IRR in trouble?

[Alan Howe]

Does this mean the closure of the magazine?>>>
http://recordreview.co.uk/index.php

[sdtom]

that's what it sounds like to me also
Tom

[mbhaub]

Very sad news, but I suspected it was coming. For the serious collector there aren't many options left.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Very sadly, IRR has closed altogether and will no longer be issued. Which means we are left with the egregious Gramophone or the BBC Music Magazine, neither of which does what IRR did so splendidly. The industry dumbs down again!

[Alan Howe]

Oh dear. That's terrible news. What does one buy instead? Fanfare?

[erato]

Diapason seems the best option. It might even improve my french.

[Alan Howe]

Anything good in German?

[Wheesht]

I have never subscribed to Fonoforum from Germany, but I do read it quite often in a library, mainly for the CD reviews, which are arranged by genre.

Fanfare, of which I have been a subscriber for over twenty years, is a satisfyingly hefty tome and that's why I prefer it, and also because it often contains reviews of more unusual labels.

[eschiss1]

Fanfare used to regularly also have much longer, interestingly comparative, detailed, and thought-provoking reviews (William Youngren's long Wagner recording reviews come to mind, e.g. ...), becoming one of the subscriptions I kept around for re-reading for longest (most dog-eared/etc./etc.) though with decreasing space everything starts to have to go eventually...well... erm.  More recent issues I've purchased seem to be (figuratively) thinner in some important and unfortunate respects, but I haven't read it in awhile- what you write suggests I should look for more recent issues and see.

[mbhaub]

For US readers the best bets are American Record Guide and Fanfare. I've tried some of the online services, but they really don't compare: not that many reviews, slow to update. Musicweb-International very good, especially for being free (I should make a contribution!). Dumbing down is exactly where we are going. But then I still remember when Musical America was a BIG magazine and worthy of reading.

[giles.enders]

This is very sad news.  Surely someone could have continued to run it.  Where classical music is concerned there don't seem to be many philanthropists out there.

[sdtom]

This is very sad news.  Surely someone could have continued to run it.  Where classical music is concerned there don't seem to be many philanthropists out there.

I know you're right about that one.
Tom

[Alan Howe]

Could it continue online?

[Delicious Manager]

Does anyone remember Hi-Fi News and Record Review? It was my favourite review mag when I was young.

[Alan Howe]

Yes. But my favourite was Records and Recordings - who remembers that one?