The Death of the Critic?: A Roundtable on the Future of Music Criticism in the Digital Age   Date: September 24th, 2008 "The death of the critic" has become a catchphrase in discussing how the Internet has affected arts writing, nowhere more so than in music journalism. The avalanche of blogs written by everyone from veteran writers to neophytes has called into question the need for professional music writers. The availability of music in the Internet challenges the old idea that criticism is at its heart about description and assessment: why would a reader need someone else's words about a song when she can just listen herself? And the shrinking availability of space in print publications, combined with the widespread belief that readers online have the attention spans of toddlers, has made it hard to justify long-form essays on music or anything else. Yet music writing continues to have an important presence in the culture, and arguably it is a primary pioneering form, allowing for writers to experiment with the new frameworks the Internet demands. At the same time, more great music books are being published than ever, and general interest publications are publishing more writers on pop. So is music criticism dying or being reborn? A panel of professionals will discuss the perils and possibilities. Participants include: Oliver Wang (Souldsides.com, Cal State Long Beach) Tim Page (USC Annenberg) Natalie Nichols (City Beat, hipspinster.com) Ayala Ben-Yehuda (Billboard) Ernest Hardy (LA Weekly) Chris Willman (Entertainment Weekly) Lorraine Ali (Newsweek) Randall Roberts (LA Weekly) Eric Weisbard, organizer of the Experience Music Project "Pop Conference" Led by Ann Powers, pop music critic of The Los Angeles Times and 2008 Resident of The Popular Music Project. Must RSVP to attend. Refreshments will be served. Wednesday, September 24, 2008 7:30PM Annenberg Building Room 207 Please RSVP to enter@usc.edu. Read what other critics are saying about the state of art criticism! "The Future of Journalism: New Yorker music critic and blogger Alex Ross," Jemima Kiss, The Guardian blog, July 22, 2008 "Is It Curtains For Critics?" Jay Rayner, The Guardian, July 13, 2008 "Whither withering criticism?" Justin Davidson, MusicalAmerica.com, July 3, 2008 "Apres Le Deluge, What?" Douglas McClennan, NAJP blog, July 2008 "Are All Critics Obsolete?" Max Ross, The Rake, June 9, 2008 "Are They Sill Relevant? Everyone's A Critic," Patrick Goldstein, the Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2008 "Modern Art Criticism 'Does Not Have Time to Tthink’," Lara Farrar, Press Gazette, March 18, 2008 "Get It Right: Rock Criticism As An Art Is In Danger," Mark Godfrey, CLUAS.com, July 2004