From critics to algorithms: the fading voice of elites in the music world
Not long ago, the music industry was a "closed club". It was hard to get into it, and the public taste was controlled by a small group of “ enlightened ” experts.
But every year the opinion of elites is becoming less and less valuable, and playlists and algorithms have replaced the critics. Let's tell how it happened.
Photo by Sergei Solo / Unsplash
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In the European musical world for a long time there were no rules, hierarchy and division into professions to which we are accustomed. There was not even our usual model of music education. The role of music schools was often played by churches, where children studied under the guidance of an organist - this is how the ten-year-old Bach received his education.
The word "conservatory" appeared in the 16th century and meant a children's shelter , where pupils were taught music. Conservatories corresponding to the modern definition of the term — with an entrance competition, a clear educational program, and career prospects — spread throughout Europe only in the 19th century.
Photo by Matthew Cramblett / Unsplash
The biggest music customers were the church and the nobility. The first was in need of spiritual works, the second - in entertainment. It was they who controlled the kind of music that the light listened to - even if they themselves were superficial to music.
Moreover, at that time the life cycle of each composition was, by modern standards, very short. The "rock stars" were then virtuosos - touring musicians who demonstrated outstanding technical ability. They updated their repertoire every year - new works were expected of them in the new season.
That is why, as the Cambridge professor and pianist John Rink writes in his essay from the collection of The Cambridge History of Music, composers often divided their work into short-lived "hits" for the repertoire of concert performers and long-playing "netenku". The production of music in this context rose on the conveyor.
The settled order began to change at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, when the very attitude of educated Europeans to music was transformed. Thanks to romantic trends, the concept of “high” music has spread widely. The elites began to see in the European culture of instrumental works something absolute, different from the trends of changeable fashion.
Like any noble occupation, “high” music needed systems that would maintain and protect its cleanliness. This was taken up by the rich patrons of the arts (from noblemen and industrialists to kings), whose activities became more prestigious than ever before.
Photo Diliff / Wiki
It was on their money that educational institutions and cultural institutions, which are now the core of the classical music world, were built. Thus, the elite not only defended its place in the European musical culture, but also took its development under its control.
The first newspapers, which published reviews of musical works, also began to be published at the end of the 18th century, at about the same time as the conservatories, philharmonic and music schools that had become familiar to us. If educational institutions asked the bar for performing and compositional quality, critics questioned it.
Their task - to distinguish the eternal from the shifting - emphasized the timelessness of high music in the academic tradition. Already in the twentieth century, guitarist Frank Zappa pointedly noted that "talking about music is like dancing about architecture." And rightly so.
Music criticism originates in musicology, aesthetics and philosophy. In order to write a good review, you must have knowledge in all three areas. The critic must understand the technical aspects of the work of the musician and the composer, make aesthetic judgments and feel the connection of the work with the "absolute" - beyond the specifics. All this makes music criticism a very specific genre.
Soon after the appearance, music criticism flowed from specialized publications to the pages of the popular press - music critics managed to establish themselves as an integral part of journalistic culture. Before the distribution of sound recordings, music journalists reviewed performances, in particular, the premieres.
Given the need to understand the technical side of composing skills, the role of critics are often played by the music writers themselves. The review, which was discussed above, was written by Caesar Antonovich Cui , a member of the Mighty Heap. Also Rimsky-Korsakov and Schumann were famous for their reviews.
Musical journalism has become an important element of the new 19th century musical ecosystem. And, like other aspects of this young “industry,” it was also controlled by an educated, privileged elite with academic standards.
In the twentieth century, the situation will change dramatically: technology will replace the elites , professional music journalists and DJs will replace the critics-composers.
Photo frankie cordoba / Unsplash
That interesting things happened with music criticism in this period, we will tell in our next material. We will try to prepare it in the near future.
PS Our recent series of “ Splendor and Poverty ”.
What else do we recommend reading with us:
Receivers from the USSR: a brief history of audio systems in Soviet cars
Russian radio plays: from “Baby Monitor” to “Solaris”
“Not shot”: audio projects in which something went wrong
What started and how did the record turntable history for cars end
But every year the opinion of elites is becoming less and less valuable, and playlists and algorithms have replaced the critics. Let's tell how it happened.
Photo by Sergei Solo / Unsplash
')
Music industry until the 19th century
In the European musical world for a long time there were no rules, hierarchy and division into professions to which we are accustomed. There was not even our usual model of music education. The role of music schools was often played by churches, where children studied under the guidance of an organist - this is how the ten-year-old Bach received his education.
The word "conservatory" appeared in the 16th century and meant a children's shelter , where pupils were taught music. Conservatories corresponding to the modern definition of the term — with an entrance competition, a clear educational program, and career prospects — spread throughout Europe only in the 19th century.
Composing activities have not been particularly prestigious for a long time either. Many now popular classics earned a living as performers, conductors and teachers.
Before Bach’s music was popularized by Mendelssohn, the composer was remembered, first of all, as an outstanding teacher.
Photo by Matthew Cramblett / Unsplash
The biggest music customers were the church and the nobility. The first was in need of spiritual works, the second - in entertainment. It was they who controlled the kind of music that the light listened to - even if they themselves were superficial to music.
Moreover, at that time the life cycle of each composition was, by modern standards, very short. The "rock stars" were then virtuosos - touring musicians who demonstrated outstanding technical ability. They updated their repertoire every year - new works were expected of them in the new season.
That is why, as the Cambridge professor and pianist John Rink writes in his essay from the collection of The Cambridge History of Music, composers often divided their work into short-lived "hits" for the repertoire of concert performers and long-playing "netenku". The production of music in this context rose on the conveyor.
Birth of academic music
The settled order began to change at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, when the very attitude of educated Europeans to music was transformed. Thanks to romantic trends, the concept of “high” music has spread widely. The elites began to see in the European culture of instrumental works something absolute, different from the trends of changeable fashion.
Now we call this approach to music academic.
Like any noble occupation, “high” music needed systems that would maintain and protect its cleanliness. This was taken up by the rich patrons of the arts (from noblemen and industrialists to kings), whose activities became more prestigious than ever before.
Photo Diliff / Wiki
It was on their money that educational institutions and cultural institutions, which are now the core of the classical music world, were built. Thus, the elite not only defended its place in the European musical culture, but also took its development under its control.
Music criticism and journalism
The first newspapers, which published reviews of musical works, also began to be published at the end of the 18th century, at about the same time as the conservatories, philharmonic and music schools that had become familiar to us. If educational institutions asked the bar for performing and compositional quality, critics questioned it.
Their task - to distinguish the eternal from the shifting - emphasized the timelessness of high music in the academic tradition. Already in the twentieth century, guitarist Frank Zappa pointedly noted that "talking about music is like dancing about architecture." And rightly so.
Music criticism originates in musicology, aesthetics and philosophy. In order to write a good review, you must have knowledge in all three areas. The critic must understand the technical aspects of the work of the musician and the composer, make aesthetic judgments and feel the connection of the work with the "absolute" - beyond the specifics. All this makes music criticism a very specific genre.
Soon after the appearance, music criticism flowed from specialized publications to the pages of the popular press - music critics managed to establish themselves as an integral part of journalistic culture. Before the distribution of sound recordings, music journalists reviewed performances, in particular, the premieres.
The reaction of critics to the premiere of the composition could determine its future fate. For example, after the defeat of Rachmaninov’s first symphony in the pages of the St. Petersburg edition of News and the Exchange Gazette, the work was not performed until the composer’s death.
Given the need to understand the technical side of composing skills, the role of critics are often played by the music writers themselves. The review, which was discussed above, was written by Caesar Antonovich Cui , a member of the Mighty Heap. Also Rimsky-Korsakov and Schumann were famous for their reviews.
Musical journalism has become an important element of the new 19th century musical ecosystem. And, like other aspects of this young “industry,” it was also controlled by an educated, privileged elite with academic standards.
In the twentieth century, the situation will change dramatically: technology will replace the elites , professional music journalists and DJs will replace the critics-composers.
Photo frankie cordoba / Unsplash
That interesting things happened with music criticism in this period, we will tell in our next material. We will try to prepare it in the near future.
PS Our recent series of “ Splendor and Poverty ”.
What else do we recommend reading with us:
Receivers from the USSR: a brief history of audio systems in Soviet cars Russian radio plays: from “Baby Monitor” to “Solaris” “Not shot”: audio projects in which something went wrong What started and how did the record turntable history for cars endSource: https://habr.com/ru/post/453432/
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