I used to drink in a pub in Cambridge called the Free Press. I liked it.
In trade publishing, an ‘ad rich’ environment equates to a more free editorial agenda than an impoverished one. When ads are scarce, magazines may be afraid to publish critical or conflicting stories – from editorial comment and product reviews to advertisers’ competitors’ press releases – for fear of losing essential revenue. The question here is: who needs who the most?
When an industry needs the avenues offered by its press, the press tends to become more challenging in its editorial. When the press is struggling to attract the advertising support of its industry, the balance of power swings the other way.
The situation becomes more acute when an industry finds it difficult to fund the advertising required to support its press. Especially when magazines also face rising print, mail and overhead costs – and growing competition from web publishing, where overheads are lower and response times dramatically shorter. In contrast to those in some business areas, our magazines appear to be in fair shape financially. For the time being, at least.
But in spite of the best efforts of our press corps to preserve the present role of print, publishing industry analyses all point the same way. And they spell fundamental change.
The quick and the dead
I would suggest that it is time to relearn our press. We need to relearn its sourcing, its delivery, its funding and the reciprocal relationship between our industry players (not just manufacturers and distributors but end-users too, the whole chain) and our press.
Web-based publishing – whether allied to print publishing or independent of it, as Fast-and-Wide is – can no longer afford to simply broadcast press releases. Web channels are ideally placed to post a wider spread of news and information – and relay the response it generates from all quarters. Quickly.
An immediate and interactive press then, with tangible benefits for all concerned. And a much closer definition of a free press, surely.
Web channels are also far better placed to offer stories that sit outside tried and tired news routes. A case in point is the recent Next Chapter Wideangle post carried on Fast-and-Wide. In the absence of any formal announcement from Midas/Klark Teknik on some of the developments of the past 18 months, our own Audio Boy took a look at the state of play. He found a sea change at board level that suggests a shift in the company’s approach to staffing and product development. And no press releases to explain...
I mention this here not to pull additional attention to F&W’s initial post but to study its origination and the response to it. Understandably, M/KT had not announced these departures formally, but did that mean the industry was not interested or should not know?
Following calls to a number of the parties involved, some of the news in Audio Boy’s original post was held back – respecting the industry’s best interests. This was a result of adult ‘off the record’ discussion, free of advertising concessions or favour.
The M/KT line was that the changes were an internal affair with no intervention from The Music Group. There appeared little interest in what Fast-and-Wide might have to say. Details of the post were available to everyone I called before the post went online – as is Fast-and-Wide’s policy of an open right to reply.
Once posted, however, M/KT regarded the post to be inaccurate and damaging. The company pointed to The Music Group’s investment in a UK R&D office, R&D recruitment and the retention of Alex Cooper in a consultative capacity. I was told that a formal release would follow…
But not before a fast-and-hostile attempt was made to discredit the Next Chapter story, criticising Audio Boy’s anonymity and dismissing it as ‘rumours’. This was posted almost immediately and anonymously. Invited to identify himself and substantiate his claims, ‘ray’ – on a hotmail address – faded away.
What Midas/KT said...
Initially witheld from Fast-and-Wide but now in the public domain, the official line explains that Midas and Klark Teknik is ‘undergoing a restructuring of the management team to accommodate Oakley’s departure and allow for better integration within the shared services of the parent Music Group. Newcomer Ian Riley, who joined Midas/Klark Teknik from Harman earlier this year, takes on the role of VP Operations and R&D, while Jonathan Chitty is VP Customer Support, a new division which handles day-to-day commercial and financial matters.
‘On the manufacturing side, the Music Group has invested US$10m in a dedicated manufacturing facility for the Midas and Klark Teknik brands, with another US$10m in state-of-the-art SMT and optical inspection systems. Also driving the next phase of Midas/Klark Teknik’s development is the expanding R&D “centre of excellence” in Manchester, established with significant investment from the Music Group to recruit new R&D talent for the brands.’
The release also included a statement from Music Group CEO Uli Behringer: ‘I am sad to see John [Oakley] leave the company after all he has done for Midas and Klark Teknik. We wish him all the best for the future. With the strong team we have in place now, Midas and Klark Teknik is already seeing a strong increase in revenue streams and the volume of products shipped such as the new VeniceF, which is in full mass production.’
Audio Boy’s post remains factually accurate and, above all, positive. And without it, it seems likely that the company would still be tight-lipped on these developments – which as Audio Boy rightly points out is their prerogative, but that choice does not stop events such as these being of interest to the industry as a whole. Indeed, the traffic attracted by this post demonstrates that they are.
M/KT says that there are more developments in the pipeline on a number of fronts and that these will be revealed at the appropriate time – but the company is adamant that, at present, there is nothing further that can be made public. Remaining questions will have to wait for their answers.
So the spotlight returns to the press, and its relationship with news and PR.
What do we want from the pro audio press and the services that support it? Is print publishing and passive PR the way to take our business forward? Or is it time to reinvent, taking in changing times and new technologies? Like taking a leaf from the book of the industry itself…