This past week at my place of work, we heard that two staples of the metal press - Metal Edge and Metal Maniacs – are shuttering their doors. While many magazines continue to post lower and lower subscription numbers (with the exception of a few) while raising advertising rates (you know those things cost around $2,500-$3,500 for a full page advertisement?), I ask myself: is it worth it? From a record label standpoint, the logical connection between a kid seeing an ad in a magazine and them going out immediately to buy a record is basically non-existent. (Correct me if I am wrong, people). Accordingly, we have curbed many of our budgets to reflect that.

Also for the sake of discussion: does press/good reviews/bad reviews even matter? Most music critics slam some of the most popular music within the punk/metal/hardcore/emo scene, and yet kids continue to buy that stuff in droves. If memory serves me, I saw a study that showed a large majority of people do not even pay attention to music reviews.

So, where do you all stand with it? I know everyone’s opinion will differ; but with everyone having a voice on their own music blog or review site, does press even matter?