Until bloggers deliver hard facts …


Expressions of dismay at the demise of music criticism in the paid for media leave me puzzled. Do not get me wrong, I vociferously condemn the demise of quality music journalism. But the commentators expressing dismay at the axing of music critics are all providers of free online content, which is exactly the disruptive development that has undermined professional journalism. Moreover these clickbaiting online commentators are an established part of classical music industry 2.0 and receive unqualified support - including regular juicy 'exclusives' - from the very musicians, music industry executives, and indeed readers who piously lament the termination of yet another music critic. Norman Lebrecht is not renown for getting it right. But what he wrote on 8 November 2006 in the then paid for but now free Evening Standard - see above - is still very true:
'Until bloggers deliver hard facts… paid for newspapers will continue to set the standard as the only show in town ... online blogs won't become required reading until they start focussing on the facts’
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