Page 165 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2024. Glasbena kritika – nekoč in danes ▪︎ Music Criticism – Yesterday and Today. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 7
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music criticism in ireland
ery of the international music scene. Of course, this only applied in an art
music context; in traditional and (at least since the rise of U2) also popular
music, Ireland has been much more central for a long time.
The changes in music criticism triggered by the digital revolution are
not specific to Ireland; they occur everywhere in equal measure. While a
journal such as GoldenPlec will only find a significant readership in Ire-
land, informal music criticism on social media reaches across geographical
boundaries and can easily involve people from several continents. Just as
more and more people nowadays get their news virtually exclusively from
social media feeds (which means being restricted to what their friends are
sharing), they could also choose social media as the main source of their
music (and other) reviews, with the added benefit of being able to interact
directly with those engaging in the reviewing activity.
While the developments in Ireland are not fundamentally different
from those in other European countries, the small size of the country and
its comparatively even smaller musical scene have posed specific challeng-
es. For example, there has never been a full-time, permanent music critic in
Ireland – and apart from Acton it is unlikely that anyone could ever make
a living by reviewing concerts and recordings alone. By relying more and
more on the unpaid work of enthusiasts and the equally unpaid contribu-
tions to social media discussions, music criticism in the digital realm has
only exacerbated this trend in the twenty-first century.
Bibliography
Literature
Acton, Charles. Irish Music and Musicians. Dublin: Eason & Son, 1978.
Acton, Charles. “A Critic’s Creed. A Talk by Charles Acton.” The Gate Theatre,
October 20, 1974. Quoted in Acton’s Music: Reviews of Dublin’s Musical Life,
1955–1985, edited by Gareth Cox, 15–29. Bray: Kilbride Books, 1996.
Cox, Gareth, ed. Acton’s Music: Reviews of Dublin’s Musical Life, 1955–1985. Bray:
Kilbride Books, 1996.
Cox, Gareth. “Acton, Charles.” In The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, vol. 1, 5–6.
Dublin: UCD Press, 2013.
Dingle, Christopher, and Dominic McHugh. “Stop the Press? The Changing Me-
dia of Music Criticism.” In The Cambridge History of Music Criticism, edit-
ed by Christopher Dingle, 695–706. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2019. https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/10463/.
165
ery of the international music scene. Of course, this only applied in an art
music context; in traditional and (at least since the rise of U2) also popular
music, Ireland has been much more central for a long time.
The changes in music criticism triggered by the digital revolution are
not specific to Ireland; they occur everywhere in equal measure. While a
journal such as GoldenPlec will only find a significant readership in Ire-
land, informal music criticism on social media reaches across geographical
boundaries and can easily involve people from several continents. Just as
more and more people nowadays get their news virtually exclusively from
social media feeds (which means being restricted to what their friends are
sharing), they could also choose social media as the main source of their
music (and other) reviews, with the added benefit of being able to interact
directly with those engaging in the reviewing activity.
While the developments in Ireland are not fundamentally different
from those in other European countries, the small size of the country and
its comparatively even smaller musical scene have posed specific challeng-
es. For example, there has never been a full-time, permanent music critic in
Ireland – and apart from Acton it is unlikely that anyone could ever make
a living by reviewing concerts and recordings alone. By relying more and
more on the unpaid work of enthusiasts and the equally unpaid contribu-
tions to social media discussions, music criticism in the digital realm has
only exacerbated this trend in the twenty-first century.
Bibliography
Literature
Acton, Charles. Irish Music and Musicians. Dublin: Eason & Son, 1978.
Acton, Charles. “A Critic’s Creed. A Talk by Charles Acton.” The Gate Theatre,
October 20, 1974. Quoted in Acton’s Music: Reviews of Dublin’s Musical Life,
1955–1985, edited by Gareth Cox, 15–29. Bray: Kilbride Books, 1996.
Cox, Gareth, ed. Acton’s Music: Reviews of Dublin’s Musical Life, 1955–1985. Bray:
Kilbride Books, 1996.
Cox, Gareth. “Acton, Charles.” In The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, vol. 1, 5–6.
Dublin: UCD Press, 2013.
Dingle, Christopher, and Dominic McHugh. “Stop the Press? The Changing Me-
dia of Music Criticism.” In The Cambridge History of Music Criticism, edit-
ed by Christopher Dingle, 695–706. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2019. https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/10463/.
165
