Electronic Musician - Digital Format Ending

[eric]

I may be living under a rock if this isn't anything new...

 

Historically, I subscribed to Keyboard Magazine since 1984 and have also collected all of the earlier issues dating back to Contemporary Keyboard from 1975. Keyboard Magazine was absorbed by Electronic Musician around 2017. Their print issues ended around 2022 and they went to a solely digital format since then. I have every single printed issue of Contemporary Keyboard, Keyboard Magazine, and Electronic Musician sorted into boxes chronologically by year, proudly living on a nearby shelf for easy access.

 

I kind of lost interest in the EM years and have always missed the original KB Mag. I miss the days when I'd wait by the mailbox to get my latest issues, hoping that the Patch of the Month might match one of my synths (or that better yet, one of my submissions might be published and I'd get the $50 prize for my patch, LOL). Fast forward a few years into the early-mid '00s and I had the honor of contributing freelance articles to KB Mag on about a quarterly basis for around a decade. Most of my articles were gear reviews and I had a tremendous time writing these and getting to be a part of this magazine!

 

Today I received an email that Electronic Musician's digital format will also be ending.

 

I guess this is all a sign of the times, with information so readily available online that even digital magazines struggle to remain relevant. RIP to another establishment!

 

[Joe Muscara]

Even though I read EM some over the years, it was a separate magazine to me than Keyboard was. So while I sort of understood folding Keyboard into it, I really didn't. We lost a lot with that. My Keyboard subscription transferred to EM and I either cancelled it or let it lapse. Like you, I used to devour Keyboard every month when it arrived. I loved being intrigued by artists because they were described as so interesting and then I'd hear them and think, "meh." But I still learned things.

 

No magazine since has come close to capturing my interest.

[Anderton]

Keyboard magazine was a respected brand, with credible and creative editorial content. All the characteristics that made it great were squandered because IMO the publishers didn't grasp the importance of giving readers on-demand information, instead of saying "you'll get information when we give it to you, in the way we want to give it to you." 

 

When I left EM in 1990, it had grown in 5 years from 2,500 subscribers to 44,000 subscribers, and had significant newsstand sales. Folding Keyboard, and later EQ, into EM didn't make much sense to me because all three areas of interest were exploding.

 

There's no reason why Keyboard, EM, and EQ couldn't have prospered in an online context. When I went online with the Sound, Studio, and Stage microsite on AOL in 1995, It was massively successful (part of that was being the only game in town, LOL). Honestly, I wasn't being smart or strategic, it just seemed really cool not to be a hostage to printing, typesetting, mailing, etc. And being able to upload audio examples instead of doing those flexi-discs was sooo wonderful.

 

In the 2000s I pitched New Bay Media on converting the mags to online, but they thought I was an idiot, and it was probably too late anyway.

 

Losing Keyboard created a hole that hasn't really been filled. Maybe MPN should figure out how to fill it. This forum already gives me more useful keyboard information than most websites.

[JohnH]

They lost me when they folded keyboard into EM. I actually have forgotten about it recently. I looked at a few issues after but it was not that great.

 

I miss Keyboard also and would read it cover to cover every month.

[David Emm]

17 minutes ago, Anderton said:

Losing Keyboard created a hole that hasn't really been filled. Maybe MPN should figure out how to fill it. This forum already gives me more useful keyboard information than most websites.

 

I followed Keyboard since issue #3, so I'm one of the OG greybeards. It was amazing to get a properly thick magazine you couldn't read in one sitting. I still miss the sections about fringe artists or programs at universities that pushed various envelopes. That and the detailed gear reviews from actual players mattered more to me than most of the pop star interviews. Those had clear merits, but the rest taught me how to THINK in abstract terms that encouraged further exploration and better results. 

 

When things got folded into EM, it shrank until I needed a jeweler's loupe to read it. As it turned into a giant pamphlet, the online realm took over. This is the final gasp of the conversion. I'm surprised it lasted this long. The effort was valiant and I still got value from it, but this is where you raise a glass and say cheerio. 

 

A few issues of Keyboard and EM will stay on my shelf, like the one featuring a review of the Prophet-6. I believe that was Marc Doty's work and its like a starter guide for the instrument. There are others like the Michael Jackson tribute issue, or the exhaustive Frank Zappa special that toured his whole studio. Excellent.

Long live Gear Porn!

[DJkeys]

My experience was similar.  I subscribed to Keyboard in 1984 and kept the subscription until EM gobbled it up.  I kept that for a year and then cancelled for all of the reasons stated.  Keyboard was unique and really packed with information, reviews being my favorite.  I actually would love to see a magazine that was similar to Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, nothing but objective gear reviews, no advertising at all.  Need a good mailing list and a bunch of cash to send out the first issue. Based on the response to that,  it may or may not succeed, but buying all the gear to review would be tax-deductible.  

 

-dj

[jerrythek]

Future Music squandered the vast treasure trove of legacy content they acquired when they purchased the various titles. Of course it would have been great if they supported the editors and contributors while they still published the magazines with their US staff, but they (like the owners before them, it must be said) let it wither on the vine. But to not recognize and take advantage of all that content was criminal. Then, in a move of classic corporate head-up-the-ass logic, they closed the keyboardmag.com and em.com websites, because they wanted to funnel all the interested eyeballs into their main brand, musicradar.  While they said they were going to re-purpose and move the content to musicradar, they put no effort (read $$) into doing that.

 

I was one of the only Keyboard contributors who they kept on, doing Keyboard-style content (my Art Of Synth Soloing column ran for an incredible 131 issues in total - something I am forever grateful to Stephen Fortner, Gino Robair, Jon Regen and yes, Si Truss at Future). But quickly, my content seemed completely out of place in the issues of EM. There was no sense of Keyboard in the magazine, because there was no one with the background, spirit, and vision to keep Keyboard alive. 

 

I don't weep for the end of EM as announced by this notice, because it died years ago. As did Keyboard. Keeping EM "alive" was just a bad Weekend At Bernie's episode, best forgotten.

 

Publishing is hard, and it seems only Sound On Sound continues to thrive, with thick issues every month, and a staff of truly qualified writers. But it is no substitute for the editorial direction of Keyboard, which I was a charter subscriber of, and keep my 90+% collection as a research treasure trove. To end on a somewhat positive note, Bob Doerschuck, one of Keyboard's best writers about personalities, and a fine musician himself, is finally going back to his interview transcriptions, and intended to publish a series of them. You can find his first entries here.  I love the title: Van Cliburn Punched Me In The Mouth: A Veteran Music Journalist's Adventures, Insights & Interviews.

 

Jerry

[ProfD]

Part of the reason I'm a fixture here at Keyboard Corner is because I was an avid reader of Keyboard Magazine back in the day. 

 

But, such is the inevitability of change especially as technology gets better and with the passage of time. 

 

Also, very few things will last forever in the age of planned obsolescence where everything is disposable.

 

Best we can do is enjoy the ride and cherish the memories.😎

[Bobby Simons]

I used to buy two copies of Contemporary Keyboard every month starting with the very first Corea issue. One to pour over and one that stayed in the Sam Ash brown paper store bag that they were brought home in.

[David Emm]

22 hours ago, Anderton said:

Losing Keyboard created a hole that hasn't really been filled. Maybe MPN should figure out how to fill it. This forum already gives me more useful keyboard information than most websites.

 

Aside from the extended detail we used to get from Keyboard Reports, MPN *is* Keyboard now. The Net has changed the dynamic into a sometimes skittish creature, but every time someone has a glitch-y experience, someone else who already found a way through it chimes in.

 

You have to do your homework with any technical endeavor, but its no small thing that a few questions can lead to that AHA! moment here. I envy newbies somewhat, because they can start with (for example) Craig's highly useful library and a few comments from more seasoned players. We elders had to do it all by hand through a cloud of cussin' and gear re-groupings. Its the stuff of sci-fi to just reach into the database and be able to roll so much sooner now. 

 

My view: MPN and Sound On Sound are the best friends an e-musician has.        

[The Real MC]

A major relocation is a great incentive to purge your belongings especially books and magazines.  I went through the Great Purge between 2020-2021 during the job hunt and the 1100 mile relocation to the new job new town new life.  Sold or gave away some gear, purged nick-nacks and furniture (anything made of chipboard was disposed), purged books (most guitar books went to my guitar playing brother and nephew), thinned out my magazine collection.  

 

The only subscribed magazines I kept were KM (dating back to 1975) and EM (dating back to Polyphony).  Other non-subscription magazines were occasional issues of Mix, SOS, EQ..  I let the EM subscription lapse in 1999, KM in 2001.  The articles of interest were fewer and fewer to the point I would scan the magazine in five minutes with nothing of value to read.  I would still check out issues at the newsstand at Borders or Barnes & Nobles and buy anything interesting, but the newest issue I have is 2003.  Then I didn't see KM or EM on the newsstand at all, had no idea they had ended print issues.  I agree, today MPN and SOS are the best friends an e-musician has.

 

I >still< learn something from those back issues and they are a great reference, which is why they are the few that have survived the purge.  Years ago I might have passed over theory articles or gear techniques, only to re-discover them years later with a new interest. 

[dazzjazz]

Living in Australia, Keyboard Magazine was a window into a distant, magical world of Demi-god musicians and unattainable instruments. It was a Larry Goldings article that got me started playing jazz organ. Years later, I was Unsigned Artist of the Month in KM for my album of Hammond originals - something of which I’m very proud of. 
 

I miss KM and only have a bare understanding of why it died. 
 

Just yesterday I had forgotten how to patch the Kraftwerk “rise” sound on my Odyssey, but a quick trip to my library fixed that - KM saved the day. 
 

I would love to buy a digital copy of all the magazines if someone has the time and energy to scan them all. 

[RABid]

I started with issue #2 of KB. Kept them in my parent's basement. Then one day my mom decided to use them in the furnace. All I had after that was the issue with the Rhodes Chroma review and an issue with the Linus and Lucy transcription. 

 

I subscribed to EM for several years but dropped out because articles on composition and theory were so sparse. A lot of articles on what to buy. Very little on how to use it.

[The Real MC]

4 hours ago, RABid said:

I subscribed to EM for several years but dropped out because articles on composition and theory were so sparse. A lot of articles on what to buy. Very little on how to use it.

 

At that point it is a catalog not a magazine.

[Docbop]

I got to Barnes and Noble every now and then and check out the music magazines.   That is if I can find where they have moved them.  Lately the Music magazines are in the Men's Interest section guess they don't know women play music too.   Whole lot of guitar mags and special edition guitar and Rock group mags.   Then one or more different Jazz magazines.  Last time they did have a Classical Piano magazine. 

 

So I try to figure out why the guitar mag's are still going strong and keyboard and similar mags are dying even as ezines.    My first guess is guitarist are gear slutz (no as big as keyboardist, but for guitar there is tons of gear from strings and picks for a few dollars to a world of pedal in the spontaneous buy range of $100 to $300.   That's a lot of advertisers money to be made. Same with Jazz magazines they are flooded with gear advertisements and lots of accessories in the spontaneous purchase range. Again lots of potential advertisers.   

 

Is that why keyboard mag's have problems most the gear is expensive and no a lot of gear in that spontaneous range???

[Anderton]

15 hours ago, jerrythek said:

Publishing is hard, and it seems only Sound On Sound continues to thrive, with thick issues every month, and a staff of truly qualified writers.

 

Tape Op is also doing well. I don't think it's a coincidence that Sound on Sound and Tape Op are not owned by corporate overlords. Then again, neither is MPN, and we're still here. Hmmm...

[Anderton]

15 hours ago, jerrythek said:

Future Music squandered the vast treasure trove of legacy content they acquired when they purchased the various titles.

 

This thread is depressing as hell because so many people put so much effort into those magazines, mostly as a labor of love given the pay scale. The content was exceptional, yet as far as I know, it's not archived anywhere. Even though I'm sure the 8" floppy discs (with Wordstar files!) that I submitted with the EM content from my tenure are long gone, at least scans and PDFs of all the magazines could keep their wonderful content alive.

 

I knew the handwriting was on the wall for my involvement when Normal Lear's company took over. Over dinner with one of his minions, I was told they were going to kill Mix Bookshelf. I couldn't understand why - it employed several people, sold a lot of books, and was consistently profitable. Their answer was they could make more money by investing in something else. I said they could make even more money by investing in cocaine and hookers.

 

In retrospect, that might not have been the most diplomatic thing to say.  🤔 

 

Keyboard, EM, EQ, etc. weren't murdered, they were starved to death over multiple years, by multiple owners. IMHO by the time Future got the magazines, their life had already been sucked out of them. (I do think Future deserves props for how they've handled Mixonline.com, which is alive and well.)

 

[Joe Muscara]

5 hours ago, Anderton said:

 

Tape Op is also doing well. I don't think it's a coincidence that Sound on Sound and Tape Op are not owned by corporate overlords. Then again, neither is MPN, and we're still here. Hmmm...

I was going to mention Tape Op as their business model is based purely on sponsors/advertising. Their subscriptions are free, you just have to sign up and reconfirm your info every year. Then they send you a year's worth of PDF and/or print issues (they might do less than 12 issues a year, I'm thinking they might combine around the end of the year). All of this is paid for by manufacturers and other advertisers. Imagine a keyboard-focused magazine paid for by ads from the keyboard, plug in, and other manufacturers as well as vendors. I'd love to see MPN pull this together if someone is good at getting sponsors.

[JohnH]

12 hours ago, Docbop said:

I got to Barnes and Noble every now and then and check out the music magazines.   That is if I can find where they have moved them.  Lately the Music magazines are in the Men's Interest section guess they don't know women play music too.   Whole lot of guitar mags and special edition guitar and Rock group mags.   Then one or more different Jazz magazines.  Last time they did have a Classical Piano magazine. 

 

So I try to figure out why the guitar mag's are still going strong and keyboard and similar mags are dying even as ezines.    My first guess is guitarist are gear slutz (no as big as keyboardist, but for guitar there is tons of gear from strings and picks for a few dollars to a world of pedal in the spontaneous buy range of $100 to $300.   That's a lot of advertisers money to be made. Same with Jazz magazines they are flooded with gear advertisements and lots of accessories in the spontaneous purchase range. Again lots of potential advertisers.   

 

Is that why keyboard mag's have problems most the gear is expensive and no a lot of gear in that spontaneous range???

And drum magazines, which I also enjoy all have died out too with the exception of Modern Drummer, of which I get the digital issue. ( there may be more, but as far as I know not in the USA).  Drum! is gone (which was edited by Bob D of Keyboard's brother- Andy)  and it lasted at least 25 years or so , Drumhead was the best and lasted 14 years until November, 2021. Now gone. And no announcement or anything, just left in stasis, site still up, FB page still up.  Coincidentally, Steve Gadd on the cover seems to kill of drum magazines- he was on the last issue of Traps around 2010 and he's on the cover of the final issue of Drumhead too!

[Winston Psmith]

I subscribed to EM from the early 90's until I got a notice informing me that I was holding the last physical copy of EM that I was going to get, because they were switching to an all-digital format.

 

I'm a bit of an anachronism, in that I like having hard copies of my reference materials, books, gear manuals, magazines, etc.. Somehow, it seemed as though I was supposed to be grateful that I'd be getting a monthly email installment, instead of the physical magazine I'd subscribed to and paid for. The phrase "Bait-&-Switch" comes to mind, and I cancelled as soon as I got that notice.

 

When they screwed up my long-time subscription to Guitar Player, and then had a manager give me grief over the phone for requesting a missing copy, I was done.

[jerrythek]

11 hours ago, Anderton said:

Keyboard, EM, EQ, etc. weren't murdered, they were starved to death over multiple years, by multiple owners. IMHO by the time Future got the magazines, their life had already been sucked out of them.

Very true...

[Anderton]

A couple other magazines that have weathered the storm, although not keyboard-related, are Recording magazine and Premier Guitar. Both understand that print and online can co-exist.

[Joe Muscara]

On 7/28/2023 at 3:00 PM, Anderton said:

Recording magazine

And for those who haven't noticed, Recording magazine has a forum area here at MPN. I need to visit there more often…