First of all, we do advertise with Tone Audio and we have had a review in Tone Audio. Add to that, I consider Jeff a friend. I met Jeff at CES 2005, being introduced by a mutual friend - Kurt Doslu(sp?) at Echo Audio in Portland. We became friends quickly as Jeff is the kind of person that I choose to do business with AND befriend.
When he told me about his idea for an audio magazine, I was excited. The idea was to produce a publication that would be 'Fresh' and 'Different', offering a new viewpoint apart from the big print mags. Additionally, the idea was to encourage a community of sharing and celebrating audio and MUSIC.
When I saw what he did with Tone (photo magazine), I was blown away and said OF COURSE I WANT A REVIEW. I also asked about advertising, because I knew that it was going to be a hit and I wanted to be on-board.
The issue of review and that of advertising were always very separate issues and it was never implied that advertising 'would be a good idea' since they agreed to review our gear.
In short, I can say from personal experience that Jeff and his wife Jean are simply brilliant, talented and inspired and this is something that the audio industry really needs. Rather than cast judgement immediately, read on in future issues and base your opinion upon their actions.
To give some insight into my view of the audio world from a mfrs. standpoint now:
Reviews and advertising are necessary parts of any business. We (ModWright) have survived to this point almost exclusively on word-of-mouth and customer feedback, as well as reviews. I feel that a product/service should speak for itself. We have also been known for our modification services only to this point.
We have chosen to allocate a modest amount of the budget to advertising because I want people to be aware of ModWright Instruments Inc. as a player in the mfg. business.
From a business standpoint, it is a wise choice to follow a review in a magazine with advertising, to remind the consumer of your existance and product. I believe this is often confused with the notion that mfrs. are 'BUYING' reviews. I personally will not advertise in a magazine that even infers that our advertising presence has ANYTHING to do with our review.
In fact, my acid test is to ask myself if the issue of advertising OR reivew unit price ever comes into play prior to publishing the review. This has only happened once in my experience and not only was the review not issued (per my choice), I also did not even consider advertising with the company. Unfortunately this was due to the reviewers actions and not the company for which the reviews were done.
When we get a review of our product in a magazine and I like the publication and feel it has a strong readership, of course I am going to inquire about advertising. It doesn't mean that I always have it in my budget to do so. In cases where we have had reviews and did not advertise, this has not effected future reviews of our product.
I am not saying that there isn't some nonsense that goes on in some of the major magazines. There is politics and I for one don't find it too difficult to spot. However, this is the exception and not the rule in this business as a whole, I believe.
To sum up:
Some people will always be suspicious of motive and cynical about mfr./ reviewer/publisher relationships. Not everyone has ethics by which they live and do business. As such, those who look hard enough will find instances to support their cynicism. However, MOST of the time, this is simply not the case.
Magazines need advertising dollars to survive. Mfrs. rely on advertising and reviews to sell their product. Magazines publish reviews and mfrs. choose to advertise in those publications which best support and represent their product. Business 101.
There is no conspiracy here. Evaluate each mfr., product and audio publication by their actions and quality of product/service that they provide.
Tone Audio will stand on its own two feet and will establish an excellent reputation for itself I have no doubt. I will continue to advertise in Tone Audio and will welcome any reviews that are offered us.
Maybe we should all spend less time over-analyzing this stuff and more time enjoying the music
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Dan Wright
ModWright Instruments, Inc.
