Magazines & Advertising

[Ken Smith]

Even though this is MY Forum, I can't find a better place to put this Thread other than here in the Bull Pit. It IS Bass related but more of a general overall Bass Equipment topic addressing the subject of where one might look for information about Bass products in general.

Decades ago the only two Magazines I was aware of in USA was 'Down Beat' and 'Guitar Player' Magazines. When I started my Bass business there were a few other Music Magazines for Guitar and Music/Instrumentalists in general. To advertise my Basses, Guitar Player was the main Book. Then came Guitar World and a few others which have come and gone, been modified, sliced, diced and sold from company to company that puts out Magazines.

Then came Bass Player (from Guitar Player) and more recently Bass Guitar (from Guitar World). Most companies in addition to placing Ads in the Mags sent out Brochures on request but most of this was before the Internet boom of the last 10 years and mainly the last 5 years if you look at the increase in on-line commerce.

Many printing companies that I know of have either modified their services or just plain closed up and went Out of Business (aka OOB). This is because by the time you make a Catalog or Brochure and distribute it, the information may already be out of date. Also, people picking up a Catalog may not know if the information is current or not.

How do you keep your information current and up to date as well as making it accessible for people to see it without having to wait for it in the mail or next months magazine? <<<INTERNET>>>

I have found that the Web IS the best place to show what you have and the easiest to make changes to. Two years ago we told Bass Player Magazine to take a hike. They had almost the same number of readers for the last 15 years. I was not getting much response from readers from what I could see but did notice that my Website traffic was booming and I didn't have to compete with any other companies once they were on my Website.

So, before I go on and on into todays Music marketing, where do you guys go for information about product?. Do you still buy and read magazines, surf the Net, go to your local K-MarguitarCenter to find your Stradivariouscaster Bass or your Fenderagliano Double Bass w/ Bow (arrows not included) or what?

Where do you look to see what's what??

[Marcus Johnson]

Hey Ken... I don't even buy mags anymore, but I'm probably not the typical shopper, since all I buy at this point are strings, rosin, and luthier services. I enjoy Double Bassist and some of the jazz mags. The ads in most magazines now serve as a portal to the advertiser's websites anyway.

A typical web session will usually include a look at my Email, a glance at the news headlines, and then a stop at this forum and at TalkBass DB forums. Magazines don't even enter the picture unless I'm on the road and looking for something to read on the plane. I'd rather just Email you, or any of my other aquaintances whose opinion I value, if I have a specific question regarding a given product.

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

Pretty much the same here. I buy Double Bassist and on the rare occasion, Bass Player. Why? I want to learn the bass line to Silly Love Songs, of course.. In Tab to boot.
Information on the Net is both instantaneous and fluid. The ability to converse with people and get their 'real world' experience is invaluable. Magazines exist to sell product. Has anyone ever seen a negative equipment review in a major music or electronics rag? Lukewarm maybe, but they have to sell advertising. Forums like TB or this spot allow for more feedback and experience from those actually using the product. It is more grass roots rather than being force fed whatever the mags are selling this month.

[Ken Smith]

I wanna put some info here to consider.

First off, I though TAB was a Diet soda from Coca Cola!

I am doing Beethoven's 9th this week. Can you imagine learning, playing or reading this in Tab? It's a bad way to learn as it has its limits. Like training wheels on a Bike. Like Bumpers in the gutters at the Bowling Alley. Like the extra brake and Steering wheel when you take Driving lessons. IT'S NOT REAL!!!!! It's Toy talk in my book because it is very limited. I will pay to see someone play the entire 4th movement of the 9th while reading it in TAB if it is at all possible to notate (if 'Notate' is the right term). You must not use anything else to learn it and have never played it before either. It must be played with an Orchestra and a Conductor up to Tempo and played well. Any takers?

Ok, enough of my TAB rant. Ever see a person walk into a Pizzeria and order two slices with EXTRA Cheese and a DIET soda? Who are the trying to fool?..lol, Diet soda. ......... Ok.. I'm done there.. really.. lol

Ok, serious now.. Bass Product advertising. Yes, the Magazines are full of crap with most of the reviews. They don't walk into a shop and grab one off the line and test it. They are sent one picked out to be the best of the batch and then reviewed to help the companies sales so they will buy more advertising.. Ever see a BIGGER conflict of interest before? It's like watching Politics on CNN. They know in advance the answers to the Test and THEN make up the questions to make it fit.. lol.. WHAT A JOKE!!

To the novice, magazines like Toys seem to be fun. I like pictures myself so DB Mag from the UK is good but not enough to go around. We need more REAL DB stuff. My Website has as much as a dozen issues so I end up reading my own site when I'm bored..lol

Stories about musicians are good too as long as they are 100% true and accurate. Looking accurate does not make it true all the time by the way. I have read many stories about myself and company in Magazines, the Web and Local Newspapers. The writers often try and add color altering the facts which really bugs me. One time I was called up to verify some facts and did so but when the story came out, it had other viewpoints in there as well to benefit the 'pilot fish' (they pick up scraps) that were not so true but seemed accurate and pleased the others involved as far as who did what when. So, Magazines are just Politics in Advertising. The main source of income for any media is Advertising and NOT sales. That's a cold fact and the Media does well NOT to bite the hand that feeds them!

So, how long will it be before the WEB is the main source of Equipment discovery and the magazines find a spot in the Museum of Natural History next to the other Dinosaurs?

[Steve_M]

Ken, as far as I can see the internet is already the best place to go for information. They've repeatedly tried to revive bass magazines here in the UK but they don't seem to last. There's a market but people find the internet is more immediate, relevant and accessible.

I believe (from looking at the forum I run) that the biggest bottle neck in a potential decision making process over purchasing equipment now is getting access to the gear itself so people can make their own judgements. The large majority of members on our forum own brands that are commonly found in shops because they're getting a known quantity. Their instruments may not be perfect but because they've tried it, they know what they're getting for their hard earned wonga.

Forums help people openly share information about their experiences of owning and playing certain brands - and the the after sales service is becoming critical these days. There are a handful of people (including myself) who are prepared to take a leap of faith with a manufacturer on reputation alone but most people won't do that.

On the forum I help run, we arrange reviews of any instruments that a manufacturer wants to send us - haven't done many of those yet but we put sound clips up as well as the usual photos. Sound clips have proven to be very useful. I know from one bass I reviewed called a 'Mule' I was very impressed with the workmanship for the cost of the bass but the guy messed up wiring the earths in his circuit and the bass always sounded muffled. We put clips up and took the wiring issues up with him on the forum. He accepted our points without question and stated he was going to sort the problems out next time. Despite the wiring issues he STILL had about 6 enquiries about making a bass.

We also organise meet ups every 6 months. People get to try out each others basses and amps. There are often some surprises in matching actual performance to marketing hype with some equipment. We've been able to do direct comparisons between basses by F-bass, Celinder, Alembic, Smith, Musicman, Pedulla and many UK based builders such as Jaydee, Shuker, Status and AGC. I'm sure this has influenced members buying decisions and helped them expand away from the usual high street retail offerings.

[stan haskins]

I've never, ever made a purchase based on something I read in a magazine. However, I've made an embarrassing amount of purchases based on stuff I've read here and at TBDB. I haven't touched a slab for years, and I'll just use my Fender when I decide to, though.

Off-topic: this thread made me think of my teenage years, taking EB lessons with a funk bassist in a "music store" situation. His name was (is still, I hope) Mibbit Thretts. Anyone know him? Great guy - it just occured to me he played a Smith bass. It sounded great . . .