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[Thomas W. Bethel]

Every time I get a new audio/video magazine it seems to get thinner and thinner and a couple of the pro magazines I use to get for free are now wanting me to ante up for them. I am wondering if eventually all pro audio and video magazines will just get so thin they will disappear. The two that seem to be holding their own are Tape Op and Sound on Sound which both seem to be as hefty as they always have been. I guess with advertising revenues down and the internet doing more and more free stuff the magazines are having problems competing. Two of my favorite mags have long since died. I use to really like Studio Sound and RE/P both had good well written articles and good equipment reviews. Too bad they both went away.

I was reading my alumni magazine from college and there was an article about how hard it is to get a "real" job in journalism since a lot of papers and magazines are closing down or switching to the WWW. The article went on to say that it maybe a good idea for people wanting to get into journalism to widen their undergraduate courses to allow for the changing job market. It seems like anything having to do with media is in trouble as of late.

Any thoughts?

[johnR]

Resolution is still a good magazine. IIRC it's run by some of the people who were involved with Studio Sound. It isn't free though.

[Rick O'neil]

i write for audiotechnology  it gets fatter every issue always has  (its been up and running about a decade) and always  has interviews with the biggest  sound guys in the business and also always  features  the big  back room tech guys.. rupert neve george massenburg ,dave hill, burgess mcneal, bruce jackson  just to name some past issues .
and its free to pro users  ( well it is locally anyway)

i think its the anchor in the dwindling sound magazine ocean
www.audiotechnology.com.au
check it out if your feeling unloved by your local magazine stand

[TotalSonic]

I'd say TapeOp is also the major bucker of the trend and for the good reason that it focuses on people rather than gear.  For me they consistently have articles of interest that make it well worth checking out every time it comes out.

I'll be Darwinian and slightly cruel about it all and say that a lot of the magazines that are dying actually deserve to in that there content has been extremely shallow (just serving as shills for their advertisers) and of little interest to more and more folks.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[Rick O'neil]

err ...what steve said  even though i posted first
i love tape op too
 

[Thomas W. Bethel]

TotalSonic wrote on Mon, 06 September 2010 12:00

I'd say TapeOp is also the major bucker of the trend and for the good reason that it focuses on people rather than gear.  For me they consistently have articles of interest that make it well worth checking out every time it comes out. I'll be Darwinian and slightly cruel about it all and say that a lot of the magazines that are dying actually deserve to in that there content has been extremely shallow (just serving as shills for their advertisers) and of little interest to more and more folks. Best regards, Steve Berson

Mix seems to be going nowhere fast and seems to be shrinking in size and content with every issue. I use to look forward to getting Mix magazine every month but lately it has been rather thin on useful articles to say the least. Pro Audio News and Pro Audio Review also seem to be looking a bit thin lately. I notice Sound on Sound is running video articles and seems to be keeping their heads above the rest of the magazines along with TapeOp. Maybe everything has been covered and there are only so many times you can talk about the same subjects. I personally like to read audio and video magazines because you can see new things coming out that you may not catch on the WWW if you are not looking for them. I particularly like TapeOp because they do more articles on people - sort of what Studio Sound use to do when they would follow a recording crew "on location" and talk about what they had for lunch and something about the crew and the performers. No magazines today do that except Tape Op and sometimes Sound on Sound. Sometimes it is nice to pull back the curtain and see what is going on behind the scenes and meet the players one to one.

Maybe things will change after the economy improves...if any of them are left.

[jackthebear]

Going out on a limb here......... but do you reckon the slimming down of these publications is happening more due to their readers using the Internots more and more?

And what about environmental considerations? Maybe some publishers are trying to reduce their carbon footprint?

[Jerry Tubb]

jackthebear wrote on Mon, 06 September 2010 15:01

Going out on a limb here......... but do you reckon the slimming down of these publications is happening more due to their readers using the Internots more and more?

You are correct Sir!

I do know that the Online editions of these mags are popular.

Lots of peeps do their reading on laptops, I do.

Still, there's something to holding a hard copy in hand an flipping the pages.

JT
~Anecdotal Evidence Specialist~

[Hank Alrich]

I remember when the first Mix arrived at my studio. It was crap. Next thing I knew RE/P was gone. I've been pissed off about that ever since.

TapeOp is about the way people make music, record music, design gear, for real, and they focus on the positive aspects of all of it. They don't shill and they don't focus on fame or self-importance. I enjoy every issue and I also enjoy watching them grow while Mix shrivels.

[compasspnt]

Larry and Mark and all the people at TapeOp are great music people.

[rankus]

Thomas W. Bethel wrote on Mon, 06 September 2010 12:48

Snip.... after the economy improves...

[Jerry Tubb]

Perhaps Mix shrinking isn't such a bad thing, since it saves trees, and their online edition is good. Always enjoyed collecting their December mastering issues.

A few years ago I put all my Mix back-issues out on the curb for recycling, later noticed the collection guy had stopped his truck, was loading the mags into the cab for himself, probably a musician/home studio enthusiast. That's Austin for ya'.

JT

[Greg Youngman]

Judging from the way some of the members of some audio forums spell, makes me ask the question, "what makes you think they can read"?