Irish music website Goldenplec has gone against prevailing media thinking and become a print magazine after twelve years as a website.
As well as continuing online, Goldenplec will now be available as a free quarterly publication and the first print run of 2000 has already been snapped up.
"Call us crazy, but here we are in print." says Goldenplec magazine editor James Hendicott. "Last month, against the best advice of almost everyone in media, we went to print."
With funding from Guinness, with whom Goldenplec ran the successful Guinness Amplify gigs, the website has taken the brave step of hitting newsstands in an era of dwindling print sales and a mass migration online.
"If you think the music industry is flailing unsuccessfully against a rabid decline, take it from a journalist, it’s got nothing on the world of print media," Hendicott says.
"We understand why people love the internet - it’s our main market, after all but there’s something about print, though. It’s tangible, traditional and respected."
Hendicott added: "It has a shelf life beyond the week it’s published, and - when it’s as free as the website, at least - people feel like you’re giving them something real and substantial. Even modern journalists fetishise it just a little, and so do savvy musicians. It makes a firm statement, and it opens doors."
The Spring 2015 issue featuring cover stars Kodlaine is already a near sell out but you can see an "issu" version of the magazine here.
Read James Hendicott's blog about going to print here.
Watch Kodaline perform at their school, Colaiste Choilm in Swords for Goldenplec below.
