| Nov. 17th, 2009 @ 07:04 pm The incredible shrinking Keyboard magazine |
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Since I was a teen, there was one magazine that I have looked forward to every month and read voraciously from cover-to-cover: Keyboard. From the artist interviews to the product reviews, the magazine provided an unparalleled depth and excellence of coverage for serious keyboard players.
Over the years, alas, the magazine has gradually shifted away from its exciting and enriching form, so much so that the magazine these days is a shadow of its former self. A few years ago, Keyboard gave itself a design face lift to make it look more hip and modern. A lot of readers like it. To my eye, the result is simply a lot of blank space on the page, and the use of larger type...both of which result in less actual content. Just five years ago, a full, three-column page used to have about 1,425 words. These days, its closer to 1,200.
The magazine has also gotten much thinner. For comparison, I pulled out an issue from five years ago (Jan, 2004); it had 120 pages. The issue I got in the mail just yesterday (December 2009, with a cover feature on Tori Amos) has 66...and that's after pulling the sneaky trick of counting the front and inside cover as pages 1 & 2! So, including the covers, Keyboard had 124 pages five years ago, while today it has 68. That's nearly half the magazine it used to be.
This has resulted in shorter and shallower content, both for interviews and product reviews. There were 17 pages of product reviews in 2004, compared to only 7 in 2009. [I am counting one page as the equivalent of three full columns of content; two pages with half-page ads counts as one page.] The Jan 2004 issue reviewed 11 products, including some half-page mini-reviews; the new issue reviews just 4. The lead review in 2004 was 4 pages long; the current lead review is 3 pages long...in larger type. Plus, the reviews are nowhere near as extensive as they once were; I often reach the end of one with more questions than answers.
Same for the interviews: 2004's cover story on Mike Garson was five pages long (with one page of photos). 2009's cover story on Tori Amos was four pages long, nearly two full pages of which was devoted to photos and a huge title banner that was mostly blank space. That leaves about two pages of actual interview.
Like the product reviews, the interviews simply aren't as deep any more. Here are a couple questions from the 2004 Mike Garson interview: "Taking the whole of your tenure with Bowie into account, is there any particular technique or training in your background that stands out in your mind as especially useful?" "Live, what do you do on a classic like Fame, with no keys on the original track?" "A lot of keyboard-trained composers were attracted to synthesizers because they offered tonal landscapes not possible on the piano. Have you ever felt constrained by the piano and/or liberated by synths?" Compare this to the Tori interview: "What inspired you to record a seasonal album?" "How did you approach making these songs your own--Star of Wonder, for example?" "That's always a good place to start." Often, these interviews no longer feel like two professionals talking shop; they could be interviews in Rolling Stone.
Same issue again for CD reviews: The magazine has always given one page to reviewing CDs. In 2004, their review page covered 6 titles. The latest issue has only 4...and a lot of blank space.
Oh, and Keyboard: If a reader needs you to devote half the page to pictures of a giant keyboard with yellow and orange dots on the keys showing where to put one's fingers in order to play the two-note chords from the two-bar transcription of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean, they are reading the wrong magazine. Nothing against new students, we all begin somewhere; but there are more appropriate places for remedial instruction.
I will concede two facts in Keyboard's favor: In 2004, 57% of the magazine was advertising. Today, it's down to 46%. That's a substantial reduction in ad space (and revenue). And the cover price of $5.99 hasn't changed a penny in five years. Still, I'd rather pay a buck or two extra and have more thorough, professional content.
It's funny: Despite Keyboard being half as long, having fewer words per column inch, and sacrificing content for blank space and unnecessary graphics...it's still the best magazine out there for keyboard players. {And if any of the staff should ever read this: Obviously I know Keyboard magazine and its history very well, love it, and wouldn't take the time to write such a long post if these things didn't matter to me.} |
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