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Dear Jonathan Herrera (friendly suggestions for BP)

#42
Thanks everybody. Please keep it coming. Perhaps as the thread fizzles out I'll draft a post specifically addressing the ideas and give you some of my thoughts. Regardless, your support throughout this very challenging financial climate is deeply appreciated.

Jauqo, I'm sorry that's how you think we determine our coverage. I could list hundreds of artists that demonstrate the contrary. Nevertheless, please stay in touch about what you're up to.

Jonathan Herrera

ps. Irrelevant, shameless plug, because I, like you, am a bass player first and foremost and moreover, would love to chat with any of you at a gig: Come see me Nov. 18 at Yoshi's SF @ 10:30 w/ Tamika Nicole--fantastic R&B singer. Oh, and Dec. 4th & 5th I'll be up North in Seattle and Tacoma w/ Eric Levy and Alan Hertz. Check out myspace.com/jhebass for details.

Plug over. Back to business. Thanks again.
 
#45
JAUQO III-X said:
Interview me in the mag. I really do have something to say just like so many other bass players that are contributing to the bass playing community.



Or will I have to have one of the companies that I endorse pay for an ad first?
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I don't know how they do it, but I do know it's pretty well tied to having a new album to plug. Which is cool...that's what it should be about.
 
#46
Benjamin Strange said:
I used to subscribe to BP years ago, and gave up on it when it ceased to be a magazine and became a pamphlet. Methinks the reason that there isn't that much advertising revenue coming in is because there's so little CONTENT. How is it that Modern Drummer can be three times the size of BP, when all they are discussing is about hitting things with sticks?

BP's articles aren't deep, nor engaging enough. Gear reviews are FAR too short, have almost no real content that matters, and are far too generous with praise. Modern Drummer can fill a whole page talking about a single cymbal - how is it that BP can't fill 3 paragraphs about a $5000 bass? Interviews and features also aren't long nor interesting enough - ask difficult questions! Get in DEEP! We want to know more about what makes these musicians tick - not only musically, but personally as well. Musician's lives and their musical careers are intertwined - it would be wise to explore this a little better.

BP is far too milquetoast and safe for my tastes these days. Your reviews of gear and music used to have some teeth... now there is rarely a disparaging comment or a sentence with any personality whatsoever. I'd like to see more wit, humor, and sheer bludgeoning when necessary.

A good music magazine CAN exist: check out Modern Drummer and Sound on Sound. I am always impressed at their offerings - surely BP can aspire to the same level of excellence?
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+100, Well said, from start to finish.
 
#47
I think that after all of these posts you have 3 options.

A. add more pages of the same sort of mediocre stuff. as long as theres more of it im ok with paying for the mag.

B. Keep with the "how thin can a mag get" thing but really enhance the quality of coverage.

C. Do a little bit of A and B



Personally I think the tab should be removed since all of it can be had online in a matter of seconds for free. Instead there should be more columns on technique and how-to's. You dont need to pay some huge artist to do it either... im sure 90% of your staff plays bass so just have a couple of them start sharing techniques.
Perhaps adding a crazy gig story of the month would be nice.
rather than reviewing a piece of gear lets see a good shootout each month... theres usually alot more learned in one of those, and lets face it.... alot of your "reviews" are basically a copy of the companies description of the item followed by 2 paragraphs of "impressions".
Ive always loved the mag but it has definitely declined in recent years... I know you guys can get it back on track though so try to take all of this thread as constructive ideas rather than complaints.
 
#48
LaklandBass said:
I think that after all of these posts you have 3 options.

A. add more pages of the same sort of mediocre stuff. as long as theres more of it im ok with paying for the mag.

B. Keep with the "how thin can a mag get" thing but really enhance the quality of coverage.

C. Do a little bit of A and B



Personally I think the tab should be removed since all of it can be had online in a matter of seconds for free. Instead there should be more columns on technique and how-to's. You dont need to pay some huge artist to do it either... im sure 90% of your staff plays bass so just have a couple of them start sharing techniques.
Perhaps adding a crazy gig story of the month would be nice.
rather than reviewing a piece of gear lets see a good shootout each month... theres usually alot more learned in one of those, and lets face it.... alot of your "reviews" are basically a copy of the companies description of the item followed by 2 paragraphs of "impressions".
Ive always loved the mag but it has definitely declined in recent years... I know you guys can get it back on track though so try to take all of this thread as constructive ideas rather than complaints.
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remove the tab,cool,remove the transcriptions and i'll never buy another one,even used
 
#50
As I mentioned in another BPM thread, could you please do transcriptions (scores or tab, I can use either...) of songs that haven't been done commercially elsewhere? I love Queen & John Deacon, but the song BPM transcribed a few months back, SOMEBODY TO LOVE, has been transcribed in several of the Queen songbooks. How about some of the songs that haven't been transcribed or even done as just guitar and/or piano scores, say MILLIONAIRE'S WALTZ, INVISIBLE MAN, DRAGON ATTACK... same for some of the other transcriptions that have been done in the last year or so. My ears aren't trained well enough yet to always be able to accurately transcribe by ear, and transcriptions & tabs on the web are renouned for being inaccurate, so an accurate BPM transcription is a big plus! And the same goes for transcriptions for songs by other groups, etc. Let's see some songs done that we can't get easily from Hal Leonard, Alfred, etc.
 
#51
Lady Kayri said:
As I mentioned in another BPM thread, could you please do transcriptions (scores or tab, I can use either...) of songs that haven't been done commercially elsewhere? I love Queen & John Deacon, but the song BPM transcribed a few months back, SOMEBODY TO LOVE, has been transcribed in several of the Queen songbooks. How about some of the songs that haven't been transcribed or even done as just guitar and/or piano scores, say MILLIONAIRE'S WALTZ, INVISIBLE MAN, DRAGON ATTACK... same for some of the other transcriptions that have been done in the last year or so. My ears aren't trained well enough yet to always be able to accurately transcribe by ear, and transcriptions & tabs on the web are renouned for being inaccurate, so an accurate BPM transcription is a big plus! And the same goes for transcriptions for songs by other groups, etc. Let's see some songs done that we can't get easily from Hal Leonard, Alfred, etc.
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i would think that transcriptions would be a bargain from a publishing standpoint....no glossy paper,graphics etc
 
#53
My wish list:

More standard notation music, less tab. The whole transcription of one song, well, that's a bit much. I'd much rather have five songs sectioned, intro or head, verse, chorus, bridge. If I like it I'll get a copy and figure it out. Pick from five genre, a little for everyone. Some rock, reggae, jazz, metal, bluegrass, and something out there and strange.

John Goldsby: his woodshed articles are exactly what I'm looking for. Keep the tab if you must but more, lots more like that.

Ed Friedland, Will Lee, and more like them with their well thought out and concise lessons.

I miss the opinion piece that used to close the issue, and the little short interviews.

After a very long lapse, I've been a subscriber for about a year with another to go. I like the magazine, but lets get more music and less about gear. I already recycle two or three catalogs a month, I'm not that interested in looking at gear.

The online would be worth another $20 a year to me if it was: searchable and archived.
I love the idea of being able to download PDF transcriptions, lessons and articles. Put that together with a mp3 file and its one stop shopping.

That could even eat into my Talk Bass time.

So, tell us what your going to do to make it better in your next issue, and keep it coming another 12 months. Then we'll see how things are looking, and hopefully grab want to grab another couple years.
 
#55
Jim Campbell said:
yeah,but would you not sell more mags.....the guitar rags usually have five of them,and include the bass and guitar parts.....i realize bass is a narrower market but,i gotta say the mags gittin mighty thin
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Guitar mags outsell bass mags at least 10:1, maybe even more. However, I do agree that it's getting mighty thin for the price.
 
#56
JimmyM said:
Guitar mags outsell bass mags at least 10:1, maybe even more. However, I do agree that it's getting mighty thin for the price.
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that raises an interesting point........perhaps jonathan could relate what types of things sell the most mags,are the most cost effective etc.....maybe the things we would like to see are unrealistic.....might be an interesting read
 
#59
Jonathan Herrera said:
...Come see me Nov. 18 at Yoshi's SF @ 10:30 w/ Tamika Nicole--fantastic R&B singer...
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If I wasn't already gigging, I'd be all over this. Tamika is the real deal, and you are a big part of an absolutely smokin' ensemble! I hope the gig is great, and the sushi almost as good. :D And, back on topic...here's hoping for prosperity and creativity for BP. I've little beyond that to offer, except to say that the Haden/Flea feature remains a source of inspiration.
 
#60
JimmyM said:
Guitar mags outsell bass mags at least 10:1, maybe even more. However, I do agree that it's getting mighty thin for the price.
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Guitar mags might outsell bass mags 10:1 but they also out number them 10:1... More competition equals less market share... Whilst I realise the 'bass playing magazine buying market' would be smaller than for guitarists, BPM's market share could be huge in comparison to similiar guitar oriented magazines...
 

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