Kevin Sutton wrote:

>Normally, I am no fan of Donald Vroon, editor or American Record Guide.
>I usually disagree with him just on principal! However, today I got the
>new issue and I think that he has some very valid points about freedom
>of the press, and the freedom to pursue what ever musical avenue you
>find worthwhile. I encourage you all to read it. It increased my respect
>for the ole boy ten fold!

Really? I thought he sounded like a whining putz.  To summarize,
he related to his readers that every time he runs one of his bloated,
redundant editorials (the subjects rotate, but are limted to:  modern
American culture sucks, modern classical music sucks, advertising classical
music to people other than cm specialists sucks, HIP sucks, any music other
than classical music sucks, Europeans are better than Americans, and black
people don't listen to classical music) a subscriber or two writes in to
cancel their subscription.  He then goes on to whine that cancelling a
subscription is bad for free speech, confusing the right to free with the
right to a paying audience.  Oh, and he tosses in a bit about how most
publications in the U.S.  are unfortunately owned by corporations.  (The
publication notice in the back of the magazine reveals that ARG is
published by Record Guide Publications, Incorporated.)

Some of my annoyance at his little screed comes my having read the
publication for ten years (and it was damned hard to find on a regular
basis in Gainesville, FL!), and as such having purchased nine or ten
versions of each of Vroon's standard editorial topics.  Although there are
small differences between Fanfare and ARG, the differences balance out, and
the magazines are roughly equal, with an equal number of issues, and are
released on the same schedule at the same price.  I enjoy reading them
both, and am subscribed to both, but that really is a luxury and I don't
see the problem with someone subscribing to only one of them, and chosing
the one with the editor that doesn't normally insult a portion of his
readership.

However, aside from the blacks topic, which I doubt Vroon will return
to and which, I am sure, originated from Vroon having, for an editor, an
incredibly hamfisted writing style rather than racial animosity, Vroon's
usual suspects debate topics and slant are rather generic and stereotypical
fuddy duddy white guy subjects, and aren't really reasons to avoid a
magazine that is quite good, and far better than any of the British
glossies.  It would be nice, though, if he'd just put his standard
editorials on a web site and print the URL in ARG with "See standard rant
no.  3" when he feels like raging against HIP.  That would save a few pages
of ARG every two months, and that way *he* would be paying to disseminate
his views, rather than demanding that *I* pay to receive them with other
content that I actually value.

I don't see Vroon editorals as sufficent reason to not subscribe to ARG,
but it would be nice if Vroon recognized that others have the free speech
right to not purchase his speech.

(Besides, the best argument for remaining on ARG subscription rules is
again in the federal publication disclosure--ARG's circulation per issue is
less than 10,000, with something around 6,000 subscribers, the last time I
checked.  It is rather daunting to think of trying to carry on from month
to month publishing a magazine whose subscribership is only approximately
five times that of this list!)

Jason