The 25 best music websites
As music journalism increasingly finds its niche online, Elisa Bray sifts through the plethora of emerging and established websites to pick the very best
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Independent Minds
IN PICTURES: THE 25 BEST MUSIC WEBSITES
Me & my blog: Jessica Duchen
Early in 2004, I began to hear rumblings of an extraordinary development in cyberspace: via a personal web space you could make your writing instantly visible to strangers all around the world. I began surfing to investigate. Five minutes later, by accident, I had my own blog. I simply typed JESSICA DUCHEN'S CLASSICAL MUSIC BLOG.
It didn't take long to discover what worked and what didn't. Extended pieces of grumbling about what Leopold Mozart really said on the subject of what's now called vibrato didn't produce much effect, but pithy articles on current goings-on both musical and personal, and my experiences as a classical music writer with The Independent, went across with more bite.
I hadn't bargained, though, on the addiction of blogging. It's become part of the morning routine, a chance to take stock, tell stories, and spread news in a way that is informal, though hopefully no less strong for that. I've occasionally run "director's cuts" of interviews, offering out-takes from chats with the likes of Magdalena Kozena and Angela Gheorghiu, or the behind-the-scenes saga of my recent trip to Berlin to meet Nigel Kennedy. Very occasionally, it's just a good way to let off steam.
And there's the rapid- response unit: when a big story broke – the Joyce Hatto CD forgery scandal in 2007, for example, or the sudden death of Richard Hickox – I got the details online in moments. JDCMB became something of a focal point for reporting developments in the former, though the degree of obsession among some readers proved positively terrifying! For quieter times, YouTube is invaluable for disseminating musical extracts.
I'd long felt that classical music needed a different type of discourse. Snobbery, exclusivity, ivory-tower obscurantism and so on had to be challenged, not to mention the misogyny, but without "dumbing down"; therefore, I aimed for good, straightforward, readable writing, not too technical but never patronising.
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Comments
Furthermore the omission of any actual hip hop blog-sites is disappointing (despite the fact that there is a target audience, it would have given credibility to putting people on to new things). Sites such as Nah Right and The Smoking Section provide regulard updates of hip hop songs, videos, news and reviews allowing the user to select what reflects their taste. I suppose it is the fault of hip hop's misconception. Grime has become more palatable due to the crossing over of former grime artists (Dizzee Rascal is certainly not a grime artist these days!).
But the article is titled 'the 25 best music websites". Not "the 25 biggest music websites", or "the 25 most established music websites". Bit of a difference.
Must say 2 of my own favourites i was surprised not to see on the list are bobjuice and grooveshark.
cheers
http://dannybfunk.blogspot.com/
You also missed Last.fm and MOG.
And of course, my own site! It's not very big yet, but let me know what you think- http://thecoldcut.com
I had the same problem, till I spotted th every small type under the main pic saying:
In pictures: the 25 very best web sites.
Not sure it's worth the effort. Just like the best 4x4 list recently, it missed out some of the obviously best ones, like the amazingly big-selling Cayenne. Not Jezza's favourite, but he's known for his anti-Porsche jibes.
Still you have to pity the guys at the Indy: they can't really be expected to be experts in everything.
I had the same problem, till I spotted th every small type under the main pic saying:
In pictures: the 25 very best web sites.
Not sure it's worth the effort. Just like the best 4x4 list recently, it missed out some of the obviously best ones, like the amazingly big-selling Cayenne. Not Jezza's favourite, but he's known for his anti-Porsche jibes.
Still you have to pity the guys at the Indy: they can't really be expected to be experts in everything.
I could go to the BBC Radio website but that's a bit hit and miss - so I do what many others do - trawl the P2P downloading networks looking for likely material - this is possibly 50% of their traffic - people checking out music to see if they like it.
Will be bookmarking the best.