North of Here

What North of Here does

North of Here is a personal content publication and email newsletter operated by founder Damien Wilkinson under the legal entity Second Stage Creativity Media Limited, a private limited company registered in England and Wales (Company No: 16998760). The company is a sole proprietorship with a stated headcount of one, operating from a registered address in the Yorkshire Dales, United Kingdom. The publication delivers editorial content across several thematic sections — Field Notes (live music and concert reviews), The Turntable Spins (album reviews and music features), On The Road Again (travel and gear), Life Backstage (personal essays and lifestyle content), and The Dispatches. Coverage focuses on rock, folk, and Americana music events across Northern England venues (Manchester, Liverpool, Bradford, Halifax, Bury) and selected London venues, alongside UK travel writing and personal reinvention themes.

The underlying technology is a Squarespace-hosted website with no proprietary software, APIs, SDKs, or integrations. Content is distributed through the owned website and a free monthly email newsletter, with no paid products, no subscription tiers, no advertising, and no disclosed revenue streams. The only commercial-adjacent offering is a Press and Media Kit for media enquiries, with no monetisation terms stated. The go-to-market motion is community-led organic content marketing, with audience acquisition driven by editorial quality and the founder's personal voice rather than paid channels or partnerships. The company serves a horizontal persona — music enthusiasts, UK travel readers, and lifestyle/midlife content consumers — with no paying customers, no enterprise relationships, and no institutional ownership. Founder Wilkinson transitioned into the publication at age 56 after a 35-year finance career, positioning the venture as a personal second-act creative project rather than a commercial growth business.

Name

North of Here

Legal name

Second Stage Creativity Media Limited

Website

https://northofhere.co.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

North of Here is a one-person personal publication and free email newsletter, operated by founder Damien Wilkinson, delivering independent music reviews, UK travel writing, and lifestyle essays to readers interested in Northern England's music and travel scene.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Editorial Publication

NAICS

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Long-Form Writing & Article Platforms (MPACAIAC)

Keywords

• Online editorial publication
• Music review journalism
• Travel writing content
• Lifestyle blog
• Email newsletter content

Headquarters

HQ city

Settle

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Newsletter Subscription: Free newsletter subscription model where readers sign up via email to receive regular content updates. The site collects email addresses through a subscription form to deliver monthly newsletters featuring Field Notes, The Turntable Spins, On The Road Again and Life Backstage journals.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

North of Here is a personal online publication that publishes independent editorial content including live music reviews, album reviews, travel writing, and lifestyle essays across five themed sections (Field Notes, The Turntable Spins, On The Road Again, Life Backstage, and The Dispatches). The site offers a free monthly email newsletter delivering content updates to subscribers and a Press & Media Kit for media enquiries, but does not sell any paid products or services.

Product overview

North of Here is a personal content publication and newsletter platform created by Damien Wilkinson. The site publishes editorial content across several thematic sections including Field Notes (music reviews and concert coverage), The Turntable Spins (music features and artist retrospectives), On the Road Again (travel and local guides), Life Backstage (personal essays and lifestyle content), and The Dispatches. The primary service offering is a subscription-based monthly newsletter delivered via Squarespace, through which subscribers receive updates on new content. The company also offers a Press & Media Kit for media inquiries. Built on the Squarespace platform, North of Here functions as a content-driven publication rather than a technology product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Field Notes (Live Music Reviews)
• The Turntable Spins (Album and Music Features)
• On The Road Again (Travel Writing)
• Life Backstage (Personal Essays and Lifestyle)

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

Broad incumbents

• Pitchfork: Major independent music publication (now under GQ/Condé Nast) covering album reviews, live reviews, and features. Comparable editorial format and target audience (indie/alternative music enthusiasts), but operates as a broad incumbent at vastly greater scale than North of Here.
• Stereogum: Established US-based independent music blog/publication covering indie, rock, and alternative music with reviews, features, and artist interviews. Comparable in editorial format (reviews, features, long-form coverage) but operates at significantly larger scale and broader geographic footprint than North of Here.

Direct peers

• God Is in the TV: Independent UK-based music and culture online magazine covering live reviews, album reviews, and interviews. Comparable as a small-team, digitally-distributed UK music publication competing for the same niche UK indie/alternative readership.
• Loud and Quiet: UK independent music magazine and website featuring album reviews, live reviews, and artist interviews. Direct comparable as a long-form indie music journalism outlet serving an overlapping UK-music readership with a similar editorial voice and category breadth.
• Crack Magazine: UK-based independent music and culture magazine (print + digital) covering live music, features, and artist interviews. Comparable as a UK indie music publication with similar editorial content (concert coverage, album features) for an overlapping demographic of music/lifestyle readers.
• Drowned in Sound: Long-running UK independent music website covering album reviews, live reviews, and artist features. Same content format (concert/album reviews, columns) and same target audience of UK music enthusiasts; operates at solo/small-team scale similar to North of Here.
• The Quietus: Independent UK-based online music and culture publication with long-form reviews, features, and columns. Directly comparable as a niche indie music journalism outlet competing for the same reader of artist retrospectives and concert reviews.
• The Line of Best Fit: Independent UK music blog/publication covering album reviews, live reviews, features, and premieres. Comparable as a digital-first music publication running an active review and feature cadence aimed at a UK indie/alternative readership similar to North of Here's audience.
• So Young Magazine: Independent UK-based music and culture publication covering indie/alternative artists, live reviews, and features. Comparable as a long-form, digitally-distributed music journalism outlet serving a similar niche UK indie readership.
• Backseat Mafia: Independent UK music and culture blog covering live reviews, album reviews, and features with a focus on indie and alternative artists. Comparable as a small-scale, digitally-distributed music journalism outlet serving a similar UK music enthusiast readership to North of Here.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/GoNorthofHere
• Facebookfacebook.com/damonorthofhere

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 North of Here