The New Gramophone Archive - First Term Report
Fri, Apr 5 2013, 6:31PM
#2
RE: The New Gramophone Archive - First Term Report
I gave up paying for that tripe about 7 years ago.
bazza, why are you such a regular on this site since you seem to hold the magazine in such contempt? I think I prefer dealing with Parla!
Fri, Apr 5 2013, 7:39PM
#3
RE: The New Gramophone Archive - First Term Report
But you're still prepared to pay good money to watch West Ham! Anyway, one of us will be in a better mood after Sunday's match!
Chris, given our record at Anfield, I doubt if it will be me!
Fri, Apr 12 2013, 1:11PM
#4
RE: The New Gramophone Archive - First Term Report
It would be interesting to know the proportion of digital to print subscribers, but I'm not holding my breath.
Hi Chris,
The digital magazine readership figures are now released in our annual ABC report. Last year we had an average of 1,481 people reading each issue of the digital magazine. This figure was calculated for the whole of 2012 but since the launch of the archive last October that number has increased to roughly 3,000 readers per issue.
The rise in audiences using mobile devices for their news and media means it is more important than ever that we develop viable and user friendly digital products. The sucess of the digital archive is the first step on this road and there are more digital developments in the pipleline. I am hopeful we will be able to launch the first of these in the next few months.
I hope this answers some of your questions.
Luca
Fri, Apr 12 2013, 11:52PM
#5
RE: The New Gramophone Archive - First Term Report
Luca
You very obviously failed to deal with the main complaint. What are you going to do about the dreadful search facility? Come on - deal fairly with your loyal customers. I want to be able to see a CD and search to find the review. Last night I was trying to find a review of Günter Wand conducting Brahms - recordings made in 1982 and 1983. How do I trace the review? Come on - tell us. Don't just make vague promises about changes in the next six months. Answer the criticisms or say sorry folks we cocked that up and we will refund some of your subscription in recognition that the search facility is pants.
I bet silence ensues.....
Wed, Apr 17 2013, 7:20PM
#6
RE: The New Gramophone Archive - First Term Report
Indeed the silence is deafening.
In the absence of any comment, I would suggest that the wholly false statement, the reference in the advertising to a "powerful search tool" should be amended unless or until such a tool is introduced.
I repeat that the archive is a valuable way of accessing older issues of Gramophone. But dishonesty about the search features undermines its value and can only annoy subscribers who feel they have been misled.
Will there be any response?
Chris
Wed, Apr 17 2013, 10:43PM
#7
RE: The New Gramophone Archive - First Term Report
Well I suppose the search engine is kind of powerful. It does give speedy access to 90 years of stuff. It's just not very good.
Tue, Apr 23 2013, 6:00PM
#8
RE: The New Gramophone Archive - First Term Report
Dear John, Chris and Paul,
Apologies for the delay in replying to your posts but I have been busy working on the new website we are currently building.
I do sympathise with your frustrations around the search functionality but it is a way of exploring the features, reviews and interviews we have published over the last 90 years of Gramophone. It was never built or advertised as a dedicated reviews database and therefore isn't able to filter down to an individual recording without some very precise search terms. It is for this reason that most my time is currently focussed on building that very facility for the new website.
If you want to use the archive to search for a specific recording the most effective way is to use the catalogue number. Please try some of these as examples:
PNCD050: R. Strauss Orchestral works by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra from March 1991
ODE860-2: Kokkonen symphonies by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra from July 1997
471 502-2GH2: Mahler Symphony No. 3 by Abbado from July 2002.
Again, you won't always get a hit but it is the most effective way I have found so far. I know this still won't meet all of your needs but I do believe it is fair to describe it as "powerful" given that it searches through the text on over 110,000 pages of our archive.
I hope this answers some of your questions.
Kind Regards,
Luca Da Re
Luca
You very obviously failed to deal with the main complaint. What are you going to do about the dreadful search facility? Come on - deal fairly with your loyal customers. I want to be able to see a CD and search to find the review. Last night I was trying to find a review of Günter Wand conducting Brahms - recordings made in 1982 and 1983. How do I trace the review? Come on - tell us. Don't just make vague promises about changes in the next six months. Answer the criticisms or say sorry folks we cocked that up and we will refund some of your subscription in recognition that the search facility is pants.
I bet silence ensues.....
Tue, Apr 23 2013, 6:37PM
#9
RE: The New Gramophone Archive - First Term Report
.
Tue, Apr 30 2013, 4:05PM
#10
RE: The New Gramophone Archive - First Term Report
Dear Luca,
Thank you for taking the trouble to reply to my comments. It is good news indeed that you are working on the search facility we all want! I'm sure I'm not the only one who is looking forward to the results of your work.
Chris
But you're still prepared to pay good money to watch West Ham! Anyway, one of us will be in a better mood after Sunday's match!
Chris A.Gnostic