When I started this contraption, I had this adverse reaction to reading music journalism. There were just a lot of the same angles being pursued and overused. Now, I get the feeling reading the major music news sites (RS, Spin, NME, Bitchfork) are reporting on anything. It falls into that category, "And this is news because?"
So he's a Top 5 that needs to stop of these music news sites.
5. The overuse of the word "EXCLUSIVE" -- We have an exclusive interview with such such or we have an exclusive performance. No you don't. You're telling me that some singer is bypassing every major media outlet for your publication for the rest of their lives. Message to media, no one gives a crap on exclusivity. Check out NME and an exclusive keyword search. It's like, "Oasis gives us exclusive details on their next single." Mmmmm, sooooo.
4. Bands that are "Ones to Watch" even though they've been around for years. Rolling Stone is behind the ball on this so much is comical. I remember two years ago they named Of Montreal as a band to watch on their eighth album and they were already selling out large venues. If you look at their site now, they name M83 as a "Breaking" band. Indeed, they're are their fifth album already and the people in the know (example, me) have been listening for years already.
3. The hieroglyphics used for tour dates for who's opening. This gets me. It's like you need a secret decoder ring to figure out who's playing where. Some intern is too lazy to copy and paste the names after each date. Pitchfork does this, they probably invented it. "We're too busy writing pointless music reviews with our creative writing degree, so let's just throw these symbols out there." Example: look at their Death Cab for Cutie tour news, *%^?$*#$
04-07 Upper Darby, PA - Tower Theatre *#
04-08 Washington, DC - DAR Constitution Hall *#
04-09 Davidson, NC - John Belk Arena/Davidson College *#
04-10 Louisville, KY - Louisville Palace *#
04-11 Memphis, TN - Orpheum Theatre *#
04-12 Tulsa, OK - The Brady Theater *#
04-13 Omaha, NE - Holland Theatre *
04-15 St. Paul, MN - Roy Wilkings Auditorium *#
04-17 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom *#
04-18 East Lansing, MI - Breslin Events Center/Michigan State University *#
04-19 Waukesha, WI - Van Male Fieldhouse/Carroll College *#
04-24 Spokane, WA - McCarthey Athletic Center/Gonzaga University *#
04-25 Boise, ID - The Morrison Center *#
04-27 Sacramento, CA - Memorial Auditorium *#
04-29 San Diego, CA - RIMAC Arena/UC San Diego *#
05-01 Austin, TX - Austin Music Hall #!
05-02 New Orleans, LA - Contemporary Arts Center !
05-04 Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium #!
05-05 Birmingham, AL - BJCC Concert Hall #!
05-06 Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre #!
* with Cold War Kids
# with Ra Ra Riot
! with Matt Costa
A simple search and replace and you can make it easier on all of us.
2. The blogging of Kanye West -- Kanye West talks about porn in his blog. Let's do a news story on it. Kanye West corrects spelling on his blog. Let's do a news story on it. Kanye West takes a picture of his sneakers. Let's do a news story on it. Kanye West plays Connect Four. Let's do a news story on it. (that was a real one). Kanye West talks about his love for fried food. Let's do a news story on it. Kanye West is voting for Obama. Let's do a news story on it. Knaye West LIKES TO USE CAPS LOCKS. LETS DO A NEWS STORY ON IT.
1. Speculation on who's playing what festival -- This is just a bunch of hot air. It happens every year. A fake list of performers for Coachella gets posted by some dude. Speculation becomes fact. Fact is corrected, when the official announcement is made. Here's the scoop. News agencies sometimes want to be first rather than being correct. It makes them seem like the trustworthy news source.
I see it happening in sports news all the time. The TFAG (typical football analyst guy) talks about his sources that a certain coach interviewing for a head coaching job in the NFL. Then when the news is announced that the couch is hired, they can say, "Well, we reported it first, so we know more than the other news outlets." It's a lot of dick wagging.
Take that attitude with speculation on who's headlining what festival. You know what gang, name any random band, there's probably a 50/50 chance they'll play some of the big festivals. How about this? Animal Collective will play Lollapalooza. Look, I'm a trustworthy news source. I was the first to report that animal collective will play Lollapoolza. Aren't I cool??!?!?!?!
You should add a #6 to your list - Whiners who complain and blog about what others are doing.
Maybe you can add a #7 while you're at it - bloggers who take themselves too seriously and end up sounding like pretentious numpties. "...and the people in the know (example, me)..." Give it a rest. Honestly. Just because you claim to have heard about a band before anyone else, doesn't mean you are "cool."
No, wait, add a #8 - bloggers who can't be bothered to proof read anything they post.
Posted by: P. | February 03, 2009 at 12:45 PM
I agree with 1-5...as well as numbers 6, 7 and 8. What about the same blogs that report on the same things that no one cares about? E.g. Ben Gibbard and Zooey Deschanel got engaged! Ick.
Posted by: Mark | February 04, 2009 at 04:47 PM