[troutman]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2...ntent=20140415

PART ONE: Is There A Crisis In Music Criticism?

Writers like us, who've devoted years to becoming culturally knowledgeable, are losing jobs to unpaid bloggers, and peer-to-peer recommendation on streaming services eliminates the need for radio disc jockeys and record clerks. Authority has lost its mojo.

PART TWO: Why Do People Have Beef With Poptimism? Because It's Winning

I have to call what we're hearing from the anti-pop authors a backlash, sour grapes from people just noticing that a cultural battle is over and they "lost."

PART THREE: Five Rules For New Pop Criticism

1. Don't insist that pop be hip.
2. Understand that selling records is the point.
3. Acknowledge that the assembly line is a cornerstone of pop.
4. Physically connect with the mainstream, but don't presume you know what its different corners are all about.
5. Go beyond Beyonce.

PART FOUR: Don't Front

At the same time it is important in exploring unfamiliar genres and fan communities to always be yourself.

In pop, after all, there are only two constants — change and resistance to change. Rock fans right now are in denial that rock's becoming a vintage, heritage music, just like jazz, blues, soul, funk and other period forms. Even rap might be heading the same way. That doesn't mean great work can't be done there, but it will face the puzzle of how to honor its inheritance while speaking to new circumstances. It may never again be where the main cultural heat is, except as a hybrid ingredient. But there's no shame in that.

PART FIVE: Music We All Love Has Done Way More Harm Than Miley Ever Will

But the great thing about popular music, I think, is that it connects so deeply with our bodies that it can move us in new directions. For every time music has been used to promote misunderstanding and oppression, there are many more when it's lifted people up, making them feel better within themselves and helping them better understand others whose differences they feared. I know that on one level, music is abstract — like a thought, as you say. But it's also like a feeling, a real sensual and emotional pull. Music can make you feel like a room without a roof. When that's happening, all the categories we build as thinkers recede, and whatever sound made it happen is glorious.