The BLCMB: http://classical-music-blogs.weebly.com
Yesterday I launched a new website, called The Big List of Classical Music Blogs.
It’s a project that I’ve been working on for a little while – ever since I went searching for some kind of comprehensive online index or directory of blogs about classical music, and couldn’t find one.
It’s a project that I’ve been working on for a little while – ever since I went searching for some kind of comprehensive online index or directory of blogs about classical music, and couldn’t find one.
So I spent a couple of weeks gathering information, often by checking out links that prominent bloggers had already listed on their sites. By following my nose through the internet in this way, from one blogroll to the next, I discovered over 300 blogs and online magazines.
Yesterday being a Sunday, I thought that response to my new site would be pretty slow at first – and I was hoping interest would build as the week progressed. But within 12 hours of launching the BLCMB, the site had 2,400 hits. That’s 200 hits an hour, on the first day! As well, I have received about 20 requests from people asking me to add their blog to my list. (I’ll update the site from time to time.)
For all this, I must thank Alex Ross in New York and Norman Lebrecht in London, both of whom mentioned the site to their legions of loyal readers. Those guys have clout!
However, such a strong initial response seems to confirm a few of my suspicions: that there are more blogs about classical music out there than most people realize; and that many people are eager to find out about them.
I take this as a welcome sign of the robust health of classical music – but perhaps not everyone would agree with me.
Recently, arts administrator Michael Kaiser wrote an article about the growing trend of blogging, expressing alarm that an onslaught of amateur critics would turn the arts into a popularity contest, in which lowest-common-denominator artists would emerge victorious. (You can read his exact words here.)
Having looked at over 300 blogs and online magazines in the last two weeks, I’m pleased to say that I’ve seen very little sign of this actually happening. Most classical music blogs I’ve seen are written by sincere, devoted and reasonably knowledgeable people.
While I do share Kaiser’s concerns about the demise of professional criticism (I earn my keep by writing for newspapers and magazines), I think he needn’t worry too much about bloggers causing the sky to fall. And I’m happy to include his own blog on my list of links.
© 2011 Colin Eatock
Yesterday being a Sunday, I thought that response to my new site would be pretty slow at first – and I was hoping interest would build as the week progressed. But within 12 hours of launching the BLCMB, the site had 2,400 hits. That’s 200 hits an hour, on the first day! As well, I have received about 20 requests from people asking me to add their blog to my list. (I’ll update the site from time to time.)
For all this, I must thank Alex Ross in New York and Norman Lebrecht in London, both of whom mentioned the site to their legions of loyal readers. Those guys have clout!
However, such a strong initial response seems to confirm a few of my suspicions: that there are more blogs about classical music out there than most people realize; and that many people are eager to find out about them.
I take this as a welcome sign of the robust health of classical music – but perhaps not everyone would agree with me.
Recently, arts administrator Michael Kaiser wrote an article about the growing trend of blogging, expressing alarm that an onslaught of amateur critics would turn the arts into a popularity contest, in which lowest-common-denominator artists would emerge victorious. (You can read his exact words here.)
Having looked at over 300 blogs and online magazines in the last two weeks, I’m pleased to say that I’ve seen very little sign of this actually happening. Most classical music blogs I’ve seen are written by sincere, devoted and reasonably knowledgeable people.
While I do share Kaiser’s concerns about the demise of professional criticism (I earn my keep by writing for newspapers and magazines), I think he needn’t worry too much about bloggers causing the sky to fall. And I’m happy to include his own blog on my list of links.
© 2011 Colin Eatock
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