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Posted in music on June 7, 2005

Critical Condition | Art & Music Critics & Blogs

"Once almighty arbiters of American taste, critics find their power at ebb tide. Is it a dark time for the arts, or the dawn of a new age?" The LA Times explores that question in "Critical condition." (via sg)

Selected quotes...

"Alex Ross straddles this divide in an unusual way: The New Yorker's classical music critic, Ross also runs a blog called the Rest Is Noise. He doesn't think websites are cutting into the readership of papers and magazines; rather, they appeal to "people who devour media in any form — they're just addicted to information."

And he started his site not as a path off the sinking ship of print but because he wanted to give classical music the presence on the Net that rock criticism has with fan chat rooms. Classical musicians, such as Emanuel Ax and Hilary Hahn, have blogs."

----

"Still, the Net has made so much available that it's undercut one of the critic's crucial roles: turning audiences on to something obscure or unknown. These days, for example, if you purchase a record by Interpol on a consumer website, you'll be told that their heroes are Joy Division and the Velvet Underground. It's the kind of thing that would have been done only by a rock critic a decade ago."

And continued from yesterday...

What did Largehearted Boy have to say in response to his mention in the NY Times?
"I disagree, I believe every music blog has a degree of influence..."

Posted on June 7, 2005 10:22 AM

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