The Source Rebooted: Is the Hip-Hop Bible’s Digital Strategy Worth Five Mics?

We’ve witnessed many print publications attempt the jump into digital with lukewarm results. In the African-American space, we’ve seen some publications fold only to be reincarnated as a web property. Through it all The Source magazine has stood strong. Considered by some as the “Smithsonian of hip-hop,” The Source has done what any good curator must do to stay relevant – they’ve evolved.  Despite all of the controversy, lawsuits, and owners, The Source continues to be what other hip-hop publications aspire to be. No where does this show more than in the recent relaunch of the website.

Visiting the site, you’ll notice that while many of the other print publications have gone with a blogging format, The Source has taken a “been there, done that” approach, abandoning the blog style in favor of vibrant, eye-catching photos with enticing headlines and teasers. With new ownership, and a new direction, the publication isn’t afraid to go left of center.  The vision has paid off.  Site traffic has increased to approximately 400,000 visitors a month and shows steady signs of growth. They’ve also become the first hip-hop brand to be endorsed by Apple. According to the press release, TheSource.com was chosen one of Apple’s ‘Ready for iPad’ sites.

This is only phase one,” says publisher L. Londell McMillan.

The secret to The Source’s success is their ability to leverage their content and provide site visitors with a truly unique experience. Instead of rehashing article from the magazine, the digital team digs deeper into the story providing readers with an indepth look into their favorite artists.

“A lot of things that we do with our digital push is to give the audience a 360 look into the article,” says Web Coordinator Kazeem Famuyide. You don’t just read the interview, you see it on the Internet…Things that we couldn’t put into print, the edgier stuff goes onto the Web giving readers a raw and uncut footage of everything you see in the book.”

In addition to the one-of-kind content delivered daily to TheSource.com, the publication has also taken the leap into apps, compiling a list of hip-hop focused apps that have been reviewed by The Source team for users to try out. The catalog is comprehensive covering most OS including Apple, Blackberry, and Android smartphones. Not content to be solely an app aggregation, the publication recently partnered with Foursquare. While the exact logistics of checking-in are unknown, it’s been guaranteed that their will be plenty of giveaways and prizes.

Now the team is  gearing up for phase two.

“We looked at our site and our experiences as one we have to iterate as we first get it to the public and evolve it over time. Phase one was kind of like a long beta period to get feedback and see what we’re doing well…we’re at a point where we’re entering phase two, with the ultimate goal of phase three that will involve our archive,” says McMillan.

Phase two will involve making modifications to phase one, ensuring that usability is at its highest quality. More video will be added to the site as well. The biggest goal of the second phase will be to build strategic partnerships and ultimately monetize. The monetization factor is still a work in progress as McMillan and the team works to find the formula that best works for the amount of content the publication has to leverage. In the meantime all avenues are being explored including ad-based, subscription and offering alternative content and sponsorships.

Another major part of phase two has some of your favorite artists coming into The Source offices and acting as a Source guest editor for a day. Called “The Source Takeover,” the program is a video package allows an interactivity that has yet to be accomplished. The artist will work a day at the magazine meeting with editors and literally taking over the website. At the end of the day, the artist logs on to Ustream and chats with users, giving the audience unprecedented access to the artist. The Source Takeover kicked off with rapper Bun B and was a huge success with “hundreds of thousands of hits.”

They say that you’re only as good as your competition and in the years since The Source was king of hip-hop publications, quite a few contenders have sprung up in the online arena. Offline, Londell still considers XXL his biggest competition, but online, there’s Allhiphop.com, WorldStarHipHop.com, and RapRadar.com, just to name a few. The online mags are hungry and as dedicated to the cause of great hip-hop reporting as The Source. How does The Source staff feel about competition? McMillan weighs in:

“A certain number of the online publications are driving big numbers. World Star? They’re driving big numbers with their video platform which is based on an application. I’m not sure of the legality of it or of how long they’ll be able to do it, but they’re doing a fine job of drawing numbers. I think Complex is doing some things right. I’m not sure what exactly they’re doing over there, but they’ve convinced corporate America that their idea of youth culture is where they need to be which is interesting to me because all that you see in youth culture is derivative of hip-hop culture for the most part. They optimizing their sites with money and I’m very interested in their model and how they’re doing what they’re doing.”

The Source has used its wealth of content to successfully branch out into the Web. TheSource.com is more that an offshoot of the print publication. It’s a thriving entity in its own right. If it continues to follow the path of progress and marches to the beat of its own beat machine, it’s all but guaranteed that The Source will be one of the last pubs standing as the smoke clears.

About the Author
Sherri is a freelance writer that has a love of all things fun and geeky including gadgets, gaming, anime, and comics. When she isn't writing or out on the town living it up, she loves doing 10-12 hour marathon sessions on her Xbox 360 or one of her older consoles. It's not an addiction, it's a way of life!
See all posts by Sherri L. Smith.