The online frontier

Here is a bit more of an introduction to Cul-de-Sac and what I hope to get out of the project. The idea of producing a fully-fledged magazine (or in this case webzine) about music in the West Midlands has been floating around for a while, and it’s one which was born out of several discussions with Andrew Cowen, music editor and chief arts sub at the Birmingham Post, Geoff Dolman from Static Caravan and the Capsule girls. I’ve been writing about music and arts for the Birmingham Post for nearly four years now, and there aren’t many other major print outlets for writing about the region’s musical activity – at least not journalism-led publications which present paid opportunities for writing.

The idea for Cul-de-Sac has largely come out of a desire for editorial freedom – a freedom to produce content, being liberated by the apparently limitless space afforded online. We’re often presented with the notion of a ‘war’ between traditional, old media and new or online media, suggesting that the two can’t co-exist – certainly, this is an issue which has been articulated well by Catherine Bray in a recent discussion which argued that the two formats complement each other. Indeed, the way that online formats allow journalists to tell stories and present audiences with links to sources and added information, the Internet lends itself well to the aims of Cul-de-Sac; namely, to present information about the region’s music activity not only to people who live here but also to those who do not – to bring communities of people together and offer a sense of collective ownership in producing a resource which popularises the West Midlands’ music activity in lieu of significant coverage in the mainstream music press.

The relationship between old and new, print and online, is something that I’ll talk about in more length at a later date, including why I think the Internet offers greater opportunities than a printed magazine – aside from the obvious reasons like 1) it’s more environmentally friendly, 2) it is more efficent when dealing with information which is time-sensitive, 3) there are countless ways of connecting with your audience (using audio and video, for example) and 4) production costs are significantly cheaper when you don’t have to think about printing. Of course, point number 4 is maybe the most pertinent for a fledgling enterprise. Business models online, apart from securing revenue via advertising (yes, that old chestnust), are still relatively new and it’s hard to tell what will work and what won’t make any money for the web journalist entrepreneur. Rick Waghorn has discussed this eloquently in relation to his own hyperlocal journalism-based enterprise, and I’ll attempt to gather my thoughts on it as the project progresses, as we move towards the crucial point of evaluating whether Cul-de-Sac can become a viable business venture.

For now, though, Cul-de-Sac will exist as a feasibility study, and I’ll continue my freelance work alongside it until I get the results which suggest it’s worth pursuing full-time and that it’s possible to make some money in the process. To keep you up to date, the website has been designed by Stephen King (no, not that one) of SJK Designs, and its logo has been designed by Ben Javens. A provisional version of the website can be found here, although please note that I have not uploaded any content yet – which would explain the irrelevant pictures and stories Steve has used to show me what it would look like. I particularly like the way that it uses a very ‘blog’ feel, with journalism and Web 2.0 colliding to provide the perfect platform for writers – whether it’s ‘professional’ journalists or fans with opinions and experiences who want to share their ideas with like-minded people – to congregate and discuss what’s important to them. Or at least that is the idea. It’s probably a bit late to be asking this, but “What’s with the name?” I hear you say. It’s a reference to the Roman Polanski film of the same name, and more importantly its soundtrack composed by Krzysztof Komeda. Ben’s logo is marvellously inspired by the typography used in the film’s artwork.

More focused and articulate points will appear here soon…