Why Criticize Bad Music?
Invariably this is the question brought up when Saving Country Music or any website or publication chooses to don its poison pen and stick it in the eye of a ne’er-do-well assaulting our eardrums with ghastly tripe. Many chide, “Why can’t we just focus on the good stuff?” Never mind that the web traffic to articles that are negative in nature tend to outpace the positive ones 3 to 1. It’s simply not as popular to come out and say, “Really? Another album review from a band I’ve never heard of that really needs the exposure?” then it is to act like you’re above the adolescent trouncing of terrible music (though you’ll still read), or that the constructive criticism of music presented in a professional manner is important.
Is criticizing bad music a worthy exercise? Praising the good stuff and helping expose it to a wider audience is probably more worthy. But criticizing bad music can many times have just as much of a positive outcome for both the music listener and the artist as positive coverage. Like with all things, there must be balance. Here’s the three primary reasons criticizing bad music can be useful:
To Hold Feet to the Fire
Even if the fist wringing and gnashing of teeth does absolutely nothing to actuate any specific change in the music world, at least it builds an archive and registers the dissent so it can later be referenced to let future generations know that musical ideals were not allowed to be trounced quietly.
Aside from the quippy, negative sentiments presented in a satirical manner, professional criticism is something every artist should crave, and helps maintain a healthy music environment that invites discussion on quality. Criticism can also be an important tool to the music listener, especially as the music world becomes evermore crowded with choice.
Camaraderie and commiseration
The expression of viewpoints, frustrations, and sometimes anger is necessary to help keep us balanced. Sometimes the best way to stop thinking about something, or to quench anger about something is to express our feelings about it. It also helps build community, and an exchange of viewpoints and ideas throughout that community to help solve some of the problems that led to the negative sentiments to begin with.
Most Importantly – Outreach
Bashing bad country is an important part of the flora and fauna that makes a site like Saving Country Music function properly. This site was started with the idea that there was a whole population of people perplexed and embarrassed about the direction of country music—that it might even be a majority sentiment amongst the music-buying public—but that there wasn’t a place proselytizing this view on a regular basis, and so there was no way to build strength through uniting this consensus.
But how would people find it?
2/3’rds of the traffic that comes to Saving Country Music every day are people who have never been to this site before, but instead are taking to Google or other search engines, and imputing “country music sucks these days” or “what happened to country?” or “Brantley Gilbert is a douche” into their search window. And lo and behold it leads them here where Saving Country Music is waiting with open arms, inviting them into the fold, introducing them to a new group of like-minded friends, and a whole world of independent music feverishly looking for fresh ears to help support it. The mainstream music industry has radio and television to reach the public’s eyes and ears. On the internet, the playing field can be leveled.
But there still must be balance and focus. From the beginning, Saving Country Music for example has held to a standard that for every negative article, there must be at least two positive ones, and has maintained that balance over the years to the point where the average ratio is closer to 3 or 4 to 1, positive to negative. That balance must be maintained, or the focus could become simply generating traffic to the site as opposed to promoting good music.
But the reader also has a responsibility. Positive, quality music coverage is drying up all over the internet, and it’s not from the willingness of music journalists to write positive stories— journalists who many times got into the practice from their sincere love of music. It’s because readers are no longer interacting as much with positive media. The case can be made that music journalism of any type might not be as necessary as it was years ago with the type of access listeners now have to music. But is it fair to then turn around and criticize the journalists and bloggers who are simply trying to help their readers navigate a marketplace that is more crowded than it has ever been?
If readers want more positive stories, then they must interact more with positive stories, just as they do with the negative ones at a much greater rate. Studies show that readers are so inundated with information these days, if there is something that a reader truly doesn’t want to see, then they physically don’t see it. Their eyes simply gloss over it and they are on to the next bit of information in their news feed. And so if you don’t want to see negative music coverage, choose to not see it and instead seek out the positive coverage that is withering on the vine from a lack of interest.
Saving Country Music, and many other music journalists and critics are committed to trying to keep the focus more positive. But the reader has to be committed to it as well. Because as time moves forward, and more and more music enters the marketplace and easier access to that music is afforded to the listener, it will be imperative for all of us as music fans to have access to tools and voices to help find us the music that speaks to us most personally and has the biggest impact on our lives.
June 5, 2013 @ 3:24 pm
I can say that the first time ever ran across this site a few years ago, I had never heard the names Hank3, Dale Watson, Lucky Tubb, Wayne The Train, Goddamn Gallows and the list goes on and on and envelopes almost my entire music collection now. How did I get here? I googled something along the lines of Taylor Swift is not country, and SCM came up. I have done my best to read every artical since then, I thank you trigger for turning this 19 year old on to the best country around originaly through a negative story. Otherwise I would still be degrading myself with country radio thinking this is NOT what country should be!
June 5, 2013 @ 6:14 pm
You know, I’ve asked Trigger before about the content of Hank III’s music and he didn’t answer (it was an older article, after all), so I was wondering if you could tell me? I’m interested in his tunes but I don’t like foul language in my music if I can help it. I give rock some leeway but I can’t stand it in country for some reason (probably because it’s rare). I know his album “Straight to Hell” has a Parental Advisory warning label, but those have been issued for single f-words in the past and I don’t find them to be all that reliable when judging content.
June 5, 2013 @ 6:31 pm
While PA stickers are not really regulated at all and can be placed on albums that really don’t deserve them (and left off of ones that definitely do) … Straight to Hell is one album that definitely deserves to have one. I can’t tell you exactly how much swearing is on it, but there’s a lot. If you want to check out his stuff, mostly swear free I would suggest “Lovesick Broke and Driftin” which doesn’t have much swearing (if any at all) and is very good and “Rebel Within”, which confines the swearing to only two songs, and while that album isn’t viewed as one of his best, personally I really like it a lot.
June 5, 2013 @ 6:34 pm
oh, i forgot to mention, you can get a “clean” version of StH, but i haven’t heard it, so I don’t know how disruptive the edits may be, and i know it is lacking one song.
June 6, 2013 @ 1:07 pm
“I”™ve never actually seen the clean version in any stores, but it looks like Amazon has a listing for an explicit version as well as one that doesn”™t say it”™s explicit, but the non-explicit version still has all the songs listed, so I don”™t know if I would trust that. Itunes has the clean version, if not having a physical copy is okay. The missing song is “Dick in Dixie”, which is a pretty fun song, but not the best song on the album or anything.”
I did some research and apparently the edited version was a Walmart exclusive (which doesn’t bode well for it’s quality. Probably gaps in the lyrics as opposed to dubs). And I presume that “Dick in Dixie” is missing because it’s fairly obscene?
June 5, 2013 @ 8:46 pm
I appreciate your answer. Any idea where I can get the clean version of “Straight to Hell” from? And what song is missing from it? If I consider it a necessary addition I might just suck it up and go for the unedited version. I don’t know why, but f-bombs just annoy me. Most other swears I can stand, depending on the context. Take Rebel Son, for instance. I absolutely LOVE the sound of their music, but since they work as a parody of themselves they inject a ridiculous amount of obscene language into their music.
June 5, 2013 @ 8:47 pm
And it’s hard for me to enjoy their music as a result.
June 5, 2013 @ 9:16 pm
I’ve never actually seen the clean version in any stores, but it looks like Amazon has a listing for an explicit version as well as one that doesn’t say it’s explicit, but the non-explicit version still has all the songs listed, so I don’t know if I would trust that. Itunes has the clean version, if not having a physical copy is okay.
The missing song is “Dick in Dixie”, which is a pretty fun song, but not the best song on the album or anything.
June 6, 2013 @ 1:33 pm
“I did some research and apparently the edited version was a Walmart exclusive (which doesn”™t bode well for it”™s quality. Probably gaps in the lyrics as opposed to dubs). And I presume that “Dick in Dixie” is missing because it”™s fairly obscene?”
———-
Last night I was half thinking it was just done for Walmart, I even looked to see if it was on their website, but since it wasn’t listed there I gave up on that line of thought. I was wrong, heh.
Yep, that song is definitely the worst as far as language goes. I looked through the lyrics last night and if I counted correctly 5 songs have “f”¦” somewhere in them at least once, so it wasn’t quite as bad as I was remembering, but still fairly substantial
June 7, 2013 @ 3:44 pm
Luke, it’s interesting how you got to this site. But Taylor Swift took two thumbs down and put them together into a heart, and many country fans temporarily forgot about the bad music they had heard. Such is the power of marketing. I was quite surprised that the Triggerman was sold on her for a while before he came to her senses. I never thought she was country.
There is nothing wrong with criticizing bad music, especially when the bad music is the dominant paradigm. I think the key issue is that Nashville is selling music to a segment of people who are not the right audience for real country music. They think there is more money to be made selling to the young and hip party crowd.
I see country music and rural America having an identity crisis. There are the people who love rural America and identify with the small town lifestyle, and there are frustrated young people who want to move to the city. (That could be for economically rational reasons such as the availability of jobs, or for cultural reasons). The former group can appreciate the traditional sounds of classic country, while the latter group has iPods full of pop, rock, and hip-hop, with a Taylor Swift or Jason Aldean song here and there. Nashville’s been marketing to the latter group, while the former group (mostly more mature folks who don’t chase the latest fads or make a lot of noise) is left frustrated on the sidelines.
June 5, 2013 @ 3:32 pm
IMO, bashing bad music to draw page views is akin to making pop country because it sells.
June 5, 2013 @ 3:46 pm
Are you insinuating this is what Saving Country Music does, or are you making a general statement, or a statement about some other websites or publications do?
Because if it is the former, someone didn’t read the story.
June 5, 2013 @ 3:54 pm
Would the reasoning matter, in terms of the validity of the sentiment?
June 5, 2013 @ 4:15 pm
I agree with the sentiment to an extent. But it also seems to imply that this is a practice that SCM engages in, and it is the exact oversimplification of this issue that this article attempts to confront in great detail. Comments just on this thread from Trailer and Luke000 exemplify the folly of looking at negative articles simply as traffic whoring excursions, and how criticizing bad music can directly result in converted fans. But again, I don’t know that is what Dave D. is implying. That’s why I asked.
June 5, 2013 @ 3:49 pm
I got into this racket because I enjoyed making fun of crappy music. Just good old fashioned trash talking. Over the course of the years, I’ve evolved into more of a promoter of the good. My ratio is probably still 6/1 negative to positive at best, but I know the positive is working because I get lots of emails and social media comments to that end. I respect what you do and what you said here, Trigger. Nice work.
June 5, 2013 @ 4:04 pm
Everyone has their own approach and way of doing things, and Farce the Music has taken one of the most creative and innovative approaches I’ve seen. Like you said, the majority of what you do is negative, but it can still result in a positive uptick for music that deserves it. I’m not sure if you receive the same type of criticism for being negative as say Saving Country Music or Rawhide & Velvet does on a daily basis because people expect it from you more. But if Farce The Music is converting fans to good music (which I’ve seen personally), this is proof that negative coverage can result in a win for good music, and shouldn’t be discounted as simply traffic whoring.
June 5, 2013 @ 3:58 pm
Someone has to call out the bad music. The mainstream crowd sure isn’t. I’m so thankful for this site. Trig has introduced me to many artist’s music I may have not checked out or discovered.
June 5, 2013 @ 4:32 pm
If it weren’t for sites like SCM and Farce the Music I know I would feel a lot more alone with my musical tastes when it comes to country music. If I tell “Random Person A” that I like country music, but not the likes of Taylor Swift or Florida Georgia Line they will reply that that type of country is the only “good” kind, and the stuff I like sucks. If I tell “Random Person B” the same thing, they will reply that ALL country from the beginning of time has been garbage (except Johnny Cash of course, but try to get them to name any song he recorded except “Hurt”).
I do not know ANYONE either in real life, or online (aside from on these type of sites) that feels the way I do about this music, so finding these sites and realising that I wasn’t the only person who not only was willing to proclaim a love of country music, but also was willing to state that stuff like Luke Bryan was NOT good music and was NOT country ”¦ that felt nice.
And I have found so much great music through this site. Rachel Brooke, Caitlin Rose, Bloody Jug Band, Kellie Pickler, Corb Lund and most recently the Mavericks are all artists I had either not heard of before or wouldn’t have given a chance to if I hadn’t read about them on here.
June 5, 2013 @ 5:46 pm
I always have to tell folks that i like country music, just not the crap thats on the radio. Then i’ll name off a bunch of bands they have never heard of. Most folks say the stuff i like must suck since thy arent on the radio, and arent selling out stadiums.
June 5, 2013 @ 6:24 pm
i do enjoy the negative articles more because they tend to be funny and the comments are full of smart ass put downs but i do look at the positive reviews too. on the positive reviews i just go straight to the video links to listen to the music and if i like it ill usually say something but if i dont id just feel like a dick posting something negative about a band that is probably struggling just to get by. maybe thats why the reviews get so few responses compared to the negative or bussiness articles.
i dont agree with a lot of your positive reviews especially the underground stuff which i feel are more about admiring the bands intentions or character rather than if they are actually fun to listen to but youve also turned me onto some really good bands/artists i never would have heard about here in los angeles. overall i think your blog has a good balance the only articles i dont enjoy are the onion type ones but thats just my personal taste in humour and i cant expect everyone to share my preferences.
two guns up
June 5, 2013 @ 9:09 pm
This is not necessarily about comments. Comments are not always indicative of traffic, and they have become less and less indicative of traffic over time, though people still assume the more comments an article gets, the more traffic there is. SCM has been known for years, even when our traffic was 10% of what it is now, for having lots of comments. This is because I tried to foster this culture of engaging people and soliciting them for their opinion from the beginning. Though I like to see comments on articles, I understand that on an album review, they are just less likely than on an article like this that is meant to stimulate discussion.
June 5, 2013 @ 6:54 pm
As someone who discovered the site about six months ago – it was Trigger’s live blog of the CMA’s when I sat there watching saying “this can’t be real’ I was glad to find this site and see a community of similar souls. And despite the occaisional ‘negative’ articles (picking on FGL, I mean, like that is so hard – just kidding!) it is really the positive stores and the exposure to good music. For example I don’t think I would have heard of Caitlin Rose, Lindi Ortega, Turnpike Troubadours or Hellbound Glory without this site which are well played on the iPod. I’ve taken some friends in the past year to see acts like Eilen Jewell, Caitlin Rose and later this week we’ll see Kelly Willis. After Eilen one said ‘gee this is really alot better than Carrie Underwood or Rascall Flatts”. I like to think good music will prevail it will just be one listener at a time. Thanks for what you do and keep it up.
June 5, 2013 @ 7:27 pm
I appreciate your mix of articles, I appreciate all of the great music you have turned me on to, but your mean articles are pretty damn funny.
I pledge to make a comment on at least one positive article for every snide, snippy bit of snarkiness I might add to a negative one. Or maybe I’ll just keep my big mouth shut…
June 6, 2013 @ 3:11 am
When I flick through magazines to look at the reviews (and more and more lately on amazon as well) I’m drawn to the 1 star reviews before the 5 star ones simply because they’re more entertaining. It’s easy to be nice about something but a creative, negative review takes more input. I’m more than happy to a very negative review of something I like if it’s well written.
June 6, 2013 @ 5:45 am
I, too, find myself annoyed at coverage that Taylor Swift and other bad country gets on here, but reading the first comment makes me realize it’s a nuisance worth putting up with if it brings more attention to the good stuff, which otherwise may not have been found.
June 6, 2013 @ 7:18 am
A fellow real country fan led me here. And I found a blog site that, for the most part, reflected a lot of what I thought about the state of country music. Then I saw reviews for albums of bands that I’ve seen and artists that I actually have met, along side reviews of bands I had not heard of. Seeing people I know get some notice, along with learning about new stuff, makes me a regular reader, if not a regular poster. Even if I don’t comment on a rave review on an album or band, I still most likely read it, made note of it and will seek it out to give it a shot. And I do get a kick out of the parody articles and slams against the most horrid of songs/artists that give country a bad rap (heh heh)
June 6, 2013 @ 7:45 am
Great article and valid points. Actually came to this site a couple years ago, after being pissed off about an article you wrote about Jamey Johnson. Although I still disagree with statements made in that article, this site has led me to a lot of great music (Eric Strickland, Hellbound Glory, Whitey Morgan, etc..). Everyone has an opinion, many people feel strongly about what has happened to traditional country music. This website gives us a place to voice our displeasure with today’s “country” music, and to also find great new artists we would have never found otherwise.
June 6, 2013 @ 7:59 am
While I agree to an extent, sometimes it becomes way too easy to give scathing reviews as well as you’re typical gushing reviews, than it is to take the time and investigate 3-4 star material…[where they missed and where they succeeded].
Everyone seems to be waiting in line to gut the next Nickelback album, or trash Guy Fieri’s new frosted tipped midtown restaurant.
M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth has a 12% on rotten tomatoes and reviewers are saying “Is ‘After Earth’ the worst movie ever made?”. Really guys… worst ever? I mean are all of these terrible? Yeah, but are we reviewing their respective colossal doucheyness, or are we reviewing a product? I understand that there are a lot of satellite factors that come into play when it comes to reviews but why be selective with those factors, and not include, “did you NOT expect onion straws and Oakley wraparound chandeliers in a Guy Fieri restaurant?” With that said, thanks for the reviews and for not being too predictable and coat-tail riding, Trigger.
June 6, 2013 @ 1:00 pm
As sad as it is to see where popular country has gone, especially in the past decade or so, I really appreciate how sites like this one and Farce The Music take the piss out of it in creative, humorous ways. 🙂
June 6, 2013 @ 7:27 pm
You’ve mentioned multiple times that album reviews don’t generate the amount of views as other articles. This is crazy to me. I’m always seeking new music, a new sound. The ONLY reason I visit Saving Country Music is for the reviews of new music. I end up reading just about everything, but I initially visit the site for the reviews.
June 6, 2013 @ 8:31 pm
“Aside from the quippy, negative sentiments presented in a satirical manner, professional criticism is something every artist should crave, and helps maintain a healthy music environment that invites discussion on quality.”
I have never once hear an artist ever say that they made the music for the critics. In fact they always make a point to say they dont give a damn what the critics say and make the music that is important to them and what they wanna say, they dont care if critics like it or not. Whenever you start craving professional critics is when you start selling out.
June 6, 2013 @ 9:03 pm
In no way is that what I am trying to say here, though I guess I can see how it could be interpreted that way. I’ve never heard an artist say they make music for critics either, nor should they. And if a critic sensed that is what an artist was trying to do, the critic would be right to criticize the artist for that.
Being open to constructive criticism and trying to construct your music to appease critics are two utterly different things. You might be surprised how many artists reach out to other artists, peers, friends, etc to get opinions on their music during either the writing or recording process. I have been approached by many artists with rough tracks asking for my opinion. This is a common part of the writing and recording process. Some artists don’t participate in it, and some are not open to criticism. Some because they don’t need it and do just fine without it. Some because they’re insecure.
There’s also a timeline issue here. Yes, some artists may not give a damn what the critics say after a record has been released, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t reach out for criticism during the recording process. It also doesn’t mean they couldn’t benefit if they read that criticism.
To be honest with you, I don’t think I’ve ever met an artist who didn’t want some criticism at some point of the creative process, from someone.
June 9, 2013 @ 6:52 pm
I doubt anyone will read this but I wanna show you guys some great tunes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaIsY2AD7no
thats yarns bad bad man a personal fav
and giant panda guerilla dub squads “country” album which is my favorite of all time because it got me hooked into country
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMKjWW6-z4I – far away
and my fav off the album
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jIhydl8eyc – new speed boogie which is a GD cover
I hope someone likes it, i feel as though i need to share it
June 5, 2014 @ 8:44 pm
I was absolutely drawn to sites like this one and Farce the Music because the sarcasm and criticism entertained me. But there’s no question I have been exposed to some really great music and some artists I really like as a result of posts here and there.
I am sure that you’re not just keywording to draw clicks. That feels too crass, and there’s too much quality on this site for that to be the case. Whatever you’re doing works, and I’m thankful for all you’ve shared with us.
June 6, 2014 @ 9:16 am
Sites like FTM & SCM simply must exist because there has to be an outlet to vent frustration over songs like Donkey and My Kind of Night that just shouldn’t exist. Not only in country but anywhere. Ever. If country fans didn’t have these coping mechanisms they might do really bad things to people.