Is GearTube UNSUSTAINABLE Without SHILLING?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ย. 2024
- A look behind the curtain of the "business" of gear review channels and what is and isn´t (in my opinion), shilling.
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I'd be totally willing to shill but no one wants me to. Hard to tell why...
🤣 hard to tell- mainly because there are so many possible theories
😂
yeah that's kinda odd, cause at first glance you're ticking all the synthfluencer boxes
Had the same issue with my OnlyFans page…
@@infn8loopmusic And he's ticking all of them :)
Noir Et Blanc Vie had a very illuminating video a few months back looking at some old electronic musician/producer magazines from the late 90’s and early aughts, and holy crap the level of shilldom there put synth TH-cam to shame. Ads everywhere, zero negativity or criticism of the gear/software. And of course, without direct audio examples it was much easier for those mags to say whatever they wanted about the sound quality.
I think the reason people are so much more sensitive about the shill factor with TH-cam (or instagram or TikTok) is that there’s a parasocial element to TH-cam that the magazines didn’t have. The bylines there were, for all intents and purposes, anonymous. But with TH-cam, a gear review video feels like someone having a conversation with you about it, there’s a personality there you can see with their own unique characteristics. Hell, when Hainbach says “it’s good to have you back” at the start of a video, it doesn’t feel like you’re watching a gear review, it feels like an old friend inviting you in for tea.
So it’s a lot easier to see parasocial relationships as potentially more manipulative than faceless, printed reviews. It can feel like it’s a friend recommending you a product, not a professional video production outfit.
Well said boss, shilling stuff is both a bad idea and not fun
Yeah, definitely not something I’d waste my time with👍🏼 lots of love fam❤️
Being into vintage gear is the easiest way to avoid shilling haha
The thing is that if a youtuber is receiving gear even if “no money changed hands” it should be labeled as sponsored, imho, David Hilowitz does that and makes a point about it… and in other corners of youtube (art tech, coffee machines) there are creators doing just that. And IT IS a sponsorship, their gear even if it’s only borrowed, makes possible the video and saves creators money, the definition of a sponsorship… Just my 2 cents but great video as always
I genuinely don't know; but does marking a video as sponsored reduce their revenue at all? Also I'd wonder. If every synth reviewer was labeled as sponsored - would you personally click on them as freely?
But what does that change in the end?
It enables the viewer to take into account a possible bias by the reviewer
I agree that the label "sponsored" applies. However, it’s not really saving that much money. Say a company asks me to demo their product. It’s a great product but I wouldn’t have bought it myself (maybe because I have another piece of gear that is similar).
I do need the product to make the review. But making the review is a lot of work that I don’t want to do for free.
I can sell the gear for 70% of it’s market value on the used market. But in my country I have to pay income tax based on 100% of the value of the item.
So I get when geartubers differentiate "just" the demo unit and an actual fee on top.
@@loopydemosand precisely for cases such as the one you described, you would not risk your relationship with the brand and call out a bad product, (dismiss cons as not that relevant, etc)…labeling it as a sponsored video allows people to account for that bias almost as if they were watching the brand’s channel. Edit: typo
I think ultimately it comes down to the fact that there is a general lack of transparency and authenticity from folks on TH-cam who are doing gear reviews (perceived, if not actual). This is particularly the case for those who view and operate as a 'business'.
People have no problem understanding bias and parsing subjective information, and I dare say they also understand and appreciate the necessity for some kind of relationship between retailers/manufacturers and the media in order to ensure sustainability. Sonic State is never criticised for accepting gear to review for example.
The trouble comes when folks present themselves in the fashion of: "Oh I'm just a regular guy!", whilst also deliberately operating as a commercial enterprise - with growth and return as the primary considerations. This feels palpably disingenuous, and is what gives the appearance of so-called 'shilling' - irrespective of whatever the intentions might be.
I am sure plenty of folk do this without necessarily realising, simply as a result of the natural progression of things - and I can understand why people feel confused or slighted by the criticism, which can often seem unfair. However, we should also be honest about our primary purpose for making videos. If it is to have a 'gear review' channel, then folks need to be very clear about what that means. Even if that isn't the original purpose, we should also recognise just how easy it is to become seduced into pursuing the dragon, producing 'content' that will maximise growth as the primary goal.
On the flip side, it's also worth noting just how difficult it is to build any kind of audience that isn't based on gear reviews, or which doesn't consistently pump out the kind of thing that is expected and promoted on the platform. Viewers often speak of how they want more authenticity and varied content, but all of the metrics consistently demonstrate that those channels and videos generate far less interest. As a result, the algorithm often dictates the kind of channel that we see bubble up. I know this from personal experience, and deliberately took a step away from a focus on gear reviews as a result - with the predictable drop-off in numbers that came with it.
I am a science educator with a PhD. During COVID I made TH-cam videos for my students. A 5 minute video took me almost an hour to not stutter, misspeak, and edit. I have the utmost respect for anyone that puts the time into making good and quality content. That’s many TH-camrs’ full time job. My full time job allows me to acquire any synth I want, why shouldn’t TH-camrs who reviews synths not get all of them? I’d never trade my job for yours. It’s too much work.
Let's set aside payola. If a youtuber reviews a product negatively, the vendor won't send him more stuff to review, thus cutting off access to a source of youtube video monetization. This imposes a severe bias towards positive reviews. *This* is the fundamental ethical conundrum that geartubers face. All we hear is how great stuff is.
I love your channel and honesty and humour are important to me, got the Pro 3 after your vid on that and the 37, you where indeed correct with everything you said
That’s awesome! Thank you for the kind words ❤️
Very good thoughts and indeed, the recommendation to only review the things you actually like is probably a good one because it means you've studied it well.
Just keep on doing what you do - making great videos with interesting content. Thanks for running an entertaining & informative channel about the things I love - music gear 👍
Thanks so much for the love my friend!!🙌🏻
I don't trust synthtubers whose channels are all glowing ^reviews. ^ I also don't trust synthtubers who don't know the difference between a review, a tutorial and a promotional showcase.
I lost trust in anyone who seemed thrilled about the Vongon Replay.
I chuckled with this comment😂
Yeah it was eye opening, not hating on vongon but on the whole scene lol
Vongon evaporated so much well-earned goodwill on a single Tuesday. Honestly, I'm still pretty upset about the orgiastic frenzy. Looking at you, tediously verbose guitarist.
@@pjforde1978 What happened with the Vongon replay?
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I had this conversation with a guitar TH-camr that regularly reviews gear worth thousands that he gets to keep. Basically his response was the standard “they don’t get to view the video before i publish it” defense, which is bs and totally irrelevant
We’re interested in these topics because we dig well designed gadgets that fascinate and inspire. Talk about bias, yes, sure, of course, if thats the starting point.
Love your work. Thank you.
I appreciate your feedback my friend! Thanks for hanging out with me today🙌🏻
Also always top notch content .. keep doing it like you do, it’a perfect 👍
@@raysubject thanks from the heart my friend❤️
The synth shill problem is a bit like the tiktokers, who do the "just woke up and look this good" pics. They DIDN'T just wake up; and they DID do their makeup. Transparency is key, not so much about whether the review is sponsored, but in terms of expectations for a purchaser, as far as skill level, etc. If the reviewer makes it sound beautiful, GREAT. But please tell the audience if it was a pain in the ass to program. Please tell the audience if it's got weird quirks that might be harder for a person new to the experience. Don't praise it like mad cuz you love Korg (no judgement. I like Korg).
There's a reason why BadGear is a popular channel, and it isn't cuz that guy's shillin.
I think that reviewing gear is often of limited utility, since what the user brings to the experience is paramount. I actually think that we should return to or adopt a community studio model. You go to a studio, pay a fair price for use of the space, share your gear with others who use the space. This way you become properly au fait with gear before you commit to purchase, develop creative and mentor/mentee relationships and move beyond simply being a product consumer and content consumer\producer. Someone like Ezbot adds so much value to a product like the Octatrack that it has saved it from becoming obsolete. I know of so many people who don’t have a social media presence who similarly push relatively modest gear to new dimensions. I often find synthtubers stay well within the rails of the music gear they are demonstrating that they almost diminish potentials sales simply because they are aiming for a general audience. Frankly with such a plethora of new gear arriving every season, I think many have become cynical of the influencer model of marketing. I think we need to regroup locally, set up co-operatives and start getting new gear back into the hands and ears of a majority of users.
Like shared workspaces, but for music! I love it.
That's a cool idea on the one hand, but - on the other hand - it presents a series of issues, advantages as well but those issues do count:
YT is freely available to everyone everywhere 24/7, and that video can make lots of money for all the parties involved. That video can be watched by millions many times over on a global scale.
On the contrary, studio space costs LOTS of money, space is limited, you can't hoard all you want, the reach is very limited, unlike a video, not every town in every country will have this kind of facility, the gear costs lots of money, you need staff and time to learn how gear works, BE VERY GOOD at explaining how to use it, probably have sort of insurance in case people misuse it, you need to charge an amount which is both affordable for the customer and makes you money, your studio or other kind of space will probably won't be open around the clock. You need more rooms, isolated, so people can play around without disturbing others. What do you do with the gear? Only act as a fun place for musicians or as s shop as well? Even if you offer lots of products, you will be very limited compared to YT. Will you keep 'old' gear, always go for the latest and greatest?
Sure, building a community where musicians can interact, jam, record, test gear, maybe even sell their old stuff, etc. is great and having hands-on experience is also great, but it is NOT gear reviewing and it's an enterprise which requires much more money and effort than a bedroom and a camera ;)
@@DarkSideofSynth I must admit, I have been working on this kind of project in a small satellite town, and although I've had some success, I've met a lot more opposition that I thought I would have.
@@DJSockmonkeyMusic To be clear: I am not against this, quite the opposite. Me & an old friend of mine were fantasising about something vaguely along these lines, that's why I play devil's advocate, or simply bring some realism into the picture. What sort of opposition did you find?
@@DarkSideofSynth oh, no I got you. Opposition, omg. So fundraising, buying equipment, down to just paying rent. It became very bureaucratic and bogged down in preventing other peoples ideas rather than building on THE IDEA.
What we managed to complete was a radio station, small recording space and a community PA system. But the PA still has a giant analogue desk, so when I wanted to upgrade to a digital mixer, I got shut down hard because "we already have one" by people who aren't involved or interested in the live part.
Thank you so much for making this. Excellent example of why you are so good at this.
Thank you for making this video. Very insightful explanation. I appreciate you putting it in clearer terms. The word "shill" is such a snarl word nowadays, and I'm glad you took time to unpack it.
I hit like once you made me realize the double-edged sword: If you get the gear for free, you could be biased, and if you pay for the gear, you're also biased but for a different reason.
I don't buy on the recommendation of a few YT reviews. I don't buy until the product has been on the market for a few years. Next I will read the PDFmanual as many times as it takes to understand the synth. Then if commit to buying, I have to save the money, another year or more. IN the meantime I am looking for those extremely rare "long term" reviews. Someone has used the synth in their studio regularly because they bought it, kept it, and decided it was needed to fill a void. But those most useful reviews are almost never around. So even after all my study and waiting, there is ALWAYS something I and everyone else missed. Last year bought a mid priced synth for $1800.00. It arrives on my doorstep and the first time I played this 256 polyphony synth notes were dropping out on a 3 layer patch. Seems the new synth engine was very hungry for polyphony. So is any of all my research time even worth it?
I’m right there with ya bud.
@@LiamKillen hell yeah🤘🏻 Lots of love bro🙌🏻🙌🏻
I thought you said you never shilled, brah.
@@dc9662nuance
I like the channel and wish you good luck! That said, what the youtuber gets is the item (or discount) + any other deal with the manufacturer + new subscribers. The last is actually very important. With each review the TH-camr likely get more and more subscribers. The more subscribers, the more likely a new video gets more views. Most TH-camrs focus this discussion on the individual item they review… which really underplays what they are getting (channel growth and future views)
Nice pint on Bias also. Expertise is gained with experience with various tools to get various things accomplished- if you didn’t have a handle on what to expect from a tool manufacturer how would you compare anything? Ya can’t prefer apples in your comparison vs oranges if ya have not eaten apples or various kinds of apples etc
Always love your take and totally agree. Keep up the great work.
Much appreciated brother! Lots of love🙌🏻
I love your videos man thank you so much
Thanks so much for the kind words my friend! See you next time!
nice vid as always! agree mostly, but remember many youtubers (myself included) have a proper day job and just do yt for fun and to share the passion... sustainability not relevant and any income or free gear just a bonus :)
Thank you for not shilling. Warning, long comment ahead.
First time viewer. YT recommended your vid (or your channel) into my feed only today despite that you've been doing this for years -- thought I knew about almost everyone at this point. How strange. The algorithm is unkind.
It's even more unkind how little content creators are paid for their efforts -- Google is making a killing off of you and others, and that's wrong. Anyway, shilling is a problem, but it's generally easy to spot those people within the first two minutes of any video they create. The bigger problem, in my less than humble opinion, is clickbait titles and graphics that don't accurately represent the content within (secondarily, graphics and titles that are clearly shilling a product are super frustrating). And it seems that a majority of content creators are forced into doing that just to survive. Gotta game the system I guess.
Everything on YT these days looks and feels like it is a carbon copy of a carbon copy of a carbon copy. A majority of channels look identical to each other. The graphics and fonts are the same. The titles used are the same. From the standpoint of a viewer, it's horrific and dull. There's plenty of originality, but you'd never know it scrolling through recommendations. I'm practically bored to death of YT. I honestly can't bear how awful and generic it has become.
Thanks again, especially if you got this far. ;)
Nice video! Well said and very thoughtful. TBH, though, I would appreciate hearing flatout negative reviews from TH-camrs. I’m enjoying the recent S tier videos where Venus and Benn are clearing out living Spaces and being pretty frank about things that aren’t so great that they’ve kept for long.
Got my popcorn. I’ll be sure to check in to see who’s getting their backsides frosted over this gem 👍🏽
Lol! Always happy and thankful to have you here brother🙌🏻
Came here for the Behringer comments.
i feel like some of it just the negatives seem sanded off, like reading between the lines in a loopop video is like listening to the FEDs minutes to see if there's going to be a rate cut! But also to some degree i feel its a bit like video games, most of the bad ones don't get released or reviewed, so a lot of stuff is good by default and it's the shades of good and whats irksome that matters
I don't know, to me, I can tell if I'm being shilled(is that a word?). I can usually tell if someone is shilling a piece of gear. I prefer your definition of shill. The majority of synth tubers I watch are pretty honest with their opinions(yes, I'm including you).
I don't care about shill or not... caveat emptor, social media is (now) largely part of the marketing machine, independent review or not.
however, personally, I've grown tired of being fed gas inducing marketing by the algorithm in my TH-cam feed..
so, I've un-subbed many channels, or simply ignore review videos.. Id rather search for reviews if/when I need them.
I don't know, but I kind of feel social media/TH-cam influencers might be due to 'change', it all started with **anyone** could self-publish, this gave it authenticity... but now its dominated by highly polished marketing being pushed on to you, is this what users really want?
Being nice, excited, or overly positive about something is behavior a shill tries to mimic in effort to appeal and persuade you. Because the internet/youtube is filled with scams, in-authenticity, fake-ness, I think viewers guards are up by default; skepticism in general is high on the internet. I can see viewers perceiving most gear reviewers as in-authentic (and therefore thier guards go up) if you are a drive-by viewer and don't know the youtuber or don't have a good read on their authenticity. It's tough because with so much information to sift through it is hard to filter whats legit and what isn't. i think this can also be amplified by the re-assurance youtubers give thier audience by repeating "this is not a paid for review", something a shill would say 🤷; anyways, just wanted to offer that observation. Keep being yourself and authentic to who you are, that is what really matters.
There is a thin line between shilling and "reviewing". We have seen the same big name Geartube people be extremely critical about the gear that they paid for with their own money, vs. how gear that is loaned or given to them is reviewed. When they spend their money, it's "I can't believe they charge this much and it won't do this", vs. sponsored gear = "the limitations spark creativity"🤔.
It is at minimum disingenuous to call something a "review" when the company gave it to you for free with a contract saying you had to promote it in your videos, and gave you a list of features they want marketed. Geartubers put out these "reviews" and are VERY VAGUE about getting the gear for free/loaned. A lot of times they don't clearly disclose that the gear is sponsored, but you assume it is because often the gear is not yet in stores. Realistically, you are required by law to disclose when your "review" is for a product you were given.
These people really should just label the video as a "Product Spotlight" or "First look" etc. Calling something a "review" when you aren't really allowed to criticize it because of the relationship with the manufacturer is just not cool.
What is funny they love to say "company X or Y have no say".... if they say something they don't like, company will never send them another piece of gear.
Hi! I agree and like what you said, with one single exception: I happen not to find interesting any reviews of people “I have used extensively THIS so that I can tell you about it”. Instead, I find myself involved and, possibly, INFLUENCED, by people who show that that have used most of their lives just one particular instrument, and clearly show that they cannot imagine leaving it. Of course this scenario is not compatible with a gear reviewer, I realise. I also watch camera gear reviews and I always find myself amused at comments such as “the best ever” referring to a model that’s been on the market for just a couple of months. I use my gear (music or photo) for years and years, and unfortunately I cannot find any interest in anybody who’s been uncommittedly using anything for less than half of their lives.
Thank you for this! I appreciate-as I often do-your honesty, as well as your ability to phrase things the way you do. When I’m not twisting knobs, I’m an English teacher, so I like it when the writing is good, and it is clear you have taken time to be intentional and thoughtful with your words. Not everybody puts in that kind of time, so know that it is appreciated!
On the whole shill tip, I think sometimes people take advantage of the “eye of the beholder” element involved. When I see snarky comments like that I feel like asking-do you really think the guy is a shill, or are you just throwing that accusation because the reality is complex enough that it ALLOWS you to point fingers at someone? I don’t know if that makes sense, but put another way, it’s one thing to acknowledge a grey area, it’s another thing to take advantage of it to take pot-shots. I actually think most people can tell when they are being sold something too aggressively. But to be honest that is not something I associate with the people I watch on youtube.
Thanks as always for the work you do! and take care.
Great video. Love your channel 👍 I think it's pretty easy to tell who is genuine and who is over-egging the positive sponsor-supported puddings! There's always going to be intense and angry hater people on TH-cam! Best of luck to them. Keep on keeping on! 🙏
Thank you. I think you and your peers provide a useful perspective. We can assume that manufacturer-produced overviews will put their product in the most favorable light. Even given the fact that the "independent" TH-cam reviewers are beholden to the manufacturers for free equipment and sometimes outright payment, I think they still provide a useful service if only to provide a different perspective on the equipment they review. Those that I respect (yourself included) at least try to maintain some objectivity. So long as the viewer is informed regarding the compensation that the reviewer might have received, I see nothing wrong with manufacturers funding independent reviewers. It's up to the viewer to decide how much reliance they wish to place on any reviewer's opinion. Much better than when I got into music 45 years ago when there was no TH-cam and your best guide was what your favorite artists were using.
Got no experience in reviewing gear but I'd only review things I potentially like and buy (keepers). On how to do so with a flow of videos I have no idea.
Some review gear they do not like but that to me seems to hurt the channel more than it contributes.
Some guitar guy had a company threaten his if he did not comply to their terms (they hadn't even told him, let alone on paper). What the company tried is to slowly step by step agree with things that at first glance were totally unacceptable.
Sponsoring should in my opnion be from a coffee brand or so? You get the idea...not gear related.
So reviewing gear you like or intend buying you compare to your expectations and have a critical note after three or so months of use.
The sole fact that we are having this conversation highlights how many people buy instruments without using their freaking ears. You shouldn't buy anything just because a youtuber likes it and tells you it's great. Just listen to the freaking thing and you know if it's for you or not. I wouldn't care if it's a sponsored video or a genuine review, I just wanna listen to how the device sounds. Why would you ever buy something cause someone else likes it? Freaking unbelievable to me.
why from the start I did not want to make any gear or plugin related stuff on my channel. I did a bit of testing plugins on stream but even that will stop in the new season. I do get why those channels/people do what they do in a business related thing
theres that one guy with a cooking channel that does gear reviews too. bob eats.
😂
I feel heard 😅
The worst of them ask for likes, subscribes and patreons before even giving any information. As long as you do not abuse viewers like they do, I think you are doing fantastic. I trust you and love your videos.
I think it’s good to be as objective and thorough with a review as possible. That said, you reviewing something that you love is actually really valuable. There can be objective deficiencies with a synth - something doesn’t work correctly or whatever. But most of this is subjective. A “good” sound or “easy” workflow. Being hyped about something can often translate to people enjoying it more themselves - even something you already own and rediscovering it. It can go too far, but I haven’t seen ANY SynthTubers taking it too far where I feel scammed. People just like to gripe about you all, but how else are we going to hear most of this gear before we buy it? If SynthTubers went away there would be a lot more buyers remorse.
This is exactly what a shill would say! 😜
@@nicovandenberg_ 😂😂 well played!
I think the word that you're looking for in all of this is "reductive". That is, if someone isn't culture literate enough to understand the difference between sponsorship-declared reviews that don't allow review/veto from the brand and faithfully report on weak points.... and people who just jizz all over everything without objectivity, well, they are almost certainly not the people you want subscribing to the channel.
Look, I *envy* the "free" gear that you get, but I also fully understand and appreciate that between the production time and research on the the device itself, you are "making" so little that we should probably be paying you for your curation of our wishlists.
You are appreciated for your insight and ability to explain. If you can make us chuckle along the way, this free sponsored video is roughly infinitely more valuable to me than a full page ad in Keyboard magazine.
Appreciate the feedback my friend!
We all have opinions here, and my opinion is the era for making money with musical instruments and musical gear but not playing or making music with those instruments and gear to make that money, simply talking about it is finite and only sustainable for as long as a platform can stay in business or when people finally build that studio they've been dreaming of. I was subbed to quite a few "gear-tubers" when I was in the process of building my recording studio. I built that studio and un-subbed them all because I no longer needed them. Gear-Tube works if no one buys the stuff being shown, which really doesn't work. I have no problem with "gear-tube" but I also don't really see any longevity in it if people actually followed what they wanted to do.
I would have thought most of what you’ve said here is common knowledge. The way to watch any review on anything; gear, films, games, tech, music, &c. is with a degree of cynicism. Not in a bad way but in a way that is healthy for your wallet, your time, and your own mental health.
i was about to click on "Not Interested" for TH-cam recommendations for this video strictly because i saw the Joker thumbnail(hated that film), but then i saw it was one of your videos.
My slight hate is reviewing a cheap guitar with a really expensive tube amp or anything else where most of the sound quality is coming from anything but the gear being reviewed.
You speak from my soul! 👍🍀🤖🌻🛸
I don't trust anyone who goes on about how much money they're NOT making, and that's almost all of synth tube. That means you have no incentive to produce high quality information.
Is synth tube saturated?
Saturation like excess, expensive, heavy, are all personal preference I find. I doubt anyone watches every other synth youtuber. I know some folks only watch 2 or 3. I'm personally subscribed to probably 20-30 of them. I don't watch every video but I definitely like to see what they're all up to. I think it varies.
Besides I also find synth tube to be not just reviews, but historical stuff, theory stuff, or just funny stuff (user friendly sounds for example).
I think everything is a bit saturated these days no matter the field😅
@@DaphoidYour feed must be interesting when embargoes expire 😂
@@billfsmusic Oh yes indeed. I get a half dozen or more videos about the same synth; but at this point I kind of know what the particular flavor will be:
- loopop will be a end to end tutorial
- Mylar melodies will make some talented stuff while talking softly over it
- Bobeats will offer some opinions and some demos
- Andrew Huang will do something crazy polished with it
- Jorb will analyze it methodically
- Ricky Tinez will tell you what's good and apply his house flavour of music to it
- Midlife Synthesist will wait and tell you after he's had for a while what he likes/doesn't about it
- User friendly Sounds, Red Mean's Recording, will do something nuts with it
- Hainbach will welcome you back then go very experimental / noise with it
- Starsky Carr will give you a nice overview, a little more "vibe" / enthusiasm then Loopop with a british accent
- AudioPilz will tick all the boxes
etc :)
I'm trying to say this with as few words possible because I think this has the potential to be a much more detailed conversation... But I think these companies are essentially taking advantage of youtubers for close to free advertisement for their products. I actually think it would be more ideal all around for people to pick what they like and seek legit sponsorship because they genuinely stand behind the gear and USE IT (as you said you do). I don't think it's to the benefit of the independent content creator to make free advertisement for a company.
I'm not mad at most of the youtubers, besides the blatant sellouts (and I just avoid their videos if I suspect disingenuousness). I do have some more long winded critiques about youtube and social media in regards to pervasive advertisement and its effect in the mind, though haha. But overall there are good handful of you who I actually respect and really enjoy.
I appreciate the insights and conversation, man. Peace!
There are a couple of TH-camrs I’ve had to unsubscribe because of the gas. You are not one of them. Keep making cool music
Influencers days are numbered. Being authentic is both more artistic and ethical
Maybe in the tiny bubble of synths yes. But in general, influencers are huge. Everyone is locked into their screens following some Botox fool. Sad but true
I don’t care that much about sponsorship or if a manufacturer has gifted a device to the person whose channel I’m subbed to. It’s not like I’m going to make a purchasing decision based purely on one TH-camr’s impressions (or even several TH-camrs’ impressions). What I see on YT is a helpful insight into a piece of gear but that’s about as far as it goes. The comments section and other sources like people’s reaction on sites like Elektronauts are just as helpful when I’m trying to work out if a piece of gear is for me. It’s all good. If sponsorship and manufacturer gear loans/gifts are what’s needed to keep channels like yours (which is excellent BTW) afloat then that’s fine, I can see past the commercial aspects, really doesn’t bother me. Everyone is trying to sell something to everyone else all the time anyway, that’s just the way the world turns.
Most of the people being vocal about this are cranks and edgelords. It doesn’t matter who the presenters are or their motives, I can still hear the damned thing and dissect from the info given if the workflow and controls are what I’m looking for. Forty years ago all you could do is look at the advert in Keyboard magazine and if you were lucky a lone version might hit your local mom and pop music store so your knowledge of how it sounds wasn’t just wishful thinking and conjecture. But now we have several presenters giving us multiple perspectives on a device and a person can piece together their own impression by applying their own filters to the temporary excited cacophony. What I appreciate even less than a UToob presenter obviously biased on a product are the same repeated contingent of grumps hitting every reviews comments section to piss on a thing they have virtually zero knowledge of or experience with.
I actually unsubscribed from your channel about a year ago, The reason why and the reason why I think geat tube might be unsustainable is that the constant stream of product focused content quickly distracts from the process of enjoying the hobby. This quickly burnt me out and made me not want to engage with music at all. So I unsubscribed from all the synth channels, and focused my attention back to topics surrounding compsition and sound design at a theory level.
I think any channel who's content applies a stress to their viewer is fundamentally unsustainable, and in my opinion the most successful channels have avoided this, or tedium by focusing on 3 or more styles / topics of video, to provide a more balanced experience. AKA any channel that is purely review oriented kinda misses the value of the connection with their audiences hobby.
No one can be a stand in for everyone else's wallet. Even if you paid double price (instead of half price), if you happen to be rich and money means nothing to you, then having nothing to do with the price difference, you simply can't speak to the value proposition from anything other than your own perspective. There is no "how much this purchase HURT" scale that would work. That's why the only thing that at least helps is transparency: "I bought this at a 80% discount but $400 is still a purchase that made me pause unless the video made the money back" or "I bought this at full price, but $1000 simply isn't a painful purchase for me".
That at least would help on that front, but only help. Not fix the reviewer-value-perspective... value. As much transparency as possible is always the answer. That way the grain of salt can become sharpened.
Shoot, I don't even have a problem with you hiding that info as long as it is clearly stated that it is hidden rather than being misrepresented instead. I merely will debate the logic of saying that that info has no value or doesn't impact your perspective. But I certainly don't fault you for the impact. It would anyone. And being a gear reviewer is an extremely odd scenario ownership-wise.
Oh and no one should ever fault you for your own hype. Just ignore those people. If you are hyped about a buggy product and it leaks into your presentation... you'd have to be a robot to act otherwise.
If I had to say the ONE thing that has supreme value for me that I look for from a reviewer is a retrospective comparison which often comes out as tier lists. That will still have bias because some things were simply given up on too soon and others weren't. But it still speaks to a certain level of honesty of what you genuinely wanted to spend your time with in retrospect.
Reviews get views. It’s in the name. Jams get scorned on Reddit.😂
Seriously, though, I got into following synthfluencers when I got into modular. Since deciding on my path and acquiring what I want to play, my gear purchases are pretty much over but I’m still following my favs. The shillists are more for eye candy and beginners. Informative channels focusing on process and advanced techniques like sequencing remain essential to me.
My TH-cam income with 26K subs and over 2200 videos and currently at least one video per week is currently under 20€/month. TH-cam is no longer a secure source of income, subscribers are worth nothing. So you MUST look for other sources of income. If you gave up a secure job to become a youtuber, you should panic.
You could buy a Moog with 10 years of profit 🙂
YOU SIR, are brilliant.
And that's why I'm subscribed to you
I’m humbled and extremely thankful for the kind words my friend! Cheers!🍻
It's the really obvious Akai shills, that make me laugh, wouldn't trust their opinion one bit.
But what’s your main gig, Midlife Synth guy? Always curious. Like Bo does therapy stuff. Matt was working the synth shop for a while.
@@Hysteric_Subjects good question! I’m a full time Dentist and University professor!🤘🏻
@@MidlifeSynthesist dude yer so calm I’d let ya fix me nasty pearlies if ya accept Premera lol ;) cheers and thanks for the engagement as always!
Like could anyone here imagine looking forward to the dentist so yall can blab (well not the client at least not hella muffled) bout gear for an hour!? Shit that’s a bonus
@@MidlifeSynthesistI don't trust no dentist, so your reviews probably are biased! 😂
In the UK you can't be a dentist without shilling music gear
Holy cow, wait. A company feeds their new product’s manual to an AI and tells it to make a video review… maybe reupload this video leaving that part out so the companies don’t take another job away…
I used to like to think that geartubers presented reliable information products. Then the harp lady started pushing synths and non harp related gear. It made me realize it’s all just business and making money for the geartubers. I’m all for making money but pushing gear as great when you aren’t even interested in it aka a satisfied customer is wrong.
Once upon a time, people used their own discernment despite any reviews they watch. In all likelihood, many still do. Positive reviews don’t translate to a sale. They are only part of the purchase decision. You should concentrate on using your own eyes and ears. Use multiple sources. Actually seek negative reviews and see if those pass the sniff test as well.
You TH-camrs over estimate the power of your reviews. For me, you’re just filling in holes in my understanding, not driving decisions.
I can’t agree more. You seriously wouldn’t last as shill. And frankly those who are successful are the ones who, over time, prove reliable etc. So ignore the trolls. They have the choice to not watch. 🤷♂️ My advice: make this the last time that you try to explain that you are “not a shill.” Quit wasting your time with these idiots.
Friends dont let friends buy Teenage Engineering junk
When the gear market has slowed down for the most part of this year... 😆
im waiting for my turn 🤙
Yup 100% tired of synth tubers.
So then, is Midlife Synthesist a synth tuber and are you tired of him? And thus, why comment out of curiosity?
@@Daphoid I actually still watch him, he seems like a genuine guy thats why Im here.
Throw illegal parties with your gear, make 2-5k on a saturday night. I only trust reviews from people who make music that I like.
I distrust any TH-camr who mainly reviews gear instead of actually getting music finished on said gear and released out into the wild. Bonus points if it's not self-released but picked up by an established label.
most of gear tubers can't finish a song to save their life
Biggest shills talking about shilling.. 😂 whatever everyone is addicted more to the gear than making music including. Me in some ways.. 😅
You ain’t no shill bro, I seen a few… you aren’t on the list lol
Why the effort explaining…? 🤷♂️
Not to be disrespectful, but do you realize that people live with 2K a month? Not counting pennies in your pocket and kudos for disclosing your youtube income, but if you get an average of 6K a month, just by doing videos (assuming you have another income source, but let's say this is your only income), there are people that make half than that and take care of their whole family, in a state where cost of life is not that high.
So unless you live in CA, NY , WA or other high life cost states, that amount is pretty good overall, and I would not say that it is not profitable. Now, about the gear: most people buy and sell gear, or rent it for reviews... So unless you buy it for yourself, you don't keep it. As such it is not like you need to buy everything you review. You could set up a deal with some online stores to get discounts if you buy a lot of instruments for reviews, while you advertise their store, or plain rent some instruments and pay just the rental period and return it back once you are done. So technically you don't need to buy everything you review.
At the same time, totally agree with the point that if you are "fair" 100%, you end up not getting anything as demo from any synth company because they won't get anything out of you. So you need to "sing some songs" about some products. There are various youtubers that are well known for getting all the gear for free, because they never make a negative review... They never say anything bad about ANYTHING! Every single instrument or synth is perfectly fine, and just mention few things that are not optimal here and there. This is how you "shill". We all know that nothing is perfect, but if you say that X is bad, a company will cut ties with you and won't give you free gear or loaners in advance; while if you say great things all the time, by avoiding to focus on the negatives and just mentioning the positives, they will love you and give you gear and you can get stuff for free, like others do.
The thing I respectfully accuse you of being mistaken of is the rating part. You are entitled to have your opinion about anything really. People stop by to listen what YOU have to offer about a specific device, so the issue here is not a bias, as we all have biases and if you like something of course you will color that positively. The difference is if you are unable to see also the negatives. I know my car is crap, and I can see it and recognize it; but I will ravage about how well it handle because that is an objective quality of my car, recognized by many reviews. I don't hide the fact that there are better cars, but I tell you my opinion about that car based on MY preference and bias, and tell you about the NEGATIVES about that car too.
If a person wants to buy that car, they can tell that I am biased towards that car, but they can also hear that there is something better. So if you inject your opinion, as long as you mention positives and negatives, that is fine. The problem is when you say that everything is fine, nothing is wrong and minimize on the negative and "everything is great".... Then me as customer how can I figure out if a synth is good for me or not? If everything is great, nothing really is... And that is the problem with TH-cam channels sadly.
@@fcf8269 thanks for your input my friend! Just to clarify, it’s 6k a year😂 so about 500 a month, which even if it was net profit, wouldn’t be enough to sustain my family (wife and 2 kids), hence I have a full time job. On the other hand for 6k a month I might be tempted to be shilling my butt off😂😂
@@MidlifeSynthesist OH, I thought you said in the video that it was the monthly income... Holy cow; then shill away!
Gear tube... paid employees pretend to be "average Joes"... don't get me started. Actually, If synth manufacturers wanted to, almost everyone would sell out (let's call a spade a spade). It's so easy to buy one's opinion, just send somebody a plastic toy called synthesizer...along with a few (cough cough) guidelines. And this is actually scary. Tells you a lot about value of independent opinion - there is none.
nice conspiracy theory, stay jaded.
Excuses, excuses … and totally missing the point … which is, that TH-camrs need to be making CLEAR DISCLOSURE of ANY BENEFIT they receive in producing their demo/review/whatever you want to characterize it as … this is IMPORTANT, because it allows THE VIEWER to make THEIR OWN, INFORMED DECISION as to what influence that benefit may have had on the demo/review/whatever … … … AND YET, several TH-camrs deliberately avoid making CLEAR DISCLOSURES … a recent example being Loopop having a Moog Muse sent to him for free * TO KEEP * (he refuses to make the “TO KEEP” bit clear, and has every excuse under the sun for refusing to do so - despite a viewer being surprised by that fact during our recent comments discussion about this issue). It should not be up to each individual TH-cam viewer (many of whom will be inexperienced noobs) to guess what questions they should be asking (like Loopop said they can, lol), when a CLEAR DISCLOSURE that allows ALL VIEWERS to make an INFORMED DECISION is the only reasonable and moral approach. Also, the excuse about ‘not having time to do this’ doesn’t wash, when you are making an almost one hour video, and it would literally take less than a second to make it clear to your audience that this (multi-thousand dollar machine) was sent to you for free * TO KEEP * (ie not to perhaps then send back, or then send on to the next reviewer, etc etc). The excuses do not wash, and confirm that his withholding this information and being deliberately slippery/vague about it in his videos is deliberate … and that he (as of the time of his responses/‘excuses’) intends to continue with this behavior … Some have suggested that he doesn’t care about any relevant laws etc because he resides outside the US; perhaps so, but he would need to speak to that.
yeah that guy is the worst (or the best) example, but TH-cam is who should be creating and enforcing those rules regardless of country
If every video was marked as sponsored would you personally watch the same amount of synth videos?
Or if every video started with "X sent this to me, no many changed hands, and I get to keep it" or "x sent me this, no money changed hands, and I have to send it back in a month" - I wonder how widely affective that would be.
I can clearly tell you're personally quite passionate about it (given the lengthy paragraph and all caps yelling) - but I'm asking as a community wide thing.
For example people generally eye roll at really cheesy sponsors (like Raid Shadow Legends, where people hype of what is clearly a mid at best mobile game with micro transactions) - yet how many stop watching videos if they see that sponsor, versus just skip the ad part and enjoy the content.
I'm not in total disagreement that disclosing keeping or returning status is a bad idea, I'm just wondering at a whole, how much would people actually care? People's tolerances and sensitivity to different things vary widely; and I find the folks most upset or passionate about just assume everyone else should be at their same level.
While yes, I agree disclosing the "keep" status wouldn't take much effort and wouldn't hurt things to be in the scripts for videos; I'd also say this isn't always a big impact on the reviewers. Example, I work in IT - I get stuff for free at times (either from vendors, or from work recycling stuff) - at the beginning it was AWESOME, any free thing was like a lottery win. 15 years in though, I don't have space for a lot of stuff, and if I'm not actually going to use it - I may refuse it, or just recycle it myself if I don't need it.
As a non-reviewer, you do not have the experience of having personally interacted with all the latest synths released in the past 3 years. Eventually, you're not going to want to keep them all, even if the vendor offers, and thus I don't think your reviewer bias is automaticlaly tainted as much as you're implying.
In the end, what does it change? Why is it on the creator to be the responsible adult and inform you how to make your own decisions and be responsible for your own money? Even if they buy a piece of gear with their own money, it’s still a biased review.. They owe you nothing and neither do you. Grow up.
@@Daphoid People are free to disregard whatever they like, of course … but you can’t disregard what isn’t disclosed to you/what is kept hidden from you …
Caps were just a convenient way to highlight key points/ideas, lol.
I am passionate about people being able to make free choices, yes … and to make a free choice, one has to be informed to begin with …
@@jsieb Nice strawman, or perhaps you genuinely missed the point …
This is cope. You’re not a shill because you lie and cover up flaws, you’re a shill because 95% of your content is promoting products. It’s self evident what this channel is about when you scroll back through the thumbnails and see that a shiny product with flashing lights is always front and center.
What the hell is Shilling?
WITHOUT INFLUENCER MARKETING, GEAR TUBE WOULD BE A BUNCH OF 200 SUB COUNT CHANNELS CIRCLE JERKING THEIR WEALTH. "ooooh look what i just spent a months salary on its sooo good i definitely dont have buyers remorse and a narcissistic personality disorder" nobody would watch it without the push from manufacturers and vendors
Waaaaayyy off topic but… @midlifesynthesist Why is your Adsense in Spanish? 🤔
Lol, I’m Chilean😜
@@MidlifeSynthesistnow I’m more in love with your channel! A big hug and vibes from Colombia from a soon-to-be member of your Patreon. (BTW I got the Micromonsta 2 becase all the fun you were having in your videos)
@@jsiebGood to know. Much needed information for me, as I live in Latin America, with English as a second language. 😂
@@tichomenco jaja genial! Un abrazo enorme hermano🤘🏻🤘🏻 nos vemos luego!
Chileno...?
Y a que esperas a tener un E7 en tu estudio...?
Como españolito del montón, ignoro si argentinos y chilenos os lleváis bien o no...
Saludos...!
Love this thumbnail
😂 me too to be honest 😜