Magpile is a new service for discovering and and archiving magazines. We had a chat with founder Dan Rowden.
What exactly is Magpile for?
Magpile is a new online community for magazine readers. It lets users list their magazine collections, find new magazines to read, and contribute to a growing online database of the world’s magazines.
What is the benefit of it?
For magazine readers, Magpile can be used to record which magazines they own and which issues they want, as well as connect with other readers. With the growing magazine archive, the site provides a reference to hundreds of magazines in one place, for any internet user. Publications can also see certain stats about their magazine and use the site as an online issue archive.
What is the advantage of say look for magazines via Google?
Magpile provides a searchable and browseable archive to users which lets them quickly find magazines by name or subject, but also find similar magazines to the ones they already know of. In a few minutes you may discover hundreds of relevant magazines you may never have seen before, which is something Google cannot offer. Magpile also gives users social features centred around magazines.
Where do members originate from?
Members are mostly from the UK and USA, with Australia and mainland Europe being other popular regions.
Did you cause any “buzz” in the media yet?
Magpile has been mentioned on some major blogs (eg. magCulture, PBS MediaShift) and also in ELLE UK magazine. Mostly people find out about Magpile on social networks. I haven’t tried to promote the site more than posting updates to Twitter and Facebook, so it’s nice to see others helping out in that respect.
What kind of magazines can be found on Magpile? What genres are the majority, and what do you think why?
Most of the magazines are independent. It seems that users want to promote the smaller magazines they read. Indie publishing is on the rise around the world, and it’s great to able to be a part of that and help promote it. Alongside the indie mags are the more “cool” mainstream mags, like Wired, Monocle, Bloomberg Businessweek, TIME, Vogue, Esquire etc. The “Culture” category has the most magazines in it, but I think that represents the magazine market in general.
I’ve seen an astounding number of magazines from Dubai, for example. As I understood it, you live in the Middle East right now. What do you think will be the markets for new magazines of the near future?
I don’t really know much about the world markets as a whole. Looking at magazines on Magpile, at least, the most activity is happening on magazines from the Western world. I’m sure the Middle East and Far East have their markets, but that hasn’t been mirrored on the site yet.
Do you consider print superior to digital reading? If so, why?
I never feel comfortable reading digital magazines as I feel restricted by the screen and format of a computer or tablet. It’s a lot nicer to be able to flick through pages and feel the paper. It’s a more personal and immersive experience, and you don’t have the distracting option to “exit” your magazine to quickly check email or play a game.
What are your favorite magazines at the moment?
I’m a subscriber of Monocle, Wired UK, Apartamento, Brownbook and Offscreen. These are my big five at the moment. But I love finding and reading new magazines, especially smaller, independent ones. Some other favourites are The Green Soccer Journal, boneshaker and Dwell.
Interview by Sven Job