On magazine's circulation figures

DownBeat was ABC audited for a while in the '70s. It has not been audited in the time that I've been here. Neither was JazzTimes, neither is Jazziz. It's an expensive process, so I understand why. But there are some circulation claims out there that have made me scratch my head over the years. Notice that DB is the only one of the three magazine during the course of the last decade that has said its circulation numbers had decreased, and it's the only one still in business without interruption. 

We lost the circ because we made some missteps and had to correct some serious inefficiencies. In the last five years, we've gone to a one-price policy for subscribers (but we do still offer a student and professional rate). That cuts out confusion in the marketplace. We cut out ALL unprofitable circulation (deep-discounted subs from agencies and the like). We vastly improved efficiency on the newsstand, but gave up some sales in the process. We've turned our online subscription option into the fastest-growing portion of our business. . . And we launched a digital edition last year that is growing nicely for those readers who want their jazz magazine delivered to their desktop, not their doorstep. In short, we've made subscribing to DownBeat easy and give it to our readers through their preferred delivery system.

The result has been growth in subs so far this year during the recession. It's slow growth, but it's nice.

Like everyone, we're affected by the recession, but we are solid. And I see nothing but opportunity for this magazine in the coming years. And when I say magazine, I mean the print version, the digital edition, the web site and our e-newsletter, not to mention our book division and the hundreds of other ideas we've got rattling around, but haven't found time to execute yet.

 . . . We've got a nice, loyal readership. We don't overstate our circulation. We try to deliver a high-quality, creative magazine that is informative and entertaining.  That ends my sales pitch.