Music Media Collective Looks To Address Crisis in Music Journalism
Wherever you turn these days, it feels like the world is in crisis. Certainly, a lot of this fear is warranted by current events. But some of the issue is how the media that’s tasked with keeping us informed about the world and our communities is in crisis itself. Though this is true of all media, this is especially true when it comes to music media. Arts and culture coverage is the first to get axed in budget cuts, or to get depreciated in news feeds.
Local, independent, and objective voices seem fewer and more far between in music media as legacy media institutions are gutted, public funding dries up, and attention is channeled elsewhere. The staff that’s left is increasingly tasked with chasing clicks with gossip and scandal-style stories as opposed to substantive coverage of music and events that can create meaningful support behind the artists who deserve it.
There are many reasons for this worsening trend, from diminishing advertising revenue in print and online, to the proliferation of social media where it’s becoming the sole information stream for many, to the nationalization and syndication of radio and other media, to of course the onslaught of AI and the uncertain future technology is creating for everyone in the information business.
It’s easy to sit back and assess that music media is not creating the same kinds of narratives and conversations it once did, resulting in less support for up-and-coming artists, independent events, local venues, and everyone who depends on music media for their livelihood. It’s another to try and stimulate meaningful conversations and take direct action to address it. That is what one organization called the Music Media Collective is trying to do.
Music Media Collective is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) founded “to fill the growing void left by the decline of independent and community-driven publications and broadcasting by providing funding, resources, and platforms that support storytelling, artist discovery, and cultural preservation. By working alongside media professionals, outlets, artists, and venues, we’re strengthening the ecosystem to ensure music communities flourish.”
This isn’t just about music journalists. It’s also about DJs and radio hosts, podcasters, publicists, photographers, and others who help bring the music to the people. Though the organization is still in its early stages, it’s hoping to do this through numerous initiatives, including the development of a platform called Cratedigr, which is a fan-powered platform for live music reviews and artist discovery that puts music first unlike other social media platforms.
“Music Media Collective was founded to fill the growing void left by the disappearance of independent, community-driven music media,” the organization states. “As local outlets shut down and corporate consolidation grows, artists, venues, and fans are losing essential tools for discovery, storytelling, and connection. This decline doesn’t just impact culture. It puts livelihoods at risk across the music ecosystem.”
These are not going to be easy problems to solve or even address. But allowing the outlets and professionals who play an imperative role in helping to curate music for the public to implode will only make it harder for up-and-coming artists, independent venues, and grassroots music organizations to survive.
To learn more, visit MusicMediaCollective.org. And if you’re a music media professional you can also connect with the organization.
September 18, 2025 @ 7:43 am
The genie of technology and social media can’t be put back in the bottle. Physical media was the only good way to have listeners experience the “album” experience. The revival of 3rd spaces and nostalgia for retro audio players and music formats is probably the only way to recapture what was lost.
September 18, 2025 @ 8:38 am
I agree that the dramatic resurgence in vinyl could portend well for perhaps a return to print for some media outlets. Creem came back to print recently, as have some others. I do think there is a yearning for slow news out there, just like we saw the push back against fast food and back towards slow food in the 2010’s. This is one of the reasons that as things have become shorter and faster in media recently, if anything I’ve made my articles longer, more in-depth, more detailed and nuanced. It might be one of the reasons Saving Country Music is still around.
September 18, 2025 @ 8:44 am
Taylor Swift accounts for 7% of vinyl sales. Other modern Pop stars make up a sizeable chunk of vinyl sales. However many people are buying those albums and not even playing them – or having a record player. They are largely collector pieces.
September 18, 2025 @ 8:54 am
Vinyl buy-in is really big amongst independent country/Americana listeners, and most of them actually have players and play records. No doubt that a lot of it is collectors, or people just wanting to support artists by buying physical copies. But if that’s helping to support the music community, more power to it.
September 18, 2025 @ 8:57 am
I don’t know that vinyl is the answer, or the full answer. Portability is key factor and there is something about having a seperate dedicated device, like an IPod, vs Spotify on a smartphone, that makes the listening experience feel more engaging.
It’s too hipster to wish for cassette tapes to come back but that really is the ultimate music physical format when you aren’t home. Or maybe the fella at the freakin FCC can allow pirate radio stations on some bands. idk
September 18, 2025 @ 9:09 am
Cassette tapes have been in a big resurgence as well for this very reason. Of course potability of music is important. That is why I’m not one of these folks who constantly bemoans streaming. If folks are buying vinyl copies of albums but never streaming them, they’re actually doing a disservice to their favorite artists because they need that metadata activity as well. Nonetheless, those big ticket items like vinyl and hoodies is what fuels independent music, not streams.
September 18, 2025 @ 9:25 am
Gosh freakin’ dammit – Charley Crockett has cassette tapes. I’m gonna buy one simply because that’s the only way I’m going to listen to a full album since it’s in the car.
September 18, 2025 @ 8:32 am
Hm, it can’t entirely be a non-profit, can it?
I agree with Strait. Nonprofits will only take you so far because they can only scale according to an increase in donations. So for music, these would be like community foundations? Maybe that would work at a local and subsistence level.
The Substack (subscription-based) platform seems workable. I pay a couple people $5/mo. for high-quality content, and they deliver. I can unsubscribe at any time. My understanding is that Substack itself takes a very small percentage. The opportunities for group-authoring seem to be there. It’s a bit like reviving the ‘zines, which were hit or miss but always cheap and fun.
There is probably a kind of luxury market for really high-quality quarterlies (subscriptions for paper-only), but the standard has to be very high.
Interesting topic, Trig.
September 18, 2025 @ 8:59 am
Some aspects of what the Music Media Collective is working on might be for-profit like the Cratedigr app.
Substack has definitely been a savior for some in the media business. One issue though is you really need to have an established following first before you can launch a successful Substack. So folks who already had a big name in media who might be let go can find some support there. But up-and-coming journalists find it very difficult to break in. Also, Substack just doesn’t have the kind of search results that something like a website like Saving Country Music or a legacy media outlet like The New York Times is going to have, because basically all Substack channels are subdomains. It has been a Godsend from some journalists doing important work though.
September 18, 2025 @ 8:36 am
I don’t understand why we can get critical and honest reviews of movies, but any major label backed album needs to be treated with white gloves.
With the exception of the occasional album reviews of true megastars like Taylor Swift or Sabrina Carpenter in places like the NYT, there is hardly ever a critical or honest review of music. The only reason critical reviews are allowed for the megastars are because they are too big to fail now. But for everyone else, all the music is sunshine and dandelions.
September 18, 2025 @ 9:06 am
I say it all the time. 50% of movie reviews are negative. I write a negative review for any artists—or even a 6.5 more positive than negative review for someone like Tyler Childers or Stephen Wilson Jr.—and I get death threats. The human mind doesn’t even know how to deal with negative music reviews these days. Part of the reason for this is the inferiority complex many music journalists have where they feel they need to suck up to performers, and the access that publicists use to artists to pretty much ensure positive press coverage for their clients in a way that results in disingenuous, almost repulsively positive puff pieces we see in some outlets.
90% of my coverage is positive. But I’m notorious for being the guy that slags everything simply because I’m willing to include constructive criticism in reviews.
September 18, 2025 @ 8:40 am
It’s in all media, really. If you look at the thing with Jimmy Kimmel, whether you like him or hate him, the reason that the FCC chair threat worked was that there’s mergers at stake. Even with the internet, these massive media companies manage to have outsized control over what breaks through. Sure, there’s always a new startup offering, but it doesn’t take long for the giants to roll in and either buy out the startups or buy their way in to the market and squash the startups. I hope that the music media collective succeeds, because the same rehashed corporate media is just so awful.
September 18, 2025 @ 10:34 am
We are witnessing some truly disturbing times. Watching censorship from a president because he didn’t like what was being said? Lets look back through history and notice what pattern emerges. Dictators do stuff like that.
The removal of funding from NPR and PBS immediately effects all Americans is an embarrassment to this country. The cuts will eliminate radio/television stations from rural areas in America leaving them without any type of reliable communications.And that’s exactly the point.
Government grants also pay for licensing fees for all music played typically on public radio. And if you are a musician your music will not be played if nobody is paying the licensing fee necessary.
So it lose lose for everybody.
September 18, 2025 @ 11:15 am
“The removal of funding from NPR and PBS immediately effects all Americans is an embarrassment to this country.”
The removal of funding from NPR and PBS is not an embarrassment to this country.
It simply indicates how people who blatantly abuse a forum, can cause, or greatly accelerate, its potential demise.
I’m sure there are a lot of us who have very much enjoyed NPR and PBS over the years.
September 18, 2025 @ 11:44 am
All I need is someone introducing me to new music. I can take it from there.