YouTube Reviewers Can’t Be Trusted?

[aivoryuk]

As much as John Cordy is well liked on this forum, his playing and tones don't do a whole lot for me so I might watch his video just to see how a device operates.

I feel Like I'm the opposite as I quite like John's playing but find his videos frustrating as he tends to jump into products or subjects without really understanding them.

 

[JiveTurkey]

This guy has popped up quite frequently for me as of late. It might be wrong; but I immediately don't want to watch after just looking at the thumbnail

 

[Orvillain]

This guy has popped up quite frequently for me as of late. It might be wrong; but I immediately don't want to watch after just looking at the thumbnail

Catch 22 isn't it really. They have to do this corny thumbnail stuff for the algorithm. If you actually approach youtube in the way it was intended ... yknow... youtube - your channel, your life, etc.... - it just doesn't play.

I basically stopped trying with it. Completely pointless for someone like me who doesn't want to constantly review gear all the time and who wants to do a lot of different things with it.... because basically nobody wants to watch that.

 

[JiveTurkey]

The tough part is; you still have to have a personality and image. Just like a pro guitarist. Whatever the definition of that is these days?

On the subject of Corrdy; he's awesome. I do forward through 97% of the playing because it's technically amazing but doesn't move the needle for me. He posted some cover band stuff and it was awesome listening to him solo over rock material. I'd love to hear him do something a little more up in energy.

He's got a great vibe and is hilarious so I'll always watch at least something in most all of his vids.

 

[James Freeman]

It was your choice to be an advertiser, the spectrum of feedback is all part of the job you chose.
Tere is no such thing as honest opinion if you got ANYTHING out of the deal.
People are craving for real reviews which are super hard to find this day and age and seeing the same advertisers over and over and over and over has run out its usefulness for those who are looking for real reviews, hence the pushback.

 

[fretworn]

The last couple of decades of my career, I was paid for advice. We had a brand similar to “consumer reports” as far as integrity and providing analysis. Actually better I reckon.

I would argue that advice you pay for (as long as it makes sense to you process wise, and is defensible, transparent, and rational… as well as excusable/pragmatic) from those who have been there, done that with the scars to prove it … is highly valuable. Ymmv

Some idiot on the Internet is likely to unmove me … the few people on there that I trust… I’m intrigued.

 

[paisleywookiee]

1. I like both @GuitarJon and Henning, quite a bit. I've subscribed, I've rung the bell.
2. The two of them, as well as all the other YouTubers I follow, are pretty damn clear with what stuff comes from, and how they're compensated.
3. Regardless of what anyone says, I am still going to try gear and listen and evaluate for myself anyway, as everyone should. After all, I'm a GenXer: I'm insanely cynical and untrusting to begin with.

 

[DrewJD82]

Also, @GuitarJon, I’ll be awaiting delivery of that anniversary edition Whammy pedal as payment for making this post.

 

[paisleywookiee]

SHILLS!! SHILLS, ALL OF YOU

 

[la szum]

There’s probably about 1000 other things they can be compared to that’s more accurate than two ‘professions’ that are illegal in most places.

Yeah, that's nowhere near as fun for me, though.

 

[la szum]

Have they all be getting reamed lately? It feels like there have been so many "Look, we're not shills, we don't just say what we're told for money you know" videos from gear channels it's like some manufacturer has just released the NS-NoShill5 or something.


{Edit to add}
I should qualify that I'm not suggesting they are shills at all, and for anyone with half a brain the transactional nature of "Here's some gear you don't have to physically pay for, but please make content" is fairly obvious, and doesn't imply unavoidable bias. It just seems that there are a lot of defensive "This is my job, I take it seriously, I'm not just a gobshite for hire" videos recently. Possibly as a result of the kickstarter thingy, or possibly just because they've all been chatting about it within their networks so it's one of those momentary coincidence things.

Yup.... cry me a river for those selling water by the River who are so misunderstood.

There are problems in life that are harrowing and pressing, and people whining about
how other people respond to them, and then do it on the exact same platform that they
make a living off of is nowhere close to the bottom of that list.

Maybe I am just envious of being a whiny little bitch, though. I guess it is something I
always aspired to, and am now jealous others have achieved such acclaimed status.

Edit: And the proliferation of these "I am always honest and up front" confessionals,
or the "Why is my profession so misunderstood?" sympathy trains could actually be
a bit of a guilty conscience seeping through. Not that it is something that needs to
be exposed, or some great crime against humanity. Just that it is not nothing either.

 

[la szum]

The amazing thing is, is that it has to be said. I guess a lot of people don't get how business works? I get the "shill" part and yeah it's easy to joke about certain youtubers because of their schtick, but most of them appear to be even-handed.

Maybe. But you introduce $$$ into the equation and science has proven time and time
again that rewards impact decision making and our judgment. It's human nature and
not just a slap on the face of YT'ers. We are all susceptible to it.

To deny it seems utterly blind to reality and completely disingenuous.

 

[la szum]

It was your choice to be an advertiser, the spectrum of feedback is all part of the job you chose.
Tere is no such thing as honest opinion if you got ANYTHING out of the deal.
People are craving for real reviews which are super hard to find this day and age and seeing the same advertisers over and over and over and over has run out its usefulness for those who are looking for real reviews, hence the pushback.

Yup. You can say it a million times and it is true a million times over. And yet.....

 

[DrewJD82]

It was your choice to be an advertiser, the spectrum of feedback is all part of the job you chose.
Tere is no such thing as honest opinion if you got ANYTHING out of the deal.
People are craving for real reviews which are super hard to find this day and age and seeing the same advertisers over and over and over and over has run out its usefulness for those who are looking for real reviews, hence the pushback.

Define “real review”

 

[Frodebro]

I consider most reviews to be more along the line of demos, so I don’t care if the goofy bastard in the video is doing it for money, free gear, or a blowjob behind the dumpster. Just show me what it sounds like and how it works and I’m happy.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

"Don't trust the platform that I make a living from, and how I provide for my family."

Also something that a drug dealer or pimp would say.

They kind of are, in a way, no? Pimps and dealers? They get fronted product and then they
try and get viewers to "buy in."

And yeah, sometimes you have to try a thing in your own habitat and hands to know
if that thing is for you. All Hail The Gear Churn!

I think folks are waaaaaaaay overestimating how much money a lot of these folks are able to pull from YouTube. Henning is probably able to pull a decent chunk of his income from YouTube and associated YouTube stuff. Guitar Jon...couldn't support himself, much less a family, from YouTube earnings.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I think folks are waaaaaaaay overestimating how much money a lot of these folks are able to pull from YouTube. Henning is probably able to pull a decent chunk of his income from YouTube and associated YouTube stuff. Guitar Jon...couldn't support himself, much less a family, from YouTube earnings.

Ownhammer money

 

[the-trooper]

I think folks are waaaaaaaay overestimating how much money a lot of these folks are able to pull from YouTube. Henning is probably able to pull a decent chunk of his income from YouTube and associated YouTube stuff. Guitar Jon...couldn't support himself, much less a family, from YouTube earnings.

In "not a guitar" video HP said his video would cost 800€.

 

[Snags]

Define “real review”

Well, obviously the ones from Guitarist (UK) where absolutely nothing ever scored less than 8/10 and you had to read so far between the lines to suss out the flaws that you often found not only another magazine, but sometimes Narnia. Because you don't want to piss off the advertising $$ that keep the magazine afloat, or the manufacturer/distributor who keeps you in gear to talk about.

In defence of YouTube reviewes, be they sponsored, paid for, borderline advertorial or whatever, at least with the medium you get to see and hear something of the product, and kind of see the presenter's method and approach, which all helps form a judgement on just how balanced, accurate, or in tune with your own tastes they are. Unless people are doing outright deceptive things (re-recording through different gear, massively messing with the EQ in post etc. etc.) then it's better than words on a page from a magazine where if it's shit they just won't cover it at all, because they can't afford to upset anyone.

 

[Orvillain]

Well, obviously the ones from Guitarist (UK) where absolutely nothing ever scored less than 8/10 and you had to read so far between the lines to suss out the flaws that you often found not only another magazine, but sometimes Narnia. Because you don't want to piss off the advertising $$ that keep the magazine afloat, or the manufacturer/distributor who keeps you in gear to talk about.

In defence of YouTube reviewes, be they sponsored, paid for, borderline advertorial or whatever, at least with the medium you get to see and hear something of the product, and kind of see the presenter's method and approach, which all helps form a judgement on just how balanced, accurate, or in tune with your own tastes they are. Unless people are doing outright deceptive things (re-recording through different gear, massively messing with the EQ in post etc. etc.) then it's better than words on a page from a magazine where if it's shit they just won't cover it at all, because they can't afford to upset anyone.

Yep. The magazine stuff is 100% real. They wouldn't ever outright say it, but it was heavily implied that a good review depended on how much advertising budget you had. Makes me sad, because magazines like Computer Music, Future Music, and Sound On Sound, were the absolute lifeblood of my youth.