For too long we’ve assumed that we know best, and that stories involving bands such as The Vines and Counting Crows, or artists like Bryan Adams, Damien Rice and Sting, should reflect our own, unique take on the concert scene. However, having been in this business since 1931, we have come to the realization that some of our views may not be gospel, and that some people, albeit a very small portion of the total Pollstar.com audience, may have opinions that differ from our own. Therefore, from now on we will attempt to be as non-biased as humanly possible.

What does this mean to you, the Pollstar.com user? Quite simply it means that you can trust the content on this Web site to be totally free of any personal conceptions, opinions or other thoughts that might be perceived as promoting a particular viewpoint. For example, we will not describe the Sarah McLachlan tour as “long awaited,” we will not depict the Aerosmith tour as the “answer to fans’ prayers,” nor will we describe the Metallica outing as the “best thing since orange Zig Zags.”

Furthermore, we will not rush to print stories about artists that may or may not have run into trouble with the law. After all, just because someone is arrested, that doesn’t mean that he or she is guilty. Therefore we will wait until an artist is judged by a jury comprised of the artist’s peers before we even hint that there might be something amiss. Along those same lines, in the event of an accident, or God forbid, an untimely demise in the music world, we will demand to see the police report and / or death certificate before we run with the story.

It’s all a part of our new philosophy regarding the reporting of music news. For too long music journalists have considered artists and bands to be fair game. If a famous artist, say Bonnie Raitt or Jewel, was to hold up a 7 – 11 while brandishing a sawed-off shotgun, other Web sites would jump on the story regardless of the so-called facts. But we’re not playing that game anymore. Besides, there’s only one Rolling Stone.

In other words, you can trust every single story on this Web site to be devoid of any personal opinion, belief, judgement, view, estimation or rhetorical castration, for it is our goal to be a bastion of fair and honest reporting. If a star, say Elvis Costello, is arrested, we will not judge. If someone like Bob Dylan is judged, we will not convict. If an artist of the caliber of Crystal Gayle or Paul Kelly is convicted, we will not report. It’s as simple as that. That’s our editorial policy, so stringent, so unwavering, and so middle-of-the-road that you can bet on it.

Unless, of course, the news is about Michael Jackson. Then all bets are off. We may pride ourselves on our objectivity, but we love a good media free-for-all as much as any other Web site.