👉 This platform will be renamed. However, Weekly5 remains an essential part of it.
👉 The new brand will allow me to write more profoundly about the intersection between music, business, culture, and society.
👉 Some changes will happen, but I will keep you posted.
For almost two-and-a-half years, I've been curating a weekly selection of five tracks under the brand Weekly5. As you might know, it's not a fresh idea I came up with in 2021 but rather a tiny spin-off of Negative White, the online magazine I founded and ran for a decade, which folded in the summer of 2020.
Weekly5 has been part of the magazine's offering for some years and gained a small but loyal following; many of those people still are engaged with today's newsletter—a fact that fills me with great appreciation and pride.
Reasons
With that said, I feel ever more how limiting Weekly5 as a brand and promise is. There's an itch in the back of my head, a tingle in my fingers. There's an urge and desire to write more profoundly about music than a few sentences about a song, as I do now.
However, extended essays, interviews, or portraits that gain a deeper understanding of the intersection between music, culture, and society cannot be part of Weekly5—they contradict the name and expectations.
That is why I'm resurrecting a believed-dead name: Negative White.
Clarifications
Before I decided to close it down three years ago, Negative White was a staple in Switzerland's independent music journalism, fueled by many talented volunteers, supported and read by a large and engaged audience.
Breathing new life into the brand won't mean it will be a similar experience. In fact, it cannot be as for the moment. I'm still a solo creator and won't be able to deliver as much content as we did in Negative White's heydays.
However, I welcome anyone interested in contributing to the platform.
The revived Negative White acts as a more open vessel to different ideas and forms I want to follow, driven by curiosity and striving for the highest possible quality. Nevertheless, Weekly5 will remain the backbone and core offering for the foreseeable future.
Furthermore, Negative White will—like Weekly5—continue to publish in English for a simple reason: to potentially reach people around the globe and introduce them to the diversity and sparkling creativity of Switzerland's musicians.
Changes
The old/new brand requires quite a few technical and conceptual changes. The most significant one will surely be a new domain. I haven't figured out all the intricate details for now, but the transition should go without major inconveniences on your end.
If you are a paying subscriber, the rebranding won't affect your current subscription. However, there might be changes to the offer, but not a downgrade.
I will update you in the coming weeks on the progress and with potential news about additional changes.
And last but not least, a big thanks to Frank, Alain, Nicolas, Adrian, Yvonne, and Evelyn for their feedback and insights.
