8 • 2017 & Journalism Music 7 80 introduction: what is music journalism? Frank Zappa famously said, “Most rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read.” Within this sardonic jibe was an element of truth: musicians express themselves best through song, helping listeners articulate that which cannot be put into words. If your task then, is to write about something so nebulous, it would be easy to come across as incompetent. As Martin Mull put it, “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” 1 Are music journalists of today fleet-footed enough to remain relevant in this age of highly democratized music criticism and consumption? Or do their voices still warrant a place in our modern-day newsfeeds? Much like its subject matter, Music Journalism has had to adapt to changes through the ages. With its roots in classical music criticism, early publications like Leipzig’s Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (General music newspaper) and London’s The Musical Times in the 19th century comprised the study, discussion, evaluation and interpretation of music. Classical music criticism then stood by and watched as 20th century rock criticism rose to prominence in the wake of the breakthrough of The Beatles. More writings on pop © Maria Clare Khoo music in publications like Melody Maker led to the legitimization of pop music as an art form. This led to perceived bias that rock music was superior to other the golden age of rock journalism in the 1960s and 70s, forms of music — was rife. with critics like Robert Christgau, Lester Bangs and Come the turn of the 21st century and “Poptimism Ellen Willis contributing to publications like Rolling (or Popism)” takes over. Pop music stakes a claim for Stone, Creem, The New Yorker and The Village Voice. legitimacy, powered by the blog-fueled democratization Punters could now have inside access to their musical of music criticism. Is Beyonce not equally culturally heroes and discover new music from journalists with significant as Bruce Springsteen? Is it not unfair to the inside scoop. Though not hewn from the same rock deprive modern pop artists of labels of authenticity of the legends they were covering, the critics were simply because of their genre? Pluralism in the musical rock “stars” in their own right too. “Rockism” — the landscape and the proliferation of technology in the 2 3 2010s has all but eliminated the jet-setting, rock n’ roll life of music journalists past. Algorithms now recommend new music to you before you even have time to finish listening to what was recommended the week before. Twitter and RSS feeds send you bite-sized information and direct access to your favourite artists. Yet, though it seems like the writing has been on the wall, music journalism still prevails. It prevails because an algorithm cannot give you the back-story, the trail of influences and differing opinions to add to your musical landscape. It prevails because even though newsfeeds give you what is #trending and bubbling on the surface, 140 characters and microblogs cannot give you the intimacy of an in-depth profile feature. Good music journalism puts the music in context. It illuminates, educates and entertains. It reaches out and engages readers beyond its niche. Good music, much like journalism, is about story- telling. The all-time-great artists did not simply want to get their music out. They needed to. And just as the world needs their music, so too, do their stories need to be told. And that is why, even today, the music writers must keep dancing. 4 © Bryner Tan 5 POP JOURNALISM MIGHT SEEM INCREASINGLY IRRELEVANT BUT TALKING TO MUSICIANS – CLEVER, EMOTIONAL, MUSIC-LOVING PEOPLE – CAN BE VERY ENLIGHTENING. (ESPECIALLY IF YOU TALK ABOUT SOMETHING OTHER THAN THEIR MOST RECENT PIECE OF WORK.) – Miranda Sawyer 6 © Axel Serik 7 Prints with a Past zines A zine (short for magazine or zines were used to promote fanzine) is a self-published, bands and happenings in the small-circulation, booklet. major cities of New York and Customarily created by London that were burgeoning cutting and gluing text at the time. Zines played a and images together to significant role in developing create a master flat, the and launching the alternative assembly of the zine requires movements of Queercore photocopying multiple and Riot Grrrl in the 80s and copies before folding and the 90s, inspiring the musical stapling the assembled issue movements that followed. together. With the advent of the Zine-making provides internet and blogging the means for anyone to platforms such as Blogspot become an author, editor, and Tumblr contributing to art director, and publisher the decline of zines over the of a zine. The empowerment last two decades, the rise of the zine appeals to in popularity of the “Do It underground communities as Yourself (DIY)” culture and it allows for topics shunned philosophy in the recent years by mainstream media to be has revived interest in Zine covered. making and readership. In the 1970s with the rise of the punk subculture, 8 9 big o magazine BigO Magazine was started gain a larger fan base. in September 1985 by The lasting efforts of the brothers Michael and magazine have transformed Philip Cheah. An acronym Singaporean music, with for “Before I Get Old” (a many bands and artists reference to the song My citing inspiration to Generation by English band, release their own music The Who), Big O began as a and organize their own monochrome photocopied shows as a result. BigO also publication in true zine- helped pave the way for making tradition. In 1992 more performance venues, the magazine went full opportunities as well as colour and encompassed encouraging local radio artist interviews, reviews to play more Singapore of local and international made music. music releases, films, Similar to the struggles comics and live concerts. of the zines with the Beyond offering a introduction of the Internet, print platform to share the print magazine ceased and discuss Singaporean publication in 2002. made music, BigO also However, BigO continues to organised gigs and exist as an online website released several cassette that now caters to a small and CD compilations but dedicated global that accompanied their following. magazines. These releases served as vital gateway samplers for readers to discover fresh, unique talent and helped bands 10 11 A Timeline 1840s Classical music criticism is published in music journals of Music like Allgemeine musikalische Journalism Zeitung and The Musical Times. 1926 Melody Maker is first 1894 published, goes on to become one of the Billboard, the magazine is UK’s more popular published. The company music weeklies. grows to become an entertainment media brand known for its music charts. 2000s The rise of the Internet democratizes 2010s to present day 1960s music criticism. Streaming and algorithms Poptimism takes over. Newspaper bypass the need for coverage shifts discovery of new music towards pop as via recommendations and music rather than reviews by music journalists. pop as social 1970s - 80s Publications become phenomenon. The golden age of rock more like “curators” than journalism, and a decline in “consumer guides”. classical criticism. 12 13 spotlight In this issue, we chat with Daniel Peters, editor at Bandwagon.com — a musical and gig resource for Singapore and countries in the region. Equally impressive and important is the dedication by Daniel to champion Singaporean artists, events and promoters to reach wider audiences, both local and foreign. for the record: Daniel Peters will be sharing his story as a music journalist and regale us with tales of music journalism rock and roll access at library@esplanade in current times on 29 April 2017 (3pm). Find out more at www.nlb.gov.sg/golibrary. 14 © Bandwagon 15 How does the current state of the music industry and technology affect Music Journalism? The access to music we have now is unprecedented. We're free to roam about online to devour albums. I can easily listen to music by a Polish shoegaze band who broke up after one 7" release on my phone right now. But music reviews still form that essential part of gatekeeping that makes exploring music that much easier for people who either don't have the time to indulge in such activities, or are intimidated by the sheer scale of music available. Reviews aren't so much the decisive factor in purchasing an album, but rather a profound assessment on the album's qualities, and that may help people decide whether that album is worth their time, not only their money. Not everyone is a discerning listener of independent thought and that is okay. There's room for everyone, and reviews just make it easier for people to pick out the music they should check out first. How do you balance the type of content on Bandwagon? Do you have a personal preference? When I started writing for Bandwagon years ago, before I joined full-time, I relished the chance to write reviews. It hinges almost entirely on your opinion and 16 © Axel Serik 17 because of that, it is arguably the most indulgent outlet headline's a headline, it's meant to entice and interest a for a music writer (which is already a fairly indulgent reader. We just try to avoid being obnoxious about it and profession as it is). misrepresent the actual meat of the content. But that kind of indulgence has the danger of generating the kind of insularity that could make you The greatest worry for any media outlet is ad revenue either cynical or out-of-touch — if that's all you're — your thoughts on this? doing as a music writer, that is.