The Age’s music writer Craig Mathieson on interviews and album reviews.
The way we access music journalism is changing, but two key elements remain consistent, the interview and album review.
Craig Mathieson (supplied)
Melbourne-based journalist Craig Mathieson has been writing about music for over 30 years and has experienced many of those changes.
During the 1990s he was editor of Juice magazine, before moving online with Mess + Noise, and finally finding himself at The Age and Sydney Morning Herald where he serves as their TV, film and music writer.
The Interview
Aside from the review, interviews with artists are one of the most common features in music media, and they can be controversial.
In March, music journalist and editor Eleanor Halls detailed her experience of hearing from a publicist after a piece she’d published had upset its subject.
While that experience had a positive ending – the artist and Eleanor talked it out and their previous misgivings went away – elsewhere she noted that hasn’t always been the case.
The interviewee might also struggle when their subject just doesn’t want to play along, but according to Mathieson this is rarely the case.
“Once every x amount of years you have a car crash of some kind, but I think everyone’s got a story. They’ve got things they want to say and it’s my job to get them. It’s not my job to have a fight with them or to expose them. It’s my job to get them to talk,” he said.
The Review
Reviews are also not without their criticisms, and while in the past they could make or break a band, now there is greater criticism over a lack of criticism in current reviews, with Vice writer Dan Ozzie saying in 2017, “It’s actually news at this point when an album does get a bad review”.
Reviews are usually accompanied by a rating out of 5 or 10, which are commonly illustrated using stars.
For example, Craig Mathieson’s ★★★½ review of Bob Dylan’s latest album, which is rated out of 5.
How an album is rated can become controversial too, and Mathieson said that reviewers can be kinder with their scoring now.
“I often think people are writing three and a half star reviews and giving it four, or they’re worried about giving something two and a half stars. But to me, two and a half stars means it’s fine. There’s plenty of two and a half star records out there, and I think you’ve got to keep your marking standards reasonably firm. Otherwise, you just sort of drift off and you’re suddenly that perpetual four star person”, he said.
The Future
Neither the review nor interview are without controversies, but it is encouraging that as the media landscape changes readers are still finding ways to discover music through journalism.
While popular magazines closed and newspapers cut their arts coverage, journalists too found new ways to reach their audience through newsletters, podcasts, or YouTube, where people like Anthony Fantano gained a following.
As social media gained popularity the question was asked “is the music review dead?”
People now discover music through Instagram stories, so for some the review has been superseded by curation and recommendation.
But social media has also allowed new voices to appear, with reviews and criticism finding new life on TikTok where people can share bitesized content.
Although publishing mediums continue to change, journalism isn’t dead, it’s just finding new ways to be heard, and the review and interview live on.
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