Soul Bag

What Soul Bag does

Soul Bag is a French-language print magazine dedicated to blues and soul music, founded in 1968 and published quarterly by SOUL BAG – C.L.A.R.B., a non-profit association organized under French law (loi 1901). The magazine produces four issues per year featuring artist profiles, album reviews (chroniques), interviews, live concert reports, obituaries of music legends, and historical retrospectives. Its readership consists of blues and soul enthusiasts, musicians, and record collectors, primarily in France. The first issue, published in December 1968, celebrated B.B. King's first European tour, establishing a long-running editorial focus that has continued for over 57 years.

The publication operates from Noisy-le-Sec, France with a team of approximately 6 employees. Its technical infrastructure is a WordPress-based website (soulbag.fr) using WooCommerce for e-commerce and Google Analytics for traffic monitoring. The website also hosts a digital record index (Disques), an events calendar (Agenda), categorized editorial content (live reports, news briefs, album reviews, interviews, obituaries), and social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. There is no native mobile application, no public API, and no disclosed AI/ML capabilities.

Soul Bag generates revenue through direct-to-consumer sales via its online boutique. Revenue streams include annual subscriptions (4 issues per year), individual back issues, branded merchandise, and supporter memberships; specific pricing is not publicly disclosed. Distribution is single-country (France), with no venture capital, private equity, or parent-company backing, no funding rounds, no acquisitions, and no disclosed strategic partnerships in the source data. The organization is independently operated as an association, with subscriptions and sales serving as primary funding sources.

Name

Soul Bag

Legal name

SOUL BAG – C.L.A.R.B.

Website

https://soulbag.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Soul Bag is a French quarterly print magazine covering blues and soul music since 1968, published by a non-profit association and distributed via subscriptions, back issues, merchandise, and memberships to French-speaking music enthusiasts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music Journalism

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Culture & Literary Magazines (MPAJAEAN)

Keywords

• Music journalism
• Blues magazine
• Soul magazine
• Print magazine subscription
• Music news coverage

Headquarters

HQ city

Noisy-le-Sec

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Magazine subscriptions: Paper magazine subscriptions (4 issues per year) sold directly through the website boutique. Customers can subscribe for 1 year (4 numéros). The magazine is described as 'Le choix du circuit court' (the short-circuit choice) and 'une marque de soutien qui compte pour un magazine totalement indépendant' (a mark of support for a totally independent magazine).
2. Individual magazine issues: Sale of individual current and past magazine issues (anciens numéros) through the online boutique.
3. Merchandise: Sale of merchandise (Merch) through the online store.
4. Membership: Adhésion (membership) option available through the boutique, supporting the independent magazine.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Soul Bag publishes a quarterly French-language print magazine dedicated to blues and soul music, with each issue (4 per year) featuring cover artists, album reviews with star ratings, interviews, live reports, obituaries, and historical retrospectives. The magazine is sold to consumers through annual subscriptions (4 issues per year), individual back-issue purchases, branded merchandise, and supporter memberships via its own e-commerce boutique at soulbag.fr.

Product overview

Soul Bag is a quarterly French magazine covering blues and soul music since 1968. The offering consists of the print magazine (available via subscription or single back issues), an online boutique selling merchandise and memberships, a newsletter service, and a record index database. The magazine publishes four themed issues annually, each featuring a cover artist, album reviews, interviews, live reports, historical retrospectives, and news briefs. The core product is the print publication, complemented by digital content and e-commerce for subscriptions and merchandise.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Soul Bag Magazine (Magazine papier) The flagship quarterly print magazine covering blues and soul music, published since 1968 (4 issues per year). Each issue features cover stories on prominent artists, album reviews with star ratings, interviews, live reports, and historical retrospectives. Sold to individual consumers via subscription or single-issue purchases.
• N°257 Fantastic Negrito The January-February-March 2025 issue of Soul Bag magazine featuring Fantastic Negrito on the cover, with stories on Kelly Finnigan, Avery*Sunshine, Jade MacRae, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Mark Hummel, Jimmy Rogers, Ruthie Foster, Jerron Paxton, Lowland Brothers, Kat Riggins, Amahla, Jeremie Albino, Emilia Sisco, Sugar Brown, and Faye Adams. Sold as a single back issue via the online boutique.
• N°258 T-Bone Walker The April-May-June 2025 issue of Soul Bag magazine featuring T-Bone Walker as cover story, with features on Southern Avenue, Cymande, Tommy Castro, Johnny Burgin, Annie & The Caldwells, Célia Wa, Ina Forsman, Mereba, The Altons, Ra'Shad The Blues Kid, Delanie Pickering, Akène Bleu, and The Robins. Sold as a single back issue via the online boutique.
• N°259 Valerie June The July-August-September 2025 issue of Soul Bag magazine with Valerie June on the cover, featuring Samantha Fish, Saundra Williams, Clifton Chenier, Bear Family, Tad Robinson, Greentea Peng, Andrew Duncanson, Koko-Jean Davis, Mychelle, Big Dave, Max Hightower, Tanika Charles, Alexis P. Suter, and LaVern Baker. Sold as a single back issue via the online boutique.
• N°260 B.B. King The October-November-December 2025 issue of Soul Bag magazine celebrating B.B. King's centennial, with a dossier on young talents, Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram, Brittany Davis, Sturgill Simpson, War, Sam Ghezzi, Ella Eyre, Anthony 'Big A' Sherrod, Connor Selby, Say She She, Ella Feingold, King George, Charb-On, and Cootie Williams. Sold as a single issue via the online boutique.
• Abonnement 1 an (4 numéros) Annual subscription offering 4 print issues of Soul Bag magazine per year, billed on an annual recurring basis, sold directly to consumers through the online boutique at soulbag.fr.
• Anciens numéros (Back Issues) Archive of previous magazine issues available for individual purchase through the Soul Bag online boutique, allowing readers to obtain past editions covering specific artists or periods.
• Merch (Merchandise) Branded merchandise items sold through the Soul Bag online boutique as a supplementary product line supporting the independent magazine.
• Adhésion (Membership) Membership / supporter adhesion option available through the boutique, providing ongoing support to the independent magazine and its non-profit association.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• MOJO: UK-based monthly music magazine with deep coverage of blues, soul, rock and heritage artists. Closely matches Soul Bag's editorial focus on legacy artists, album reviews and interviews, with a similar print-plus-online content strategy.
• Living Blues: Long-standing US magazine dedicated specifically to blues music (founded 1970). Most direct genre peer to Soul Bag — same editorial format (artist features, reviews, interviews, obituaries) targeted at blues enthusiasts worldwide.
• Vintage Guitar: US print magazine covering blues, rock and roots music with a strong emphasis on artists, instruments and heritage coverage. A niche specialist publication with subscription revenue and print-led model analogous to Soul Bag.
• Rock & Folk: Long-running French music print magazine covering rock, blues and related genres. Operates on a similar quarterly/periodic print model with subscription, newsstand and online news presence, targeting French-speaking music enthusiasts — a directly comparable reader and business model.
• Uncut: UK monthly music magazine focused on rock, folk, blues and heritage artists with extensive reviews, interviews and features. Closely mirrors Soul Bag's editorial sensibility and long-form music journalism.
• Blues Matters: UK-based blues magazine covering artists, reviews, interviews and festivals. Operates as a print periodical with associated digital presence, directly comparable to Soul Bag in audience and editorial scope.
• Les Inrockuptibles: Iconic French music and culture magazine (print + digital) covering rock, soul, world and related genres. Comparable to Soul Bag as a French editorial brand covering adjacent music genres with similar subscription/newsstand and online content mix.
• Record Collector: UK magazine dedicated to record collecting and music heritage across blues, soul, rock and jazz. Closely aligned with Soul Bag's archive-driven, collector-focused editorial approach and subscription-based print model.

Broad incumbents

• Rolling Stone: Global mainstream music and culture magazine (US-founded) covering all genres including blues and soul. Overlaps with Soul Bag in editorial coverage but operates at a vastly larger scale with broader audience and digital-first monetization.
• NME: Former UK print music magazine now digital-led, covering rock, indie and adjacent genres including soul. Comparable as a music journalism brand serving an English-speaking audience, though at much greater scale and broader genre scope than Soul Bag.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/soul-bag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Soul Bag