It’s been said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture – flawed, futile, even downright ridiculous. People have been criticising the place and purpose of music journalism for as long as journalists themselves have been critiquing music, but its relevancy is getting called into question now more than ever. What authority does a journalist have; what gives their opinion any more weight or validity than anyone else’s? With sales of physical media making up a small percentage of how the public engages with music, reviews don’t provide the consumer friendly role they once did. There’s no money on the line anymore, nothing to lose, you can just press play and decide for yourself. In fact, there’s all the music in the world at your fingertips, available to be listened to anywhere, at any time, at the mere push of a button. So, what role does music journalism actually serve in the age of streaming? Continue reading
In today’s fast moving world the path that the future will take can be very difficult to predict. Fads come and go faster than ever before and music is not immune to the fickle nature of modern life. Someone can be on top of the world one day and then be all but forgotten the next. (Remember Gotye? Anyone heard from him lately?) Likewise acts can be plucked up from obscurity and thrust into the limelight seemingly out of the blue… I bet Rick Astley’s bank account is looking nice and full after all those millions of rick rolls! But even in the disorderly world of pop culture there are patterns to be found. Perhaps the best way to make predictions is to look at how the industry itself is set to change and think about what effect it will have on music. 
Belwood Music 