The Death of Venue

I asked Eugene Byrne, Venue writer 1984 – 2012 what we could do to stop Venue’s “inevitable slide towards death” as he called it. His answer: a) don’t be owned by the Post and b) kill the internet.

OK.

Let’s start with b. Undeniably the tinterhighwaysuperhub made life difficult for listings magazines – given that all information on everything was available immediately. But never in the same place, and never with a single voice telling you what was shite and what was not. In 2012 if you want to plan your week and weekend ahead it’s still harder to find a more efficient way than a using a printed listings mag and a pen. Ironically, these mags are increasingly hard to find.

Venue, you might be surprised to hear, in the mid nineties was one of the first mags to register a url and have its own website (Mr Byrne’s work). Admittedly having stolen a march, it may have lost a little momentum as everyone else followed suit. However, there would have been something distinctly un-Venuey about an interactive multi-platform bells and whistles digital experience. Venue was never cool. It was bright, it was useful, it was funny and it was for everyone. Therefore not cool. Crack magazine is cool. It’s trendy, it’s niche, it’s young, it’s very good and proof that print media can flourish in today’s climate. Check them out: people at Venue have never looked this good No, Venue was for Families, Pissheads, Music fans, Bookish types, Grumpy Old Men and Twenty/Thirty/Fortysomethings. It was for anyone whose DNA prohibited them from voting tory. Not cool, not niche – just Venue.

Optimistically The Observer recently ran a feature about how young bright things are leading a boom in boutique subscription only magazines about different sorts of felt. But that’s not really Venue either, is it? The truth is that readership figures didn’t actually fall that drastically – ad revenue did: and that’s because people started to think Venue had become a bit shit. And that’s because it went weekly. And that’s got bugger all to do with the tinternob. That’s to do with the Post. Which brings me to b.

When Bristol United Press (owned by Northcliffe Media, owned by the Daily Mail Group) who own the Evening Post bought Venue and decided that it should go weekly – to aid listings - things were buggered, simply because there was not enough going on in Bristol and Bath on a weekly basis to keep the level of quality high enough. Constantly having to churn out another issue each week, there was not time to think strategically about how to navigate the tricky print waters of the noughties. Hence the covers featuring barbecued food and girls at festivals. I’ve been through the archive – there is a marked difference between the quality of the fortnightly and weekly Venue: it’s the same writers – it’s not like they suddenly “got a bit shit.” From then on it was a slippery slide. Changing into a monthly freesheet – a survival plan hatched by the staff – was a rather nimble move and presented an opportunity to get back on track. Venue Publishing has a brilliant ads team who are passionate about the magazine and were coaxing old clients from the weekly days back into investing serious sums in the magazine. It was entirely conceivable that with the revenue they were pulling in Venue could have gone fortnightly and separated from Folio. If it was an Indy. Ah.

Northcliffe are routinely hated. I’m hardly a fan – having started as editor seven weeks ago and now finding myself getting the bullet on the eve of Venue’s 30^th birthday, the timing seems uncanny. Did they really only decide this course of action in the last seven weeks? I’ll never know. The truth is they probably didn’t even know I’d been appointed. My boss, Dave Higgitt, by the way, had no idea. He’s a mate – not a twat (though some would argue). But Northcliffe are just doing what they do. We can hardly be surprised. Nor can any of us point the finger at Dougal Templeton, founder of Venue, for flogging the mag to them back in 2000. He made a packet and gave a packet to the staff. I gather it was a sell-to-us-or-we’ll-go-into-competition-with-you affair. Can’t help thinking the maverick, much loved, left-wing, irreverent Venue might have won that competition. Again, we’ll never know. Blaming Dougal for selling the mag is a bit like blaming your parents for your own shortcomings – completely stupid. It is curious however to hear him being interviewed by BBC radio about the demise of Venue. He’s never called me. But then why would he? He’s got nothing to do with Venue Magazine - he sold Venue to the Mail back in 2000.