Keyboard Magazine

[J. Dan]

I was a long time subscriber and ended up here because of it.

 

I really lost interest in a lot of the content and let it lapse but stayed here.

 

I gave it another shot and holy crap it was so thin, every time it arrived, I read everything of interest in a single episode on the crapper (tmi, I know) and that was it....and I got no value. It was to me as valuable as a flyer from some music store. So I let it lapse again.

 

So here we are again. Now I hear things are in there that I would have liked to have read. Did I just miss one good mag or is this the new normal? My interest is in live performance, programming, new hardware products, and interviews with folks in the industry who can offer any valuable insight.

 

Thoughts?

[Doerfler]

everyone has different expectations. I keep my paying subscription as my way of helping keep this forum alive, regardless of content. I just read a reprint of an interview with Ian McLagan from May 1981 on the Keyboard Magazine website. Thought it was cool as hell. Had nothing to do with what you are looking for. That's what makes the world go round.

[timwat]

Same with me.

 

Yes, the print edition has shrank and the days of thick coverage are long gone. But I keep my subscription paid long term out of loyalty, I suppose. Keyboard Mag (and Contemporary Keyboard before it...like some here I've been reading since the inaugural Chick Corea issue) really helped guide and encourage me along the journey, so even though there are issues I don't get anything from, I still have a sense of duty for all the years it helped me grow.

 

I'm stupid that way.

[zxcvbnm098]

I agree with the above re print, and to me it's a small price to pay for loyalty to the brand and this site.

 

I will say though, during the times (recently and before) where I spaced out on renewals and tried to buy an issue between subscription periods, it is almost impossible to find the magazine anywhere these days at retail. In days past I could always find it on newsstands in the greater LA area, but now it's gone from those outlets. The last bastion of retail for the mag was GC, but in the last 6 months it has gone from there for sure each month, to sometimes having it, to almost never having it. This includes GC Hollywood, the flagship store.

 

This does not bode well for the life of the mag....very sad if it goes.

[Rusty Mike]

I consider the $12/year more of a membership fee to the forum. A bargain no matter how you look at it.

 

Even in the old days (prior to 1992 when I first ended my subscription) there was content I didn't read, and even some I found annoying. I'm much better about it now.

 

I'm not interested in EDM or what seems to be the twice annual Nick Rhodes issue, but I just don't read that stuff and don't get mad about it. There are people who like it, so good for the magazine to include it.

 

As far as the thinness is concerned, I consider this community to be an extension of the magazine. By that regard, the issues are definitely more content laden, and the updates are much more frequent than monthly.

 

Thanks to dB, we are a line on the masthead. But that one line speaks volumes.

[Markyboard]

It's better than Vanity Fair.

[keyman27]

I love the magazine. I devour them as soon as they show up. I find nearly everything relevant.

[Markyboard]

I love the magazine. I devour them as soon as they show up. I find nearly everything relevant.

 

And This.

[ITGITC]

I love the magazine. I devour them as soon as they show up. I find nearly everything relevant.

 

And This.

 

Puts a grin on my face whenever it shows up in my mailbox!

 

A total bargain!

 

 

 

[Gatorjohn50]

I recently purchased the IPad version ($10 and change) and love it for the play like instructional pieces with audio samples. I realize that probably doesn't interest the more experienced players but it makes it worth it to me.

[BbAltered]

Keyboard Magazine was at one time a great resource. I remember when I would find a 20-page article on how to play salsa montunos (with written examples), or a 20 page article on funk clavinet technique, or an extensive article on Barry Harris substitutions for V7 chords. Really important and meaty subjects that I still recall and use today.

 

I never had a subscription but I used to buy every issue at the newsstand. Today, I don't bother.

[Joe P]

I love the mag so I wish it was thicker. Current issue has a great interview with Kenny Barron.

[Outkaster]

Keyboard Magazine was at one time a great resource. I remember when I would find a 20-page article on how to play salsa montunos (with written examples), or a 20 page article on funk clavinet technique, or an extensive article on Barry Harris substitutions for V7 chords. Really important and meaty subjects that I still recall and use today.

 

I never had a subscription but I used to buy every issue at the newsstand. Today, I don't bother.

 

That's how I am. I always found the magazine to be about 40% useful. It just wasn't that interesting to me so I stopped subscribing and only bought it if there was a specific interview or review I wanted to see.

[The Real MC]

Keyboard Magazine was at one time a great resource. I remember when I would find a 20-page article on how to play salsa montunos (with written examples), or a 20 page article on funk clavinet technique, or an extensive article on Barry Harris substitutions for V7 chords. Really important and meaty subjects that I still recall and use today.

 

I never had a subscription but I used to buy every issue at the newsstand. Today, I don't bother.

 

That's how I am. I always found the magazine to be about 40% useful. It just wasn't that interesting to me so I stopped subscribing and only bought it if there was a specific interview or review I wanted to see.

 

Had been a subscriber since 1978, and 1) it got to where there wasn't much I didn't already know and 2) there wasn't any new gear I wanted so I dropped the subscription. I may buy an issue on the newsstand but it's not even once a year I do that anymore.

 

On the positive side, while the magazine is thin the meat is better. It used to be more of a catalog but not near as much.

[J. Dan]

There's not anyplace I know of around here to check it out, that's why I was asking the subscribers. Maybe the iPad version would be the best route.

[EscapeRocks]

There's not anyplace I know of around here to check it out, that's why I was asking the subscribers. Maybe the iPad version would be the best route.

 

Dan,

 

I subscribed to the digital version for my iPad a couple years ago. It's great. I often read it sittin gin the green room before a show.

 

The cool thing about the digital version, is instant access to back issues where you remember seeing something you want to read again.

 

Also, someone above mentioned the audio samples on the instructional articles. I really like those as it helps me "Get" what the writer is teaching.

 

Plus, subscribing helps keep the lights on here at KC, which I consider to be our greatest resource.

[Threadslayer]

...sittin gin the green room before a show.

 

Freudian Bacchanalian slip?

[WillNeverPost]

Once upon a time, starting back in the early 70's (aka the Stone Age) I was regularly buying issues of Contemporary Keyboard from the newsstands. As a teenager I lusted over all of the synthesizers that I could "never" afford (never say never). The advertizements for them were almost as much of a reason to buy the magazine as the editorial content (Keyboard mag didn't do equipment reviews yet back then).

 

Today, I buy it only if it features an artist I like or reviews a piece of equipment I'm interested in. Even the latter may not be enough because there are usually lots of online sources for reviews, and some will be more comprehensive than the meager pages Keyboard mag devotes to a typical review.

[Threadslayer]

... there was content I didn't read, and even some I found annoying.

That just triggered an ancient memory. I remember the first time they printed a Rap gear review. They actually issued a disclaimer up front. Something along the lines of "I know many of you don't consider Rap to be music, but...". Must have been around 1980 I guess.

[drawback]

I used to buy Contemporary Keyboard in a music store if they were there, but sales were so bleak the retailer wasn't always stocking it. So I subscribed, only to get mine (dogsled to Canada) at least 2 to 3 weeks late and by then, I might have read a copy in a store. So I never renewed and forgot it even existed until this forum came along.

 

Now I even AdBlock. Does this make me a bad person?

[Markay]

As an OS subscriber keyboard mag is the best value mag on the planet. Given the distance it has to travel I think it amazing I seem to get it a few days after the US subscribers.

 

A 3 year subscription where I am is roughly equal to 3 or 4 newstand copies of SOS.

 

I have yet to subscribe to any mag that is packed cover to cover every month with stuff I thought I would like read. I often find that articles that on first scan are not to my taste turn out to be the most interesting and expose me to new ideas or techniques.

 

 

[EscapeRocks]

...sittin gin the green room before a show.

 

Freudian Bacchanalian slip?

 

[Joe Muscara]

Keyboard is the only mag I make any effort to read cover to cover. I'll get other mags that have topics of interest, but they come and go. Keyboard has always been there for me and I plan to continue to do so for as long as I can see.

[Synthoid]

The cool thing about the digital version, is instant access to back issues where you remember seeing something you want to read again.

 

+1

[Electro Fan]

I have boughten Keyboard Mag either in a brick and mortar store or by subscription since the 80's with a brief hiatus in the late 90's. I restarted the subscription back up when all the local stores stopped carrying the mag about ten years ago. I must say that I wonder why I keep my subscription up based on how little content I actually read now. I also subscribe to Guitar Player and Bass Player magazines and although ther content has decreased over the years, I read and enjoy them more than Keyboard. I do agree that the inexpensive subscription rates are more like a membership fee for the KC forum than anything else. Also, there is no real print alternative.

 

Bill

[keyman27]

It's 12 bucks a year, people. Look at your sigs with thousands of dollars of gear... you can afford 12 bucks a year.

 

Want to know why the mag is shrinking? Not enough subscribers.

 

I do have a complaint though -- the keyboardmag website is pretty bad. It's hard to find the online resources that go with the articles, and often they are just never available. I'm mostly a play-by-ear guy and I really appreciate hearing the audio files.

[Steve Nathan]

 

Yeah, it's thinner. What mag isn't these days. Yeah, there's stuff I don't care about. What mag doesn't have stuff I don't care about.

 

It's still and has always been the only mag that is dedicated to the topic I live and breathe. I've always been grateful for it, and it's been there for me for a very long time. Now that we live in tough times to be in the print media business, I am committed to "be there for it". Less than a dollar an issue and we complain that its "thin". These days, you can't even buy a thimble of coffee for a dollar.

Besides, it's the magazine that keeps this place open.

I consider the $12/year more of a membership fee to the forum. A bargain no matter how you look at it.

[midinut]

I keep re-upping my three-year sub every time it comes up. I still read it mostly cover-to-cover but do it more so to support this place.

 

I may need to check into the iPad version. Is it any cheaper if you already subscribe to the print version? I know SOS has some cool bundles as such. I usually get the e-version only.

[Dave Bryce]

FWIW, I just turned in my Rachel Flowers interview.

 

dB

[J. Dan]

Is the iPad version available offline or do you have to be online to view the issue? I fly a lot, so having it loaded on my iPad prior to a flight would be nice.