“Every newsletter has a very different goal, whether it’s driving eyeballs back to the site, or serving as a testing ground for a new product, or serving as a special incentive to a paid subscription,” said Lindsay Goddard, Email Product Manager at The New York Times. Their newsletter mission is to “build meaningful relationships with readers by delivering our original, world-renowned journalism and product experiences straight to their inbox.” The New York Times has 14 million subscriptions to 50+ newsletters. 1.) The New York Times newsletter readers consume twice as much content as those who don’t get newsletters, and they’re twice as likely to become paid subscribers. Here are three stats from the conversation that prove the value in forging those personal connections. The New York Times and Greentech Media joined MediaShift and Parse.ly to talk about how they create engaging newsletters. “The value of reader relationships for digital publishers has never been higher,” Jason Alcorn, Metrics Editor at MediaShift, said. Not only do newsletters help brands forge direct connections with readers, but they let your readers build a personal rapport with your voice and values.Īs a result, newsletter readers are more avid consumers of content, constituting valuable direct site traffic that the duopoly can’t touch, no matter how often algorithms change. The curated experiences of newsletters can make them feel like they’re just for you. I’m someone who really likes to follow random paths of curiosity.Opening a newsletter, even if it’s not personalized, is inherently personal newsletters arrive at “my” email address and speak to “my” interests (that is, the good ones do). In terms of older things, I’m working through record stores or reading and researching about other artists I’m writing about. I’ll listen to my friends, if they text me something that they think I might like. I look through my inbox at what publicists and artists send me. I look through other websites that post new music. Where do you find your recommendation inspiration? We’re going to do a feature that’s essentially my record haul at different places. When I travel to any city, I’m someone who is trying to fit records in my carry-on. One feature we’re developing: I am a big vinyl person, and I love record shopping.
We’ve found that the more personal and idiosyncratic the newsletters are, the better they work - which is really exciting for me because I love that kind of writing.
You’ve been working on this newsletter for several months. I hope this newsletter can give people ways to navigate the sometimes overwhelming mass of new music that comes out any given week.
The question people are coming to me with is “What is worth my time?” There’s just so much music out there now that the critic’s job has become more about finding and elevating what is worth your time. Music writing doesn’t need to be a consumer guide as much as it once was. A lot of early music critics or early pop critics were describing music that you could not hear as readily without purchasing the entire album or, at the very least, a single. I think that the internet and streaming music are linked to the function of music criticism. Have you seen music journalism evolve in the last few years? That’s something I have been practicing since I was in high school making mixes for my friends. You really want a fun opening song that sets the tone, narrative or emotional arc to the playlist, and the right mix of genres and artists, while focusing on a central theme. When I make playlists on my phone, I’m constantly testing them out to see if a song flows into the next. What is your secret to making a playlist? Something I’m really excited about is getting newer artists and different types of music in front of people’s ears. If readers see a new artist that they’re not familiar with yet, they’re not necessarily going to click. That can be really hard when writing about new music. I don’t, but when you’re writing online, having a timely peg is often the only way something is going to get published. I miss exchanging a mixtape or a mix CD with a friend in high school. I think that we’re consciously trying to amp up the humanity in this newsletter. I really want this to be discovery with a human touch and the sort of digressions, random anecdotes and musings that you can’t necessarily get from a Spotify playlist or A.I. One of the founding principles of the newsletter is that we’re really trying to make this an alternative to the algorithm and the faceless playlists that have taken over a lot of streaming services. Can you tell me about the newsletter and what inspired it?
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