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Online Music Reviews: a nut yet to be cracked?

Posted almost 5 years ago
There's an interesting article on Salon right now about some of the problems with online reviews:http://machinist.salon.com/feature/2007/06/13/user_reviews/index.htmlReading the article confirmed my belief that online reviews are a nut that's yet to be cracked. While the internet continues to promise a way for online reviews to actually help us make choices (musical or otherwise), it's an unfufilled promise. This is rampantly apparent to me every day as I use the currently existing tools (including Mog) to make musical choices. Here are a few ways that technology is trying and failing to help me:Itunes/Amazon: "everyone thinks it's great"Why it fails - Most reviews are by fans who own the album, and thus are glowing. If everything's great, there's no differentiator. Popular items get more popular because they're popular, not because they're good.Mog/LastFM: "that guy you trust recommends it"Why it fails - Difficult to find a mog you truly trust; Matches in your taste in the past don't guarantee matches in taste in the future; Closed system tends over-promote particular artists.Pandora: "if you liked that, you'll like this"Why it fails: Matches your current tastes, rather than introducing you to new sounds. Promotes similar music, doesn't promote adventure or branching out.Metacritic: "they're the critics' darling"Why it fails: Popular music criticism is incestous and favors the avante garde over all else. (Have a look at the top albums so far in 2007 on metacritic if you don't believe me.)In the end, none of the above tools has provided me too much more assistance than I used to get just walking in to Aomeba and looking what they put on their display racks at the front of the store. What's clear from the Salon article, though, is that there are plenty of people still working on this problem, and we'll undoubtedly see an entirely new generation of online review schemes come out in the not-too-distant future. I suspect the next generation will combine at least 2 or 3, if not all, of the schemes above.To say it another way, how long until iTunes, Mog, Pandora, and Metacritic merge?
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Comments (5)

  1. Grievous Angel
    Grievous Angel says of all of those, i think the trusted source, with the ability to sample, holds the most promise. it's not unlike buying wine. there are som many choices, and distribution is such that it's often impossible to find more than a few big brands at any given store. fihowever, if you can find a store you like, ask their advice, and their their tatses, and how the correspond to your own, you can discover some wonderful wines, and learn a great deal in the process. a willingness to drink your mistakes helps! my musical tastes are so eclectic, and constantly changing, that it's very difficult to find any one who likes exactly the same stuff. a great radio station, like WFUV, that gives it's jocks freedom to play what they like, can be a great guide. the auto generated stations such as pandora so far are a pale comparison, IMHO. for classical music, reviews can be a great help, once agin, after you learn to trust the source, or at least understand their tastes.
    Permalink posted 06/13/2007
  2. aclason
    aclason says I agree that Pandora is still a pale comparison to a good, independent DJ. In many senses, a great independent DJ (like Bonnie Simmons on KPFA) beats the competition hands down, partially because of format. In the case of Bonnie, her show is on every Thursday from 8 to 10 PM. The music is good enough that you can listen to the show from end to end. She talks a little about each song, and the format of a 2 hour radio program gives the listener time to really absorb things, unlike quickly reading online reviews or listening to musical snippets. As an interesting demonstration of this, Bonnie Simmons has a website of her shows' playlists (http://www.bonzilla.com/), but that site is virtually worthless if you don't listen to the show.
    Permalink posted 06/13/2007
  3. Cody B
    Cody B says I trust my ears most...I take on-line reviews with a grain of salt..I like MOG, because there are people on here who listen to a lot of records, so if one sticks out, I'd like to get a chance to hear it. The best thing about today's world (sometimes the worst) is that there is very little mystery..If you read about something, chances are you can get a chance to listen to it with a few clicks. In my ramblingest way..I agree with the G-Angel. On another note..I love playlists, even when I can't hear them.
    Permalink posted 06/13/2007
  4. contrabandwidth
    contrabandwidth says Great Post. I'm definitely a person who has to read feedback before shopping now. I love MOG, but I do often find it gets to praiseworthy or suckworthy, with out a lot of discussion about the music. The best debate I ever saw was actually about the relevance of Jim Morrison, I guess because people were so divided on him. I'm definitely guilty of being overly enthusiastic about my likes, and wanting everyone to know them, but I try to be even a little mean when some one posts on something I disagree with. But after all it is a community, and you don't always want your neighbors to see you as the angry, shouting, alcoholic neighbor you might just be. I guess even online, we still put up some fences. At least here, I know I trust a few Moggers opinions and am always surprised.
    Permalink posted 06/14/2007
  5. mktackabery
    mktackabery says I don't know, I disagree with these two statements: Mog/LastFM: “that guy you trust recommends it” Why it fails – Difficult to find a mog you truly trust; Matches in your taste in the past don’t guarantee matches in taste in the future; Closed system tends over-promote particular artists. I have found many mogs I truly trust and have found MANY new artists completely that are very different from things I have in my collection as a result, as well as ones that have helped me branch out in other directions. This is because MOG is a social networking site. I don't think you can compare LastFM to MOG personally. If you truly contribute to MOG, then you make friends, and it works. While it can get closed, I think the nature of the MOG helps keep things open because anyone can comment on your posts, and that keeps you meeting new people. Pandora: “if you liked that, you’ll like this” Why it fails: Matches your current tastes, rather than introducing you to new sounds. Promotes similar music, doesn’t promote adventure or branching out. I completely disagree with this. Pandora has broken my bank in half some days. I have found killer new music via Pandora, in fact, I went on a Pandora diet because I was buying so much fresh, brand new stuff. Perhaps it's this way if you like some pop music, but stick something complicated in there and you will hit the goldmine. Try somebody like Meat Beat Manifesto, or Mew, you'd be amazed at what you get back. I was. I understand everyone's comments about "praiseworthy" or "suckworthy," but there is no money is being a music critic, so you can't expect any one to do the job with music criticism that gets done with art or film criticism. It's not an accepted art and no one can make a living doing it, so people who can really do it are few and far between.
    Permalink posted 06/18/2007

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