Is GoldMine still relevant ?

Is GoldMine still relevant ?

Probably like some of you, I've been receiving free issues of GoldMine magazine in my mailbox lately, with subscription discount offers, etc. like I've never seen before.

Sadly, the issues have been getting smaller and smaller, presumably at least in part because of the dominance of internet collectible/auction sites.

Have any other buyers/sellers let their subscriptions or ad contracts slide?

I, for one, have never had anything put a positive experience with their staff and advertisers. I just hope they are able to maintain their relevance.

Any thoughts?




- Michael

 

I'd have to say no.

The internet seems to be taking over and record collecting is no exception. I still like reading it though, but the issues have gotten a lot thinner over the years. Just dig out a copy from 8 or 10 years ago and you'll see what I mean.

I still like "shopping" through an issue and the featured articles are usually well written. The want ads are a lot smaller these days.

Oh well, I still like having it around and of course every November there's the annual Beatles issue. Can't say no to that can I ?

 

I still find the articles valuable, there IS more in there besides the ads, after all.

 

I enjoy Goldmines articles and will remian a subsciber as long as they stay in business. I am sure their income has taken huge hits due to
the decline of unit ads. The way of the world

 

It'll be interesting to see what Tim has to say, unless it's a conflict of interest. As for me, I subscribed for a year and never renewed...it was at a bad point and I couldn't afford to renew. But of anything, I enjoyed the artist interviews the most, as they were lengthy and went beyond all the fluff to talk about the music.

I try not to buy too much on eBay or elsewhere online, but even in Goldmine I never looked at the ads very much. If anything, I checked over the record show schedules to see what was in town. Their record guides are always helpful though, so that's a good way to keep on supporting the company.

 

I love it and subscribe to it for the articles. I do not rely on it for the auctions/adverts so I can't fairly say if it's relevent or not. I prefer to do my record shopping in person. For me there's nothing like the thrill of flipping through stacks of lps and 45's and pulling out a gem.

 

I've been subscribing for over 15 years and I still enjoy every issue. Even if the cover story isn't up my alley, there is always something of interest somewhere in the issue. I also subscribe to and enjoy their sister publication, "Discoveries". Along with MOJO,ICE, and Beatlefan, they are my among my favorite music magazines.

 

It's funny to see this poll/thread, I was contemplating on starting a thread about Goldmine Magazine. I have subscribed to Goldmine for 20 years however, this year I did not renew my subscription. The magazine is getting smaller and smaller, and like John Carsell said, it seems the internet is taking over record collecting. Between E-bay and on line services like Red Trumpet, Music Direct, HMV etc. Unfortunately Goldmine's place in record collecting is getting smaller.

 

i can't even remember the last time i looked at an issue of goldmine, and i used to read it cover to cover.

the internet and ebay made it irrelevant IMHO.

renny

 

Great thread! I still read both Goldmine and Discoveries. Goldmine has gotten smaller, while I think Discoveries has actually gotten much better. Both feature interesting articles which are, IMO, sometimes afflicted with a bit of carelessness - though letterwriters always supply corrections! I actually wish they would merge. It's true that eBay has changed the role of the ads in each mag... but I would say that the nature of many of the advertisers is still somewhat distinct from eBay and other internet resources. I find things at better prices in the print ads than I do online, for the most part - but maybe that's just the stuff I'm looking for. On the whole, I hope that pressure from the internet helps each mag become better, more distinctive in some way. For me, print is not the same as online, and I'm happy that we have both these mags and the internet, though each have their notable deficiencies.

 

I just this week renewed my subscription for another year. I've enjoyed Goldmine for more than a decade. I always seem to find something of interest in the articles. And as previously mentioned, the annual Beatles issue is always great.

 

My interest in Goldmine (and Discoveries) is the feature articles, and the information I can get from. I used to be a subscriber, but they did a run of features that just didn't interest me at the time, so I cancelled. I still thumb through the copies at the bookstore.

 

In my vinyl days, it was essential Just got a sample issue recently also...

 

No offense to Tim Neely because he has personally lent me some great advice on selling!

With THAT said...The magazine as it's stands, is another matter!

I used to really look forward to receiving BOTH "Goldmine" & "Discoveries" but somewhere along the way, they both started to become nearly the exact same magazine! What bothered me the MOST about this dilemma was that for some STUPID reason I was getting BOTH of them delivered on the same damn day.

NOTE: When I went to a GOLDMINE record show last year at the Cleveland Rock Hall, someone sitting at the "GOLDMINE" booth asked me what I thought of the magazine and I told her that I do NOT like getting both magazines the same day (or same week for that matter!) Well, since they didn't heed my advise and they still almost always arrive to me that way, I've decided that ONE must go. That one is "GOLDMINE"!!! I have concluded that my favorite feature in either magazine is "Discoveries" MARKET WATCH. While I won't lie that the guy who writes that article gets stuck in "PUNK-VILLE" more than I care for, he does occasionally list the kind of music that interests me! (This latest issue he noted how Neil Diamond's "Jazz Singer" DVD was gaining value.)

I also used to enjoy looking through the ads, but most of the oldies-reissue guys are gone. I personally think that the "DISC COLLECTOR" of Colorado has a great selection and decent prices, but he always seems to take FOREVER to deliver my discs! I don't like to pay UPS charges and then get it in two weeks! I've had CD's come from Australia 3 times faster than him!

Sorry "GOLDMINE" but no renewal for you this year! Thicken up and fly right and maybe you will be welcomed in my home again at a later date!

Chris C

 

Still read it. Still like it.

 

GOldmine-
What a concept!

I used to drive 20 miles to get my copies everyother week. I had found a place called Billy-Lee's music in Worcestor MA(he used to be a local rocker) and had tons of old LP's and many guitars and amps. One night I was on my delivery route and was looking for LP's(this has gotta be around 1986).

I finally decided to subscribe.

Boy how times were so simpler then!!! For the "Set Sales" or for whatever piece someone had listed- I would blindly just send the money. I would always get the piece in the mail, and it was always as listed. I never had problems with anyone who listed.

I loved their articles.

I really think time has passed them by now that there is the immediacy of the internet, and many other venues for sales and advertising. Many other on-line sources for information as well. It's really too bad!

I still have many of my mags sitting around in boxes somehwere- most from the mid to late 80's too somewhere in the early '90's. Is there even a market for these?

Chris

 

I was a faithful reader for a number of years, but quit reading it about five years ago. Many of the articles were excellent, but getting through the magazine ended up being a large time investment. I would often have several issues queued up. I scoured the ads and certainly scored some great/rare items. I don't think i'd be able to read it anymore without a magnifying class, though. I guess i'm one of those people who've abandoned Goldmine in favor of using the internet.

 

I can remember about 10 years ago reading several issues in the hope of finding an elusive British import-only CD I had been searching for for some time. I never found it in GoldMine. I found it on ebay in a very short time, and owned it about a month or so later. So, if the magazine was ever relevant for purposes of offering elusive items, ebay quickly superceded it. That said, I could see its value from a sales standpoint, as you can pay one listing fee to list a large number of items which stay available at a set price not for a limited time but until the ad expires or you withdraw them. So, Goldmine is more like half.com than it is like ebay. If half.com goes away, I can see that the magazine could have some utility again.

 

I cant read most of the ads...the print is just too damn small.

I always wanted to call those advertisers and tell them "Hey, I just skipped right over your ad, because I cant read it" What good is an ad you cant read?

 

I quit subscribing when I got married and had children. Great magazine when you have disposable income. I always thought their interviews were top notch too.
Whenever I can't find something now I just go to the internet.

Joe L.

 

I have purchased Goldmine on a few occasions and I've always enjoyed it. Their articles and discographies are well-researched and provide all the information you could want on a given artist.

What's always struck me about the ad section is how many of the vendors openly hawk bootleg LPs, CDs and videos. With all the attention being focused on piracy and the RIAA's stance against it, it's amazing that these guys are still doing it.

Hiding in plain sight, maybe??

 

Actually not. it isnt THOSE guys the RIAA are after. Those kinds of priates will always exist and dont really cost the industry anything when they sell a Cd of a live Bruce concert that isnt available legitemately anyway!!!

Its the 1,000,000 college kids trading hundreds of songs that pisses off the RIAA.

Which I cant really understand. They wouldnt BUY all the stuff they trade, just a tiny fraction of it. I guess its the sum of all those tiny fractions that the RIAA is upset about.

 

Interesting comments, all!

As many of you know, I work for Krause Publications and work closely with Goldmine (less so with Discoveries, but both magazines now come out of the same building in Wisconsin, so I can't help but help out occasionally).

I won't try to change anyone's mind as to whether they think Goldmine is still relevant to them. Obviously, some advertisers, even those with a strong online presence, still think it is.

Some general comments:

1. In 1998-99, when we used to have issues in the 180-200 page range, people used to ask us to come out monthly, because they didn't have time to read all the ads before the next issue came along. Now, people complain that we're too small. I guess we can't win!
2. Actually, Goldmine is not continually shrinking; we've stabilized at between 72 and 80 pages, and we've been at that level for a year and a half.
3. Yes, we lost a lot of the mom-and-poppers to the Internet. Also, in keeping with the generally lackluster economy, some other regular advertisers have disappeared. (Music Machine, which always had the inside front cover, closed shop almost two years ago, and that's only one example.) But by shrinking the magazine and controlling costs, we remain viable. And some advertisers have found that they can't get by on the Internet alone.
4. People sometimes blame us for the small print. But that is the advertisers' decision, not ours. Some years ago, before my time here, we actually had an interesting subscription premium -- a free magnifying glass with your payment! It was quite popular. Yes, people did call some of the advertisers to complain about the print. Some of them ran later ads with larger print. Some of them didn't.
5. Finally, it's not our fault that Goldmine and Discoveries might arrive at your house at the same time; you can blame that one on the U.S. Postal Service. Once the magazines leave the printer's, they are out of our hands. Goldmine leaves here every other Tuesday; Discoveries leaves here around the 9th of each month, with the goal of being on the newsstands by the 15th. Because there are 26 issues of Goldmine in a year and 12 of Discoveries, sometimes the publishing dates come close to each other. But never are both printed on the same day.