How Music Criticism Influences Fan Opinion

"Bitter attitudes are surprisingly common in the trade; music journalists who play the part of hard-bitten cynics think their sarcasm lends authority to their opinions, when in fact it adds meanness to what should be a lighthearted game. There's nothing wrong with offering criticism and hard truths—that's part of the job—but at the end of the day people don't want to learn the reasons to hate something, they want to be turned on to something good..." - John Roderick, Seatle Weekly.

Do Fans Want To Be Turned Onto Something Good? See Below.

From the Media Psychology Review:

“The present study examined whether music critics can influence listeners' opinions of music or whether these critics simply reflect listeners' opinions of music. The results showed that listening to National Public Radio (NPR) critics favorably review artists' CDs influenced listeners' opinions of songs from those discs. This effect was observed across four artists of varying popularity, recognition, and musical styles (Stephen Malkmus, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, and Sloan), across three NPR critics (Will Hermes, Tom Moon, Ken Tucker), and across songs that were and were not referenced or previewed in the reviews. These results add to and extend the generality of previous demonstrations that music critics can influence—rather than simply reflect or predict—listeners' musical preferences..."

(via The Daily Swarm)