THE HISTORY OF CONSUMABLE ONLINE
- Bob Gajarsky
It was August, 1993. It had been two years since I had written music columns for my college newspaper, and I was having the 'bug' again. I wanted to critique some of the latest music, and was looking for an outlet for my reviews.
At the same time, I discovered a print publication out of central New Jersey, called Consumable. One issue of Consumable had been printed, and a second one was due to 'go to bed' (industry terminology for the final deadline of an issue, before the printers get ahold of things) shortly. I inquired if I could join the staff, and offered a unique twist to things: we could provide dual versions of Consumable - in print and via the Internet!
The then-editor (Scott Williams) and I discussed how this would work. Our final decision: any reviews I had of current artists would appear first on the Internet, and then in the print version. People who provided written materials would have their articles published on the Internet at a later date.
At first, the online version of Consumable was limited to posting reviews (and articles) on Usenet - which is a worldwide free 'news' posting message area, similar to AOL's bulletin boards. And soon, people were e-mailing, asking how they could subscribe to Consumable via e-mail.
So from that starting point, Consumable started to gain a subscription list which ultimately reached more than 10,000 worldwide subscribers. One of those early subscribers stated that a piece on New Brunswick, N.J. rave organizers Digital Deviants (written by Scott) was "absolutely brilliant". It took a little bit of technology research, but we were able to verify that yes, the e-mail did come from Richard Hall...a.k.a. Moby.
One initial problem which we encountered came from people not involved in technology. The staffers who wrote for Consumable (in print) for the most part didn't have Internet access, and couldn't grasp the fact that something in cyberspace could hit many more people than ANYTHING in print.
One of the first publicists we contacted for materials, in fact, asked "The Internet; what's that? Is that like a BBS with 20 subscribers?" I had to patiently explain that the newsgroups offered the potential to *be read* by tens of thousands of people, and would *reach* hundreds of thousands. That sort of in-depth explanation - along with faxing copies of each and every review, when Consumable never appeared in 'print' - helped open eyes to the worldwide potential of the Internet in the music industry.
Finally, Scott had enough of the print publication - for that, I can't blame him one bit - and bequeathed to me the name Consumable, and all 'rights' to it. That was back in 1995. I figured Consumable would last another year online, and then we'd call it a day.
And just as this was going on, the craziest thing was happening. A few people had already requested information on how to write for Consumable - and this number just started to explode! At the beginning of 1995, Consumable had 15 people involved with writing. Of those 15, we had one from Croatia, one from Canada, one from Germany, one from France, one from Switzerland, one from the United Kingdom, two from Scotland, and one from Australia.
Wow! Talk about a global community - this was it!
We made a decision early on to limit the number of reviews. This was partially determined by the e-mail distribution method of Consumable. If an issue was too large, we would receive it returned from the user's system, with an error message "too large for the system".
In addition, it was felt that readers are looking for intelligent reviews that allow *them* to decide whether to purchase a disc. Rather than run reviews trashing a band that no one has heard of, we chose to publish positive commentary on a limited number of discs. Sure, we would periodically trash a well-known artist - but in that instance, again, we were suggesting the reader save their money (by NOT purchasing a disc which might be on the 'to purchase' list) and buy something more worthy.
Reviews were assigned in a very simple fashion. Something we called the "writer's notes" were dispatched to our writers on a bi-weekly basis. This would provide a list of all current and future releases that were available and on lesser-known artists, a description of what the album sounded like. Writers would then place requests (both on reviews and interviews), and - only at that point - they would be assigned certain discs.
Sometimes, a publicist wouldn't come through with the release. And, sometimes, we'd just plain blow something. If a writer didn't 'claim' a disc for review, we wouldn't review it. But for the most part, this allowed people to cover groups or styles of music they felt comfortable with, while the editor-in-chief stayed further back from the frontline.
And, when we moved to the World Wide Web, Consumable continued to grow. Without advertising, stock options, or ever promising a feature interview, we were able to generate up to 150,000 hits / month. This only reinforced the dedication of our staffers, who knew that they were not only able to speak their mind to an informed community, but that outsiders were looking in to see what Consumable had to say.
During the next five years, Consumable's staff continued to fluctuate, but the very essence of Consumable - talented writers expressing their feelings, in well-thought out pieces, on alternative music - never wavered. We hope this dedication shone through in the reviews.
So now, seven years after its inception, Consumable Online is closing its doors. I think there will be two legacies left in the wake of Consumable's demise. The first will be the fact that the Internet provides an opportunity for select small groups to compete - and actually flourish - against the establishment. And the second is in the names of the staff members who have appeared on the Consumable masthead over the years. I'm sure you'll be seeing their names in print and on the Internet for many years to come.
