The most common joke during the Great Depression among out-of-work men (who had nothing better to do other than sit around and converse) was actually not a joke at all─it was a question. One man would ask another: “Do you know if anyone is hiring?" and both men would laugh hysterically (my grandfather told many stories.)
I offer this cheerful anecdote in hopes of setting the tone for what will become a time-capsule of sorts, documenting the outstanding spirit and drive behind today's visionaries, entrepreneurs and businesspeople who are sustaining businesses despite a drastic economic downturn. 2009 has been a dirty year, especially for print publications; Vibe magazine, founded by Quincy Jones in 1993, recently folded amidst financial woes, and the general sentiment is that nothing is safe from the monster that ate it.
Fortunately, for lovers of urban lifestyle, URB magazine─founded by Raymond Roker in 1990─has maintained its position as a leading publication and website for new artists and urban fashion. I caught up Raymond for an interview, and this is what was said:
StopBeingFamous: What is average day like for you at URB?
Raymond Roker: There is no average day, quite frankly. Besides waking up and checking Twitter [laughing], jumping on the email to see where things are at, checking our blogs, checking other blogs─kind of reading the daily news online. Being in California, we're three hours behind, so there's a fair amount of stuff that has already hit the ground. These days have been very eclectic─anything from catching up with people over lunch, to doing sales meetings. Josh, our editor, has more of a formal process because he has to make sure certain things go live [online] by a certain hour and deals with the structure of the site. My schedule has to be freestyle.
SBF: In terms of priority, how does URB handle its website versus its print publication?
RR: Everything is in a dynamic transition right now. We're morphing into a new type of operation. In some ways, the web─even though it's not the chief revenue generator─is leading the company. We have changed our thinking over the last couple years, and definitely over the last six months, to really put the web at the tip of the sphere. Even though we still plan issues and come out with quarterly magazines, the emphasis as far as our business strategy revolves around the interactive web. The magazine continues to play a role because, well, we love it for one, and advertisers─even though they are a lot less─still respond to print. From a brand perspective, a lot of what we stand for and what we do is at home in print, but from a business model, we are truly a web-based company.
SBF: Most people know that you founded URB, but could you clarify exactly what you do as publisher?
RR: I was actually mentioning this on Twitter a few weeks ago… you know, calling yourself a publisher is like calling yourself an elevator operator. It's an antiquated, un-sexy, dated, dying term. In the traditional sense, it means that a person is the chief facilitator and director of everything involved with the magazine… generating money─the publisher is the main person talking with advertisers. Even though they may have a director of sales or associate publisher, at the end of the day, the publisher is in on the biggest conversations. Today, the publisher is such a hybrid roll. If you're a publisher and you're just thinking about advertising, your days are numbered─if you haven't all ready seen the ax. For me, the decision to stick with the title is based on the fact that I'm looking at the entire brand and thinking about every extension possible known to man to keep up with media and lead.
SBF: Are you still involved with the design and editorial aspects of the magazine?
RR: In some ways, yes. Well, the design, a lot less. I still have the skills, but we have an art direction team. I have an overseeing roll. Clearly, I'm not at the forefront when it comes to checking out new bands all the time. As much as it pains me to admit, I'm not the most "up" dude in the room. I know music, but can't─and shouldn't─be competing with 25-year-old writers who are contributing to the magazine─that's their world.
SBF: URB's Next 100 has become major factor in breaking new artists. How are the artists chosen? Is there a panel?
RR: The Next 100 issues are decided through a committee of everybody who contributes to the magazine. Everybody puts in input, and then an editorial panel will kind of condense all of those conversations, chop them up, weigh them against each argument, and fine-tune it into a list that is well balanced and representative regionally, sonically and scene-wise. I wouldn't say our list is bulletproof─because there's some much music coming out─but is a really good list. It ages well. A year later, you'll be looking at the list, and many of the artists will have gotten to the place that we said they would be. Our fraternity of writers offer their opinions, and the editors argue it out back and forth and squeeze the list out; it’s been working for 15 years. From an editor standpoint, they're constantly inundated with great new music, and they're hearing from different people from all walks─everybody from booking agents to publicists to the artists themselves. Their feed of information is massive.
SBF: Early on, what were some the magazine's challenges?
RR: Like anything, you know─time and money. It took a lot to bring the magazine to a level we wanted, as far as the quality. There were a lot of long nights. Money wasn't falling from trees, so we had to go from hand to mouth. We put out the size issue we could, based upon the money coming through the door, and we were able to grow as our business grew. I don't know if the challenges were atypical; I think they were typical start-up challenges.
The beauty was that there wasn't really a challenge for the audience. The audience was there, waiting on the product. There wasn't an immediate challenge from the advertisers because they were there, waiting for something. A lot of things went our way. The hardest thing was getting that first issue done. My partner and I both had full-time jobs and we were living on our own. We just had to push forward, and once we got the issue out... but, you know, there have been challenges recently with the advertising turn-down and general music shift. There have been times when we were right where the music was, and there were times when we were still excited about talking about dance music, when dance music wasn't as in vogue in the early 2000s.
So, audience challenges are always there, and advertisers... being the guys who have been around for the longest time…sometimes people just want new. They want to feel like they're on the next level, and that's a challenge because it's a perception challenge. That's why the web is so exciting because it allows you to refresh yourself at such a continuous rate, where as print─in and of its nature─is more classic. There is something really valuable about something that sits on a coffee table and stands the test of time, but there's also something great about Twitter [laughing], you know?
SBF: When all is said and done, what would you like to be remembered for?
RR: If I walked outside right now and was hit by a truck, of course I'd like to be remembered for URB, but mainly, I would like to be remembered for having a genuine appreciation for art, music and culture. End of Interview.
