3
books; occasionally they show up independently in the popular press – stories by the writers
about the writers. Such accounts have obvious limitations: Schudson, for example, writes that
autobiographies “provide direct evidence not of the life of the writer but of how the writer
conceives of his life” (1988: 229). Wyatt and Hull’s “The Music Critic in the American Press: A
Nationwide Survey of Newspapers and Magazines” (1990) remains the sole published survey of
music critics in the academy’s archives. While the survey broaches otherwise unstudied topics,
such as the degree to which critics function as extensions of publicity departments, the format
provides mostly demographic information
To understand the popular music critic’s roles and sense of authority, I conducted face-
to-face interviews with fifteen Philadelphia-based critics
2
. Alongside what are typically referred
to as “rock critics”, I also talked to critics of other music genres; eleven of the fifteen critics
primarily deal with popular music (pop, rock, hip-hop, etc.), while the remaining four cover
classical, opera, jazz, and country.
3
The sample included weekly and daily newspaper critics with
at least five years of paid experience who write at least one piece a week
4
. Many of the critics
have written or continue to write for music magazines, as well. All but one informant I
interviewed are male, and all are white. The critics ranged in age from 27 to 57; the mean age
was 37. Years of experience as a paid music critic ranged from 6 to 32 years, and averaged 14
years. The length of the interviews was between one and three hours, with most lasting around
one and 1/2 hours.
94). This number may even be a high estimate, since poll conductors, aware of the disparity, could be making a
concerted effort to include female critics in their sample.
2
I was previously acquainted with most of the informants through my own work as a freelance music critic for a
daily newspaper and a weekly newspaper. All informants were aware of my experience.
3
In many parts of the United States, country music is more popular than what is conceived of here as “popular
music”. However, in this metropolitan area, like many other coastal cities, country has a much smaller consumer
base. Country coverage also tends less to mainstream country, than to bluegrass, roots, and Americana. Also,
“popular music” by no means implies that the artists being covered are popular, but refers generally to the type of
music being performed.
Convention