July 1, 2010
Exploding Two Myths,
Confirming Two Suspicions
There’s
no shortage of opinions in the world -- opinions about everything.
And with the Internet literally everywhere, there’s no shortage of
platforms through which to disseminate them. Lately, I’ve read
online debates on a number
of subjects related to high-end audio
publishing, and I’d like to put in my own two cents, based on my
experience in the biz.
Confirmed:
Long-term
loans affect reviewer recommendations.
How can they not? If a reviewer has a component on long-term loan,
then he or she obviously likes the component. You could argue that
the fact that the reviewer likes it enough to use it is itself a
kind of endorsement. But does the reviewer like it enough to buy it
outright, with her or his own money? Is accepting the free use of a
product proof that the reviewer would choose that same product if it
had to be paid for? Not to me, but we’ll never know. That oft-used
argument against living together before marriage applies here: Why
buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? I’ve said in the past
that long-term loans are advertisements for the manufacturer, not
necessarily endorsements by the reviewer.
Exploded (IMHO!):
User
reviews are more valuable than professional reviews.
This is where I start getting inflammatory e-mail. But it amounts to
simple bias: If you buy the product,
then
write a review of it, that review will in most cases be as much
about validating your purchase as anything else. It’s like being
completely objective about your kids -- it
can happen, but it
rarely does. And
yes, there certainly are exceptions, just as there are many
"professional" reviews that aren’t worth the paper or pixels they’re
printed on. But, by and large, the
process
of professional audio reviewing usually helps ensure more reliable
results. And I’ve read some reviews by amateur audiophiles who would
make great professional
reviewers. (Please apply by e-mail.)
Confirmed:
Product
giveaways do happen. In my reviewing
career, I’ve been given products by two manufacturers. The first
instance involved three power cords that retailed for $99 each, and
would have cost almost as much to ship back as they did to make. The
second was a long run of expensive speaker cables that were
installed under my house and inside my walls as part of a
home-theater review. Some other SoundStage! Network writers have
been given cables and various tweaks over the years. In other cases,
larger products such as loudspeakers were left permanently with
writers after the review period because the companies had gone out
of business. These few instances, however, are very different from
something I witnessed at a crowded dinner in
Munich,
Germany.
A representative from a speaker manufacturer said to a well-known
British reviewer, "We’d like to know what color you’d like your new
[fill in blank]
in." The reviewer was genuinely surprised -- delighted, in fact --
and it was obvious that he hadn’t purchased the product. Draw your
own conclusions as to the implications.
Exploded:
Advertising affects what gets reviewed and what doesn’t.
This one just doesn’t make sense, and doesn’t hold water when put to
the test. As of June 1, 59 product reviews had been published on the
SoundStage! Network in 2010. Of those products, 47% were made or
sold by advertisers. Clearly, the majority of our reviews are
not of products
from advertisers. Perhaps more interesting: With roughly 50 SS!N
advertisers at any given moment, you can also conclude that, of the
products reviewed this year, at least half of our advertisers
received
no reviews at all.
Statistics aside, it only makes sense to review products that
readers actually want to read about, regardless of their makers’
relationships with the publication. The logic is simple and
unavoidable: Interesting content drives traffic, and traffic drives
ad sales. To review only the products of advertisers is to buy a
one-way ticket on the express to business failure.
As
with anything, do your own research and see what you can find out.
The opinions stated here have been formed during my many years in
this industry, and gleaned from my day-to-day management of almost
30 reviewers here at the SoundStage! Network. If you agree or
disagree with what I’ve written, let me know. If there are other
subjects you’d like me to weigh in on, shoot me an e-mail. And, as
always, thanks for reading.
. . . Jeff Fritz
jeff@ultraaudio.com
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