Photo by Jessie McCall—click to see more shots of ODESZA in the lights and behind the scenesThere's no denying that two of the hardest hit professions right now are music and journalism.
Local, independent media already faced challenges in today's society, but due to the coronavirus, we’ve seen many outlets cut back significantly on staff and even their physical publications.
Show and event cancellations, as well as social distancing practices, mean nearly 1,400 performing musicians and industry professionals in the state of Oregon have lost almost $7 million worth of revenue according to a MusicPortland survey. Only time will tell when we’re allowed to gather publicly again, and our fingers are crossed—so hard—that it’s before this summer’s festival season hits.
Our city needs honesty, hope, jobs and, above all else, music right now more than ever.
Because we at Vortex Music Magazine are certain that our city needs honesty, hope, jobs and, above all else, music right now more than ever, we refuse to throw in the towel.
Our print magazine is not a list of upcoming shows—which are unfortunately on indefinite hiatus right now, but we are logging as many local live streaming gigs as we can find here! It's a journalistic showcase of Portland culture through the lens of music.
Past issues have offered the perspectives of #MeToo survivors, Dreamers threatened under our current administration, and insight into what it’s like to be a black musician in our city. It's a magazine you keep on your coffee table (or better yet, in your bathroom) for months and years because the stories are timeless. It's a bridge between those who make the music and those who listen to it, created by those who can't get enough of it.
We need music and community in our lives more than ever: Get Portland's musical vortex mailed to your door!It's through our print magazine that we're able to provide work for journalists and photographers in Portland. In the last six years, we've paid 50 writers, 37 photographers, six illustrators, six designers and two editors for original content they’ve created in one of our 24 issues. We’ve hosted more than a dozen educational panels for people in the music scene to ensure they have the tools to make music a career, not a hobby.
The content is invaluable, so we make the magazine free to the public. We believe every single person in this city who cares about where they live, and the music that’s made here, should read it. We've been able to do this for six years because of our subscribers who get the magazine sent straight to their door, and our advertisers who believe in this music community as much as we do. With business closures hitting venues, bars, restaurants, retail stores and other service industry jobs the hardest, many of our local businesses simply cannot afford to advertise. We can't even guarantee when, or if, the beloved institutions where we distribute the mag will open for you to pick it up.
Right now, we all need a resource that offers insight and perspective that goes beyond overwhelming coronavirus stats. We need direct access to information that builds rather than breaks. We need stories that motivate us to create and empower us to come out of this better than we came into it.
So we're asking you to step up and take action with us.
Become a subscriber and join us in the fight to keep music and journalism thriving in our city.
Music will triumph.
We're writing the story.
JOIN US!
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And over the weekend of April 17, celebrate our sixth birthday with us as we shelter in place alongside some of our favorite #PDXmusic makers. (Psst, we'll be hosting a night of live music streamed right into your home.) We’ll toast to our community, recognize the struggles we all share and, most importantly, support one another to triumph together!
We are fighting to keep music and journalism thriving in Portland: Join us!
