Fire the Critics
Chris Dahlen's latest column in Pitchfork: Fire the Critics
attempts to predict the future of music criticism - trying to answer
the question of where professional criticism will fit in to a
world filled with millions of music bloggers, music discovery
engines and social tagging (which in some sense is just a music
review boiled down to a single word). Chris uses Snapp Radio
as an example of what the future of music criticism will look
like. Just as Snapp Radio can draw on the 'wisdom of the crowds'
to select images that fit in with music - people will draw on the wisdom
of the crowds to discover and to be surprised by new music.
Chris says: 'the responses of thousands of people are going to surprise
me more than
a handful of people in a magazine office'.
Chris does say there is still room for the professional critic. The
critic's role now is writing real criticism - compelling,
original, well-argued writing - to challenge the buzz, to demand
more from the artists and the listeners, to 'stir up trouble'.
Posted by Norman on November 13, 2006 at 05:46 PM EST #