In four weeks of this blog seven years old. Time to take a comprehensive résumé, because it has changed a lot in recent years, both personally and universally. Hence it is important to draw conclusions, which I am still not entirely clear.
"Most rock journalism is people who can not write, interviewing people who can not talk, for people who can not read"
This quote from Frank Zappa is of course preposterous. Rock music in general has always been more than just music, was always an expression of zeitgeist, society and development. And that has always been so recognized by the artists, the writers and the readers or listeners. This has nothing changed.
What has changed is the input side of the music bloggers. Input is: The music offering - not the number of bands, I think that was already high before, but the availability and access to the band has changed a lot. Input is advertising copy, press releases so. Input is by author-journalist bloggers written texts about the music offerings. The input side has exploded.
What has changed for me personally
Has changed massively, who writes about it. Apart from the fanzines of Punkära there were twenty or even ten years, hardly so much text about music is like today. When I started blogging, there were at least heard the term of the blog, how to blog in my party had remained unintelligible word game - can identify - based upon a Bloc Party concert. It was also in Germany has been a music blog, the bounceback Nico, for example, the Popnutten, the stage divas and some that are already partly different. It was easy to find its space, it was established music magazines, which had their period of adjustment ahead of it and drove on retracted tracks and there was music blog, brought a new look, a new Add new themes. For me this meant that focus on concerts in Munich, because back then, there is no site that procured a concise, annotated diary of concerts a certain style of music. It was raw, untreated, analog concert photos, because the aesthetics of contemporary digital cameras and photographers was unbearably boring. It was bands from Bavaria, who had earned a little more attention than they received in the established print magazines. And they said unfortunately, "the bands of the other" chasing to serve the machine.
What has become of it? For concerts in Munich, there was one, two years later, half a dozen professional and amateur sides, which offered a comprehensive overview and calendar, so I could focus on the pearls, not a bad development. Concert photographers, there were soon more than there are writers, even people who really know their business (including digital) and take fantastic images such as Andre. I soon found myself in the dilemma that I actually wanted to take pictures only with me congenial band, but had no time for the Accreditation marathon, so to me the good positions were denied. Thus, also reduced this part of my blog. Bands from Bavaria was more likely to bands from Germany: The Music Alliance Pact was probably the best thing that happened to me. He is indeed the reader may not be very clear, but it's worth time and again, I am still convinced.
The cacophony of the press releases
And "the bands of others"? Luckily I left the mill behind me. It's amazing how many press releases each day purely flutter with me. And it's a shame how many blogs they broadcasted, to make it a servant of a business. Do not get me wrong, there are labels that are well worth it, because they simply do incredibly good work, passion and put private money into the bands and their records and not so rich. But the other part of the mail you yawn, excerpts from some emails that are now addressed is: "Pre-Order Jack White's debut album," "Jägermeister thrust rocket to Deicide on the stage", "Carter Tutti VOID: New Video" "New Video: BETH JEANS HOUGHTON & THE HOOVES" or "Reminder: Tour Announcement Listen To Polo". I delete all the unread, but the Caps Lock justifies das. And "friendly reminder" are the very last.
We see, on the input side there are hundreds of pointless emails that make you want to fish out as a blogger who personally addressed, private inquiries. I must apologize, I can not do more, so I read almost no mail on the official account anymore, it was like before a not year. Speaking to the madness of promotional messages are really good and interesting messages to undermine it. Forget press releases.
The diversity of opinions and content
But the explosion was strong on the author side, the developments are obviously reflexive and self-reinforcing. The number of blogs in the last three or four years is so increased that it was no longer simply as a blogger, whose principles and interests changed, to find his niche, which one would like to plow through and persevering. The goals of the blogs began to differ significantly. To put it in the words of No Song Unsung:
"I do not think music blogs all necessarily have to consist of" good writing ", whatever that means. There are different blogs that serve different purposes. There's the blog that shares music videos or the photo blog that only contains pictures. There are blogs that cover music news, blogs that share random thoughts ... and so on. "
And the negative consequences are multiplied everywhere visible, for example, the percentage of good-digit tumble music blog. For this, the Idolator:
"As the audience for music blogs has expanded, the word counts of posts have shrunk, and the commenters have gotten meaner and greedier. Instead of the kind of thoughtful and occasionally heated discussion that was once the norm, we are now treated as heretics if we fail to bestow upon our readers the free music they feel they deserve. Forget good writing-music blogs have chased the lowest common denominator that anything longer than Sun aggressively a blurb merits a "tl; dr."
The Decibel Tolls for the same thing:
"Blogs Tend to jump on the same buzzword bands, chew them up, and spit them out. The result - thousands of blogs on the internet writing about the exact same shit. The idea of a "marketplace of ideas" flies out the window ... "
So far, so true. It is therefore easy to write about what is popular one. So this article could actually be over. But not if I want to consider the implications for blog party because I was writing the last few years, just about what I liked. But not often enough, I think.
A final attempt
After I felt this product every year to write again, the fault must lie on my side, yes. Since I'm going to start now to work and my daily routine remains strong, will now be a last attempt to write in this blog, what I really want. I want to inform, entertain, stimulate any time a discourse that takes kontextuieren interpret, describe and announce. And I would like to rummage in my record box, which contains hardly any current bands, but often works that are older than me with built in 1983.
And at the same time to create a balance between two aspects, the decision illustrates by quoting this article. See you over there.
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