Are Music Writers Assholes and Am I a Real Journalist If I’m Only Writing about Music?
A Look Into Participation, Citizen Journalism, Online Communities, and Identity
((This was a final assigment for class))
Writing about music feels wrong. In Almost Famous, the musicians refer to journalists as "the enemy," and as of this spring, Kanye essentially told music writers to stop commenting on his album. And I get that. Yes, I write about music (and movies) once a week, but he has a point. Who am I to say? I am not a musician. I consume A LOT of music, but I've never had the commitment or capability to create something myself. I had stints with the violin, and even the drums briefly, but I grew out of my violin and was too lazy to buy a new one, and I got frustrated with the drums when I realized I would never be able to master the traditional grip. I have never had the musical talent, nor the audacity, to make music myself.
(Kanye's Twitter reaction to a critique by Pink Floyd producer Bob Ezrin )
But as a consumer, participating and commenting is my way of honoring artists' work. A natural reaction to something loved is to discuss it. New relationships lend themselves to excessive unnecessary mentions from those involved, in the same way that a new Drake album justifies a group text with your ex-boyfriend, who is the only one who will engage in earnest discourse about its features. Discussion is natural engagement. The only reason why people don't talk in a movie theater is because they know they're not supposed to. This is what media scholar Henry Jenkins refers to as participatory culture:
“Fans are the most active segment of the media audience, one that refuses to simply accept what they are given, but rather insists on the right to become full participants.”
That’s not to say that writers are entitled to spewing their opinions unabashedly across the Internet, but it is to say that the media is not confined to unattached professionals, but instead is often fueled by professionalized fans, looking to become more involved in what they love.
(Nardwaur is a great example of professionalized fanatic, who goes deep into artists' archives to surprise them with hidden facts about their interests and favorite albums--the research isn't funded; it's simply information from artists' interviews and songs)
A level of higher engagement would be those who actually create something in the field themselves. Jenkins refers to the homemade Star Wars remakes and tributes, and likens them to DIY culture of the punk movement. To further that, artists have Soundcloud now, which allows a bottom-up approach to the music industry. When Soundcloud first started, the site was home to a community of devoted young artists and fans doing covers and remixes, embodying their own favorite musicians and using their likeness to expand creatively. Soundcloud lets users upload their work, no matter the content or quality.
And things like citizen journalism only further a fan’s natural inclination to engage through discussion. Upon first mention, attaching the word journalism to my extremely biased list of the “best” Leonardo Dicaprio movies sounds wrong and probably a little self-righteous. However as my (favorite) Professor Nikki Usher described it: “Citizens need to be thinking of themselves as civic actors responsible for creating the news.” Music and movie writers are creating and deciding what is news, just as any other professional journalist on a pay roll is deciding what is news when they make the decision what to write about. While there is a definite niche to some of online writing (a TA once described my writing as “inaccessible”), that is the beauty of the boundless Internet. There is space for everyone’s version of news. Online music and movie writers decide if it’s really necessary to give news status to every marketing ploy Drake just did for his album, or address the fact that Kim tweeted a nude pic on Twitter. As a music/movies writer the news is a whole lot softer, but to a certain community, it is just as important as a political debate or a football game.
And despite the black hole vast and intangible quality the Internet often takes on, content is not always lost and identity is not washed away. Because the Internet is a public good, my blog has the potential to find a place in a community, just as much as Complex or Fader or Pitchfork. People who us the Internet, so mostly everyone in my own sphere, find sites that line up with their lifestyle. In a 2007 article, social media scholar Danah Boyd did a study discussing the difference between those who use MySpace, and those were now transitioning into Facebook. (The site’s setup is as mid-2000’s looking as the topic.)As she described it, “Social networks are strongly connected to geography, race, and religion; these are also huge factors in lifestyle divisions and thus "class."” If you swap the word “music” for “social media” in that sentence, nothing changes. When a music fan decides which to site to read, there are definite lifestyle choices to lead them there. While Boyd goes into how different upbringings dictate what material they think is appropriate for certain sites, music follows similarly. Communities are created when listeners choose which site to follow. Comment sections are often dominated by the same people week to week, who have formed a community within their niched interests in music culture.
If I were to do a super un-formalized generalized version of the study for music sites, similar to Danah Boyd’s personal version of content analysis, it would go something like this:
Complex:
20-something-year-old who really cares about the new Drake single and has considered using his parents’ credit card to buy a bootleg pair of Yeezy’s off the Internet. Also really into Odell Beckham since his move to New York for his new job. Has followed all coverage of the NBA Playoffs from Bleacher Report’s Instagram.
(GIF Courtesy of ifkanyewerepresident.com)
Pitchfork:
Found out about Animal Collective in the mid-2000’s and hasn’t looked back since. Appreciate the long-form reviews as someone who considers themselves a scholar after attending an Ivy League and listening to a full Black Star album one time. Thinks Childish Gambino’s hard 5 was a dumb review after his honest confessionals on wealth and black culture.
Again, those are simply generalizations, but the larger point is that demographics direct where we go on the Internet and that is where we find others whose thoughts and interests often align with our own. Nothing makes you feel at home on the Internet
Music and movie writing is awkward. No matter how much I try to justify the concept with scholarly articles about social media theory, I will always feel a certain specific guilt every time I try to write about it. In some ways, this final post is a general statement on why there is so much writing about music and movies and why it remains such an important topic. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to truly control my knee jerk reaction to discuss every creative work that I come across. Whether that be whispering to my mom at the movies or writing violently opinionated blog posts on Kanye’s latest.
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