Guitarist Magazine - Advertising - End of an Era

guitars4you

Roland said:

impmann said:

Guitarist *has* lost the plot and are stuck on a path - I don't believe it the fault of the Editor having met him, but I'm fairly sure its corporate meddling trying to position it as a "Lifestyle" magazine (Coffee table job). Thats a well-trodden path that has worked for certain mags but been the death of many others. 

That was the thinking which lead me to cancel both Guitarist and Guitar Techniques. Corporate decision making, based on cost reduction, had lead to a dumbing down of content. What it needed, and had previously seen, was revenue generation through making it more interesting.

When Guitarist was first bought up, and moved to Bath to become part of a magazine publishing corporation, it initially benefitted from what corporations can bring. Lower cost and higher quality printing and distribution. More professional support departments. 

Then it began to suffer from “leveraging corporate assets”, with decisions made by people who wouldn’t know the difference between a guitar and a bass. Fewer contributions from actual guitarists, and more bought-in articles from professional journalists. Focusing down on a narrower range of music and styles, which were thought to appeal to higher spending buyers, rather than widening peoples’ focus with articles on players from outside of the mainstream. Dumbed down reviews, devoid of personal comment, to avoid upsetting advertisers. 

I’m certain that the people making the decisions believe that they are doing the right thing for their shareholders. The indicators they look at will tell them that they are. 

No one has mentioned the Musicradar forum shut down yet ...

tend to agree with this thinking - I've known Dave Burrluck and Neville for many years and both are well known respect guys in the industry, but the Future Group is certainly more corporate from top to bottom

I much prefer what Chris and the team are doing with Guitar and Bass

impmann

Roland said:

impmann said:

Guitarist *has* lost the plot and are stuck on a path - I don't believe it the fault of the Editor having met him, but I'm fairly sure its corporate meddling trying to position it as a "Lifestyle" magazine (Coffee table job). Thats a well-trodden path that has worked for certain mags but been the death of many others. 

That was the thinking which lead me to cancel both Guitarist and Guitar Techniques. Corporate decision making, based on cost reduction, had lead to a dumbing down of content. What it needed, and had previously seen, was revenue generation through making it more interesting.

When Guitarist was first bought up, and moved to Bath to become part of a magazine publishing corporation, it initially benefitted from what corporations can bring. Lower cost and higher quality printing and distribution. More professional support departments. 

Then it began to suffer from “leveraging corporate assets”, with decisions made by people who wouldn’t know the difference between a guitar and a bass. Fewer contributions from actual guitarists, and more bought-in articles from professional journalists. Focusing down on a narrower range of music and styles, which were thought to appeal to higher spending buyers, rather than widening peoples’ focus with articles on players from outside of the mainstream. Dumbed down reviews, devoid of personal comment, to avoid upsetting advertisers. 

I’m certain that the people making the decisions believe that they are doing the right thing for their shareholders. The indicators they look at will tell them that they are. 

No one has mentioned the Musicradar forum shut down yet ...

I thought the M-word was banned around here...

I don't have a problem with bought in articles from pro journos - far from it. Having a broad base of contributor input is actually a mark of a good magazine. If everything is generated in house, it can become a bit "local".

Sadly some 'pro' journalists are far from professional (I won't name folks, but having subbed the copy of a very famous motoring expert on many occasions, I'm amazed he got to where he did with such a poor command of English). And thanks to reductions in the page rates paid by most publishing houses, you are often forced to use the people you can afford rather than those you actually want on occasion.

TA22GT

Phil_aka_Pip said:

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

I do too.  I Just like something tangible in my hands rather than a phone/tablet. 

You can also leave it next to the cludgy.........

Phil_aka_Pip

'Tis true the tFB can be classed as "social meeja", but it isn't facebook and doesn't carry adverts. Long may it stay that way

Philly_Q

jeztone2 said:

Michael Molena was good at Guitar Player magazine. You had variety. I remember you’d get a flamenco player, indie guitarist and a rock player all in the same issue. Plurality is everything. 

guitars4you said:

tend to agree with this thinking - I've known Dave Burrluck and Neville for many years and both are well known respect guys in the industry, but the Future Group is certainly more corporate from top to bottom

And now Michael Molenda has been made redundant... because Guitar Player has been taken over by Future Music.

How can your editor in chief be redundant?

crunchman

Vibetronic said:

I still get it as I like magazines. It still has some interesting stuff in, but SO much of it is just rehashing old ground (even over the space of a few months...very bored of articles about old Gibsons and Fenders now, and museums that have old guitars - I'd rather they did a separate magazine for vintage stuff). There's not a lot of variation in the style of music they cover, which probably isn't helped by a lot of the writers being into the same sort of thing from the look of it. The other thing I really miss, and to be fair it hasn't had this for ages, is music; there's normally a tiny amount of instructional stuff in it in the form of a blues column (surprise!), but back in the day there used to be some excellent stuff from Phil Hilborne and others. Granted there's Guitar Techniques which has that stuff, but I can't always be arsed to fork out for two magazines. 

The problem is that it's a lot easier to find that on Youtube as well.

When I was learning the solo to Alright Now, before I had to back out of the jam a couple of months ago, I found 2 or 3 videos on YouTube breaking it down and showing you how to play it.  They weren't completely accurate, but they were close enough (not that Kossoff seemed to play it the same way twice anyway).  If I want to learn a solo these days, I'll do that rather than dig through huge pile of old magazines to find the tab.

TA22GT

I've bought both Guitarist and Guitar and Bass since day one.

I used to see Guitarist as top dog and Guitar and Bass lagging behind but the tables have turned over the last year or so.

The "tech tips" in Guitarist are really generic and none hands on whereas in Guitar and Bass they are ripping tops off guitars and routing out holes! 

I think Chris Vinniecombe has done wonders for the Mag as he is a "face" in the media and puts himself up front for scrutiny. The previous Editor was faceless and performanceless as far as the media went.  He also has a great right hand man in Huw Price who get's stuck in!

@guitars4you ;   Ironically, although I was aware of your adverts in the mags it was the internet that allowed me to see you as a prospective outlet to purchase anything. Your commitment to this Board and your outlook comes across far better than any paper advert could convey.

One day you will get a call!

Anderz

I was a buyer of US and UK guitar magazines for a while and the number of advertising pages and ads espicially in the US ones really made the stuff a vaste of money and time. Still if the guitar marked constantly moved forward instead of rehash of the ususal then there might be a time and space for magazines to be worth something. 

Vibetronic

crunchman said:

Vibetronic said:

I still get it as I like magazines. It still has some interesting stuff in, but SO much of it is just rehashing old ground (even over the space of a few months...very bored of articles about old Gibsons and Fenders now, and museums that have old guitars - I'd rather they did a separate magazine for vintage stuff). There's not a lot of variation in the style of music they cover, which probably isn't helped by a lot of the writers being into the same sort of thing from the look of it. The other thing I really miss, and to be fair it hasn't had this for ages, is music; there's normally a tiny amount of instructional stuff in it in the form of a blues column (surprise!), but back in the day there used to be some excellent stuff from Phil Hilborne and others. Granted there's Guitar Techniques which has that stuff, but I can't always be arsed to fork out for two magazines. 

The problem is that it's a lot easier to find that on Youtube as well.

When I was learning the solo to Alright Now, before I had to back out of the jam a couple of months ago, I found 2 or 3 videos on YouTube breaking it down and showing you how to play it.  They weren't completely accurate, but they were close enough (not that Kossoff seemed to play it the same way twice anyway).  If I want to learn a solo these days, I'll do that rather than dig through huge pile of old magazines to find the tab.

yeah you're right; I don't like reading music off a screen, but as you say there's tons of instructional stuff out there on youtube etc. I just prefer music/tab to videos. Luckily I cut out and kept lots of old guitar mag columns, and there's a site I subscribe too with loads uploaded (and as I'm mostly looking for 80's shred it's generally there), so it's not a huge loss.

Gassage

Frankly, Guitarist has become a hackneyed affair that has none of the panache of a few years ago.

The editor, Jamie Dickson, is almost illiterate with a dreadful appreciation of grammar or style, and some of the features look like some content hub in Hydrabad produced them.

I've stopped buying it.

DLM

Gassage said:

Hydrabad

Much maligned, maybe, but I'm not afraid to say that I like it.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/570c5dc7ab48defde04ac741/t/591df1ffe58c620917b29ab4/1495134840577/6544b90876ebcc4645d5880352600fbf.1000x996x1.jpg

RiftAmps

The Guitar Magazine (formally G&B) was the only mag to give me the time of day when I stuck my neck out for my first review. @chrisv has done wonders for that mag and is showing what can still be done in print - a well presented 130 page read filled with properly researched reviews, stories, historical pieces, playing tips, and news/gossip. To extend that out further, they've curated a great YT channel with easy to digest videos that don't drag on and always sound great.

 

Jimbro66

RiftAmps said:

The Guitar Magazine (formally G&B) was the only mag to give me the time of day when I stuck my neck out for my first review. @chrisv has done wonders for that mag and is showing what can still be done in print - a well presented 130 page read filled with properly researched reviews, stories, historical pieces, playing tips, and news/gossip. To extend that out further, they've curated a great YT channel with easy to digest videos that don't drag on and always sound great.

 

Absolutely! I don't know if The Guitar Magazine is under the same sort of corporate control as Guitarist but it certainly doesn't feel like it. I gave up on Guitarist years ago. It was reminiscent of the old days of buying vinyl/CD albums where there might be two or three tracks that were good and the rest were indifferent or filler. By comparison I usually find plenty to read in the varied content of The Guitar Mag.

I'm not surprised that magazine classifieds are dwindling. You place your ad and by the time it appears in print you could have sold the item a hundred times over on ebay etc -  and already have spent the money!

DLM

I still subscribe to Guitar Techniques, and actually just took out a sub to the German title Gitarre&Bass which I've bought off the newsstands forever. They had a World Cup promotion which made it a good chunk cheaper, with whole issues available for download and such. I've been drifting away from the print mags too, though, and doubt I'll renew the sub unless there's a real incentive.

Warwick has become too powerful in the German print music world in my opinion. They bought up Bass Professor and place the lion's share of the ads in Gitarre&Bass and the other mags. Sure, they have the budget, but this is bad because Warwick was embroiled in a nasty scandal a few years back over the treatment of its staff in Germany. The music press totally blanked the issue. It all seems to have been swept under the carpet, unless I've missed something on Facebook, which I don't use.  

Oh, and G&B have killed their forum off, too. No one was posting in it anyway because they changed the format and deleted the archived posts, but at least the Warwick scandal was discussed there. I'd not have known otherwise.

normula1

guitars4you said: 

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

And what's probably worse is that I don't even recall seeing your ad in Guitarist, but do from G&B. 

Chalky

Cancelled my subsciption to Guitarist last year. Never noticed that it no longer arrived until I briefly thought about the Christmas "Gear of the year", but never bought one again.  It was just a silly habit.  Watching a few Youtube videos is far more informative.

Strat54

A sad but wise decision there Mark. I bought Guitarist religiously from 1986 till about 2 years back and pretty much every guitar magazine too including the US ones 20th Century Guitar and Vintage Guitar. Throughout the 90's whilst I was working I had two copies, one sent to work and one to home. Couldn't get my mitts on it fast enough, it was a monthly source of an addicted guitar buyers pleasure in those pre-internet days, but gradually month by month from 99 onwards it became less and less relevant and needed. By the time it landed on the doorstep the content was old news. I guess I carried on buying it purely out of habit. Took a while to wean myself off it too. I actually felt guilty not buying it at first. Like leaving an old friend behind. 
The only magazine I still get is Vintage Guitar which has some decent and unusual articles, oh and a whole lot of vintage picture guitar porn.
The writing is on the wall for physical print magazines, its nearly all over. If you are bored or either accounting minded then read this report from them.....

https://www.futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Future-plc-Final-Results-24.11.17-1.pdf

guitars4you

normula1 said:

guitars4you said: 

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

And what's probably worse is that I don't even recall seeing your ad in Guitarist, but do from G&B. 

it is the issue of a smaller ad in a big mag (can't see the wood for the trees syndrome) - hence my preference for a 8-12 page classified section at the rear of such a mag, for all smaller ads, so whilst each ad is small, you are surrounded by like minded smaller businesses - 1/4 ad is dwarfed by large pictorial ads and reviews etc etc

Something I'm always aware of so no offence taken one bit

Philly_Q

guitars4you said:

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

I've said it before but I like the page-turning aspect of a newspaper or magazine, it draws your attention to things that you'd never bother to investigate if it was just a link on a web page.

Based on this and previous threads, I think I'm one of the biggest guitar-mag diehards.  I started buying Guitar Player and Guitar World in 1981, Guitarist when it started in 1984 and The Guitar Magazine when it started in the late 80s(?).  For 30-plus years I never missed an issue and I've still got all of them in my 1-bedroom flat...

The last few years I've been re-thinking things a bit, largely because I no longer have any space but also because the quality of the content has declined and become repetitive (maybe I've just been buying them too long).  Guitarist is the worst offender with its endless "Beauty of the Burst" and "Magic of the Strat" cover stories.

So... a couple of years ago I stopped buying GW and this year I've switched to the electronic editions of TGM and Guitarist.  I'd do the same for GP but can't find anywhere that does electronic subscriptions for UK readers.  Now I have to start thinking about getting rid of all the piles of paper....

Going back to the original point about advertising, I think magazine ads still serve a purpose for manufacturers.  It's the page-turning thing again, I see ads for things I'd never become aware of otherwise.  For dealers. less so - lists of stock seem irrelevant because they'll probably have sold by the time the magazine goes to print (although I guess that was true even before the internet).  But a magazine ad can still be a signpost to a shop which, again, you might never find through a random internet search.

guitars4you

Strat54 said:

A sad but wise decision there Mark. I bought Guitarist religiously from 1986 till about 2 years back and pretty much every guitar magazine too including the US ones 20th Century Guitar and Vintage Guitar. Throughout the 90's whilst I was working I had two copies, one sent to work and one to home. Couldn't get my mitts on it fast enough, it was a monthly source of an addicted guitar buyers pleasure in those pre-internet days, but gradually month by month from 99 onwards it became less and less relevant and needed. By the time it landed on the doorstep the content was old news. I guess I carried on buying it purely out of habit. Took a while to wean myself off it too. I actually felt guilty not buying it at first. Like leaving an old friend behind. 
The only magazine I still get is Vintage Guitar which has some decent and unusual articles, oh and a whole lot of vintage picture guitar porn.
The writing is on the wall for physical print magazines, its nearly all over. If you are bored or either accounting minded then read this report from them.....

https://www.futureplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Future-plc-Final-Results-24.11.17-1.pdf

I don't get VG on a regular basis, but enjoy it as and when I pick up the odd copy - often at guitar shows as it happens - someone always has a copy a month or two old for a £1