We gather here today to mourn the loss of Quality Music Journalism. Known by many for its lucid and substantiated reporting, its detailed columns and its insightful interviews; all will be sorely missed. It passed away with its brother and sister Valuable Commentary and Interesting Opinion, all three struck down by online-related conditions. Interesting Opinion overdosed on too many positive reviews, Valuable Commentary failed to get enough Google hits and Quality Music Journalism has been reported missing ever since the advent of ‘Web 2.0′ (DiNucci, Darcy. 1999).
The Internet has an awful lot to answer for.
Or is this an unfair call?
Concerned with the state of Music Journalism, an industry i aspire to tick-like embed myself under its elusive skin, this blog aims to explore some worrying trends. First up on the post-mortem examination is the current role of bloggers. While blogs allow for anyone and everyone to express their opinions, it does not mean anyone and everyone should be expressing their opinions. Has the standard of writing been lowered?
I’m also interested in the effect Google has had in Music Journalism as writers feel an increased pressure to post their articles first, sacrificing excellence for speed. Chris Weingarten puts it well when he states that “good writing dies at the hands of search engine optimisation.” (Weingarten, Chris. 2010).
The impact doesn’t stop there:
Internet-induced ADHD has all but committed genocide to extensive writing, thanks to press releases i have to trowel and sift like an archaeologist through keywords and fluff, and has anyone noticed the sharp decline in negative reviews?
As Adam Gollner points out “magazines are given free cds. It’s almost like a bribe.” In an age where musical hype and journalistic back-scratching is prevalent, it is increasingly difficult to differentiate between positive reviews and successful P.R.
Hopefully my ‘end-is-nigh’ predictions are dramatic overstatements and through investigating these current issues i find a pulse in quality music journalism. Otherwise i might have to change career ambitions.
References.
A. Gollner, Artists House Music “Ethical Concerns in Music Journalism”. Accessed 7th August, 2010.
http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/ethical+concerns+in+music+journalism
C. Ruiz, 2008, Cole20, ”who coined Web 2.0?: Darcy DiNucci”. Accessed 8th August, 2010.
http://www.cole20.com/who-coined-web-20-darcy-dinucci/
C. Weingarten, 2010, Pedestrian TV, “Is the Internet Killing Music Journalism?”. Accessed 25th July, 2010.
http://www.pedestrian.tv/music/features/is-the-internet-killing-music-journalism/13460.htm
a great start – enjoyable post, some good questions, and some useful references. i too hope you are not right, but your points do sound plausible to me.
“Good writing died at the hands of search engine optimisation” – that was my facebook status a few days ago! I watched that video too
he raises some interesting issues. i liked his comment ‘insight and artistry are no longer an end goal, theyre afterthoughts.’ did you watch it through pedestrian?
Yep I did. I liked his example of the SXSW reviews – quantity without quality these days, sadly.