There are moments when you hit a milestone and instinctively feel you should celebrate the number. But sometimes the number means something deeper. Reaching 30,000 subscribers on the Now Spinning Magazine YouTube channel is one of those moments.
For me, this is not really about us chasing a badge or standing on a digital podium. It is about looking back at the journey and realising that something important has been built. Something real. Something lasting. Something that was never meant to live on just one platform.
When I first began the YouTube side of Now Spinning Magazine, it came after the website. In truth, I felt more comfortable talking than writing. Even then, I was not confident enough to appear on camera. If you go back to those very early videos, you will mostly see my hands rather than my face. At that point, I had no grand expectations. I was genuinely amazed when the channel reached around 150 subscribers. That alone felt impossible.
Like many people who start creating, I had moments where I thought, “I’ve put everything into this one — surely this will take off.” And then it didn’t. That can knock the wind out of you if you let it. But over time I realised that this could not be about trying to force outcomes. It had to be about turning up, enjoying the process, and staying true to what made me start in the first place.
And that mattered even more because this project became something bigger in the wake of lockdown. My old world, running a digital agency, had effectively fallen away. When things began to recover, I found myself asking a very simple but very important question: what do I actually love? The answer was music. Always music.
So I made a decision. I would put everything into building something around that love. Not just content. Not just videos. Not just a website. Something with heart. Something that could connect people.
That is really what Now Spinning Magazine has become.
Yes, there is a YouTube channel. Yes, there is a website. Yes, there is a shop, Patreon, YouTube Memberships, private groups, WhatsApp chats, virtual meet-ups and all the rest of it. But none of that exists for the sake of ticking boxes. It exists because I never wanted this to be dependent on one algorithm, one trend, or one platform deciding whether I was visible this week.
That is the difference.
A lot of channels are built entirely on feeding the machine. Chasing views. Chasing the next spike. Chasing whatever the algorithm wants today. I understand why people do that. But I also knew that if I let that become the main focus, I would lose the very thing that made this worthwhile in the first place.
I have no interest in becoming addicted to numbers.
Of course growth matters. Of course it is nice to see progress. But I have always known that my route would be the scenic route. Some creators are rockets. They know exactly how to hit the algorithm again and again. I have enormous respect for that, but it was never really going to be my path. I would rather build slowly and attract the right people than grow quickly and lose the sense of what this is all for.
And what it is for is community.
That was the real mission all along.
I missed the feeling of talking about music with like-minded people. I missed the excitement of discovering an artist and wanting to share it with someone who would understand. I missed the pub conversations, the record shop chatter, the passionate recommendations, the laughter, the disagreements, the surprises. I missed that sense that music could bring people together in a meaningful way.
So I set out to create that.
What has grown around Now Spinning Magazine is not just an audience. It is a community of music fans who care. People from different generations, different countries, different backgrounds — all connected by a shared love of music and, very often, physical music. CDs, vinyl, box sets, books, memorabilia, the tactile experience of holding music in your hands and giving it your full attention.
That is still at the heart of this.
And it is not just about nostalgia either. Yes, I will always talk about Deep Purple, Sabbath, Rainbow and the artists that shaped my life. But this next phase is also about discovery. About shining a light on new bands, new artists, new albums and new voices. About planting seeds for the future.
That matters deeply to me.
I want this to become even more of an archive, a meeting place, and a platform that supports artists at every stage. If I interview a new band today and only a handful of people watch it, that still matters. One more than zero has always mattered. Years from now, those conversations may mean even more. This is about legacy as much as momentum.
So when I say “30,000 subscribers: mission accomplished,” I do not mean we are stopping. Far from it.
I mean that this particular phase is complete.
The foundation is there. The proof of concept is there. The community is there. The website is thriving, the shop is growing, the private spaces are alive with conversation, and the YouTube channel has done what I hoped it would do — it helped bring the right people together.
Now comes the next chapter.
A chapter that feels freer. Less tied to numbers. Less tied to expectation. More rooted in authenticity, storytelling, connection and musical passion. A chapter where Now Spinning Magazine continues to evolve not as a content machine, but as a home for people who believe music still matters.
Because it does.
Music is still the healer. It is still the doctor. It is still the light in the darkness.
And if Now Spinning Magazine can play even a small part in helping people discover music, share music, support artists, and feel less alone through music, then that is success in the truest sense of the word.
So thank you. Thank you for watching, reading, listening, subscribing, commenting, supporting, joining in and helping build this with me.
Thirty thousand subscribers is not the end of the story, it is actually a new beginning
It is the start of a new one.
Thank you for all your support
