March 2026

The Cost Of Truth In High-End Audio Journalism
How commercial pressure and access-driven incentives, and pay-for-play videos, hollow out independent audiophile criticism.
Editorial By Steven R. Rochlin

  The hobby of high-end audio has always traded in reverence: for rare recordings, for the craft of cabinet makers and tube artisans, and for the slow, patient work of listening. That reverence can be a virtue, but it becomes a liability when it substitutes for rigorous, independent criticism. When reviewers conflate admiration with endorsement, the reader loses a reliable compass, and the market loses a healthy corrective. Commercial pressures are not hypothetical; brands pay YouTube influencers to feature their products. Not too long ago, a YouTuber coerced manufacturers into paying monthly to keep his YouTube videos of their products online.

For those curious, we've never monetized any of our YouTube videos. Not even the massive effort to produce the Blue Masters At The Crossroads live stream. That was my free gift to longtime friend Chad Kassem and his mother, who, for the first time, she could not attend the concert. We live streamed it to her... and the entire world using professional studio equipment at our expense of not just currency, in both far more valuable time and immense effort.

Publication Structures And Manufacturer Business Practices
Manufacturers' court show coverage, sure, yet there's a difference between paid appearances and normal hospitality. Without a doubt, it subtly reshapes their luxury audio event coverage. Shows might help with hotel, and manufacturers pay for shipping both ways for review gear. That was Old School, as times seems to have changed for certain others within the industry. Now manufacturers pay for the review, and shows have to cough up full-pay for all expenses, and perhaps pay the writer for their show coverage too? Surely this can't be true, can it? Also, closed-door sessions when a show in open seems a bit... how about before the show begins, or after the show closes, so the public who are attending the show have an opportunity. Of course manufacturers can limit who they allow review samples to, and yes it seems some manufacturers may be limiting who can push forward their 'marketing signal' without any fear of 'honest noise'. All just my humble opinion, as given it is 2026 the paid influencer thing have migrated to paid reviews and paid-for YouTube videos. All good, we know it is 2026.

When a publication's survival depends on access to the very companies it is meant to scrutinize, the incentives to soften criticism in some places may be obvious. The result is a steady drift toward feature lists and lifestyle framing, away from the hard, sometimes uncomfortable work of testing claims and calling out shortcomings. How many more "This is the best of this week awards", "I found my final speaker", videos of "The world's most expensive", or any number of other generated videos and fluff articles? Remember that controversial, proprietary, lossy streaming audio format that caused many debates? Yes, it is lossy. Yes it is non-standard and adds licensing costs. Yes, there just might have been some... going on. Certain audio personalities and publications were pushing that proprietary audio compression scheme pretty hard. Questions arise.

For Independent Publications
For independent publications, building structures that preserve the capacity to be candid are essential. That can include transparent loan policies and a firewall between advertising and reviewers. No reviewers, or their wives, here at Enjoy the Music.com have anything to do with advertising. It means we invest in our staff of music lovers who understand both the physics of sound and the aesthetics of listening, so that subjective impressions are clearly communicated to you. In fact, we're hiring musicians and recording studio / FOH / etc music lovers who desire reviewing gear. E-mail us.

Careful listening and writing reviews is not as easy as it may seem. Video is far easier imho. If you have such writing talents and skills, will mention again that Enjoy the Music.com is hiring musicians, audio engineers, etc. E-mail us at the link at the bottom of this page. We want to hire you!

The Slow Death Of Criticism
The death-of-criticism narrative is seductive because it simplifies a complex decline into a single villain. The truth is messier: some outlets have indeed retreated into cheerleading while asking for $1500 or more for a review, or rumors of $50,000 a year advertising contracts. Enjoy the Music.com's roots were by not accepting ads here, yet to visit over 280 shows, hire a staff or writers, etc... these are not cost-free. The situation of accepting ads, at reasonable fee, is not a moral failing. It helps the high-end audio ecosystem. Readers and listeners bear, perhaps, a bit of responsibility too. Enthusiasts who demand only hype videos and praise are rewarded with puff pieces, surely optimized for SEO scoring of course. Paying for clicks and shares are part of the ecosystem that starves critical voices. Paid influencers influencing, including all that free gear you have, we as an industry do need those. As long as manufacturers and streamers / publications are open and transparent.

The Value Of Critical Appraisal
If the audiophile community audience values independent appraisal, it must be willing to support the outlets that provide it. Some publications spread out a review to two or three pages, just to get more pageviews for their advertisers / bean counters as there's really no other reason to spread the text over multiple pages. And that's fine, that's their business model, and surely they get more pageviews per review, but is that really.... you know.

After we've freely reviewed two of your company's products, it is too much to ask for a bit of support if you'd like us to review a third product? Obviously you value our effort and time. Or, as two people basically admitted to me this past weekend at the Florida International Audio Expo 2026, they are knowingly abusing us, taking advantage of our goodhearted nature as we're not pay-for-play. There's a give and take that's fair, and equitable. Why should manufacturers and distributors who do enjoy our efforts be paying for your company's third or fourth product review? Fair, and equitable.

Some of the larger corporations are (overly) depend on longstanding representatives, who we see at shows and assign review gear. High-end audio, as a community, is quite small. These larger business entities might not be fully aware of their representative's actions. Thankfully, during the past 30+ years we've made contacts with many of them, past their representatives. Rest assured, especially after discussions during this past weekend, am planning to have a multiple conference call with some longtime associates who might not be aware of.....

Audiophile Culture
There is also a cultural dimension. Audiophile discourse has long been prone to mystification, to language changes that elevates subjective nuance into quasi-religious doctrine. Like music, and each generation of humans, those young kids' crazy music, what do they know about music and describing it? That audiophile language, sure, it has its place, as do tweaks, but it must be balanced by clarity. Reviewers should explain what they heard, how they tested it, and why it matters. Precision in description is not the enemy of passion; it is its necessary companion. Transparency about methodology is a practical remedy. When a review explains his sound system, the room treatments, the source material... readers here at Enjoy the Music.com can judge the relevance of the findings to their own home audio sound systems.

Imho, the industry must also reckon with the lifecycle of gear and the environmental and economic realities that surround it. Honest criticism includes asking whether a product's incremental improvements justify its price and its resource footprint.

For Over 30 Continuous Years We're Playing The Long Game
Finally, stewardship is a long game here at Enjoy the Music.com. We have seen quite a few publications come and go over the decades. Maybe one day we'll create a team to help with HighEndAudio.com, and perhaps another team for Immersivephile.com. Remember way back when eTown received $30,000,000 during the Dot Com boom, some questioned how long this publication you are reading right now in 2026 would be around.

eTown had the cards, the writers...

...the deep financial pockets, and yes the Big Corporate Business connections. So, how long would Enjoy the Music.com be around?

My answer decades ago was simple: Enjoy the Music.com will be here tomorrow.

Tomorrow is here.

We Need You, And Your Writing Skills
So my friends here at Enjoy the Music.com, building an excellent resource for music lovers that protects truth in audio criticism means training new reviewers, our longstanding and highly-respected Blue Note rating standards, and cultivating a readership that prizes scrutiny over spectacle. It means accepting that, sometimes, the most valuable piece a publication can produce is a careful, inconvenient critique that nudges the industry toward better practices.

If the audiophile community wants a healthier discourse, it must be willing to defend it, and participate in it! We are hiring reviewers: musicians and audio engineers, please. Truth has a cost, but the alternative is a marketplace of mirrors pay-for-play where praise is cheap (or very expensive), closed exhibit room only open for the 'priviledged'... and music's true meaning is lost. The work of preserving honest, rigorous audio criticism is not glamorous, but it is essential to the integrity of the hobby we deeply love and cherish.

During the recent Florida International Audio Expo 2026, there were very frank discussions with various manufacturers / representatives / distributors... with some who may prefer to pay 'reviewers' and for YouTube features, versus trusting independent publications for an honest assessment of their products. Big corporations have bean counters, and they like paying 'insurance' for the best commercially-approved faces. If that is not what you prefer, then there's a deeper discussion to be made.

As always in the end what really matters is that you...

 

Enjoy the Music,

Steven R. Rochlin