Our small team has always thought of itself as a DIY operation, which was difficult to reconcile while part of a corporate conglomerate. We’re grateful to finally be in charge of our own destiny. We set out with a solid plan to diversify Stereogum’s business, which currently derives all of its revenue from advertising at a time when 70% of all digital ad spending goes to Google, Facebook, and Amazon. We knew building a sustainable operation would not be easy. But since March, like so many other publications big and small, we have seen our advertising revenue plummet more than 50% because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerts and festivals, historically our biggest advertisers, have disappeared entirely.
God, I feel this. The ad market basically fell off a cliff in March and it’s been pretty terrifying. Stereogum have launched an Indiegogo to try and raise $250,000 to keep their website running.