5 Ugly Truths about Guitar Magazines

If you have been playing guitar for a long time (we're talking 10-15+ years), the you know what it was like to read guitar magazines. They were to way to find more information about the thing you love to do. They had everything. There were articles about your favorite guitarist, gear reviews, tabbed out songs, and girls holding guitars... I mean, it was all you could ever ask for, right?

They're Out Dated


Of course they are. In the internet age, nearly all print media is looking like a dinosaur. people are writing and publishing their thoughts on the hourly basis. The best way to get the latest information about you preferred artist is to follow them on social media.


They're Not Exactly Ethical


I don't mean to slight the competition here, but let's face it. If your lights are kept on by the people you are reviewing, then do you think there is a bias? I know that if would be difficult for me to be completely ethical if I had to manage a relationship with the people I am actively criticizing. So called reviews in these magazines read like reheated press releases. Good thing you are more savvy than to believe those wood-pulp-pushers and you read blogs!


They're Old Fashioned


So, remember those girl and guitar that I mentioned way back in the introduction to this post? Well, turns out that they are falling out of fashion. They were once was a strong presence in guitar periodicals, but recently guitar-babes have been view as a 'tacky addition' rather than 'attractive feature'. Even NAMM, once the home of many a booth-babe, has done away with the distraction. This is probably due the fact that woman are becoming more of a part of what has been traditional a male dominated hobby. It probably doesn't come as no surprise, but woman don't enjoy the objectification of other woman... go figure.


Tabs Aren't That Hard To Come By

One of the main attractions of these magazines are the transcript songs in the back of them. Unless you had a very guitar ear and a lot of patience, these magazines were a god-sent. Now-a-days we have website on top of website trying to shove their tabs down your throat. Not only that, but you have a dozen different versions to choose from. Honestly, the internet has not been nice to print media, but that's the way the world works.


There Will Be Boxes


... of magazines.  Anyone with a subscription to a magazine will tell you that sooner or later you will have a pile of paper that needs to be tamed. Typically this requires a large box of holding. Once that box is full (because it will be full) you'll put it in you closet... until you move it out to make room for you next box of magazines. Then, you'll put the boxes in you garage, or attic, or somewhere until that is overflowing with glossy pages on top of glossy pages. This will continue until the ghosts of all the murdered tree come and take you away to answer for  your crimes against tree-kind.


Conclusion


Keep reading my blog. Duh...

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The Ugly Truth About The Guitar Magazine That You Read

Disclaimer: Most of what I say is speculation. I'm sure that in some cases I am wrong, but I believe that more often than not this is the case.

If you are like me, I really like to read about the gear that might be coming out, or something that I haven't heard of. I love learning about a new maker because they might have new or different ideas about something that I care about (music). I am always scanning the guitar magazine sites and following numerous bloggers and writers on Twitter. I do this to keep up with what is happening in the world of music gear. I also visit the bigger retailers websites to see what they've posted lately. If you are like me though, there was a time before all this media and we actually had to pick up a physical magazine to learn about what was coming down the pike. There was no NAMM show videos 5 minutes after it opens. There were articles and reviews about the gear that you could only dream about. Over the years some things started to become apparent to me about these "reviews".

1. They Are Not Critical.

These reviews are great for letting you know what is out there. However, they do not give you the full story, and in many cases, they don't even tell you how the thing sounds. They might discuss features and design, but leave out how they sound. To be fair, saying that a pedal sounds good or bad is nearly worthless. Reviews are for the most part subjective. There are those how hate certain pedals and others that love the same pedal. How can this be? Because good sound is subjective (for the most part). When reading a review in a magazine you might find that it reads like a dressed up version of the user manual rather than a guitar player talking about a pedal he liked or didn't like.

2. It's Really Hard To Be Objective

So I really like to write about all this stuff that I write about. I spend a fair amount of time doing it, and, other than watching my metrics, I get very little benefit. (Yes I monetize but seriously, I get excited when I make a penny a day.) I did, however, write a post about a certain maker of effects and was able to talk my way into getting a couple pedals to give a hands-on review. It was really exciting. But as I wrote the reviews I almost felt pressured to be more favorable to the makers because they had been nice enough to send my something for free. I'm sure that getting free stuff probably doesn't effect professional writers as much, but if you are writing for a publication that depends on advertising dollars to stay afloat and you are tasked to write about their stuff, there might be other pressures to write a nice shiny review.

3. They Are Dying  

As you might have noticed, it is becoming harder to find guitar magazine as your local news stands. Most smaller displays completely ignore guitar magazines, and larger stands will only have the most major names. Bass players and Drummers are pretty much out of luck unless they go to larger book stores. That means you almost have to have a subscription to keep up with your favorite zine. That, or have the internet. Most physical magazines have everything online plus additional media like video, podcast, and sound clips. Plus the sites operate at a fraction of the cost of a physical magazine. Ask any player under the age of 30 what magazine they are subscribed to and all you'll get is a dirty look. I don't think that our favorite magazines are going to disappear completely, but their physical forms are going the way of the buffalo.