SOMA Magazine
SOMA, an independent art magazine with global reach and few real peers, is the project of engineer-turned-restaurateur-turned-Editor-in-Chief Ali Ghanbarian. For nearly thirty years, SOMA has served as a vehicle for new talent and an extension of Ali’s style, embodied in a serial art mag unconcerned with reinvention. While the content is inspired by the world’s churning creative class, Ali remains the supreme arbiter of the magazine’s aesthetic, maintaining remarkable consistency over the years since its inception.
What’s exceptional about the publication, to hear him tell it, is that Ali got there first. This look, all bright whites and hooded eyes, is the thread running through three decades of SOMA. Despite upheavals in the city, in fashion, in media, and in the economy more broadly, Ali Ghanbarian’s rule over his empire of taste is unchanged.
Every issue of SOMA is themed, pieced together from over one thousand pitches sent by subscribers, whom Ali affectionately describes as “the trendy, sophisticated, young people.” Fittingly, this issue’s Street Style portion centers on San Francisco: Thin, multiracial pedestrians fill the pages in black, white, and faded blue summer hues. Asked about their favorite films and musicians, the answers range from pat to weird. It’s an odd sidewalk where Harold & Maude, The Hobbit 2, and Leon: the Professional converge.
Roughly twenty percent of every issue is devoted to fashion, SOMA’s deepest well for original content. Ali idolizes his readers, mostly urban women in their 20s and 30s, whose great taste is reflected in their subscription to his. Several longer features connect each issue: The recurring I-Pose feature shows the winners of a competition in which young luminaries pose as cultural giants of their choice.
Their choices, as one can imagine, range considerably. Musician Kaythan Golkar as Bill Murray’s Steve Zissou; artist Naomi Edmonson as Frida Kahlo. As always, Ali tells us, “The issue contains stunning visuals, minimal, never cheesy, sensual but never sexual.” These high-quality images of people posing as their favorite icons, legends, and mentors serve as a platform for people with a little talent and charisma to post better images world wide, and to compete, with the winners getting scholarships, internships, products, and more. All in all, Ali’s dictation of the magazine is more emotive than objective; he works to preserve a mood most obvious to himself.
When he first arrived in the San Francisco neighborhood south of Market Street in the 80s, Ali felt like an intruder: He opened several high-end clubs and restaurants in stretches dense with artist studios and live-work spaces. SoMa is populated with mixed-use warehouses that comprised the sexual center of the city for a certain leather-loving crowd in decades prior. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake devastated the area and drove out most locals, whose return was prevented by newly minted dot com workers moving into pricey developments. The city instated 21 affordable housing projects that slowly opened the area back up to displaced low-income residents, though they were suddenly a minority in the transfigured SoMa they inherited.
The sanctity of talent is vital to SOMA’s project.
Observing changes in the ecosystem of the place — particularly when his “yuppie disco friends” imported themselves — Ali resolved to make it a little easier for creative types to keep their perches. He launched SOMA, and joined the tradition of arts patronage in its purest form. It is clear that the will to enable others to create beautiful things still animates Ali now. He could not speak in great technical detail about what makes a compelling photograph, but exclaimed at the talent of a photographer who, for an upcoming feature, took sparse direction and interpreted it wildly beyond Ali’s concept. “His photos were in motion. A great photographer can take something ordinary and turn it into something with a soul.”
The sanctity of talent is vital to SOMA’s project: Ali insists that, despite the new ubiquity of devices that harbor images, real photographers are no less rare than when film was king. He’s unconvinced that study or practice have anything to do with it. He shrugs simply, “Not everyone has talent.” Despite the finality of the sentiment, Ali spends a great deal of time mentoring young people and providing space for them to grow creatively. He’s aware of how this approach costs him: “I find the best creative new people, they put SOMA on their resume and now within three or four weeks, they are gone. On to big publications, as creative directors, writers, or doing public relations for big fashion houses.” One of his greatest discoveries: Photographer Karen Collins. “I discovered Karen in a Kinkos, and now everything she works on becomes a collector’s piece,” he chuckles contentedly. “She’s my favorite artist.” When we asked about his regrets, he offered up the memory of a time when heroin chic was beginning to emerge as an aesthetic. Uninterested in anything so grungy, he says he turned away several early practitioners of the style who would become influential figures in the arts landscape.
SOMA’s website broadly covers fashion, design, music, and art, although it also has dedicated channels for nightlife, street style and horoscopes. You won’t find that last one in many other places — its exact origin story is unknown, but an eclectic bunch including David Bowie (Ali’s favorite musician), Wayne Coyne, Derek Lam, Gerd Ludwig, and SOMA alumnus Alexander Wang have taken high-def images of their hands and submitted them to the expert scrutiny of Lena, the magazine’s resident palm reader. “We even got Richard Branson to send us a scan,” Ali recalls.
The readings are performed anonymously, the identities of the scans’ donors revealed to Lena only after the fact. The blurb accompanying Jeff Koons’ horoscope, written before his release of the 17th BMW art car, described him as “one of the greatest contemporary artists of our generation, [whose every piece] whether perceived as kitsch or avant-garde [leaves] a lasting impression upon viewers.” In Jeff Koons’ palm Lena saw a sexually adventurous risk taker, one who is attracted to the eccentric in all forms, one who sets ambitious goals, and one who will retire early. Koons, now 60, may not fulfill her last prediction, but the others sound plausible to the casual Koons voyeur.
While the print magazine has always been Ali’s primary passion, his ambitions for SOMA include its maturation into a lifestyle brand. He has plans for SOMA wearables, including a headset for women who might prefer a listening device more akin to jewelry than the clunky variety on the market today. Despite these aspirations, Ali insists, “This magazine is not a business. It’s mine…my baby. It’s only a labor of love.” Given his appreciation of high art, we were surprised by his admission regarding the most common art of the age: “Selfies are okay,” he allows, “as long as they are executed with some personality, some attitude.” You can join the ranks of SOMA’s creative community here.
All images courtesy of SOMA Magazine & Ali Ghanbarian
Originally an ancient Indo-Persian word invoking ecstasy, the ancient Greeks and Romans later used Soma to refer to the body. Aldous Huxley described it as a holiday from the ordinary, but currently it is the name of one of the longest-running arts, culture and fashion publications in the country. After spearheading a renaissance of bars, clubs and galleries in San Francisco’s South of Market district, and coining the term SOMA (South of Market Street), Ali Ghanbarian was inspired to launch a magazine by that namesake with the goal of providing a venue for a blossoming creative community over 25 years ago. Soon, the country took notice, and an eager audience well beyond San Francisco city limits quickly embraced SOMA Magazine, boasting distribution in New York, LA, Miami, Tokyo, London, Montreal and Paris. Today the publication finds itself at the forefront of possibilities in the world of fashion, art, music, film and design. SOMA Magazine continues to launch publishing industry careers of countless editors, photographers, art directors, stylists and designers, and also continues to serve as an inspirational guide to many creative professionals as a lifestyle guide for the hip, urban, young adult.
We celebrate the avant-garde, and provide a platform for the groundbreaking. SOMA Magazine explores the contemporary landscape through sharp insight and award-winning design while covering art, fashion, design, music and film. Since our first issue over two decades ago, SOMA continues to introduce readers to the brightest up-and-coming talents, and is the preeminent trend-setting forecaster with all others following suit. Inside our pages you will find a vigorous mix of art, style, journalism and design. Embracing savvy irreverence and the tastefully transgressive, SOMA is committed to a unified narrative. Each month SOMA focuses on a single topic that engages and provokes our readers: Obsession, Street Culture, Design, People and Holiday. Our annual Film, Fashion, Music and Travel issues transcend the mundane and take on these perennial topics with sophistication and wit. As efortlessly sophisticated urbanites, our readers do not look to SOMA for the latest trend, because they themselves are already setting it. They look for the style, design and copy they do not encounter in any other publication. Described as “a wonderful diversion for my brain and senses,” by one reader, SOMA sets itself apart from the mainstream by being a beacon of inspiration for all other publications. Known for strong support of the artistic community, SOMA is credited with launching the careers of hundreds of talented young people, who have since reached the pinnacle of their fields all over the world. SOMA alumni continue to fill the ranks of the international creative market as renowned filmmakers, writers, photographers, musicians, fashion designers and models. The trends that the publication continues to inspire through its unique creative vision are a testament to the cutting edge SOMA flair, and creative vision.
2023 MEDIA KIT
EDITORIAL CONTENTS
WHITE NOISE
Favorite new discoveries: boutiques, events, emerging artists.
STREET PULSE
We take to the streets to discover innovators of personal style.
WORD PLAY
The brightest emerging and celebrated literary talents.
DISPATCH SOMA
sends writers to unexpected cultural fountainheads.
ABOUT PLACE
Unique architectural environments and their creators.
PERSONAL GROOMING
New ways to satisfy that narcissistic craving.
STYLE & USAGE
A clever and timely analysis of current trends.
HAND SIGNALS
Profiles of the brightest creative minds and blind readings of their palms. Past Hand Signals include:
Marc Jacobs, Errol Morris, Philippe Starck, Jean Paul Gaultier and Kim Gordon.
LAST WORD
Personal musings from creative minds to wrap up the issue. Recent Last Words include: Isabella Blow, Pico Iyer and Larry Flynt.
FEATURES
Innovative journalism, provocative editorials and stunning visuals earmark SOMA as the trendsetter amongst magazines on the rack today.
IMAGES & FASHION
Cutting edge fashion, introducing talented new photographers, designers and models, and reinventing established ones.
FILM
Emerging films stars, screenwriters and directors. Chloë Sevigny, Adrien Brody, Maggie Cheung and Vincent Gallo have all graced SOMA’s cover, and directors Wong Kar-wai, Fernando Meirelles and Christine Jefs have all recently been featured.
MUSIC FEATURES
In-depth portraits of the ever-changing musical landscape.
URBANITE
Extensive coverage of the best in wining and dining—SOMA seeks out the most fabulous restaurants, bars, lounges and hotels in cities across the globe
WHO IS THE SOMA READER?
SOMA maintains an honest and strong bond with the trend-setting creative community that is our core demographic. SOMA readers encompass iconic filmmakers, photographers, creative directors, designers, artists, cutting-edge fashion designers and tech devotees, all of whom are very active in fitness, shopping, and many other social pursuits. SOMA readers are trendsetters who thrive in urban settings. They go out at least 5 or 6 nights a week to the best restaurants, lounges and bars, exploring and participating in the best of urban living. They are environmentally and socially conscious, motivated, and lead active lifestyles. SOMA readers have the talent and the intelligence to want to buy the products we feature. They know exactly what is hot, hip, cool and “now.” The typical SOMA reader sets the tone, and trend and everyone follows. Artists are like pest control—they clean up and the yuppies follow! Everything a SOMA reader does, from dining to fashion, from art to technology, makes a statement about their individuality and identity. They are not typical
READER SURVEY
Leisure
92% of SOMA readers consume alcohol
62% Vodka
30% Scotch
30% Gin
20% Rum
30% Tequila
35% Champagne
30% Imported beer
75% Wine
52% of readers spend over $9,500/year on travel
50% of readers visit art galleries/museums at least once a month
70% of readers belong to gyms. The average reader goes out 18 nights a month (restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and movies)
Consumer
52% of readers spend over $12,600/year on clothing
The average female reader spends $350/month
on cosmetics
The average reader spends $8,500/year on furnishings
The average reader spends
$4,400/year on home electronics
100% of SOMA readers own a personal computer
100% of them have access to the Internet
The average reader spends $300/month on music:
$250/month on live concerts
2009 Subscriber Study
DEMOGRAPHICS
ADVERTISING RATES
10% premium for first 10% of magazine. 10% bleed charge for spreads and full pages—not commissionable to agencies. $1,000 over rates above for specialty ink (PMS). Specialty units and inserts must be discussed.
SOMA magazine has final approval on all advertising. The advertiser and/or advertising agency resumes responsibility for the content of the printed advertisement and agrees to indemnify and protect the publisher against any claims arising from the advertisement.
DEADLINES
MECHANICAL SPECIFICATIONS
The following advertising materials specifications facilitate quality control of magazine printing on high-speed web presses. All requirements are based on Specifications for Web Ofset Publications (SWOP). All ads must be four-color (CMYK) process. If a PMS color is desired, special arrangements must be made and additional specifications provided before submitting ad materials. Specify matched colors from the PMS series, including the 800 series metallic and fluorescent inks. Anticipate a 24 percent dot gain, +/-4%, as measured in the 50 percent target. 150-line screen and prepare material accordingly. Total fourcolor dot density should not exceed 280% with no more than one color being solid. Maximum density for any one color should not exceed 85%; a required value over 85% should be made solid. Total two-color dot density in any area: 170%, with no more than one solid.
DIGITAL SPECIFICATIONS
SOMA is a Computer to Plate (CTP) environment. SOMA accepts Quark, InDesign and Illustrator documents supplied on Macintosh-formatted media. Properly created PDF (CMYK, 300dpi, all fonts included, etc.) and TIFF (2400dpi) advanced file formats accepted. Photoshop files are acceptable for images only. A high-quality digital proof that meets SWOP specifications (e.g. Kodak Approval, Fuji Proof or other matchprint-equivalent proof ) must accompany the disk—color printer output is not acceptable for color match. COLOR match attempts are not guaranteed when a substandard proof is provided. For full-page ads, if a SWOP-standard proof is not supplied, SOMA will produce one at a cost to the advertiser for $100.00. All ads must be sized exactly or charges may apply. If the document cannot be readily opened, or its components are substandard, the disk will be returned.
FILM SPECIFICATIONS
Supplied film will be copydot scanned for CTP output. If film must be supplied, please adhere to the following film specifications. Digital Files Preferred. For film, supply right-reading composed lithographic negatives (emulsion down). All ads require 133-150-line screen. Fractional ads must meet the specified dimensions exactly or charges will apply. Provide an of-press proof (matchprint) manufactured from the supplied film and according to SWOP standards, process on publication-grade stock. Progressive proofs are not preferred. If SWOP standard proofs are not supplied, Publisher reserves the right to have them made at the advertiser’s expense.
EDITORIAL CALENDAR
MARCH/APRIL SPRING FASHION ISSUE
SOMA casts its eye on the best in pioneering fashions through extensive coverage of the most up-and-coming photographers,
fashion designers and everything fashion–related throughout the world. Featuring 30-40 pages of stunning photography,
this issue showcases everything from haute couture to urban digs to the latest in accessorizing.
MAY/JUNE PEOPLE ISSUE
Who are tomorrow’s tastemakers and why? SOMA uncovers the eccentric personas of the underground and revisits
vibrant icons in art, music, design and culture. We also expand the idea of Street Pulse into all aspects of the magazine.
It’s the People Issue, and we deliver an issue guided by our readers.
JULY/AUGUST MUSIC/FILM ISSUE
Our yearly Music/Film Issue returns to showcase the independent, daring, imported, idolized and downright unheard of.
SOMA uncovers and rediscovers amazing music-makers and explores the intermingling worlds of fashion, music and film.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER FALL FASHION ISSUE
From feminism to femininity, politics to hairstyles, careers to couture; 30+ pages of the best fall fashion, including in-depth
coverage of the couture shows in Paris and the RTW shows in New York. Interviews with the best designers, young and old.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER OBSESSION ISSUE
SOMA explores all types of obsession—in film, fashion, literature, religion, music and art. Who and what possess the divine
power to addict, mesmerize and enrapture, and why?
JANUARY/FEBRUARY DESIGN ISSUE
For the holiday season, SOMA explores the most unique designers from fashion to interior design and architecture to ring
in the new year. New faces and talents are discovered to mirror the new beginnings that are associated with the holidays.
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