The journal Early Music (Oxford University Press) is now celebrating the 40th anniversary of its founding, and they are generously making each and every article in the current issue available for free in electronic format.

The issue includes a wonderful collection of musings and reminiscences from an impressive roster of contributors who comment on issues real, speculative or imagined germane to the field of early music past, present and future. Reading the insights of so many luminaries who have shined a light upon forgotten musical traditions fills us with gratitude for their cumulative work, and for the existence of the journal that is a significant source of information for so many musicians who lark about in our chosen field.

But upon reflection one wonders whether making the articles available gratis is an act of desperation on the part of yet another publication that is seeing an alarming drop in subscribers. …