Once upon a time, nobody wrote about film music. Back when I was first discovering it in the late ’70s and early ’80s, only two people were discussing film music with any regularity. Page Cook wrote “The Soundtrack” column in Films In Review and Royal S. Brown took a far more high-handed tone in Fanfare magazine. Such was my myopic world that I didn’t even read either of them until at least a decade or so later. The thought of anyone actually writing about film music just never occurred to me.
Now, thanks to the wonders of technology, there’s a whole new chorus of voices discussing this genre of music that we all love. Arguably headed up by Jon Burlingame and Jeff Bond and their regular platforms at Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, new opinions are being read in liner notes, books, articles and blogs, and heard on radio, DVD commentaries and elsewhere.
So what are “the good, the bad and the ugly” of film music journalism? What do you like and dislike? What is there too much of and what’s missing? Too high-brow or too dumbed down? Too deep or not deep enough? I have my own opinions, but I’d rather hear what you have to say. Plus, I’m not here to fawn over or slam my colleagues.
I have left the questions purposefully vague. Think of the sites you visit; the opinions you read, listen to and enjoy (and the ones you don’t); and your ideal form and platform of “reading” about film music. Where you would like it to go and what would you like to see, read and hear?
I only have one request. Please do not call out specific people by name in a negative light. Leave that crap for the message boards. However, feel free to rant and rail against me if you have any issues. It’s my site and I can take it.
So, “the good, the bad and the ugly” of film music journalism… Discuss.