Ep. #19: How Music Critics Write Reviews

Music reviews don't matter. They are one person's/organization's perspective on an art form which is inherently subjective. Everybody listens to and experience music in different ways. However, music reviews have shaped and informed our discourse over the decades. Their existence has both put artists on the map and destroyed entire careers. 

Today, we live in a backlash culture. Any perspective seems to be met with scorn and anger by people who disagree with the reviewer's opinion. I feel like this is largely due to a misconception about the nature of music reviews, their place in our culture and what happens behind the scenes when it comes to writing a music review. Shanty (@shantanu_sampath) has written over a 100 reviews for A Humming Heart, a website which focuses on Indie Indian Music. In this episode, he shares his process when it comes to writing music reviews and the relevance of music reviews in a free-for-all and largely democratised digital space.