NUMBERS & NICHESIS

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MusicJournalism

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.”

introduc tion: what is music journalism?

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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 music in publications like Melody Maker led to the legitimization of pop music as an art form. This led to the golden age of rock journalism in the 1960s and 70s, with critics like Robert Christgau, Lester Bangs and Ellen Willis contributing to publications like Rolling Stone, Creem, The New Yorker and The Village Voice. Punters could now have inside access to their musical heroes and discover new music from journalists with the inside scoop. Though not hewn from the same rock of the legends they were covering, the critics were rock “stars” in their own right too. “Rockism” — the

perceived bias that rock music was superior to other forms of music — was rife.

Come the turn of the 21st century and “Poptimism (or Popism)” takes over. Pop music stakes a claim for legitimacy, powered by the blog-fueled democratization of music criticism. Is Beyonce not equally culturally significant as Bruce Springsteen? Is it not unfair to deprive modern pop artists of labels of authenticity simply because of their genre? Pluralism in the musical landscape and the proliferation of technology in the

© Maria Clare Khoo

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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.

© Bryner Tan 54

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

© Axel Serik 76

A zine (short for magazine or fanzine) is a self-published, small-circulation, booklet. Customarily created by cutting and gluing text and images together to create a master flat, the assembly of the zine requires photocopying multiple copies before folding and stapling the assembled issue together.

Zine-making provides the means for anyone to become an author, editor, art director, and publisher of a zine. The empowerment of the zine appeals to underground communities as it allows for topics shunned by mainstream media to be covered.

In the 1970s with the rise of the punk subculture,

zine s

Prints with a Past

zines were used to promote bands and happenings in the major cities of New York and London that were burgeoning at the time. Zines played a significant role in developing and launching the alternative movements of Queercore and Riot Grrrl in the 80s and the 90s, inspiring the musical movements that followed.

With the advent of the internet and blogging platforms such as Blogspot and Tumblr contributing to the decline of zines over the last two decades, the rise in popularity of the “Do It Yourself (DIY)” culture and philosophy in the recent years has revived interest in Zine making and readership.

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BigO Magazine was started in September 1985 by brothers Michael and Philip Cheah. An acronym for “Before I Get Old” (a reference to the song My Generation by English band, The Who), Big O began as a monochrome photocopied publication in true zine-making tradition. In 1992 the magazine went full colour and encompassed artist interviews, reviews of local and international music releases, films, comics and live concerts.

Beyond offering a print platform to share and discuss Singaporean made music, BigO also organised gigs and released several cassette and CD compilations that accompanied their magazines. These releases served as vital gateway samplers for readers to discover fresh, unique talent and helped bands

big o maga zine

gain a larger fan base. The lasting efforts of the magazine have transformed Singaporean music, with many bands and artists citing inspiration to release their own music and organize their own shows as a result. BigO also helped pave the way for more performance venues, opportunities as well as encouraging local radio to play more Singapore made music.

Similar to the struggles of the zines with the introduction of the Internet, the print magazine ceased publication in 2002. However, BigO continues to exist as an online website that now caters to a small but dedicated global following.

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1894Billboard, the magazine is published. The company

grows to become an entertainment media brand known for its music charts.

1840sClassical music criticism is published in music journals like Allgemeine musikalische

Zeitung and The Musical Times.

2010s to present day Streaming and algorithms

bypass the need for discovery of new music

via recommendations and reviews by music journalists.

Publications become more like “curators” than

“consumer guides”.

1970s - 80sThe golden age of rock

journalism, and a decline in classical criticism.

2000sThe rise of the

Internet democratizes music criticism.

Poptimism takes over.1960s

Newspaper coverage shifts towards pop as

music rather than pop as social

phenomenon.

1926Melody Maker is first

published, goes on to become one of the UK’s more popular

music weeklies.

A Timelineof Music Journalism

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sp otlight

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.

© Bandwagon

Daniel Peters will be sharing his story as a

music journalist and regale us with tales of

rock and roll access at library@esplanade

on 29 April 2017 (3pm).

Find out more at www.nlb.gov.sg/golibrary.

for the record:

music journalism

in current times

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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

© Axel Serik 1716

because of that, it is arguably the most indulgent outlet for a music writer (which is already a fairly indulgent profession as it is).

But that kind of indulgence has the danger of generating the kind of insularity that could make you either cynical or out-of-touch — if that's all you're doing as a music writer, that is. When I started out, it was something I slowly learned and tried combating by expanding the formats I could adopt for a piece. Journalist first, music nerd second.

Reviews also have a very different place in the age of social media, so it's something that we'll continue to push out, just not at a frequent rate.

People were attracted to Bandwagon early on for putting out a stream of quality opinion pieces. It's a tradition that'll remain part of the site, but at the same time, we're more selective on what to write about these days. Video content is incredibly important — as everyone knows by now — and that'll be a huge focus for us this year.

Is there pressure to present content that generates more views? How do you do that without resorting to click-bait tricks?

We're all knee-deep in the age of click-bait. And it's easy to be called out for having "click-baity" titles, but a

headline's a headline, it's meant to entice and interest a reader. We just try to avoid being obnoxious about it and misrepresent the actual meat of the content.

The greatest worry for any media outlet is ad revenue

— your thoughts on this?

It's an obstacle that virtually every independent media outlet is facing — from The New York Times to The Quietus. We will not be able to run solely on ad revenue, which is why we also focus on other forms of paid content, like advertorials, along with our events arm.

Have there been struggles in maintaining objectivity

or having to tone down the level of critique? Not really. We've realized that bands and promoters here are open to criticism. I've found that gigs here have generally been well-run, so there isn't much to really hammer home about. But we have been open and honest when we feel it's worth pointing out something, especially with our yearly Laneway reports.

What are the best/worst things about your job?

Nothing much to add here to be honest, it's a great job and I'm very privileged to be doing it.

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What excites you about music in 2017?

So many things! The way we experience and "consume" music is constantly evolving, and it remains a guessing game of how long streaming can be a viable way for artists to put out music.

The sharp decline of mainstream rock has actually done more good than bad — there's a wealth of underground rock music that's affirmatively life-changing. It has also ushered in the dominance of artists who, in instances 30 years ago, wouldn't have been able to even touch that platform — artists who are boldly female, non-white, or gay. It's exciting, and I'll take that any day over grieving the loss of Oasis or The Beatles on the charts.

Haters gonna hate, what do you say to the critics of

your critiques?

Honestly? Thanks so much for even bothering to visit our site and trashing us. "Bad publicity is good publicity" is a cliché, but good discourse can always come out of discord. We're doing our own thing, but we're always open to hear what people think about the site.

© Martin Fisch via Flickr 2120

recommended re ads

David Foster Wallace and Mark CostelloPenguin Books, London, UK, 2013—Eng 782.421649 WAL -[ART]

Jessica HopperFeatherproof Books, Illinois, Chicago, USA, 2015 —Eng 781.66 HOP -[ART]

Nick HornbyPenguin, London, UK, 2003—Eng 782.42164 HOR -[ART]

All rights reserved.

All rights reserved.

All rights reserved.

All rights reserved.

Signifying RappersThe First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic

31 Songs

2

3

First published in 1990, this book examines rap and its position in American culture from an outsider point-of-view as the writers infiltrate the African-American musical movement as two white participants. Set against the backdrop of the legendary 1980s, the book was written just as hip-hop’s position in pop culture was starting to become something major. Despite the dated music writing, the two authors' analyses of the music is highly interesting in retrospect reading, and the book remains an insightful commentary on rap culture.

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editors

Joey Chin

writers

Jonathan Fong

Liao Youwen

Paddy Ong

—

This publication is printed

on Cyclus Print. Its text

is set in Mercury and

Johnston ITC Std.

© National Library Board, Singapore 2017

the numbers & niches series

710: Landscape Architecture

Green Places

720: Architecture

Everyday Architecture

730: Sculpture

Toy Sculpture

740: Drawing and Design

Make It Work

750: Painting

Colours in Culture

760: Printing and Engraving

Silkscreen Printing

770: Photography

Old School Photography

780: Music

Music Journalism

790: Performing Arts

Setting the Stage

800: Literary Arts

Singapore Poetry and Prose

credits

1. © Credit modernbarisax.com http://modernbarisax.com/bass-saxophone-articles-in-melody-maker-by- adrian-rollini/

2. © Credit 'Rolling Stone Keeps on Rollin', by John Dryer, licensed under CC BY 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_dyer_ jr/6871398496/

3. © Credit 'In Concert: Folklore 08', by Martin Fisch, licensed under CC BY 2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/mar s75/2824232930/

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numbers & niches is a 10-part, monthly series of

talks and curated content based on the library’s

Arts Collection. Sequenced according to the Dewey

Decimal Classification, each issue shines a spotlight

on local practitioners and their specific art forms.

numbers & niches is now available online at

nlb.gov.sg/Browse/ArtsPublications.aspx!

We would love to know how you are enjoying

numbers & niches. Write to arts@nlb.gov.sg.

in t hi s i s sue

01

08

12

14

20

introduction What is Music Journalism?

Prints with a Past

A Timeline of Music Journalism

spotlight Daniel Peters

Recommended Reads