Conflict of Interest?

SoundOffers is owned by the company that does web development for AVGuide, which is a separate company from Nextscreen, the company that owns The Absolute Sound and AVGuide. I am the majority owner of Nextscreen and have a small investment in SoundOffers. SoundOffers purchases communication services (ads and sponsorships) from TAS and AVGuide, and so is a customer of those publications.
 
Our belief is that SoundOffers provides a useful service to both readers (the same feeling we have about other products and services advertised in our publications) and our industry clients. SoundOffers doesn't change the nature of what we do any more than any other customer (retailer or manufacturer) does.
 
. SoundOffers is a site whose primary service is advertising for people who want to sell audio equipment and services.
. TAS is a magazine and a channel on AVGuide, which offers advertising services to companies who want to sell audio equipment, services (and music).
. AVGuide's other channels are sites that offer advertising to companies that want to sell audio and video equipment and services.
 
So, fundamentally, all of these publications sell the same product: advertising. TAS and AVGuide also offer editorial coverage of audio and video. Since SoundOffers does not sell any particular product (I don't think the operators of the site even know in advance what is listed), they are in principal the least likely to try to influence editorial coverage of products. In addition, SoundOffers mostly provides advertising of used gear, which is not a topic of current coverage in TAS or on AVGuide.
 
I hope that helps.

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