In the modern era, it is quite natural to question the relevance of music reviews, especially fandom with its sensitivity. Check out why criticism still matters!
The birth of criticism aimed for improvement. A critic is someone who professionally analyzes and evaluates artworks and artistic performances. As humans, we crave approval. For music artists, this approval may be in the form of commercial success, sold-out shows, world tours, or media attention. For other musicians, it may come from well-written and appreciative reviews of their effort and art. For them to get an appreciation for their singles and albums in articles published in Rolling Stone or get a high score in Pitchfork, these count as approval of their art. However, in the age of the internet, even though the music itself has not changed very much, the technologies that publish these reviews have drastically changed.
With the internet, another phenomenon has been created that is called 'online fandom'. Typically they are the group of people who are extremely loyal to the artists and their art and support them in every situation, in one sentence not appreciative of criticism. With this evolution, people often end up asking are music reviews still relevant or if is there still a need for music critics.
So let's look at the reasons why these reviews still matter to you as a reader:
1) Reviews will make you more excited:
Just imagine your favorite artist is coming up with a new album or coming back after a hiatus. This situation is already exciting for you and in addition to that, you are seeing a positive review of the album or the single. It will automatically make you more excited and you will feel more eager for the release date. The adrenaline rush gets more pumped up and it gets more hyped up by the reviews. In a similar situation, a negative review about the upcoming release can take away your excitement as we all know how much we as humans crave approvals. In any way, a little criticism or thorough reviews will help you choose whether or not to listen to the music in the first go.
2) You can discover new artists:
It is not always about popular artists and their anticipation of new music, review sites will criticize almost every relevant artist and their music in the global industry. This is a great way for you to discover new and underrated music along with the artist. These reviews will introduce a lot of undiscovered artists which you can add to your playlists. Our horizon of known music is small so if you also want to expand your taste, these reviews are a great way of doing that!
3) Authentic reviews will impact your taste in music:
Music reviews not only contain how the reviewer or the critic felt while listening but also contains the structure of the music. It will give you information about what the instruments are what kind of melody is used and how well written the verse is. This will surely elevate your taste in music.
4) Review sites will lead you to more gossip:
Often the sites and the magazines that you read music reviews from contain other sections from where you will get more information, news, and gossip about your favorite artists.
Even though music is subjective, reviews can easily help you discover new talents and get you excited for upcoming releases.
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