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Mushroom Magazine To Drop CD Reviews |
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Written by damion psyreviews
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Numerous sources have sent me the latest information from Mushroom Magazine and their “restructuring.”
Following the sort of logic normally reserved for mass-murderers, chronic acid casualties and Scientologists, they announce that despite hard industry times where "labels are dying out or are complaining about dwindling sales", they have decided to replace their CD reviews section with -- get this -- a list of CD releases instead. No reviews, just a list.
Their justification: "we simply can't afford the high costs for this section of the magazine." Meaning, of course, that because they don't actually make any money from that section, out it goes.
Worse still, they propose to use the newfound space for "Artist Features." Now I'm not entirely sure what that means but could it possibly take the form of:
1) big Israeli label has new release.
2) big Israeli label pays Mushroom handsome sum for adverts and "editorial".
3) Mushroom spends two pages telling you how amazing this act’s new CD is.
Dropping the reviews section means that some people aren’t going to pick up the odd great-albums-you-might-otherwise-miss. This could be seen as a complete lack of respect for the “scene”: while they are happy to take full-page ads from parties and festivals, those parties and festivals would be nothing without anybody actually releasing music.
If Mushroom are so hell-bent on supporting the scene, shouldn't they be increasing the amount of space they give to reviews, so labels might start to see a slight increase in sales?
All they’re doing is increasing their revenue – increasing the amount of paid-for content to around the 80-90% mark, and doing so at the expense of underground labels, underground artists, and – most importantly – their readers.
In any media, when editorial focuses on only those who can pay for it, the validity of that editorial becomes zero.
One assumes Mushroom will continue to carry ads for legal highs, bongs, transparent rolling papers and countless other pointless paraphernalia.
It all adds up to another nail in the coffin.
Psyreviews will never carry sponsored-editorial. Psyreviews will remain a platform where any label can get their music released. Psyreviews won't ask labels to continue sending CD's despite making it clear to you that we have no intention of reviewing them (I mean what the f*ck is all that about?).
We keep seeing these signs of the coke-addled shitbeast breathing its last. Not that the scene will die -- it's just going to get a lot smaller, and become dreadfully unfashionable, killing off a lot of these parasites who've seen success in the trance world and thought to themselves: "I want some of that."
If it doesn't make you sick, it certainly should.
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