So how does one clean a long list of hobby sites without losing the good stuff?
Well, if in the feed of a site* were too many articles on the list below, I would kick it out!
– PR announcements of future products.
– New products with PR big notes.
– PR only photos of products.

Looks like a simple thing to avoid, unless you are on the new innerfidelity that is.
Sadly it isn’t and very few hobby sites had articles related with reviews, opinions, show reports, factory visits (Still PR but actually useful), topic research or (imagine that) music related articles!

I shit you not! Most sites were PR outlets! Ok, I also review stuff sent by a store but cmon I actually try to write opinion articles and do some research whenever I can.
Sure I don’t write about music because I still lack the necessary skills to do it, but I do want to actually try it!

Anyway, we are talking about sites that are maintained full time by their owners/editors. Why so much PR stuff? I don’t get it, I really don’t!
Amazingly enough, I had amateur blogs that had more content than professional sites.
This tells a lot about the state of the community, we have amazing enthusiasts that go a long way to write interesting things without any monetary incentive.
On the other hand, we got professional outlets that spit out the same shit over and over again! What the F$%# is wrong with these people?

I literally cut my feed stream in half. Yes, half sites were PR related stuff.
Unless the editors of those sites start having a little forward thinking and also dropping their pants a little less, this hobby will keep struggling to reach out to newer audiences, who now spend most their time on Youtube and other platforms.
I said it once and will say it many times in future, it’s important to maintain a healthy community if we saturate the hobby with PR bullshit in every single fuc%&$#& site, blog or social media platform we’ll have a recipe for disaster.

If I’m getting tired of this bullshit, I can only imagine the boredom of some newbies in the hobby. Oh! Look! Another PR thing! Oh! Cool! Another future release full PR things!
I already wrote something related to this in the past but from time to time I need to release some steam.

The companies need to sell and I totally understand that.
Yes, the consumers must know about the new things being released now and in the future. Yea…But why so much PR bullshit? Why so much ego massage to the sponsors?
Write informative stuff, go visit some shows or factories, write about good audiophile “grade” albums, make some interviews (shit, I do them and I’m not a professional! )

Sorry for the rant but I had to write this down for my sanity sake!

*Sites and blogs, I’m being a bit generic for the sake of simplicity.