Age of interactive music magazine dawns

There are music magazines and there are music magazines. Despite the age-old advice of never to judge anything by its cover, it seems readers buy them because their covers are glossy and hip. Hence, the music magazine as we know it – with typical articles on who’s hot and who’s not and regular reviews of off-the-shelves recordings – still exists today.

The age of a new medium, however, is dawning. With more and more music lovers making a switch from the analog to the digital format, the need for a fresh magazine unfolds.

It is here that Stir Magazine will create a stir. For one, this magazine has no cover and it is not printed on paper. It is available on CD format that you load into your computer. You don’t just read Stir; you watch it and listen to it.

And the best thing is it’s free.

Stir’s first issue entitled "Music Matters" was launched late December. Published (or shall we say recorded?) quarterly, the magazine intrigues you the moment you get hold of it. The itch to go to the nearest computer is what you’d feel since not much is said on the CD’s label.

Once you insert the CD to your desktop (or laptop), then the magic of the new medium is unleashed. Words and graphics emerge, with corresponding music to boot. And as you go through the experience of reading, listening to and watching Stir’s contents, you’d realize that this new medium simply glues you to your computer screen.

Accepted Medium

"The interactive CD medium is no longer new," says Claire Miranda, former marketing czar of MTV Philippines and now editor-in-chief of Stir. "This medium is already accepted in the United States and we hope to popularize it in the Philippines."

According to Miranda, Stir’s concept was hatched in San Francisco, California last year by Filipino programmer David Reyes who made it a reality through his company, Digicomp Asia.

"Digicomp wants to produce special interest magazines on interactive CD. It’s just starting off with music and will soon branch out to education," Miranda says.

Stir is reputedly the first of its kind not only in the Philippines but in the whole of Asia. Its contents range from write-ups about artists, to developments in the music industry, to audio and video samples as well as exclusive video interviews, MP3s, gadget reviews, movie trailers and games.

Miranda says they initially thought of putting a webzine or an Internet-based magazine. Sadly though, the Internet has yet to become popular in the Philippines and the time to be spent downloading videos and audio samples can frustrate readers.

"Our readers simply click on the information or feature they want, without waiting and without paying for Internet connection," she stresses. "Our target audience is the modern urban Asian male and female aged 18 to 35. These people are highly educated, well-informed, musically sophisticated, tech-savvy and spend their hard-earned money on technology, music and entertainment."

Captive Audience

Since Stir is given for free to those who buy anything at Music One and Tower Records, the company that makes it never earns from the readers. Instead, it gets its revenues from advertisers such as Globe Telecom and recording companies who insert their ad materials in the magazine’s contents.

Miranda says their advertising rates are at par with those of traditional magazines. "If you think seriously about it, our rates are even lower since our advertisements are in video format. It’s like paying for a print ad but you are broadcasting a TV ad," she says.

Globe Telecom, for example, came as the main sponsor for the first issue. Its computer-generated animation ad is the exact material it uses for television. Yet Globe only pays Stir a print ad rate.

Miranda notes that unlike in television, those who read Stir would stick it out even through the advertisement portion. "We made a survey and found out that our readers view Stir in their homes or during breaktime at their offices. They admitted that they could not finish the entire magazine in one sitting so they really had to devote some time to really enjoy it. They are really a captive audience," she says.

For its first issue, Stir came out with a conservative 10,000 copies. Miranda says they were shocked to hear more people asking for copies since the initial 10,000 were "sold out" in just two weeks.

"Friends were telling me they couldn’t find a copy anymore after the first week," she says.