As (I think) the only Fanfare reviewer playing in this sandpit, I ought to respond (a few days late) to the speculation about a correlation between advertising there and getting good reviews. The answer is: there is none. What occasionally happens is that, if the critic to whom the disc of an advertising company has been sent really pans it, the editor (Joel Flegler) will submit another copy to a second writer in the hope of a balanced reaction. But in my experience (a) there has never been an attempt to suppress the initial, critical review (he publishes both), and (b) he has taken such protective steps ONLY when a small, often start-up recording company has been involved -- I have never know him step in to shield any of the big boys. And that, I think, makes his policy thoughtful, even admirable. As to reviewing only those companies who advertise, I think he takes the view that, since he can't cover everything that comes out (and you see how fat Fanfare is already), he may as well concentrate his resources on those companies which also support Fanfare -- although he also realises that there are companies he can't ignore. It's rare that he cans any suggestion of a review I might make -- and as often as not, it's because the company involved isn't distributed in North America. Cheers Martin Anderson Toccata Press http://www.classical.net/music/books/toccata/