Mixmag’s Ticketing Makeover Coup (interview)
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Mixmag have launched a partnership with ticketing organisation Skiddle which will see the still hugely influential dance music magazine synching their club and music industry contacts with the UK ticket company’s event listing pages.
Mixmag publisher Nick Stevenson gave the hard sell to Skrufff this week chatting about both the deal and the veteran print magazine’s massive recent expansion as they’ve reinvented themselves successfully online.
Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): How big a deal is the Skiddle ticket tie-up; how much are you now actively taking on resident advisor in this area?
Mixmag (Nick Stevenson): “Mixmag’s been around for 30 years now and has always been about helping people have the best weekends possible. Our new online listings and ticket shop means you can plan your night or buy tickets for an event you’ve just read about all in the same place. Mixmag.net is growing at such an incredible rate we felt adding this service would make the site even more useful for the hundreds of thousands of people who visit it every day.”
Skrufff: How much is Mixmag now a truly global brand: how important are territories such as America and Australia?
Mixmag (Nick Stevenson): “More regions will be added to the listings/ticket shop as the year goes on. Mixmag has never been more international; we have weekly/monthly events in LA, Vegas, Ibiza, Sao Paulo and the UK. The print magazine has always been available in every continent plus now you can get the mag on tablets/smartphones via iTunes/GooglePlay. This year we launched Mixmag Global – a free fortnightly app with a more international focus to it which has been phenomenally well received success. This joins our Brazilian magazine/website. This summer we launch two new international editions/websites.”
Skrufff; How easy is to cover EDM positively without turning off your underground tech-house audience?
Mixmag (Nick Stevenson): “Mixmag has always been about covering the full spectrum of dance music. We report, review and comment on everything from the niche to the blatant. EDM acts as a gateway into the rest of the dance world anyway so it’s important to not be too snobby about these things. “
Skrufff; The Sun tabloid newspaper is now covering underground tech-house in a BIG way in the UK: how much of a threat does that pose, to make tech-house mainstream and ruin it? (For example, with thugs/ Rizty clubbers swamping the underground?)
Mixmag (Nick Stevenson): “The lines have long been blurred between what’s considered underground and mainstream so I’m not sure this is a threat. The growth of people into tech-house might just be the younger clubbers who grew up listening to electro/bass/dubstep now wanting something more subtle and less moshy!
Popularity shouldn’t necessarily mean a diminution of quality. If new people are becoming more interested in dance music we should try to be welcoming without compromising the principles we stand for. As far as the Sun goes, at least they’re not writing about ravers chewing the heads off of pigeons any more.”
Skrufff: How much do you fear/ expect the underground tech-house bubble to burst?
Mixmag (Nick Stevenson): “Popularity shouldn’t necessarily mean a diminution of quality It’s all a question of fashion. People like dancing – that won’t change – it’s just the speeds, patterns and features of the music they dance to that change. They probably said this ‘dance bubble’ would burst when Mixmag launched in 1983. It’s still doing well last time I checked.”
Jonty Skrufff: https://twitter.com/djjontyskrufff
