How would you rate Ukulele Magazine?

Nickie

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 31, 2010
Messages
11,197
Reaction score
3,508
Location
Tampa Bay, FL
I've subscribed to Ukulele Magazine for about 3 years now, and I'm curious.
How many of you do?
How would you rate it?
10 is excellent
1 is poor
 
I have been a subscriber for 18 months. I would give it a 7. The digital version will lock you out after several viewings (I forgot exactly the number of times allowed). I like the video tutorials. Printed tabs are nice too.
 
I would also give it a 7. Very slickly produced and lots of nice ukes to look at but many ads. Some of the articles are helpful. Not sure I will resubscribe.
 
5.

It's pretty, but the content usually feels pretty cheap and cutesy aside from the feature story. There's not much for anybody who's been around the block a time or two. I flip through and it's like, "yep... yep... yep..." I'd love to see some more diverse/challenging stuff on players or companies doing interesting things that aren't just more status quo.

Think I renewed a while back, but probably won't again unless they step up a bit. If you're fairly new to the scene in the states or the UK it's probably pretty cool, but for a long time performing/teaching dude in Hawai'i I say, "Meh."
 
I let my subscription lapse simply because every issue delivered to my home was ripped and/or wrinkled to death. I subscribe to their newsletter that always features the main articles and it’s free. I would still subscribe if the Post didn’t destroy them before I flipped open the cover.
 
I'd give it an 8, at least. It is a nicely done magazine with no obvious print competition. It has fairly professionally done articles on a niche instrument, something that pleases me. Although there are many ads, they are ukulele-specific and direct my attention to things I may have otherwise missed. I look forward to it coming out, and my wife recently bought me a subscription.
 
We have/had a British Uke Mag, which I subscribed to when it launched, but it became an advertising publication with very little 'real' content, I only took 8 issues before cancelling it! :(
 
About a 6-8 depending on the issue. I let my subscription lapse because people keep giving me their old ones for free. It's not bad but lots of ads I assume to pay for their existence.
 
I ended up on an episode of Ooktown (Podcast), talking about education, and Stuart booked the publisher of Ukulele Magazine (Greg) on that show, too.

Greg encouraged people to e-mail him with feedback—I would think content suggestions would fall into that category.

I had suggested an interview with Mike Lynch before he passed (who was on dialysis at the time) and more chord melody arrangements.

I don’t mind the ads at all...but I do wish that all of the mainline manufacturers would post updated ads every issue so that you could see the latest instruments in one place.

I love the digital download that comes with the subscription—I save those on my iPad in PDF expert and access them when I am bored.
 
I'll give it a 10. It's the best ukulele magazine I've seen (It's also the only uke mag I've seen). It has good articles, nice pictures, good quality overall. I got it at a promotional rate, so that helps. I don't think I'd pay the full price.

I'd be satisfied with an all-digital version for a lower price.
 
Last edited:
I give it an 8, and agree with most of the comments I've read in this thread. I love the digital option that comes with the subscription, and love the newsletter. I love it when I see educational content exploring different brands (high and medium end), basic issues (humidity, setup), and wood types. Without a ton of major uke stars the magazine has some limits to deal with, but there are still several who I haven't seen any features on. I enjoy learning new things, exploring topics I'm not familiar with or can't afford, and the great production quality of the magazine. Hopefully it will continue to get better and better.
 
I don't subscribe but I usually go to Barnes and Noble to pick one up. (I'd like bookstores to stick around).
I give it a 10. It gets a 10 because it's an ukulele magazine. How cool is that? I love the ads. Shows me what's out there. I like the articles, I like the songs, heck...I just like it all.
 
I would give it a solid 8. Even though it doesn’t always reflect what I’m into I think it is good for the Big ukulele audience. I’m very happy it exists and if we don’t support it it will go away.
As for ads, I like ads. A decade ago the filks that were pla would have been thrilled to have a magazine of this quality.
Yes, it can be a bet cutesy but most Ukulele players gravitate to ukulele for the joy of it. So I think it speaks to the common denominator.
I think I’ll upgrade my rating to a 9.
 
I think it is well done. I subscribed for a few years, but then it expired and I didn't renew. Like a lot of things, it goes around in circles. There is only so much you can say about ukuleles, then you have to recycle it around again. So after a while there isn't anything new. But I don't think that is the fault of the magazine. That is just the way it is. I think it is well done. I give it a 10 for the first couple of go arounds.
 
I usually pick one up when I see it in a store. Like some others have said, I would like to see some more challenging instructional material and tabs, but I always find something interesting in each issue.
 
I saw the magazine in a Barnes and Nobel and picked it up. This was late Nov. early Dec. 2017. I don't get to the bookstore all that often any more (most books I hear about and then pick up on line) so I bought it. Before the end of 2017 there were some sale price subscriptions, picked one up for me and gave a gift subscription to a friend who plays and lives far way. Only have looked at two issues so hard to rate. Likely to keep getting at least for a little while. Subscribe to a couple of other mags in what I would call nitche areas of interest. In the digital age it can be nice to have a paper copy to lounge around with......
 
It is an attractive magazine that makes a great conversation starter when reading in public. It is nice to look at ukes I will probably never own and read about talent I will never have. There are a lot of ads to help pay for the glossy pictures but they are expected and ok. It seems many of the articles/reviews are really paid advertisements and it is a little disappointing to see advertisements passed off as journalism. I don't subscribe but have bought every issue for the past couple years and look forward to a new issue every 3 months. It seems like the printed music has increased in difficulty over the past couple issues but it could just be fewer C chords.
 
Top Bottom