In Reply to: "How to buy a record review" posted by Poles Apart on October 27, 2011 at 18:05:23:
My understanding is that this applies to the featured reviews at the front of the magazine. Therefore I always take those with a (larger) grain of salt. The bulk of the reviews in Fanfare are not paid for and some are pungent indeed.
My favorite source of reviews in Fanfare continues to be the wish lists at the end of the year, as well as the reviews hat reviewers note may be on their wish lists.
I complained about the practice by Fanfare some years ago on this site; but upon thinking about it, concluded that Caveat emptor was appropriate. I wonder on sites such as Amazon how many of the positive reviews are shills.
I might also note that the positive reviews on this site have led me to a lot of interesting and fun music. Keep them coming.
Finally, I don't really mind the fact that some very positive reviews end up with disappointing purchases. I am delighted that I sometimes find gems that would have never come my way otherwise.
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Follow Ups
- To be fair... - John N 07:59:54 10/28/11 (6)
- I believe that it is across the board--the feature treatment is just for big ads - John Marks 07:14:35 10/29/11 (0)
- Yes. - Kal Rubinson 08:12:48 10/28/11 (4)
- To clarify... - C.B. 14:16:29 10/28/11 (3)
- Fanfare Is The Best Classical Magazine - Mike Porper 13:03:35 11/02/11 (0)
- RE: To clarify... - Kal Rubinson 16:26:43 10/28/11 (1)
- RE: To clarify... - Vade Forrester 09:25:44 10/29/11 (0)