Opus Subscription Drive (February 2020)

In brief: If reading Opus has ever helped you find a new favorite band, album, movie, etc., then consider becoming a subscriber for $5/month. Subscriptions help offset the costs of hosting, maintaining, and promoting Opus and ensure its ongoing existence.

I was recently struck by the fact that my writing on Opus now spans four decades: the ’90s, the ’00s, the ’10s, and now, the ’20s. And I’m nearing the 6,000 post mark. Which means that I’ve been posting content on Opus at the rate of (approximately) a post or review every other day for the last 20+ years. And finally, January was Opus’ busiest month, traffic-wise, in the last six months. Not too shabby, if I say so myself.

I still love running Opus, even after two decades. I live for that singular moment when I hear a new band, read a book or comic, or see a TV show or movie and realize that I need to tell everyone else about it. Not because I want to be seen as an influencer or tastemaker, but rather, because:

1. You should never keep good news to yourself.
2. Good, beautiful, and noteworthy pop culture deserves to have an audience.
3. I enjoy having conversations with people about good, beautiful, and noteworthy pop culture.

Opus has obviously been my primary vehicle for all of the above, but in recent months I’ve been thinking of ways to do even more — and this is where you can play an important role. I’ve tried offering ways for people to support Opus financially, but to be honest, that hasn’t been too successful. (Many thanks, though, to those who have given.) So I’m going to try something new — something I’ve very excited about.

For $5/month (or $50/year), you can become an Opus subscriber. Paying subscribers will receive access to exclusive content, including playlists, sneak previews and exclusive posts, and maybe even the occasional podcast. And all of these things will be delivered conveniently to your email inbox. You can also sign up to receive the occasional free email newsletter and upgrade at a later date if you like what you see.

Some more background: For a long time, I considered launching a Patreon campaign for Opus, and even spent several days building my campaign. But considering the scope of what I do on Opus, a Patreon campaign felt like too much overhead. (Plus, as an Enneagram 5, I was starting to overthink things way too much.)

At the same time, I had recently become a fan of several newsletters and publications that run on Substack, and the more I looked into it, the more I realized that Substack lets me focus on what’s important to me — writing, community, and discussion — while still allowing people to support Opus financially.

You can still make one-time contributions — click here for that option — but I hope you’ll subscribe via Substack to enjoy the subscriber exclusives and join in the community that I hope to grow there.

And as always, if you can’t support Opus financially right now, no worries. But I would appreciate it if you shared your favorite posts with your friends and loved ones.