When I occasionally do any writing about music, it is when I feel the most creative. It is so important and critical to the overall health of the music industry
I was having this discussion with a wine writer: so much niche writing—music writing, lifestyle writing in general—is devalued now. It will suffer from lack of authority and perspective. Sigh.
As a minuscule band I can vouch for the fact that there are a handful of publications we can submit to and they’re dwindling by the day so many of us just don’t bother which ofc leads to homogenization which is worse under streaming than it’s ever been - seems good for music generally, surely it will not create lasting negative repercussions
I am 61. I miss the fanzines and indie publications, often hand stapled and distributed at places you don't come across by accident. E.g.: Steve Albini, fresh outta Northwestern, writing for Matter Magazine in Chicago. Had a regular column about how bands can record and engineer and produce their own music without the major labels. And then there's an interview of Gordon Gano and here's his home phone number in case you want to call.
Bigger alt weeklies unlocked other music secrets. Electricity was in the air. Community was in our blood.
THIS. "What’s also concerning to me is the dwindling opportunities to document music history. Decades ago, we had print magazines and newspapers committing some version of music history in physical form. Today, fragile internet sites mean there’s a big chunk of music history that’s vaporizing. People are already writing about the disappearing hip-hop blogs or the music lost when MySpace went under. Physical media might be scarce, but a digital file can disappear into the digital ether." As someone who wrote extensively for Rolling Stone for years (only to watch most of that work go up in digital smoke), this resonates -- although it's lovely to see things like the Rocket's back pages resurrected in digital form, given that this super-influential outlet (check out the list of amazing writers who went on to other things post-Rocket, including the late Charlie Cross, the No Depression gang, etc.) was essentially THE authoritative voice for the Seattle Scene (or whatever we'd call it) from its runup, its peak, to its wind-down.
When I occasionally do any writing about music, it is when I feel the most creative. It is so important and critical to the overall health of the music industry
Great post….and the Ann Powers quote came to a perfect close!
I was having this discussion with a wine writer: so much niche writing—music writing, lifestyle writing in general—is devalued now. It will suffer from lack of authority and perspective. Sigh.
As a minuscule band I can vouch for the fact that there are a handful of publications we can submit to and they’re dwindling by the day so many of us just don’t bother which ofc leads to homogenization which is worse under streaming than it’s ever been - seems good for music generally, surely it will not create lasting negative repercussions
Hell yeah. Talk is the oxygen of music culture. Without the talk (writing), so much of our effort to be heard participating in the culture is wasted.
Good call on the Madder Rose song; thought i was the only one who remembered them (saw them open for The Sundays once, here in Cleveland).
Incredibly well said, Annie. Thanks for continuing to share your voice and to advocate for music writing and criticism!
I couldn't agree more - I feel like criticism is particularly important right about now...
I am 61. I miss the fanzines and indie publications, often hand stapled and distributed at places you don't come across by accident. E.g.: Steve Albini, fresh outta Northwestern, writing for Matter Magazine in Chicago. Had a regular column about how bands can record and engineer and produce their own music without the major labels. And then there's an interview of Gordon Gano and here's his home phone number in case you want to call.
Bigger alt weeklies unlocked other music secrets. Electricity was in the air. Community was in our blood.
“Maybe a song saved their life, and they want others to feel that solace.” ❤️
THIS. "What’s also concerning to me is the dwindling opportunities to document music history. Decades ago, we had print magazines and newspapers committing some version of music history in physical form. Today, fragile internet sites mean there’s a big chunk of music history that’s vaporizing. People are already writing about the disappearing hip-hop blogs or the music lost when MySpace went under. Physical media might be scarce, but a digital file can disappear into the digital ether." As someone who wrote extensively for Rolling Stone for years (only to watch most of that work go up in digital smoke), this resonates -- although it's lovely to see things like the Rocket's back pages resurrected in digital form, given that this super-influential outlet (check out the list of amazing writers who went on to other things post-Rocket, including the late Charlie Cross, the No Depression gang, etc.) was essentially THE authoritative voice for the Seattle Scene (or whatever we'd call it) from its runup, its peak, to its wind-down.
You hit the nail on the head with this one. The WaPo and Pitchfork stuff has been driving me nuts...
This post calls for... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkU4hsaFglU