EM Magazine going all-digital; how much longer for GP?

[Winston Psmith]

I only subscribe to two magazines, Guitar Player and Electronic Musician. I've been subscribing to both for over 20 years.

 

Today, with my May copy of EM, I got a notice that the May 2022 issue will be the last print issue of EM; after that, all further issues will be digital, sent to my email. My subscription was supposed to run through December, 2023, but I'll be calling them to ask for a refund on the remainder of my subscription. FWIW, subscribers are being told that their subscriptions will be extended by a whole month - WOW, one extra email!!! - and we'll also be getting two free e-books.

 

Forgive me if I'm not impressed. First of all, getting a "Surprise, This Is Your Last Print Issue" note shows how little they care about customer relations, and suggests that they're trying to avoid a run on cancellations. Second, email, AFAIK, is free, and e-books cost nothing to ship - no printing costs, either - so in return for taking money I paid for a print magazine and signing me up for a monthly email newsletter, I'm being offered what's essentially more email. That's one way to cut costs and lose customers, I guess . . .

 

Maybe GP will hang on a bit longer, as the target audience tends to be older - just look at the cover features and the lead articles - but I give it maybe another year, if that.

 

I know I'm an atavist - one day, right before the pandemic, I was riding the bus, and realized I was the only person who had a real book in my hands - but I keep my old copies of EM and GP for reference, and I often look back through them for gear reviews, song transcriptions, old lessons, what-have-you. I've already had the experience of trying to find old articles and other materials in the EM archives, and it's not generally worth the effort.

 

[Winston Psmith]

Just called to cancel the remainder of my subscription to Electronic Musician. I'm supposed to get a refund, someday, but I'm not counting on it, based on how Future Music seems to regard its customers, and the fact that they're based in the UK, with no local offices in the U.S.. Anybody else remember when GP was published by Miller/Freeman, who also published real books, like the Guitar Player Repair Guide?

 

FWIW, Future Music was still soliciting new subscribers to EM, with no hint or warning that the magazine was going to go digital, until I got the May issue. I'd paid for a two-year subscription renewal to a print magazine, but six months after I renewed,  there's no print magazine anymore, so what exactly did I pay for? A digital "bait-&-switch", I guess?

 

Like Neil Young sang, "You pay for this, and they give you that." No thanks . . .

[Dave Bryce]

Sorry to hear that.

 

We were fortunate to be able to separate MPN from the Future folks after they acquired all of New Bay's properties.  I believe their plan was to roll MPN into their Music Radar site.

 

dB

[RABid]

I don't remember the last time I picked up a physical magazine. I used to get a log of digital mags on Amazon. Now I rely on what is included with Apple New+ which is pretty limited on music. 

[Winston Psmith]

1 hour ago, RABid said:

I don't remember the last time I picked up a physical magazine. I used to get a log of digital mags on Amazon. Now I rely on what is included with Apple New+ which is pretty limited on music. 

 

Like I said, I know I'm an atavist. I still prefer a real book over any tablet, and a good part of one wall of my Music room is taken up by two rather large, and rather tall bookshelves.

 

I don't blame anyone who prefers the digital format. Even the most devoted bibliophile reaches a point where something's gotta give, and digital publications don't take up room, or gather dust; I get that. I also get how the digital format is appropriate to a magazine devoted to tech, and technology is integral to Electronic Music. I have more Synths and Signal Processors than Guitars, by a very wide margin.

 

OTOH, I wouldn't have paid for a 2-year subscription, or even 1 year, if I'd been told that they were converting to an all-digital format within less than a year, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in that.

 

Lest I forget, my thanks to Dave Bryce, and anyone else who helped keep MPN away from Future Music. The new format looks good, no crashes or freezes, no more endlessly waiting for the site to load, or not load, as happened all too often.  Well done, thank you!

 

 

 

[Larryz]

+1,000 this site and new format is working a thousand times better than it was just a short time ago.  Thanks go out to Dave and his crew!  I'm not a fan of digital records keeping, billing, auto pay etc., and I resist going paperless as long as possible on most of my accounts.  I like paper copies and prefer my magazines, books, etc., in hand, not on a screen or tablet.  😎