Since we launched the new look of Creative Loafing a few weeks ago, we have been inundated with phone calls, emails, tweets and Facebook posts about the move of the concert listings — better known as Soundboard — from the print edition to online only. Many of the responses we’ve heard have come from people in the music industry — venue owners, musicians, DJs, etc.
Our editor in chief Mark Kemp, however, wants to hear from our regular readers — the everyday fan of all things Charlotte, if you will: Do you want Soundboard back in print? Check out this video of the boss himself.
You can respond by emailing us at backtalk@creativeloafing.com or simply just leave us a comment below.
This article appears in Jul 4-10, 2012.
I got news for you Mark, I started going to concerts at the age of 5 (Stray Cats & Belmont Playboys at a Fox After 5 Parking Deck party). My first club show was at age 12 (New Bomb Turks & The Neckbones at Tremont Music Hall June 1997) and I have been hooked ever since. I started my first band at age 15 (summer of ’00) and have been gigging ever since including a couple of short tours with Andy The DoorBum, Appalucia, Hectagons & others. I AM NOT JUST A MUSICIAN, I am a live music fan, I was a live music fan before I ever set foot on a stage to play and that New Bomb Turks that I went to in ’97 was one I read about in the Creative Loafing soundboard and asked my Dad to take me to. I do not look at the soundboard just to insure that my band or my venue’s events are listed, I also look to see what music that I am going to go see that week. I work for the Milestone and have been previously employed by Tremont Music Hall, Snug Harbor & others in addition to being an independent promoter all throughout my high school years. The fact is musicians, artists, service industry employees, dancers, actors, bankers, producers, directors, CEOs, janitors, fry-cooks, bus boys, etc. ARE ALL among your readers and it matters what ALL OF US have to say. Quit wasting time and put the soundboard back in the paper. It’s important. It matters. It’s necessary.
For a long time, I’ve been thinking that CL didn’t really do the local music scene justice. Taking Soundboard out of the publication solidifed my opinion — I’ll walk past CL on the rack now and not pick it up.
And I’m not in the music industry.
The Soundboard was pretty much the only reason that I grabbed a copy of CL every week. I sometimes enjoyed the occasional article ,but the music menu was the #1 reason that I ever took the time to reach for a copy. As it is now,I’ll just pass by the large stack of untouched papers in the [recycle] bin.
By the way, I’ve never even been to the Creative Loafing website.
Just a music fan,
Brian R.
yes, back in print please. the quality and variety of local music alone justifies it. and that should be a point of pride for such a long-lived local zine, not a footnote. honestly, after “boomer with attitude” the music section is where i always flip forward to. i may end up reading a few other articles afterword, but i go to the soundboard (also carefully scanning each venue’s adverts along the way) so that, as buck said, i know what event(s) i’m shooting for that week (admittedly not everyone i want to see gets the big-font matinee treatment). i think it also helps with new residents, out-of-towners, vacationers, etc. because though most have web-enabled phones now, they may not know exactly what venues to search for, or how to find trusted local recommendations. CL is everywhere and if you’re in town for more than 48hrs i bet you can find a spot or an event you’d enjoy in its pages. i’ve been here since 1999 and i sure have, a few times over.
Soundboard was definitely the first thing I read in the magazine and usually the reason I picked it up. Please put it back!
I know when I go to a town that I don’t live in, I pick up their alternative weekly and see the music listings for the week (I’ve never seen another alternative weekly paper not have a music listing for each venue). In a lot of cases, I have found some amazing events to go to (like opening the Village Voice in NYC and seeing that Hasil Akins and Dexter Romweber were playing at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ). Taking out the soundboard not only deprives our guest, but our locals, as well. you can’t assume everyone has a smart phone either. When I pick up the CL the first thing I do is read the Soundboard, then I read the rest. Please put it back in.
You’ve already become a piece of shit rag of dubious value; Soundboard was all you had left.
What a big mistake I loved it every week.
I’ve been reading CL for 20 years. The first thing I turn to is the Soundboard. Then I read whatever else interests me. Without the Soundboard, I am not interested in CL. It is the only reason I pick up a copy. Online isn’t good enough. If there is going to be a print version, it has to include music listings or I won’t read it. This isn’t an ultimatum…it’s your magazine. But as a longtime reader, I can honestly say that without the music listings, CL doesn’t have another hook to get me to read it. I hope you will find the space for the Soundboard again.
Thanks,
Slade Baird
I realize that I’m echoing what the people above me have said already but their points are important enough to be reiterated. The live music community isn’t just made up of musicians and venue owners. I hear a lot of people complain about the fact that Charlotte doesn’t have a recognizable culture that attracts touring bands from all over the country (which is why we get looked over to Asheville and Carrboro on a regular basis). A lot of people have been working really hard to build up our community and reputation and frankly, Soundboard’s omission is a step backwards. If you care about our city’s culture outside of the useless uptown nightlife and the occasional visit from mega-bands at Time Warner Arena, please put Soundboard back in print.
Soundboard is the only reason I’ve ever picked up CL.
Yes Mark….please put the Soundboard back in print….we religiously look at it every week at the salon!
Soundboard is necessary to have in CL. BRING IT BACK
And by the way, Mark Kemp is an absolute embarrassment.
There’s simply no reason to read this rag otherwide. Shoddy writing from J-school flunkouts, dubious (at best) political logic and endless features of events no one gives two shits about.
Bring it back along with Tara Servatius. haha
bring it back period.
Please bring it back!
Yes. Quite simply, yes. Bring that shit back to the print edition.
this one is pretty obvious, guys. Soundboard was generally the first, and often only thing I would check in CL. I struggle to even come up with a good reason to have removed it.
I stopped reading when you turned your back on the locals. End of chat.
I’m not a muscian & the soundboard & upcoming shows reviews were the only real reasons i picked up cl…without that, yr just the penny saver to me…worthless
I vote for bringing it back!!!
Bring back Music Menu and Soundboard!
Loyalty to locals makes good business sense …
God/Yes!!!!
Bring it back! There’s far too much local talent going unrecognized and the soundboard could, would, & should be putting more asses in the local venues to see these kick ass musicians. They work hard enough to give the creativity… So stick with your name, CREATIVE Loafing, and BRING IT BACK! Support the locals, show some love & respect.
Taking the soundboard out of the Creative Loafing was disrespectful to ALL things music. Not just the people who work in the music industry, but to the patrons all over the city. This city has so much amazing talent (too much to know it all). What better way to showcase it than in a calender for the week! Personally I think it should be revamped and more eye catching, but that’s just me. Just to free up space? Add a couple more sheets of paper and you will have your space…
booo on this decision…bring back the soundboard! Not everyone has access to internet at all times, but a paper you can carry with you and share information with your friends? Now that’s where it’s at!
I am someone who cares about and contributes to both CL and the local music scene. Years ago, CL and the Soundboard first sparked my interest in local music. It was the go-to resource for planning my entertainment schedule. I understand many get their info from social networking now, but the Soundboard still holds an important place. I think its removal solidifies a perception that has taken hold in recent years among local musicians, promoters & supporters, that the Creative Loafing once so prominent in our culture no longer cares about us. Its an unfortunate black eye on a face that’s already taken several hits in this arena. Please fix it.
It was the first thing I turned to in CL, and often the primary reason I picked it up.
Yes, you need to bring this back.
Please bring it back, and I will start picking up CL again.
Taking the Soundboard out was ill-advised. You’d be much better off losing a couple of your “columnists” (NOT John Grooms. He appears to be the only real writer you have). Like all the other commentors, the ONLY reason I ever grabbed a CL was to see what was happening or upcoming at local venues. Maybe 3 times in the last 15 years was I interested in a story — and those were stories about local musicians. Personally, it matters little to me. Your weekly publication has been rotten for a while. But for the sake of visitors to the area and all the other people around who like to support live music, you ought to bring the Soundboard back.
Removing sound board from the print version of your paper removes most of the reason that I actually read Creative Loafing. The rest is usually very interesting, but the concert listings are what actually get me to pick up the paper to begin with. For the love of music, please put it back in.
Bring it back..
So speaking for the average every-man, here is the break down of your magazine in our eyes: Do we care about looking at the advertising: the ridiculous fake whore ads, or adds for other random shit that no one ever looks at? No. Do we care about the trite mediocre quasi journalism that mostly consists of bottom feeding local political hacks, or just random entertainment news that is not news ala TMZ? No, who gives a shit. The one and only reason that most people will every pick this up is to see what is going on around the greater Charlotte area. The soundboard was great and the reviews of upcoming shows were very helpful and we could find new music, new venues etc. The comedy scene and art community needs more coverage as well. I think the Sound Board should be greatly expanded if anything with even more detailed previews of all events that are going on. This is the sole reason that the magazine has value to your average 18-35 every-man…. and or woman.
Bring it back please….and add 5 more pages of gay phone sex ads as well.
Please bring it back!
You’re not a real alternative weekly city paper without live music listings. What would happen if the Village Voice stopped running show listings in their paper? The music scene in this city has always been either above your heads or off of your radar completely. And there is a lot of great music coming from here. Now more than ever. Taking the Soundboard out of the paper cements the fact that you guys have no clue. I’m just worried that if you bring it back you will screw it up even more than in the past. Maybe you should just give up…
So let me get this straight. Many of you commenting (especially this Ryan Self dude, who must have applied for a job there and gotten turned down for being a hack) think the best way to get Soundboard back in print is by calling the rest of the paper shit, insulting everyone who works there, and threatening to boycott if you don’t get your way?
Not exactly the braintrust of Charlotte commenting here, is it?
Yes! For music lovers, bands, musicians, DJs, and venues! This is just crazy!!
For many of the reasons articulated in previous comments, yes please!
I’m sure it wasn’t a rash decision, but for the life of me I can’t see how it wasn’t a misguided one. I’ve worked in so many different locations where CL has been available — along with other local publications — and its obvious to me the reason I have always cleaned CL off the bar instead of the Rhinoceros Times is not the edgy social commentary or unique perspectives of your columnists (although I did really like reading a woman from Atlanta you carried for a few years back). No disrespect to anyone who has ever written for the publication, but you don’t have Hal Crowther writing for you, or anyone close. Your writers should be leading the charge to re-instate the Soundboard because they’re going to lose exposure in its absence. And if your advertisers aren’t clueless, which may or may not be the case, they should be objecting even more than the writers. You certainly aren’t going to gain any readers by dropping music listings, but you will definitely lose some.
The simple fact is that no can cover all the worthwhile things that happen here only by highlighting recommended events. The people who know what’s up use the soundboard to find out about things cool to them, not what’s deemed worthwhile or relavent by your staff. Many of them also may be apathetic and will wind up sitting at home or a bar instead of looking at the website and driving across town for a show. That hurts clubs, bands, scenes, and the city as a whole.
If Creative Loafing serves a positive function in Charlotte, it does so in no way more than disseminating information readers can use to make the city a better place — enabling and facilitating scenes. But yet, the same tired restaurant blurbs that have been there for years remain while the weekly happenings of the music scene get the axe? Think about how lame it is that some people will miss Dexter Romweber tonight because CL decided it should create space to run more commentary, yet there is an article on the cheese counter at Harris Teeter in the issue where that information should have been? That’s the weakest of sauce man. I can’t stress enough how much I’d like to see listings back in the magazine.
Thanks for listening.
I’ve read CL since the beginning, and losing Tara was a blow since you could see both sides of an issue in the same paper, but the Soundboard was always the most important part of the publication. I will still pick up CL at the coffee shop to read, but I now have no reason to keep one with me at all times. I have looked at the online version, but it takes much more time to find and you can’t see the entire list for a given day at a glance. The local music scene is your bread and butter. It makes no sense to piss them off.
As with any publication you have to have your own identity. Otherwise, what reason is there to choose your product over another? I have practically lived here my whole life and Creative Loafing is synonymous to me and my friends for the musical happenings in Charlotte, everything else is just an added bonus.
To quote your About Us page,
“Creative Loafing Charlotte is the go-to source for all things arts and entertainment in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area of North Carolina, including music…”. You go on to emphasize how your publication, “has made an indelible mark in the Charlotte market by emphasizing quality writing, solid reporting, sharp criticism and the most complete events listings in the area. CL distributes more than 47,000 copies of its print edition each Thursday to more than 1,300 locations and reaches more than 276,000 readers.” You also state, “CL Charlotte offers readers a valuable print alternative to the daily newspaper in this New South metropolis…”
If you are indeed living up to this Mission Statement, if you will allow me to call your About Us statement that, as the go to print source of Charlotte’s happenings, then why would you want to make the Sound Board section online only? You are in effect limiting your audience. Not to mention that
out-of-towner’s are not going to know to search for your online listing.
In regards to a statement made, “Do we devote the limited space we have in print to this item or that?”, let your readers decide what to leave in print and what can go online with a poll.
I hope you will reconsider your team’s decision to no longer be Charlotte’s go-to print source for all things arts and entertainment in Charlotte. If nothing else, I hope you will let your readers have a say in what is to be printed.
Thanks for your time and consideration in this matter,
Leigh Chapman
Yes! Put it back in print! This is a key reason why so many even pick up a copy. If you are going to keep Creative Loafing in print, then it is just silly not to include a spot for local music. Otherwise you are just turning the publication into a cheesy sex advertisement one page at a time.
If you have to ask………..then…yes, you need to put it back in print
I just think it’s a true guage of how you feel about your role in the music scene. I mean, sure, you guys have ALWAYS cherry-picked the bands that YOU feel are worthy of extended coverage. Usually based on what their perceived socio/political message was, or how “artistic” you find them. However, you always atleast informed the community what was available on any given night. By striking the Soundboard, and lumping a few select shows that you choose in with your weekly suggestions, you are letting Charlotte know you don’t feel there is much to see or hear, outside of what you sanction. But really, that’s a moot point. Don’t do it for the scene. Do it for your own survival. Because this little slice of ass-chewing you have received this past week is the beginning of the campaign to leave more and more copies of your rag sitting in their stalls. HOPEFULLY, you’re starting to see just how important the music section is to your survival.
Just curious Mr. EIC…..what does your own music department think about the Soundboard removal?
“In the interest of total transparency and context…”
It’s in poor taste to talk about hiring issues in public. That’s not transparency and context — that is CL trying to discredit critics in this thread. It’s clear that Ryan is not the only person critical of CL or the decision to remove the Soundboard.
A previous comment from “CL Web Editor” has been deleted due to misrepresentation of our staff’s opinions. -Ana McKenzie, CL’s news editor
Yes! Please bring it back!!
Stop turning your back on the locals,that is all.
CLCLT without Soundboard aka who gives a crap. Look forward to bales of untouched dumbass newspapers. You fool.
Did you see even one comment where they did not want SOUNDBOARD in print?
Get out of NODA and look around. “Online”, I use it . BUT the printed SOUNDBOARD is what got most of us to pick up CL in the first place. Lately I pick it up when waiting to get served at a restaurant because I know it won’t take long to skim cover to cover. PS- I agree, where is TARA SERVATIUS