Germany’s most respected newspaper slashes record reviews
mainWe hear that the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has made a drastic reduction in the space devoted to classical and jazz record reviews. What used to be a whole page Tuesday and Friday, with an immediate effect on CD sales, has been shrunk to a single review, or none at all.
A staff member in a Frankfurt music store tells us that Eleonore Büning’s recent rave review of the C.P.E.Bach Magnificat on Harmonia Mundi yielded an instant spike in across-the-counter sales. Without that showcase the store might, like so many others, have to close.
Followed, a while later, by the newspaper.
“A staff member in a Frankfurt music store” – well, regrettably, there’s only one little tiny one left here in Frankfurt. My full respect for those running it, but for me it very much lacks the effect of exploring shelves and spotting for things I never heard about before.
This is why usually I do my record shopping when I’m in Berlin or in Munich.
“slashing a record review” would make an entertaining video clip.