I think that individual critics don't have much influence, but I do
think that when critics collectively pick up on an artist, they can at
least shine some attention and add some sales.  There is no one who is
that widely read to have so much impact.

That being said, Pitchfork sure has some impact within indie circles.

Mike Bennett

Music reviews: http://habloennui.blogspot.com
Blog: http://blog.myspace.com/mrhonorama 

Find out about Chicago shows: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagopopshowreport/


> Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:26:11 -0400
> From: craigtorso@verizon.net
> Subject: Re: Are professional music critics losing their clout?
> To: audities@smoe.org
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Michael Coxe" <audities@gmail.com>
> 
> > Stewart Mason wrote:
> >> This argument assumes that we ever had clout to begin with, which I 
> >> don't think is necessarily true.
> >
> > I agree with Stewart. For example, back in the late 60s/early 70s I
> > never read Rolling Stone for its reviews, but for the stories. Like
> > Cameron Crowe's real Almost Famous article about the Allman 
> > Brothers.
> > That was epic. Mostly what I looked for in reviews pre-internet was
> > information, as facts about the performers/bands/artists were always
> > hard to come by.
> 
> Exactly.  I have always strongly believed that music critics are just 
> a source of consumer information, and in the end, we can't make 
> anybody open their wallets if they weren't pre-disposed.  If I had 
> "clout" as a critic, however that's defined, then R. Stevie Moore 
> would be a damned sight more successful than he is.
> 
> > I didn't read Levitin's previous book, "This Is Your Brain on Music:
> > The Science of a Human Obsession". Any observations from the
> > Audities/Pop Underground clan?
> 
> Quite good.  It's extremely theory-heavy, so parts of it can be 
> somewhat hard slogging, but I bought his general premise.
> 
> S
> 

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