Articles by Patrick Keeney

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Standards, Expertise and the Art of Judgment

by Patrick Keeney
June 13, 2026

American musician and musicologist Rick Beato recently criticised a list of the 30 greatest contemporary American songwriters compiled by music critics from The New York Times. He dismissed the exercise as meaningless. His objection was not primarily to compiling such a list, nor to the names nominated, but rather to the dubious authority of the critics themselves. Rick Beato is among the more knowledgeable commentators on contemporary music. He holds a Bachelor of Arts ...