The Rub Which Are Magazine Subscriptions

I was talking to Troy last night after commending him on his stellar demos that he and his bass playing buddy Oram (assuming this is a last name…) recorded (which are amazing by the way. Their cover of Living on A Prayer is by far the best cover I’ve ever heard) (way too many parentheses scattered around)(this)(entry).

Anyhow, Troy was talking about how he loves Guitar World – the must have magazine for guitar players.

I’ve given up on magazines for the past few years as I really didn’t feel they had much to offer that I couldn’t get off the Internet. Sure, they are great for reading when you have a moment but if I’m looking for some hardcore information, it’s usually out there somewhere in cyberspace.

However, he piqued my interest when he mentioned how this month’s issue has a great write-up from the engineer of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Well, I can’t really pass this up!

Until I get to the newsstand and I notice the price tag.

$10.

$10?! For a magazine? What the heck? Where I have been all these years? Do people actually pay this much for a magazine? Granted, this magazine had a swell CD along with it, but still!

I checked out the Guitar World website (Troy, this is some good info for you buddy) and they say a subscription is $40. That is awesome, yet utterly ridiculous.

I understand why they do this. Subscriptions are guaranteed sales. Newsstands are not. Numbers are the new king in the world. If I can tell my boss that we have 90 subscribers that guarantee some revenue, but only 50 newsstand issues that may get returned…well, the outlook is still good.

So there is the potential that they will get some unsold copies returned to them at the end of the month. So why not slash the price of the magazine for some guaranteed sales numbers so they look good?

I must admit that as a subscriber, you can’t really complain. If I get this subscription, I’ll be getting 12 mags and 12 CDs for $3.33 an issue as opposed to $10.

But what about the casual readers like me? Doesn’t make much sense to me to go out and pick up an issue for $10. That’s 3 issues in subscription land!

In the end, they achieve the result they wished for. I will go forth and order a subscription in hopes that if it processes fast enough, I will get the Sgt. Pepper’s issue. It’s a different world nowadays. When I was a kid, subscriptions would get processed 2 months later and then you would wonder if you would get the newest issue or the one from two months ago! I had a subscription to a Star Wars mag last year and I was afraid of missing an issue so I bought the 2 issues in the meantime, but they sent them to me! Argh, what a rip. So this time, I’ll go ahead and order the subscription and not bother buying any off the newsstand. Worst case scenario, I’ll just borrow Troy’s issue one day while I’m visiting.

Memory: This brings up a memory of how…I think one of my grandmothers got me a subscription to Spider-Man. Coolness! Until I got them in the mail. Mail is NOT the way to get a comic. Not only was it bent, mutilated, etc., but inside the plastic bag when I opened it, the cover was off! What kind of collectible is this? I had to go out and buy the issues anyhow so I could have one in pristine condition. Not impressed. I can’t remember if I wrote to Marvel Comics or not, but that was ridiculous. So Nanny, if you’re reading this, the gift idea was great, but it really didn’t work out.

iplaying: Everything Back But You (Avril Lavigne – The Best Damn Thing)