Editorial

With BRASS BULLETIN our main concern is to produce a publication which is balanced, interesting to our readers, and also gives genuine visual pleasure.

In 1982 we introduced our separate Newsletter — which we are trying to improve in this issue with a new style — so as to be able to increase the amount of more regional or more topical news. We also launched our “Composer presentations” with the aim of forging an extra link with the people who create our repertoire. We work unceasingly to improve the standard of the articles appearing in the main part of the magazine. Finally we try constantly to bring you fine illustrations and reproductions of pictures — for sheer visual pleasure.

This effort has always been justly rewarded by the interest which you, our readers, have constantly shown. You have realised that BRASS BULLETIN is a living thing whose goal is none other than to bring brass players together and to open new horizons to them.

Nonetheless, this constant effort to guarantee quality and standard (which we shall continue to improve) implies a struggle for the survival of the initiative. The overheads of a business of this type are considerable.

And now, for the first time since BRASS BULLETIN was started, these overheads have become excessive because of the constant rise in production costs. The world economic situation is not without influence in this respect; it obliges us too to budget down to the last penny. Costs have not stopped rising recently (for example: the price of envelopes by 12%, printing costs by 18% etc.).

Upon reflection, however, and counting on your cooperation, we have decided against raising our subscription rates. Thus the only ways to compensate for these overall rising costs — which are likely to become even worse — are to increase the number of our subscribers (we have to do the same work for 4000 subscribers as for 5000!) and to spare our small team the waste of time involved in fruitless reminders for subscription payments.

We therefore cordially invite you to support BRASS BULLETIN in the following ways:
— by paying your subscription in the next few days
— by making a special effort to recruit one or more new subscribers.

Thank you for your understanding and your indispensable support!