SmoothViews has been asked by various people along the way what our ad rates are.  The answer is, we accept no advertising. 

Soon after we debuted in November ’04, the seven of us on staff discussed whether we wanted to try to turn a profit. We aren't in this for the money, and for an organization like ours, advertising dollars usually get spent on promotional materials whose main purpose is to ultimately generate more advertising dollars.  The choices were to be for-profit, file as a non-profit, or keep it in the “hobby” category. We really didn't want to deal with setting up a legal (and taxable) entity, so we chose the latter, and it was the right choice.  Each of us contributes to the small cost of the site out-of-pocket, and each of us contributes to the content - some MUCH more than others. 

If we had decided to accept advertising several things would have changed.  With money changing hands, hard feelings between friends is a risk.  If we accepted ad money from Company/Artist A we might feel obligated to favorably review their CD, which would open us to accusations of conflict of interest.  If we did not, due to space restrictions, etc., Company/Artist A might feel they were not getting their money’s worth.  And if we did review works from a rival companies, they might feel we were hurting them.  We want to keep things unencumbered and honest.

It is our desire to promote Smooth Jazz.  We do so from a love of the music, the camaraderie we enjoy, free concerts, and comp CDs.

- Randall Ware