"The obvious question is: why is the interior U.S. not better represented?" Red neck bluegrass and gospel don't sound any better in hi-fidelity?
Seriously though I suspect if you examine the educational levels reached by the majority of a particular population you'll get your answer. Here in Australia, one of our largest audio retailers was in the habit of surveying their existing customers, where they lived, their income and educational levels whenever they were thinking of opening a new branch. Guess what? The average educational level of their customers was way above that of the general populace. Now that leaves us with another question. Does the higher income that comes with higher education enable people to spend more on audio toys or is there something about having a higher educational standard that leads people to want higher fidelity in their music at home? Who knows. I suspect however that the idiocy of buying over the web is going to mess all those demographics up very soon. It's an interesting question though and I'll be interested in other's speculations.
Oh, and for me it's an hours drive plus an hours flight plus another hours drive to get to anything like a high end store. I have no idea where I could buy a copy of Stereophile, Absolute Sound or any such publication anywhere near my home and the live music scene around here is almost non-existent but none of that has prevented me spending silly money on audio gear, a listening room and recordings. But hey, I'm not a typical audiophool, just a silly old git with more money than sense.

It would explain the use of phrased like 'budget' and 'modest' to describe gear costing well into 4 figures. When I lived in Boston one could not get a $2 cup of coffee for less than $4, your $1K a month flat (in Boise) for less than $3K. Money for the good life was a tad more dear in Boston than in smaller cities. Middle income folk in Boston or NY are rich folk about everywhere else.

It does leave the reviewers with a few quirks. They see money differently than many of their readers, do not understand the absolute lack of distribution of many of the lines they extol in the hinterland, and figure the cocktail party talk they encounter in those hotbeds of socialism represent the majority views of the country, which accounts for the snide comment that finds its way into otherwise sound reviews and audio comment.

Quote:
If one looks at the display advertising for audio shops, the shops overwhelmingly are in very limited parts of the country. Namely, a great deal of the shops lie in the corridor from Washington, D.C. up to Boston. Some others are in some of the big West Coast cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. Then there are a small number of shops located in Florida or Texas. While there may be a few small classified ads representing other parts of the country, these areas take up more than 95 percent of the display advertisements.

The obvious question is: why is the interior U.S. not better represented?

Stereophile 's circulation is audited by the ABC, who publishes a geographical break down by state of where subscribers live. I think it a fair estimate -- I don't have the figures in front of me right now -- that 90% of our domestic circulation comes from the two coastal strips (Florida up to Maine via Atlanta; California up to Washington State) plus major interior urban centers like Greater Chicago, Minneapolis, Greater Denver, St. Louis, Dallas, Houston, and Phoenix.

I'll dig up the exact stats but I would be interested in hearing why you guys think the origin of this distribution might be.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

Quote:

Quote:
If one looks at the display advertising for audio shops, the shops overwhelmingly are in very limited parts of the country. Namely, a great deal of the shops lie in the corridor from Washington, D.C. up to Boston. Some others are in some of the big West Coast cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. Then there are a small number of shops located in Florida or Texas. While there may be a few small classified ads representing other parts of the country, these areas take up more than 95 percent of the display advertisements.

The obvious question is: why is the interior U.S. not better represented?

Stereophile 's circulation is audited by the ABC, who publishes a geographical break down by state of where subscribers live. I think it a fair estimate -- I don't have the figures in front of me right now -- that 90% of our domestic circulation comes from the two coastal strips (Florida up to Maine via Atlanta; California up to Washington State) plus major interior urban centers like Greater Chicago, Minneapolis, Greater Denver, St. Louis, Dallas, Houston, and Phoenix.

I'll dig up the exact stats but I would be interested in hearing why you guys think the origin of this distribution might be.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

Sutton's Law - ads likely come from where the money/sales 'is.'

Toussaint, I doubt very much if politics and/or religion have anything to do with the phenomenon you describe.

"High End" audio dealers, by definition, feel they have to reach a certain crowd that mass-marketed products don't. Money talks, and the coastal areas are not only densely populated but well-heeled. Also, these areas have a richly-diversified musical culture. There are many, many symphony orchestras, chamber music groups, opera companies, jazz clubs, and, of course, contemporary "pop" (for want of a better name) groups that regularly perform "live" along the two coastal corridors. And, in my experience (in spite of what you occasionally read on this forum), people who want as close to "live" as they can get usually end up wanting the "High End," even at the lower price points of that category, as it is represented by dealers who might be looking at this magazine as a possible advertising venue.

Of course, that makes Chicago and Detroit mysteries, as you note, since their musical cultures are as richly varied as anyone's. But probably not as richly rich.

The wide-open spaces of the "Midwest" probably don't offer the potential for
increased store traffic, based on advertising of the sort you see in Stereophile , that dealers along the coastal corridors do. In advertising, as JA notes, "bang for the buck" is everything. Dealers who do not get it, and keep spending advertising dollars, are doomed. The business is ruthlessly competitive.

Perhaps the dealers in Detroit and Chicago don't need to advertise in the print media. Perhaps they don't feel the money spent will increase their bottom lines. I do remember the occasional complaint, among Mid-Westerners who post on this forum, about having to drive 200, 300, 400 miles to hear a product reviewed in Stereophile . That may be your answer, since that is not a problem if you live along either coastal corridor.

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to know? Are you from the Mid-West?

Happy tunes.

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:
If one looks at the display advertising for audio shops, the shops overwhelmingly are in very limited parts of the country. Namely, a great deal of the shops lie in the corridor from Washington, D.C. up to Boston. Some others are in some of the big West Coast cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. Then there are a small number of shops located in Florida or Texas. While there may be a few small classified ads representing other parts of the country, these areas take up more than 95 percent of the display advertisements.

The obvious question is: why is the interior U.S. not better represented?

Stereophile 's circulation is audited by the ABC, who publishes a geographical break down by state of where subscribers live. I think it a fair estimate -- I don't have the figures in front of me right now -- that 90% of our domestic circulation comes from the two coastal strips (Florida up to Maine via Atlanta; California up to Washington State) plus major interior urban centers like Greater Chicago, Minneapolis, Greater Denver, St. Louis, Dallas, Houston, and Phoenix.

I'll dig up the exact stats but I would be interested in hearing why you guys think the origin of this distribution might be.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

Sutton's Law - ads likely come from where the money/sales 'is.'

'zactly, Buddha.

I used to watch TV when I was at the age of 12-16 or so, mostly for the adverts so I could see exactly what the 'state of the art' was in the billions of $$ thrown at programming humans -to make them buy useless shite.

One quickly learns that adverts have to be unique for the person to remember them, like the recent comcast 'rabbit/panther thingie' advert. Awesome!

http://motionographer.com/media/biscuit/ComcastRabbit640.mov

The problem is that today's sensation is tomorrows boring..so the ante is always upped. It's getting quite insane now, compared to the mild 70's. It's only going to get worse.

The circulation/advertising would mirror what our political campaigns would be if we abandoned the Electoral College. The biggest factor is going to be income, and very closely linked to that is overall education level. I think you need a certain density of both in a population to support such a niche market like high-end audio. High-end anything really- how many Dior boutiques could survive outside the large urban centers. Or Rolls Royce dealerships?

Of course, it can be a "chicken or egg" thing too. There ARE wealthy people all over and if they don't know certain things exist they won't be able to buy them.

Live in the midwest. know a fair number of audiophiles in the area. They are as large a percentage of the surrounding population as anywhere else.
People in the midwest realize that many specialty items (not just stereo equipment) are unavailable without traveling or using the internet. We do more research on line and thru magazines to find equipment. We know it will usually be a long drawn out process. No instant gratification. We have so few highend dealers we know where they are. It will be a 2-3 hr drive to visit a dealer. Don't need Magazines for that.
A consideration in my town is that you couldn't buy a Stereophile mag before Hastings and Barnes & Noble opened. Do more people subscribe or buy Stereophile from the newstand? It is probably subscription driven around here.
The smartest people don't always live on the coasts. They have to pay people more to live 20ft from neighbors and put up with the traffic jams, pollution, etc.
thanks
barondla
thanks
barondla

"e smartest people don't always live on the coasts. They have to pay people more to live 20ft from neighbors and put up with the traffic jams, pollution, etc."

That IS true- maybe we just want it ALL within a 15 mile radius, if not walking distance! In my town we can walk to most restaurants and stores. My wife commutes in by a 25 min. train ride, and we got rid of our second car when we realized we didn't need it.

On the other hand: One of my neighbors is less than 20 feet away though, haha! As far as I'm concerned, whatever works for you is good, but in higher density areas your choices become much greater and with less effort.

"As for my interest in the sex and religion of the magazine's readers, I don't think these would explain the geographic lumpiness of stereophile residency. I'm just interested in them anyway."
Hm, a sociologist interested in the gender and religious persuasion of Stereophile's readers but not their sexual orientation. What are we to make of that?

"I also have never heard that recorded music sells any better or worse in different geographical areas of the U.S. If musical culture was the explanation for stereophile's geographic distribution, one might think recorded music sales would also be geographically uneven, at least somewhat."

Well, move 50 miles out of a large city and musical buying disappears like water in a desert. Gone- and in it's place are the CD sections in Wal-mart and Target, a Borders if you're lucky. Vinyl Records? Gotta be kidding. New stuff that's NOT Britney, Kayne or Disney sponsored? It sucks big time, which is why I'll never live where I can't be around a market that can support it. Same reason why beyond a certain distance your choices of fine dining get down to Applebees, Ruby Tuesday and Denny's.

Don't agree that music buying halts once you leave the city. Hasn't for me or my friends. It might mean we don't buy music in a store as often. We do buy buy from Music Direct, Acoustic Sounds, Maple Shade, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc. One friend actually travels to ST. Louis (4 hr round trip) and buys mostly classical. He will spend $1000 a day. Does this three or four times a year. By the time he works thru what he bought its another music holiday!

You don't have any more choices in music than we do. No matter how large your stores they can't compete with the internet. The only advantage a big city has is "instant gratification". The big city has many minuses.
thanks
barondla

I live in what I consider to be a small city (under 200K) that is 8 hours from a big city. We have a good used and new vinyl store, a local vinyl preservation society, at least one good stereo dealer (stocks some of the same lines lauded in Stereophile), we have a Borders (poor music selection) and a Barnes and Noble with a good music section. We have a steakhouse as good as any I know in Boston but at half the price and pretty good ethnic food. Seafood is less special than Boston or NY but still a step better than a chain and the fresh caught river fish top the freshness of new England eateries. The resort restaurants in our resort towns like Sun Valley are as good as those in the North East and again, less costly.

The biggest shortfall is in a really BIG audio dealer with a score of lines and really high priced gear available to be heard. That is something only found in BIG cities. I have to buy unheard. I also buy music from Music Direct as well as Amazon.com.

"You don't have any more choices in music than we do. No matter how large your stores they can't compete with the Internet. The only advantage a big city has is "instant gratification". "

Ahhh, you THINK that but if you don't know to look for it, you won't go looking either. Go down to NYC and there are MANY albums you'll find not online or practically anywhere.

All I'm really saying is if you say being "out of the big city" gives you cleaner air, friendlier neighbors, more greenery, larger lawns and a lower cost of living, I'll (mostly) buy that. But saying you have the same access to arts, culture, music selection (or practically any purchasing) as those that live in a large urban area I'd say you're kidding yourself, or haven't been to one lately to see what they have to offer. Most of what's online is just redundant, not unique, new or specialized. I live right outside of Boston, and NYC has a MUCH better selection of both live and recorded music, as well as twice the choices of food and clothing and a lot more. Whenever I go I'm AMAZED at all the things out there I didn't know existed. Do I want actually live there? Not really, but I do know what I'm missing. The number of super models is especially tempting, heh.

I'm in northern NJ, about 3 miles away from two good dealers - Audio Connection and CSA Audio, not to mention those a few more miles away and those in easy to get to NYC.

My main issue is stores to actually buy CDs - with Tower gone, the only place with a decent selection is Virgin Megastores.

I thin k overall if all you want is what a Tower or Virgin store has then maybe online will do it, but for more cutting edge stuff it's still in the indie store like Bleeker Street Records or Other Music (these courtesy of Stephen M). This, to use the phrase "is where all the cool kids go." So it all depends on what you're after I guess.