I don't know for sure, but in every other industry the magazines are essentially part of the business. They do provide reasonable reviews and opinions about products from the manufacturers who support them with advertising but they tend not to bite the hand that feeds them.

I'm not saying "conspiracy" here, more like "we would be fools to saw off the branch we are sitting on".

The web publications (Soundscape etc..) tend to have lower costs and less dependency on advertisers -- and they tend to look at Axiom products more often.

I guess you could argue that Axiom advertises in web publications and that's why their products get reviewed -- and there is probably a grain of truth in that -- but bottom line is that magazines tend to support the companies who support them.

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