Peter, since you are listening here I thought I'd toss out a few suggestions...

- use a word cloud instead of this very old technique of Pagemaker wrapping
- never break lines of text across a large graphic in the middle of a page; wrap the text into columns instead
- use a LOT more white space (I know we always love to fill our ads but usually less if better)
- as you acknowledged, if you are using a ton of text as "wallpaper" then fade it way back
- seriously consider upgrading your logo; I know you probably hate to hear it but it looks so very dated with the 3d text and clipart instruments

Overall the ad suffers from a very basic lack of "design" and it can be a challenge to nail down exactly what that means! smile But if you look at the ads around yours (Focal, Novation, Spectrasonics, Glyph, Academy of Art University and Williams) in just this one issue of Electronic Musician you will notice how much good solid "design" can improve an ad.

I can honestly say the software you have created is the most amazing program I have ever seen! That is not hype/fanboy talk...it is true! But I can also honestly tell you I was very reluctant to initially purchase it because of the impression I got from your marketing materials. The folks here on the forum finally convinced me to go ahead and buy it and now you have a customer for life! But I cannot help but wonder how many potential customers you are missing out on because they see your marketing and never bother to further qualify your products.

I know lots of people, especially hard-core fans, are quick to jump in and make excuses like "it is retro" and "if it ain't broke..." but if I was you I would have to seriously consider whether BIAB is successful because of your image or in spite of it!