Guitarist Magazine - Advertising - End of an Era

guitars4you

My ad contract with Guitarist was up for renewal - Almost from day one I've advertised with Guitarist, with which ever business I've been involved with - Guitars4You is almost 14 years old this summer and been in every issue since - I've recently ran with a 1/4 page ad, but for years a page, then 1/2 page

I've now decided to call it a day and not renew - Very little dealers in there today and even the classified section at the rear is far smaller than in the past - Times have changed from monthly mags as your only, or major, promotional outlet - A few months ago there was chat on FB about guitar mags and who read what and when - Of those who responded to the blog, it was quite clear that many no longer read such mags on a regular basis

So now just a 1/2 page in Guitar and Bass

hotpickups

guitars4you said:

My ad contract with Guitarist was up for renewal - Almost from day one I've advertised with Guitarist, with which ever business I've been involved with - Guitars4You is almost 14 years old this summer and been in every issue since - I've recently ran with a 1/4 page ad, but for years a page, then 1/2 page

I've now decided to call it a day and not renew - Very little dealers in there today and even the classified section at the rear is far smaller than in the past - Times have changed from monthly mags as your only, or major, promotional outlet - A few months ago there was chat on FB about guitar mags and who read what and when - Of those who responded to the blog, it was quite clear that many no longer read such mags on a regular basis

So now just a 1/2 page in Guitar and Bass

Yeah the internet has destroyed magazine sales/reading I feel. Also the high street shops in some cases

heavyrocker

You’d have far more success advertising on Facebook.

IvisonGuitars

hotpickups said:

guitars4you said:

My ad contract with Guitarist was up for renewal - Almost from day one I've advertised with Guitarist, with which ever business I've been involved with - Guitars4You is almost 14 years old this summer and been in every issue since - I've recently ran with a 1/4 page ad, but for years a page, then 1/2 page

I've now decided to call it a day and not renew - Very little dealers in there today and even the classified section at the rear is far smaller than in the past - Times have changed from monthly mags as your only, or major, promotional outlet - A few months ago there was chat on FB about guitar mags and who read what and when - Of those who responded to the blog, it was quite clear that many no longer read such mags on a regular basis

So now just a 1/2 page in Guitar and Bass

Yeah the internet has destroyed magazine sales/reading I feel. Also the high street shops in some cases

I think the content is destroying Guitarist more than the internet personally.

bacchanalian

I think the magazines would be improved by less but higher quality content. Longer form pieces with tab and video would be good.  The No Guitar is Safe podcast is great because there is time to explore the players background and influences with some depth.
For advertising, the Facebook, Twitter and instagram seem to be the way to go. 

EricTheWeary

I don't think that there is huge crossover between people who regularly post on t'internet and readers of guitar magazines so I wouldn't take this place as entirely representative. 
Although, IIRC, Feline Guitars ( might have been another small business on here but I think Feline) did similar a while ago - unable to trace a single sale back to the expensive Guitarist ads. 

Wazmeister

Mark, the correct decision imho, as I'm sure it's not cheap to advertise...

I still buy Guitarist, but I'm getting more and more ambivalent towards it.

I do wish they would run a feature of the History Of Les Pauls though...

richardhomer

The writing is on the wall for all but the most successful print media, I suspect.

My local weekly newspaper was effectively paid for by car dealers and estate agents. The car dealers went first - the agents stuck with it in the belief that a newspaper presence won them instructions - but one by one, they pulled out too.

Now there is no local weekly newspaper.

Future used the CD with Guitarist as a justification for the price - last time I thumbed through a copy, it was £6.25. That’s just too much....

joetele

I've bought Guitarist quite a bit over the years, and they have some fascinating articles and insights - and I understand where they're pitching their content in terms of audience - but boy, they're certainly not offering anything accessible for the other end of the market. I guess that's what Total Guitar is for, but most of the reviewed guitars in Guitarist start at £1,200, and the amps and pedals are in the same kind of ball park. At least this month's Guitar mag has a feature on the new Fender mexican series. But then again, the internet's full of reviews of the affordable stuff isn't it?  Apart from the features about builders and musicians,  I guess lots of the content is covered online these days. It's still nice to read a magazine, I'll admit, but not many of them are doing it for me in terms of content. I probably fall somewhere in between the demographics for Total Guitar and Guitarist, but there's not much for me in that regard. 

I always liked Guitar Buyer. 

Kebabkid

I only ever buy a copy as some of my reading material when I'm flying somewhere, but it's left me seriously underwhelmed for the last few years.

Alas, social media seems to be a stronger platform at the moment for advertising as evidenced by the traffic of Andertons, Guitar Guitar and Peach that comes my way.

Good luck Mark whatever you've chosen and to continued success and congratulations on 14 years of G4U

Misty

Guitar and Bass is the only guitar mag I read nowadays. I've read every issue since the first one, but no longer keep them. I maybe buy Guitarist once or twice a year if there's something particular in it that interests me, but most of the time there's nothing new worth shelling out for, and I find I'm old enough to have seen it all before. Plus, with everything on the internet, a guitar magazine is kind of old technology.

Musicman20

Congrats on 14 years. Just hit up instagram and facebook.....more so instagram IMO. 

Octafish

The problem with most magazines has always been that there's only so much you can cover before you start going over the same old ground again - Guitarist and expensive bloozak guitars, Mojo Magazine and that bloody guide to the top 100 psychedelic albums, Practical Classics and yet another rebuild an MGB for under £2000 feature etc. As a result I think a lot of readers have always drifted away after buying a mag after a few years (I know I always have - even pre-internet).

The problem now is that the ready supply of teenagers who used to go and start buying mags that reflected their latest interest (guitar playing, computer gaming etc) just go online and get a load of free content. In addition to that shops adverstising in magazines is pretty pointless. Why wait for an already out of date advert to appear once a month when you can go online and see currect stock whenever you like?

OilCityPickups

Sadly I think guitar magazines have had their day. Nostalgia for the great pile of International Musician mags I collected in the late 70s makes me wish it were different, but there is no way for a paper publication to compete with, or give vale for money compared to the richness of the online experience. From a business point of view I see magazine advertising as simply a waste of money these days.
@miserneil is also right: Guitarist's contents don't really inspire any more, or seem to reflect the interests of the average guitarist ... but I see that as the whole medium gradually slipping into isolated senility. 

Dan_Halen

It's no so much an issue with the damn interwebs and the youth of today wanting everything for free, rather the outdated format. Magazine just isn't the right medium for guitars whereas video is perfect. You can take a load of glossy photos and write 3000 words telling someone all about a new guitar but it's simply no substitute for seeing and hearing someone play one.

Octafish

Dan_Halen said:

It's no so much an issue with the damn interwebs and the youth of today wanting everything for free, rather the outdated format. Magazine just isn't the right medium for guitars whereas video is perfect. You can take a load of glossy photos and write 3000 words telling someone all about a new guitar but it's simply no substitute for seeing and hearing someone play one.

There is definetly that, but without the internet there would be no easy free distribution for such content. Seem to remember some mags were starting to stick VHS tapes on mags in the 90s.

Phil_aka_Pip

I still read Guitarist. I like paper magazines. I get that I'm probably in the minority though.

not_the_dj

Dan_Halen said:

You can take a load of glossy photos and write 3000 words telling someone all about a new guitar but it's simply no substitute for seeing and hearing someone play one.

Writing about music is like dancing about custard...or so Winston Einstein said.

Phil_aka_Pip

not_the_dj said:

Dan_Halen said:

You can take a load of glossy photos and write 3000 words telling someone all about a new guitar but it's simply no substitute for seeing and hearing someone play one.

Writing about music is like dancing about custard...or so Winston Einstein said.

"Music journalism is people who can't write writing for people who can't read" (FZ)

57Deluxe

I only read the PDF versions of the mags now as I had trouble getting into my bedroom for the piles of back issues which I am loathed to chuck!

guitars4you

Phil_aka_Pip said:

I still read Guitarist. I like paper magazines. I get that I'm probably in the minority though.

I do - I can leave it by the sofa and read a monthly mag a bit here and there over days/weeks - I obtain the USA on-line mag Premierguitar.com and some how just scan over it, read the odd article and certainly can't recall the last time I played a youtube style video clip

I think we are in the minority though

The key point now is how valid are such mags to generate sales - As a small store I can generally ask most/any new potential buyer how they discovered Guitars4You - answers include word n mouth, mate/recommendation, google search, web site, even FB - many will state they saw me exhibiting at a guitar show - Years ago Guitarist magazine was the source - Now it barely gets a mention - Yet still strong interest via Guitar and Bass and far less to advertise compared to Guitarist