Every Rom Com 41: High Fidelity

This week on Every Rom Com we’re discussing the music and the misery of “High Fidelity” with Courtney E. Smith, author of the 2011 book Record Collecting For Girls and host of the podcast “Songs in The Key Of Death.” We discuss John Cusack and Nick Hornby, memorable breakups on and off screen, and a whole lot of music! Courtney gives her picks for the top 5 rom com soundtracks, lays out some mixtape-making wisdom, and reviews your picks for best breakup songs! It’s an intersection of music nerds, film nerds, and feminists that you won’t want to miss! 

0:00-16:06 Introducing Our Guest, Courtney E. Smith, Author Of Record Collecting For Girls; Courtney’s Top 5 Romantic Comedy Soundtracks

• Follow our guest Courtney E. Smith on Twitter @courtneyesmith or on Instagram @thecourtneyesmith. And be sure to check out her podcast, Songs in the Key of Death anywhere you get your podcasts!

Courtney E. Smith is the author of RECORD COLLECTING FOR GIRLS (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), a music critic, and a recovering music industry gatekeeper. She began her career at MTV, quickly moving into the music programming department and yelling at everyone about indie rock until they listened and agreed to play it. She feels very lucky that worked out. 

While at MTV, Smith was the label rep for all the indie record labels in the known universe and programmed the only national indie rock video show, MTV2’s Subterranean. She also co-helmed the music programming for mtvU, the college music network, as well as creating their video award show, The Woodies.

Since transitioning to music journalism and criticism, Smith has since been published by Billboard, Pitchfork, Salon, No Depression, Yahoo, and in a screed for Lenny Letter about the Rock Hall’s lack of women nominees that launched trend pieces in the New York Times and People, and caused Steve Miller, a curmudgeon rock star, to yell at the whole place that they needed to stop ignoring women. The trend has continued at every induction ceremony since.

She’s been an editor and staff writer for CBS’s Radio.com and at Refinery29. At the latter, she made so much noise covering the Grammys and their mishandling of #MeToo and representation for women that the Recording Academy hired a crisis PR firm to handle her. Her coverage of the lack of representation for women at country radio caused tongues to wag all over Nashville and earned her a spot contributing an essay to WOMAN WALK THE LINE (UT Press, 2017). Presently, she’s the editor of Eater Dallas and yes, she will give you a food recommendation on request.

Smith is the host and writer of the podcast Songs in the Key of Death, which looks at some of the most famous murder ballads of the mo...