These people certainly don't always get paid for reviews. Loopop is very transparent about whether he was given something for free or bought it himself (though

These people certainly don't always get paid for reviews. Loopop is very transparent about whether he was given something for free or bought it himself (though I don't know if he does the latter as much anymore, his reviews are basically tutorials that are as interesting after you get the thing as when deciding what to get). Loopop has reviewed both Monome and Organelle products, which are open source and about as indie as it gets. Elektron is a major player and this is a very "big" product launch as far as synths go. (Though I think that says more about the market than it does about Elektron.)