Dear Progarchists,

This year, 2015, has absolutely blown me away in terms of quality in music.  Since nearly a decade ago, I’ve been convinced that each year is the best prog year ever, only to find that the following year is even better.

Long may this trend continue.

As I’ve had the opportunity to explain before, the five main editors—Carl Olson (AOR), Chris Morrissey (Metal), Craig Breaden (Blues, rock, experimental), and Kevin McCormick (classical)—and I (prog) founded progarchy with the intent of offering writing equal to the music.  That is, we felt it only just to write as well as our favorite musicians played.  After all, who wants to read a sixth-grade level review of a Big Big Train album?  Greg Spawton is extremely smart.  Andy Tillison is extremely smart.  Leah McHenry is extremely smart.  Robin Armstrong is extremely smart.  Well, you get the point.

What would be a site dedicated to the beauty of music be without writing and thinking to match the level of the art reviewed?

Have we always succeeded?  I’m not sure.  Have we always tried to succeed and match the quality of our thinking and writing with the quality of the music we hear?  Absolutely.  And, whatever the faults of progarchy, I can state with certainty that I believe this website to be one of the finest websites—in terms of writing—that exists on the internet.

Since the founding of progarchy nearly three years ago, our readership has grown and grown, while our base has remained steady.  In addition to over 3,000 permanent email subscribers, we get an additional 400 to 8,000+ visits a day, depending on topic.  In case you’re interested, our biggest draw is Neal Morse with Rush being a close second.

Yesterday, something somewhat surprising but very nice happened to us.  A very, very high quality music label asked us if we’d be willing to advertise.  When we started progarchy, we avoided this for two reasons.  First, we were brand new and who would want to advertise with us?  Second, we wanted to prove our “objectivity” first.  Well, objectivity isn’t exactly the right word.  Craft, honesty, art?  Enthusiasm, certainly.  Criticism, often.  But, honesty—definitely.

After receiving the offer, I immediately emailed the other four editors.  Unanimously, we agreed it was time to promote commercial interests and labels who fight not just for success but for excellence.  So, beginning very soon (perhaps as early as tomorrow), you’ll see a brilliant banner and link across the top of progarchy.

I think we’ve proven ourselves over the last 2.9 years.  And, just in case you’re worried the money we receive from advertising might just send us on round-the-world junkets, be not afraid.  The first thing we’ll do is pay for our domain name for the next 12 months, spruce up the site a bit, and, especially, start indexing our reviews and interviews—making them far more accessible to our readership.

A huge thanks to the editors and authors of progarchy and to all of you reading this.

Yours, in appreciation and humility, Brad