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In Reply to: RE: Just wondering..... posted by jbcortes on November 04, 2009 at 12:32:25
>I objected having 8 or 10 p. of advertising in a row, especially since
>they don't look like advertising at first.
The advertorial pages (but not the actual ads) are clearly marked
"advertisement" at the top. The mention of the cover also clearly
said "advertising supplement."
In addition, this supplement was produced without any involvement from
the magazine's editorial and writing staff.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
I have no doubt the staff wasn't involved, and that's why I objected to having the whole section looking like it's part of the magazine. And I don't think the Ayre section of it is marked as advertising.And yes, I just noticed the "special advertising session" mention on the cover. Hadn't paid attention to it.
Anyway, Stereophile is an excellent magazine, I wouldn't mind paying double the ridiculously low amount required for subscription and free you from the tyranny of advertising.
Jean-Baptiste
Edits: 11/04/09
> I have no doubt the staff wasn't involved, and that's why I objected to having the
> whole section looking like it's part of the magazine.
The designer (not Stereophile's) used a different font to Stereophile's (sans-serif
rather than serif) with different leading and a different visual "feel." I thought he did a
good job of differentiating the section visually from the magazine's regular content.
And as I said, the word "advertisement" was displayed at the top of every page
other than regular advertising.> And I don't think the Ayre section of it is marked as advertising.
No, but it is clearly an ad, I thought. (It was prepared by Ayre.)
> Anyway, Stereophile is an excellent magazine.
Thank you.> I wouldn't mind paying double the ridiculously low amount required for subscription
> and free you from the tyranny of advertising.
Ah, it would take more than doubling. I ran the numbers a while ago. Even if the
inevitable effect of price elasticity is ignored, you'd have to pay many times the
current subscription price to get a magazine free from advertising.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
Edits: 11/04/09
John,For double the price of subscription, I wasn't expecting a magazine free of advertising! Plus advertising in itself isn't unpleasant. But it would put less pressure on you guys maybe.
Having such a low subscription rate kinda cheapens the magazine in terms of marketing I think. It feels like the publisher is really desperate (maybe he is).
I think Stereophile is worth much more than that. I live in the UK and buy it in newsagents or when I travel to the States (like now, hello from CA). So I end up paying many times more than the price of subscription.
I'm not a raving, adoring fan, I read several mags and not every month but lately, find myself drawn more and more towards Stereophile.
I can't really understand people who complain about it. Is it perfect? No. Does it feel like everybody's trying hard to do a great job? Yes.
If Stereophile isn't doing as well as it should it's certainly not a question of editorial quality and content. I would personally rethink the business end of it but hey, what do I know. They seem to do a better job of it at Absolute Sound, but I feel the content much less to my liking. In other words, it's not as good but if looks better.
JB
Edits: 11/04/09 11/04/09 11/04/09
Don't know what the actual dollar amount threshold would be, but I seriously doubt that at $2 an issue the magazine would stay afloat without advertising.
Now if everyone was willing to pay say $20-25 per issue perhaps it could make a go without advertising. But then everyone would complain about the price and not buy the magazine.
I can live with the advertising, even the supplements, and I actually kind of like all the pretty pictures!
interesting, john. what role, if any, did the editorial staff play in the production of this supplement?
> what role, if any, did the editorial staff play in the production of this supplement?
None. I knew it existed of course, because I had to leave a 16-page hole for it in the
planning of the issue's paging, but we didn't see its content until we got the printed
copies of the November issue.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
i guess the content-side can be held 'safe-harmless' in this case. i would hope that readers can grasp and comprehend the 'business' exigencies of publications and maybe even grant the editors and writers a 'mulligan' on this one. lord knows, we spare nothing when it comes to matters that actually fall in your domain and control.
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