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Is professional music opinion now worth nothing?
Posted: 09 Jul '08, 11:57
Metallica (pictured) might yet be spared their blushes as it turns out most people are looking elsewhere for their music criticism and reviews.
Music criticism is apparently being rubbished by fans as they begin to seek muso advice from other sources.
Professional opinion is being ignored by eight out of ten consumers who are favouring online reviews from music stores and social networking sites for the latest reviews of albums and gigs.
E-commerce firm Avail Intelligence conducted this latest Trust Index research which showed 40 per cent of respondents preferred information sources such as the iTunes Music Store and the iLike Facebook application.
The opinion of family and like minded mates came in at the top though with 41% of the vote.
On top of this the ability of the internet to be a successful platform for the sale of music is being questioned.
Fifty-one per cent of people said they prefer to purchase CDs while 25 per cent opt for digital downloads.
At the moment the average spend on CDs is £9 per month. Due to the minimal cost of electronic tracks that’s around 38 per cent of an equivalent digital music spend.
Dr Rolf Elmer, chief executive at Avail Intelligence, said: “What this research shows is that today's consumer is more informed than ever and that personalisation will be critical for e-tailers looking to stand out.”
Some of this change can be attributed to the now common use of social networks to launch new artists such as Lily Allen and Arctic Monkeys and the diversity of these sites.
DiScuss: what do you, the devoted readers of DiS, think of these revelations? Is our opinion nul and void? Surely not!?
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Probably right
I've never even looked at the album review section on here.
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not good for me as the reviewing/journalism side of music is what im hopefully heading into as a career...
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advice:
get a real job.
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You will never, ever , EVER, be able to make a living from 'reviewing'
Broaden your journalistic horizons like, now.
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i've used this site since around launch
and I can say I've rarely ever read the album reviews. Same goes for pitchfork.
I'm more likely to read blogs, this board, or get recommendations from people I know.
I prefer amateur bloggers as well who don't just do music stuff.
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"the now common use social networks to launch new artists such as Arctic Monkeys"
Haven't we been through this enough times by now?
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hasn't it always been this way?
the general music listening population don't read reviews, they use other (less geeky) means. I suppose now there are more internet based discovery tools (and a far broader internet community), so maybe people are just finding music that way rather than via the radio/tv stuff they're mass-marketed. But casual fans will discover music casually.
There has probably been a bit of a step down in the way that certain "music fans" treat reviews - you only need to look at the comments in any DiS review to see that - but these are probably the same people who vowed to never trust music journalists again after the NME panned Led Zeppelin II. Scorned fans who are, in general, idiots. They just have a global soapbox nowadays
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spot on
this is a retarded survey. The people on DiS (who do, presumably, let reviews influence their decision making process) represent a tiny proportion of the record-buying public at large. MOST people use a combination of friends & family recommendations, TV adverts and promotional spots (adverts), radio pub and club airplay to be exposed to and make decisions on music.
Besides, saying people "use internet services like Facebook" is just another way of saying people take recommendations from friends!
It always has been and always will be a minority of music lovers who take critics reviews seriously.
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What I thought this article was going to be about was
that now I don't even neew to read a review to see if I like an album, I can download it for free and if I like it, buy it, and if I don't, delete it.
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even if it professional...
it's still just an opinion. and everyone's are different...
the amount of reviews i diasgree with vastly out-do the ones I consider to be worth my time reading. I usually just find myself trying to relate to the review rather than take anything from it.
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yeah
the barriers which previously existed to try before you by and be guided by people who listened to all the crap to give you an idea of what was good, those days are going/gone.
it's sad, because in the process we've lost the ability for people to translate less instantly loveable music and for people to anticipate hearing something so that it's that bit more special.
yours sighingly,
man who runs various music sites which feature many reviews-
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:D
I like to hear what other people think of the record but while I am listening to it.
Therein lies an idea - a review site where you can stream the song that is being reviewed. Or, just use last.fm in the background.
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Oh wow
You can read music reviews?!
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I don't particularly follow the reviews on here,
but one of my great pleasures is sitting down with a new copy of Plan B and a computer and listening to stuff that they describe in an interesting way.
Last night I had heard and ordered an album from Duchess Says within ten minutes of first even knowing they existed.
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The only problem I ever have with that magazine...
...is that almost everything they do review does get a decent review, like they sing the positives. Which is all well and good - why write about something that is awful - but given they cover A LOT of music, it can't all be as great as their wide team of freelancing critique-penners make out.
Just flicked through the latest and found oddly positive reviews given to records I know are poor. Well, that I consider to be poor, on levels beyond personal genre preference.
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LoL
This has confirmed what I've always said... reviews are redundant. Nobody cares about them. If they truly did, then our music charts (for whatever value they hold) would look very different.
People have got wise to the fact that one person's opinion shouldn't be the consensus. That's why majority reviews, like they have on Amazon, are much better to gauge an overall feeling.
Adieu the review, it was good while it lasted.
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moderaterock
im studying a degree in music journalism, it wouldnt be just 'reviewing' id do so hopefully ill be ok. Ill let you know in 5 years :p
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It's tough going...
so just be prepared.
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I think the point of Plan B
is that it is a positive thing. They say 'this is out there, we like it, this is why you should listen to it.' Then they provide a link that enables you to do that.
I have no interest in people I've never heard of slagging off bands that I've never heard of, because life's too short.
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agreed
but not EVERYTHING can be quite so GREAT, right?
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Oh indeed
Going through the magazine last night I'd say the hit to miss ratio was around 20% to 80%. But one part of the 20% was very good indeed.
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Great point...
Personally, I think a real future for online and published music press is to establish an identity and a taste and stick to it. Get away from the transience and "next big thing"-isms, backlashes and hype.
If they (mags/sites) were to review only the things they like and would seek to actively recommend and promote then the reader would know that they must be at least worth checking out, even if you do not always agree with the publication/websites choice of the best of the new crop of music.
The site/mag would then act just as the friends and relatives would but better, as it would be hopefully more informative, insightful, have pictures/links etc and above all, ideally be an interesting/good read, becoming a trusted source of recommendations while still encouraging creative and interesting critique/writing. In an increasingly personalised and interactive, media-savvy time, a publication/site coming off as your friendly mate with great taste, a way with words and full of cracking recommendations is infinitely preferrable to coming off as your "bit of a wanker" music snob mate.
I just do not see the point of really negative reviews. Fair enough, I can understand if a release has enough of a presence to warrant a "weighing in" on the basis of its significance, but slagging off the latest shite album by the obviously overhyped next big thing only serves (in my eyes at least) to make the journalist and the publication/site look, at best slightly smug and self-satisfied ("look how many big words I used to say 'thats shit'...") and at worst betrays a desperate grasping for social significance ("see that big release everyone is talking about, WE THINK IT IS SHIT!!! RECOGNISE OUR INSIGHT AND JOIN US!!!!").
I just think it would be far classier (not to mention a much bigger slap in the face to a high-profile release) to simply not feature it, mention it or deem it in any way worthy of your attention.
Anyone with me?
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Start writing for your uni paper Sheppard --
Though I'd imagine you are already. My time doing so proved in many ways more fruitful than the degree itself...
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I did a degree in journalism.
The qualification won't help half as much as 'knowing' people and having 'contacts' so start whoring yourself about right now.
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That's true...
...Mike and I are very sore.
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Plus, who determines what a "professional" opinion is...
Why is the reviewer's view more "professional", and therefore vaild, than mine, my friend's or anyone else view I might happen to read.
Again, utter bollocks.
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PROFFESSINAL
someone whose profession is to review musics
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I think you can study...
A professional journalism qualification but as far as i'm aware there's no such thing as a professional music journalism qualification, or general code of conduct for music journo's etc.
So no, 'professional' is probably not the right word. I think most music reviewers write the most astounding nonsense, but I like looking at vast amounts of random scores. All hail metacritic
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in other news
look at the state of metallica in that photo.
there's something intelligent to be said about the death of the critic, prematurely reported or otherwise. maybe that book from last year (erm, 'the death of the critic') already said it. but this is a non-news item from a self-interested online marketing firm. don't give them the time of day, DiS.
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www.musicomh.com
I look at reviews, not so much to help decide whether to get an album or not but to hear someone else describe the music - many reviewers are really excellent writers. Many are terrible too, but hey...
That said, many of the best reviews I've read recently aren't from professionals. Like www.musicomh.com - some outstanding writers there.
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i just
get something if it has a pretty cover.
recommendations pfft.
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conspiracy theory...
i thought most reviews in bigger magazines like NME were practically written by the record labels anyway. Big labels that put a lot of business the mags' way don't take lightly to bad reviews of their bands. That's why you get loads of 8/10 reviews in big mags and forums/blogs/small websites are the only reliable source of opinion. Unless these have been infiltrated too...
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Reviews will either confirm
what you know and reinforce your opinion of something, or say the opposite to what you think. Either way they can stimulate conversation points and is that not the point?
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I would like to think
that nobody who listens to music has ever done so on the merit of someone elses opinion and especially a music"journalist". It is something you have to make up your own mind on.
Of course where I live is in the candy cane forest with gumdrop trees and the streets are paved with chocolate.
Even there Coldplay have a #1 record.
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for new music
i think reviews can still be important, but its more important for you to find a reviewer you can trust.
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