Extended Play #7: Do Music Bloggers Have All the Power
This isn't the first time I've mentioned this but I love Lisa Chritiansen's new CBC Radio 3 podcast extended play. You see, while I spend a great deal of time with music - listening to it, going to shows, thinking about it, writing about it ... - I am not what you'd call a pop culture junkie. I could care less about fashion, I'm not a foodie and likely haven't heard about that new restaurant that you love, that new tv show that everyone's talking about - I probably haven't seen it, and odds are wouldn't like it if I had. I read books, daily. I spend a great deal of time on a few dozen national and international news sites and if you see my walking down the street with headphones on there is a 50/50 chance that I'm listening to music. The other half of the time I'm listening to podcasts from the CBC, NPR, the BBC, How Stuff Works and others on science, technology, politics, history, philosophy, news, film, literature, comedy, etc.,
So, Extended Play's combination of music and the culture that surrounds it - the ideas, philosophies and inner workings of music is a great combo for me.
This weeks show is on music bloggers: how much power they have, whether or not that power is justified, how music blogs compare to traditional media etc.,
You can grab the m4a, mp3 or ogg for that particular episode or just subscribe on itunes (totally worth it).
As for my thoughts on this particular topic:
If the traditional media could really cover music, there would have been no blogs. The reality is that there are too many bands for traditional media to cover them all. In Canada alone I'd estimate that there are 40-50 thousand - even Exclaim doesn't have that kind of time.
I guess one way to think of music blogs is a kind of minor league for music. Music blogs tell you about artists long before most traditional media, most (but not all) of the artists we talk about at NxEW you can still see for a $5-10 cover charge at your local venue. At the same time I was thrilled to see Dan Mangan on CBC television this week.
The reality is that if Dan hadn't been covered by music blogs for the last 2-3 years he likely never would have been on CBC television and being on CBC television now opens him up to a much wider audience. Traditional media coverage is still better, but blogs are now necessary to get to the point where the traditional media is interested (not to mention helping you sell albums, fill seats and pay the bills in the interim.)
In the 80s and 90s there was a music industry and a music press - where big labels pitch their latest offerings to the official media. If you weren't on a major label - forget about the mainstream press. Now we have something of a music ecosystem, with a variety of different parts (fans, bloggers, musicians, media, etc) all playing their role. The big music industry is dying (if the reports I've read are correct EMI lost 1.4 billion last year) and the traditional media is re-defining itself and becoming more responsive to the audience. All in all it's leading to a much better system for most of us, at any rate it's exciting times.
So, Extended Play's combination of music and the culture that surrounds it - the ideas, philosophies and inner workings of music is a great combo for me.
This weeks show is on music bloggers: how much power they have, whether or not that power is justified, how music blogs compare to traditional media etc.,
You can grab the m4a, mp3 or ogg for that particular episode or just subscribe on itunes (totally worth it).
As for my thoughts on this particular topic:
If the traditional media could really cover music, there would have been no blogs. The reality is that there are too many bands for traditional media to cover them all. In Canada alone I'd estimate that there are 40-50 thousand - even Exclaim doesn't have that kind of time.
I guess one way to think of music blogs is a kind of minor league for music. Music blogs tell you about artists long before most traditional media, most (but not all) of the artists we talk about at NxEW you can still see for a $5-10 cover charge at your local venue. At the same time I was thrilled to see Dan Mangan on CBC television this week.
The reality is that if Dan hadn't been covered by music blogs for the last 2-3 years he likely never would have been on CBC television and being on CBC television now opens him up to a much wider audience. Traditional media coverage is still better, but blogs are now necessary to get to the point where the traditional media is interested (not to mention helping you sell albums, fill seats and pay the bills in the interim.)
In the 80s and 90s there was a music industry and a music press - where big labels pitch their latest offerings to the official media. If you weren't on a major label - forget about the mainstream press. Now we have something of a music ecosystem, with a variety of different parts (fans, bloggers, musicians, media, etc) all playing their role. The big music industry is dying (if the reports I've read are correct EMI lost 1.4 billion last year) and the traditional media is re-defining itself and becoming more responsive to the audience. All in all it's leading to a much better system for most of us, at any rate it's exciting times.
Labels: CBC Radio 3, Extended Play, Lisa Christiansen, Podcasts
posted by Justin Beach at
7:16 AM
0 Comments
Share on Facebook
Stay in Touch:
Subscribe to North by East West by Email
