I actually don't want there to be such a generational distinction, because that made things worse and harder for people like me, that were interested in music. That NPR thing with the interns, its heart is probably in the right place but the execution is completely fucking awful and drives the wedge farther. It pretends there are editors out there in ivy towers and there's some cabal behind publishing. There isn't. Words are words. If you're uncommonly wise and/or intelligent you can write more compelling content/material at 19 than most 35 year-olds. And you should and I wish there was a way people like me were making that happen instead of Pitchfork turning interest in music into a huge profit center of bullshit "PR firms" and scene-making secret shows and bullshit. They're trying to preserve and create a version of "access" and "cool' they envied when they were young, but that doesn't apply at all today. Or doesn't need to. And hopefully won't, soon. I mean look at medium.com - they have TEMPLATIZED Pitchfork and sites like that, reduced them to blog templates.
So the question then is about BIAS. Kids hate BIAS. And if you can start a site that puts the bias up front, so you know ahead of time what that bias is, and aren't going to be tricked, sold or misled by a writer or publication's slant, then you're more likely to look for confirmation from that site, that what you suspect is true. Or to trust that the site can tell you something new because you know whether or not they share your distrust of bias.
My vision is for a site that's basically Love And Hate - one side of the site is one color scheme, the other is its inverse. And you know based on the colors and layout whether the piece you're about to read is negative/snarky/mean or gushy/positive/promotional. And like right now there's a lot of upheaval in music writing with the sale of SPIN and issues at other large pubs, and for Pitchfork to pick up the scraps from that would really depress me. Ryan's dream has always been to make MTV over again. I say that's just phony bullshit, making "rock stars" of Grimes and Azealia Banks and hyping shit to achieve this disconnect between artists and fans. That doesn't need to exist and artists don't need to conform to it. Look at Elite Gymnastics: James is trying to walk that line and I think he's one of the first to do it. Claire/Grimes has no chance because she's cute and managed by people that are invested in preserving the classical music industry so they have income. But there's another way forward here, where a site could exist as a bias-broadcasting forum for referendum. And I think that's why I spent the intervening years on Hipinion, because it spoke to that kind of throw shit at the wall and people will tell you what they think kind of collaboration. A polished, collaborative site that incorporates its audience well is the next step.
