Guitarist Magazine - Advertising - End of an Era

guitars4you

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.

 

and they support the many guitar shows in the UK and Chris V will attend a few of these and is ready to chat to me ad you guys without any issues

impmann

Strat54 said:

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

Sorry but I take issue with you there chap. THEY may be doing badly but that isn’t true of the industry as a whole.

The publisher I work for is making more money than they’ve ever made and the printing side of the business is booming too. Like I said earlier, I’m fairly sure it was a £20m sum last year... just on the publishing side.

So it’s not ‘nearly over’ -  no, it’s not what it was 20 years ago but that fall away in sales has plateaued for most and some of us that actually work in publishing would argue a very different picture to internet ‘wisdom’.

darthed1981

Surely the rise and fall of the eBook shows there is still a nice market for reading things on the printed page?

I may be sad in this buy after trying Readly twice, I still find myself subscribing to Total Guitar and picking up random magazines on other topics, the randomness of picking them up appeals.

The down side is a trip to Smiths essentially results in £20 of recycling a week later!

Parker

Does anyone remember when Guitarist Mag tried the go all high tech with the RAMP cd-rom? Failrly early adopters of ‘cutting edge’, but seem to remember they slapped a hefty levy on the mag and everyone moaned about paying extra for something most readers didn’t want or know how to use. I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times....fickle bunch us guitarists! 

I do, in some ways, miss opening Guitarist, Freeads etc to pour the pages for bargains. Remember driving to darkest Cornwall to pick up a LP Custom in Arctic White for £650! 

Neil

Gassage said:

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.

Hyderabad.

You are Jamie Dickson and I claim my £5. 

NelsonP

Guitarist is still my go to magazine.
I'm not on facebook, Instagram etc. 
I use ad block on my browser (naughty, naughty)

So in terms of 'advertising' I get hit by lots of stuff from YouTube and the occasional banner ad for something that I've already been searching for.

But how do I know whether something that has caught my eye is any good? For that I need an unbiased review. I usually end up at musicradar. And on here. And on YouTube.

Personally I think most digital/online ad spend is a waste of advertisers money. It is no easier to validate than traditional media despite all of the apparent 'measurement' tools.

Phil_aka_Pip

@NelsonP I think I'm with you there. Woss more, you ain't going to judge tone quality of anything properly if you're going to listen to it via a phone, or crappy speakers on your PC.

impmann

Phil_aka_Pip said:

you ain't going to judge tone quality of anything properly if you're going to listen to it via a phone, or crappy speakers on your PC.

WIS'D.

Plus even if you do have expensive speakers/headphones, there can be so much post-production done to the sound to make stuff sound 'good' its very hard to hear an objective review. Plus, very few reviews online are ever negative about a product - refer those awful videos from Andertons about those bloody awful sounding Mesa Boogie direct recording things, the forced smiles and "explanations" couldn't hide the dreadfulness... And isn't that the big criticism of paper-based reviews?

Strangefan

@DLM I have to ask what was the Warwick scandal? 

mart

Strangefan said:

@DLM I have to ask what was the Warwick scandal? 

The price of their German basses? They seem to have tripled in 10 years.

iain.reverb

Phil_aka_Pip said:

@designerseye88 I'm sure I'm in the minority so you can safely ignore me but advertising on social meeja would completely pass me by!

This is what I've found. The "more mature" consumer is a very hard target to reach. Its why we still do a lot of the smaller guitar shows, as we get great returns for the time we put in.

Philly_Q

iain.reverb said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

@designerseye88 I'm sure I'm in the minority so you can safely ignore me but advertising on social meeja would completely pass me by!

This is what I've found. The "more mature" consumer is a very hard target to reach. Its why we still do a lot of the smaller guitar shows, as we get great returns for the time we put in.

And presumably that "more mature" consumer is a big player in this particular market.  Not many 25 year olds buying Gibson Historics or Nik Hubers.

Dominic

Phil_aka_Pip said:

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

I really like paper mags too............especially the ones on the Top shelf !
More seriously, although I really like the smell, feel and tangible nature of a magazine I think that Guitarist has become a terribly boring read over the last 3 or 4 years;
How many times can you recycle boring "burst" articles , compare Strats etc etc
The Reviews are simple infomercials or promotion disguised as critique 
And I think the "Improve your Blues " instruction has been done to death
In fairness there simply isn't enough innovation , new material or change in the guitar world to provide more varied substance or fodder for thought.............they probably do their best with what they have.

Phil_aka_Pip

@Dominic I'm still reading about instruments I wouldn't have heard of otherwise eg Patrick Eggle's guitars made from wood out of a pub. I'm still reading about guitarists whose music I don't listen to but I find they have something interesting to say. I'm still reading about amplifiers and stompboxes that I otherwise wouldn't know about. Plus my blues is never going to be that good that it doesn't need improving, and I also suspect that some of the techniques suggested would have applications in music that doesn't call itself 'blues'.

I could suggest additions to the 'repertoire' of Guitarist, viz.

1. Overview & development history of acoustic archtops
2. Overview & development history of jazzboxes eg ES-175
3. Soloing techniques for other genres eg playing the changes in jazz, (and for them that want it, country although I can't say it floats my boat) ... and I've always wanted (and asked for several times) a style file on Andy Latimer
4. They should get @ICBM to write a column on the design and maintenance of guitar amplifiers

... the problem would be which of the current content do they set aside to include this kind of stuff, and how much would that alienate the current readership?

xchrisv

Quite a few kind words here about The Guitar Magazine – thanks everyone, it’s good to know that the hard work we’ve put in over the last few years hasn’t gone unnoticed. Drop me a direct message if there’s anything you’d like to see us cover in the mag or on video and I’ll see what I can do... 

Cheers! 

TA22GT

chrisv said:

Quite a few kind words here about The Guitar Magazine – thanks everyone, it’s good to know that the hard work we’ve put in over the last few years hasn’t gone unnoticed. Drop me a direct message if there’s anything you’d like to see us cover in the mag or on video and I’ll see what I can do... 

Cheers! 

The magazine has turned around. It has substance and hands on advice. If you run an article on setting up a guitar it is detailed and thorough and encourages those who may be cautious to have a go. It allows people to tackle some jobs that they previously thought was a mystery.

That takes an enormous amount of time and dedication. I think the other magazine, which I buy also, has become lazy. 

Best wishes and tell Huw to get his finger out cos I want to see that Greco finished!!

Tat2dstesh

I cancelled my subscription after 10 years this year. I just felt like the coverage was not as good with reviews etc
I think the last year I have got it through the post and put it straight in the bathroom for light reading so to speak ha!

dindude

ChrisV has done a great job on Guitar Magazine and he really supports the smaller UK manufacturers too.

Guitarist is pretty poor these days, most of the copy I could write in my lunchtime without every picking up a guitar.

Did anyone see the recent front page "21 Strat-type Shoot Out" - none of these were actually in anyone's hands at the magazine, just bog standard specs and pictures of 21 Strat type guitars available today - lazy as fuck.

impmann

chrisv said:

Quite a few kind words here about The Guitar Magazine – thanks everyone, it’s good to know that the hard work we’ve put in over the last few years hasn’t gone unnoticed. Drop me a direct message if there’s anything you’d like to see us cover in the mag or on video and I’ll see what I can do... 

Cheers! 

There's the difference demonstrated right there....

guitars4you

impmann said:

chrisv said:

Quite a few kind words here about The Guitar Magazine – thanks everyone, it’s good to know that the hard work we’ve put in over the last few years hasn’t gone unnoticed. Drop me a direct message if there’s anything you’d like to see us cover in the mag or on video and I’ll see what I can do... 

Cheers! 

There's the difference demonstrated right there....

agree