It was a big deal when Radiohead self-released their album In Rainbows online, in 2007, for the price of whatever-you-want. They cut out all the traditional industry middlemen. The obvious casualty, at the time, was the record industry. But Colin Greenwood, the band’s bassist, also remembers that “Journalists in America had stayed up overnight to write the first review as they received the music – again, in the pre-digital age they would have had advance copies up to three weeks before.” Effectively, this momentarily leveled the playing field between traditional journalists and their online counterparts.
Now, Greenwood (that’s Colin, not to be confused with his brother, Jonny, who is the Radiohead’s lead guitarist) has published an article describing their radical decision and evaluating the state of music, music journalism, and the Internet, in light of “another group of songs” that he says Radiohead has just completed. Writes Greenwood:
There are signs that the net is moving out of its adolescence, and preparing to leave its bedroom. I have noticed on the fan message sites that a lot of the content and conversations have grown up, moved away from staccato chat and trolling, to discussions about artists, taste and trends, closer to writing found in music magazines.
His own offering is a prime example. But regardless of the content, the article is significant as yet another example of Radiohead’s successful embrace of the Internet as a means of distributing media rather than reliance on dying industries that produce more concrete and much more expensive material. And it’s another reminder that bands no longer really need music journalists to mediate between themselves and the public.
Between this article and another I recently read regarding Kanye West's constant stream of content, I find that music journalists may be painting too much of a doom-and-gloom picture of their own future.
Even though more content is being provided faster than before, via Twitter, Youtube, or an artist's own website/blog, the public's attention span is getting shorter, and in many cases their time to consume music and other entertainment news is also becoming less and less.
So, worst-case scenario in my opinion, music journalists - whether online or in print - will have to assume more of an information-aggregation and explanation role. Online music journalists in particular could inform readers about so many new singles, releases, posts, or other items of interest, and link directly to the artists' content, showing readers a jumping-off point into that genre, artist, album, etc.
Finally, although there seems to be a feeling that music fans are interested in a constant stream of content, I would still argue that artist overexposure or burnout is possible.
#1 Posted by Chelsey Heath, CJR on Wed 22 Sep 2010 at 10:21 AM
>> Now, Greenwood (that’s Colin, not to be confused with his brother, Jonny, who is the Radiohead’s lead guitarist)
I wasn't confused until you threw out the name Jonny and confused me.
>> And it’s another reminder that bands no longer really need music journalists to mediate between themselves and the public.
It's amazing how many film and music critics still write as though it's about 1997 and the Net didn't really exist. A review or commentary without embeds or links is a waste of time.
#2 Posted by F. Murray Rumpelstiltskin, CJR on Sat 25 Sep 2010 at 08:25 PM