Flurry of new products from The Source - hip-hop culture magazine to expand into other traditional and electronic media - Brief Article

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Oct 1, 1993 by Lorne Manly

The Source, emboldened by double-digit ad-page gains and a circulation that will break the 100,000 barrier in the next few months, is accelerating its forays into other media, electronic and traditional.

Fax newsletters, trade directories, and music video and record compilations are all part of the hip-hop-culture magazine's immediate future. Ultimately, the title hopes to expand to TV and radio and launch industry conferences, a trade magazine and a merchandising arm.

"These offshoots will become profit centers as we go along, but it's also a way to expand on our position as the authority, the source, for hip-hop events," says CEO and publisher David Mays.

To oversee these ventures, the New York-based monthly has created a new division, Source Entertainment & Marketing. Mike Elliot, who published his own consumer rap magazine in the late 1980s and hosted a syndicated hip-hop music video show, is the director.

Starting October 1, the one-page weekly fax newsletter that went to radio stations is tripled in size and is being sent gratis to between 500 and 750 people at record companies, retail stores and the music press. "The Source Weekly" will sell strip ads across the bottom third of the page; page one will go for $500, while ads on the other two will cost $400.

The Source 19-94 Hip-Hop Music Directory will carry listings (and ads) for everything from record labels to entertainment lawyers and agents. "Slamming Jams," a compilation of new music videos, will be sent to radio, retail and record company decision-makers every three months. And The Source has signed a deal with Big Beat/Atlantic Records to release a record next summer featuring 10 to 12 new songs by the greatest rap lyricists, selected by the magazine's editors.

Mays says these ancillary ventures were not prompted by the launch of Vibe, the urban culture title from Time Warner and Quincy Jones. Source executives believe the addition of such a well-heeled competitor will help their magazine, not siphon off ad dollars. "Having Time Warner do a hip-hop magazine sends an immediate message of legitimacy," says Mays.

The Source's circulation currently stands at about 85,000 paid (the tide has just completed an audit by the Audit Bureau of Circulations), and the rate base for 1994 will be 100,000. Ad pages are up 90 percent through September; new advertisers include Nike, Reebok and Bugle Boy.