Andrew Marshall (AIG’s founder and editor in chief) began writing about audio in 1972, with a column in a Toronto magazine, The FM Guide, called QuadrAnswers. The interest in multi-channel sound was strong then, as it is today. The radio show, AUDIO IDEAS, began the next year on what was then Toronto’s most-listened-to FM station, CKFM, and ran 5 times a week for a dozen years.

At the time AUDIO IDEAS was a series of two-minute capsules of information about everything from speakers, to new digital technologies, to accessories such as record cleaners (there actually was a listener who mis-heard the one about the Discwasher, and subsequently put his favourite LPs into the dishwasher…on the plastic cycle, no less!).

Writing about audio for various magazines, and editor of the trade magazine AUDIO MARKETNEWS for its three most successful years, Andrew decided to combine interests in writing and broadcasting by buying The FM Guide in 1979. Over the next few years as radio changed, and detailed program listings became of less interest, the magazine evolved into the Audio Ideas Guide, which saw its first issue as an annual in 1981.

In the intervening years the Audio Ideas Guide grew from annual, to bi-annual, to quarterly publication, gained a growing list of contributors, and became the most successful Canadian publication in the field (Have a glance at our editorial index for glossary of equipment reviews dating back to the early 90’s).

The summer of 1995 saw the birth of AIG Online, one of the very first Audio and Home Theater E-Zines to appear on the web. Audio e-zines are a dime a dozen now, but AIG Online ranks among the elite, offering a level of editorial depth, integrity, and experience unrivalled by the vast majority of competitors. Serving over 30,000 unique visitors each month and growing fast, AIG Online will continue to deliver an ever expanding array of content and services to our online readers; as always, from a uniquely Canadian perspective.

In the fall of 1997 came one of our of most popular innovations, the AIG A/V Almanac annual product directory. The only directory issue of its kind, the Almanac provided information on virtually all hi-fi and home theatre electronics sold in the Canadian market. An invaluable resource for North American audiophiles and home theater enthusiasts this annual fall special issue quickly become our most popular.

As it has in so many fields, and throughout the publishing world, the internet has changed the game, ultimately making a printed product directory largely unnecessary by the time we published the last Almanac edition in 2003. By 2007, between the web and other factors, the economics of printing a specialty, niche market magazine like the Audio Ideas Guide, became increasingly untenable. In the summer of 2007 AIG became an online only publication, where it continues to grow and evolve to serve it’s readers in Canada and around the world.

Contact AIG:

Andrew Marshall (editor and publisher):

     andrew@audio-ideas.com

Aaron Marshall (webmaster, contributing editor):

     aaron@audio-ideas.com

Advertising:

     advertise@audio-ideas.com

General Inquiries:

     mail@audio-ideas.com

Letters:

     letters@audio-ideas.com

News, Press Releases Etc. :

     news@audio-ideas.com