Hello, folks.
Today I'd like to bring up the topic of music reviewing websites and if/how they affect musical taste. It shouldn't be any surprise that musicians tend to associate themselves with scenes according to genre or location. In part of this process, certain websites with writers and reviewers that enjoy those scenes get to project their opinions to a larger audience, growing or decreasing the fanbase of any given group. As these websites start to become well-known for the respect of their favorite artists, frontrunners of genres, and niches of styles, they come into conflict with users of other sites who disagree.

It's all quite silly if you think about it. Most of the people who run sites such as these fit into one of two groups. There are websites that focus on big name, internationally recognizable, large fanbase acts, while others stick to important releases by bands with cult followers or indie acts. There are websites dedicated to any possible genre, any scene, any locale.

Taste itself is a neat thing, and with the availability of the internet, the possibilities of discovering enjoyable music are endless. Music reviewing websites are a way to both discover artists and share them further, and it surprises no one that those who really dig around websites can not only expose themselves to more music, but can also take well-worded opinions from other people in an effort to help them figure out what they like or dislike about the music in question.

So my questions are as follows:
---Do you take music websites seriously?
---Do you feel that they have personally affected your taste or exposed you to artists that you couldn't have imagined not knowing?
---Do you personally use any? Rolling Stone? NME? Pitchfork? Sputnik? Allmusic? RYM? (feel free to link your accounts below if you do)
---Do you enjoy some but completely write off others? Why?
---How much should words from other people, actual reviewers and writers at that, play a part in what you enjoy?
and most importantly, are music websites a key factor into developing taste if you don't know where to start?

I guess I wanted to make this thread because in my time spent as a regular over on Sputnikmusic, my taste has changed so much that I've become a lot more open to music as a whole and I would most certainly be close to the same close-mindedfag that I was 4 years ago had I not discovered a community that took music seriously. It truly has changed my mindset, and I'm wondering how many others its affected.

Respond it up, guys.

Admittedly I do use Pitchfork. But only to read up on articles of artist or band I'm either interested in or want to know about and sometimes check out some new music.
I really don't use Pitchfork for their reviews. or any other music reviewing site for that matter. Mainly because of the fact I don't need their opinion to pursued my thoughts of the music I choose to listen to.
The reviewers might not even have the same taste as you. Why rely on the opinion of someone you don't know to tell you whether or not the album is good?
Nope, I'll just decide for my self.

I like how you spoke about Sputnikmusic's effect on you, and how it made you more open-minded to different kinds of music. That's pretty cool.
But the case is like reversed in the pitchfork community. It feels literally filled with closed-minded fucktards. I mean seriously they are all so fucking snarky and act like there better then everyone else.

Like you have the douche bags who follow P4K's every word like it's a fucking cult!
Liking shit they rate highly and hating shit that they don't despite what they are into.
And then you have the other douche bags who do the total opposite and purposely hate everything P4K rates highly and over use the word, overrated like diarrhea of the mouth. And put snarky comments all over the place.

And they are at constant war with each other, it seems.

I hate that fucking community, I swear.

bump

Let me tell you something, Magazines these days that are supposed to cover Music in an Honest way, don't. The Rolling Stones, Alternative Press, Kerrang!, etc. They only cover the popular and hardly bother to cover new, exciting music unless it has a chart topping hit or a 'cool' genre label.

Most of my fustrtaion stems from the fact that this year The Rolling Stone Magazine recently released the 'The Best Songs of 2013', and I was disappointed to see that Daft Punk's "get lucky" was number one,when there are a VaRIETy of different songs and albums that were released this year that weren't even considered becauae "get Luck" was merely popular. A song that had merely a catchy tune, with meaningless lyrics. While many songs much better and more powerful were put farther after it.

Shame, really.

>>5
Though I did list Rolling Stone as an option up there, my post was more referring to websites, but I guess we can include magazines in this discussion too. I feel that the online realm of reviewing music is far different from that of magazines though, mainly because mags are formatted for release at regular intervals with similar styles of writing and continuous columns and sections, while most websites are usually updated often by multiple people who may not agree (or have to agree) on ideas.

And in that sense, I think Rolling Stone is a poor example of a music reviewing/news outlet, and that this thread shouldn't be all about how pop culture effects music and its own cultures as either an art medium or type of entertainment. We have threads about that already. I just think it's inaccurate to write off all music reviewing sites because some such as Rolling Stone are operated by major business corporations and have to meet the interests of such. Small blogs by devoted music nerds are a part of what keeps scenes moving along too.

>>6 well they all do have online sites so...I thought that qualified y'know. Ah but I get what you mean now. I apologize, I misunderstood what you meant.

Was debating whether to bump this thread or the Music Reviews thread, but decided on this one as it's on one of the websites mentioned above and not written for the BBS. I wrote this review on alt rock/shoegaze band National Skyline's album Bliss & Death over on Sputnikmusic. It is my first review on that website (that is to say, an actual music website) in years. Please give it a read. Here. /o/