Six facts to convince you that music lovers should start paying for music journalism
AKA why you should support Loud and Quiet’s call for subscribers
Since I read about the existential threat to music magazine Loud and Quiet caused by the bottoming out of the live music and festival scene due to the Coronavirus crisis, I’ve been thinking a lot about what role is played by music magazines and the written word in the modern-day music industry.
It led me to these six facts to convince you that you should start paying for music journalism, even if you’re not that interested in music journalism.
Fact one: music reviewers have little-to-no impact on the popularity of an artist
It may seem counterintuitive in a piece on the importance of music writing, but we have to start by clarifying what music writers aren’t: tastemakers.
The biggest misconception when talking about music magazines or websites is that people who write for them actually have any sway in deciding what will sell/stream well, or that they are any sort of arbiter of taste. There’s little doubt that this was true once — in a time when you couldn’t just judge the music for yourself at the click of a button — but these days, no chance.
