscribers, which means that a whole lot of you who routinely check out (and presumably enjoy) the newsletter aren’t contributing to its continued survival. I know not everyone can subscribe to everything, and we’re living in a dystopian era when seemingly every single artist, publication, venue, festival and content creator on the planet has their hand out. Financially speaking, it’s not a great time for independent music culture—of any kind—which is why it’s more important than ever to directly support the things you value and care about.
When I’m out in the world, people routinely tell me, “I’ve been meaning to sign up for a paid subscription.” If you’re one of those people, or if the thought has previously crossed your mind, now would be a great time to pull the trigger.
What’s that? You don’t care about high-minded appeals? That’s fair enough, and if you’re part of the “What’s in it for me?” crowd, here are a few reasons you should sign up for a paid subscription:
No more paywalls! You hate paywalls, I hate paywalls, we all hate paywalls, and getting a paid subscription is the easiest way to ensure that you’ll never see one again. How many articles, essays and interviews have you missed over the years because they were behind the paywall at whatever moment you decided to give them a look? With a paid subscription, you can read First Floor at your leisure, and you’ll have the entire archive—which, after six years, is absolutely massive—at your disposal.
If you’re a DJ, producer, promoter, manager, booking agent, label owner, journalist, publicist or music / culture professional of any kind (hello creative agency employees!), your paid subscription is most likely something you can claim as a business expense and a tax write-off. And if you work for a company in the music or culture industry, why not get your boss to pay for the subscription instead? (They can probably write it off too.)
Alright, that’s probably enough pleading for now. As a general rule, I try to keep the fundraising pleas to a minimum around here, which is why these discount offers only come around a few times a year. Of course I would love it if you opted for a paid subscription, but please know that even if you don’t, I really do appreciate being invited into your inbox on a regular basis.
(Cue dozens of people feverishly hitting the “unsubscribe” button.)
If you’ve made it this far, thanks so much for taking the time, and as I said before, I’ll be back on Thursday with a new edition of the First Floor digest.
Shawn Reynaldo is a freelance writer, editor, presenter and project manager. Find him on LinkedIn and Instagram—and make sure to follow First Floor on Instagram as well—or you can just drop Shawn an email to get in touch about projects, collaborations or potential work opportunities.