"Here I must mention that neither 6moons nor we have a star-based ratings system for an easy buyer's guide. All beginners, in any hobby, love star-based buyer's guides because now they don't have to think. At any given budget, they're told what to buy. By not having such a system, we probably don't appeal much to an audience that wants us to do all the thinking for them. We don't tell people what to buy. We're not marketing firms. We're proper review magazines. We describe what components sound like as precisely as we can. Then it's up to the buyer to use that information for their own fact-gathering mission or due diligence. We don't unload their responsibility to think for themselves; or develop self knowledge about their tastes and needs. No final score or 5-star system can ever capture any of that. So our reviews engage a dialogue. The readers must contribute the other half by thinking about what they read and how it applies to them. That part is absolutely essential; but any beginner can do it."
"My view exactly. I call it trusting the intelligence of our audience. I'm not their babysitter, confidante, priest, therapist or financial advisor. I'm just an independent information provider. Applying that information by way of triangulation and additional reading is always the reader's task. Of course manufacturers really like rating systems. Have you been asked for any?"
"Manufacturers do love review seals and very short thumbnail quotes to use in their marketing materials. And of course our year's end fairaudio Favorite's Awards are popular which we present old-school framed with a longer highlight of review quotes but still no stars or 85/100 scores. Do you hand out any awards?"
Jörg's main system
"Not in physical form. Some equipment does win an award but the graphic of it just embeds in the text at the time of publication and manufacturers are free to use that .psd or .jpg file in their marketing materials right away. They needn't wait until the end of the year. My awards always have a one-line caption beneath the company name and model number but that's it. No framed award or statuette is mailed out or presented in person. How about domestic fairaudio competition? When you launched, there wasn't any online but that of course has changed."
"Correct. Today we have sites like Hifistatement and Low Beats and darko.audio but actually, we weren't the first in general. AV Magazin and Area DVD for example preceded us but as their names give away, they weren't focused on purist 2-channel. There's also the platform Hifi Tests."
"For your own business, do you see any direct impact of the growing online competition?"
"When we launched, publishing online was more of a novelty. It was seen as either very modern or amateurish because the prevailing sentiment among the conservative audience still was that serious magazines with real credibility publish in the printed format, period. Over time, that changed radically. Online publishing is firmly established now and print magazines use it as well. So to answer your question, first we competed against print; and today against other online sites. And it's true that manufacturers have a fixed ad budget. As opportunities for review coverage have increased, manufacturers either become more selective about where they spend their marketing euro; or spread their ad budget around. Most manufacturers we deal with split their budget roughly 50:50 between online and print so our competition today isn't print but we compete for that 50% online budget. The matter of less credibility or seriousness than print no longer exists and for the vast majority of manufacturers, having an online review presence is very important."
"In your market, does fairaudio have a specific profile or perception which distinguishes it from other German publications?"
"Absolutely. Our sonic descriptions aren't merely a short final paragraph but far more in-depth; and very precise. We aim to always give our readers a virtual audition. From our reviews they should walk away with a very concise sonic impression as though they'd sat there with us during our listening sessions. If they actually do subsequently listen to that component at a dealer's or in their own system, they should recognize the sound we described like an old friend. That's what we're known for. On that score we're very demanding. In fact people who write for us and also contribute elsewhere (chuckles mischievously) tell us that writing for us is far harder. The goal is always to give the customer a very complete understanding and realistic expectation for the gear they read about in fairaudio. It should be the next-best thing to a live audition. That's our internal memo or charter. So our sonic descriptions are the most in-depth and specific of any in the German audio press I think. We also embed a lot of photos which we take ourselves just like you do. That still isn't the norm and many just publish photos from press kits."
Ralph's main system
"Do you see video reviews become more prevalent in the future; or will they always remain a separate thing with its very own or even shared audience?"
"There will always be people and situations where the written word is preferable. For one, you don't need headphones or speakers to read. That opens up more opportunities. Many of our readers log on right after lunch when they're back in the office. They quietly read the most current review before going back to work. They don't disturb any colleagues by listening to a video. The same goes for being in bed next to your girlfriend who is already asleep. I also think that the written word is far more precise and goes deeper. It represents lengthier consideration and self editing so is more condensed and concentrated. Another difference is similar to audio books or podcasts. I much prefer to read a book than listen to it. I can read at my own pace and return to a paragraph or sentence I didn't fully understand the first time or appreciate so much that I want to revisit it. If I listen, I must follow in real time to a preset pace. Going back to a precise place is more involved than moving my eyes or flipping a page. I also find listening to read-back content somewhat hypnotic. Soon my mind gets fuzzy and drifts off like listening to a lullaby that's made to put you asleep [the exact same thing happens to me – Ed.]. And technical information like specs or circuit descriptions are much easier to assimilate when I see the words and figures rather than hear them spoken. To be sure, both the written and spoken word are equally valid and have their own audience. They will continue to evolve on parallel tracks. I simply don't think that video will ever replace the written word."
"Now talk a bit about assembling a team of writers and the managing/editing that entails."
"At that stage of our growth when the review load began to exceed what Ralph and I could handle, we began with reader reviews. They were presented in their own color coding and layout to distinguish them already visually from our own content. Over time, we then approached our favorite reader contributors like Martin Mertens or Frank Hakopians to join our staff. We already knew the quality of their work. Others approached us. Then we always demand sample reviews of things they presently own. Those won't get published but they help us assess the quality of the work. Another challenge is consistency. A particular writer might start out strong but then lose enthusiasm so their writing becomes boring. It's also vital that manufacturers recognize their gear. It's not about fancy words and raves but precision. I always hope that serious manufacturers correlate a good review with the accuracy of our sonic descriptions. Our profiling must be correct. That's what a good review is, not a must-buy rave. An accurate review generates respect from the manufacturers and corresponding reader feedback. It's most gratifying when a reader reports that they bought something based on one of our reviews and find the sound to match exactly what we wrote. Sometimes I will also get a component into my system after one of our writers just to hear it for myself as confirmation. Ralph and I spend about 50% of our time interacting with the team by returning review text with comments on where to sharpen up an explanation, find stronger words for a description or make other corrections. This type of two-way editing is time-consuming but our writers enjoy it because it respects them and presents them with supervised learning opportunities to improve their craft."
