Honest opinion of my online magazine

[Sockmonkey]

I would like to get some feedback on my online music magazine, I would like people to be 100% honest with me and give your brutal opinion.

Please motivate why you say that some areas are bad or good so that I can have a look at it and improve on the next issue.

I know that this magazine is not perfect, there are some areas that I am not happy with but thats why I want to hear from you guys and girls as well. I see the online version of the magazine as a pilot issue for when we go into printing in about 12 months time.

I would like to apologize for the heavy metal fans, I unfortunately overlooked you, but I will make up for it in issue 02.

Here is the link - http://issuu.com/morethanmusic/docs/...owFlipBtn=true

Local Download (4MB) - http://www.quickshare.co.za/files/9z...ember.pdf.html

[OmegaFenix]

Well i just had a quick flip through the pages. Love the set up, really feels like a magazine online. Thinking that i might be heavy on cap if it needs to open and effective download each page. Since im at work now i haven't check. Other than that i dont see anything wrong with it. Very impressive.

[Azimuth]

My brutally honest opinion? I closed the tab as soon as I saw it was built in Flash.

I've never much seen the point in presenting an online "magazine" in the same (or, at least, approximated) format as actual physical media. The reason magazines have pages and whatnot is because, well, that's the only way to make them work in the tricky space of real world physics. :P

When you're working online, why stick with such rigid restrictions? Look at sites like Wired - unmistakably a magazine, but without all the unnecessary magazine formatting.

[Tinman]

OMG I just typed a massive response to this and then accidentally hit back on my keyboard (which is brilliantly located next to my arrow keys).

In short:

Nice product, I am impressed. Lots of good content and nicely presented.

Problems

Editing is a bit sloppy. Dont feel bad, we have had the same issues at MyGaming. It happens when you have one person doing almost everything. A sub-editor at some point would do wonders.

Secondly, Im not convinced about the target audience. It might be a bit broad. IE, will metal kids buy a magazine that consists of only 10% metal music? Same for hip-hop and pop fans etc. People might be a bit close minded, but I may be totally wrong on this.

All the best with the project, it is looking promising!

BTW you could not have picked a more difficult time to try and launch a print magazine :P

The last few months have seen companies cutting add budgets drastically, and print has been hit hard. Don't let that get you down though, there is still room, just anticipate this challenge.

Edit
Azimuth makes a good point, have you considered launching the publication in a more web-centric manner?

[Gradius]

I like the layout very much. It looks very slick Just browsed few pages and what not.

If like Azimuth and TinMan has mentioned, if you want to release "online" your going have to skip the restrictions of a book.

Otherwise, the scope of you want to trying to achieve in your audience is too broad. Inevitably you will have to leave certain genres out, but you can't keep everyone happy either

Good job though! Keep up the hard work

[Lydon]

Mense, don't forget

I see the online version of the magazine as a pilot issue for when we go into printing in about 12 months time.

Anyway, I'll check the mag out tomorrow morning and let you know what I think.

[Sockmonkey]

Thank you everyone for giving your thoughts.

Omegafenix - Thanks for the encouragement.

Azimuth - I see what you are saying and I agree that magazine formatting has its limitations online, I had a look at the wired website and I agree that their magazine section is very well presented.

Tinman - It would have been nice to read the full version, but thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to reply. I was a bit worried about our target audience we will have to narrow it down considerably. The editing is very sloppy I'm hoping to use professional writers and editors in the next issue.

Graduis - I guess we are trying to appeal to a bigger audience than we can serve, we will have a look into it.

Keep the comments coming, I really appreciate them all.

[Mephisto_Helix]

I also think it holds some great potential ..... if like what has been mentioned about narrowing it's scope down is taken to heart. Don't spread yourself too thin, rather establish yourself firmly in something and then branch out a little.

But yeah, much better than a lot that's out there

[Wenzdayz]

i had a looksy through the mag and i have to congratulate you on all the ffort you put in the mag. i do however agree with Tinman and Azimuth on the layout/format in which you presented your mag.

Well done!