Please take the time to read the following post and offer some
opinions if possible.
If Wind and Wire were to come back online, it would be as an ambient/
electronica site only review site (no new age or world fusion).
Reviews would be shorter than in the past, probably more critical
(meaning even "bad" (IMO) recordings would be reviewed) and I would
institute a rating system for the first time in my reviewing career.
Some questions I'm asking for feedback on...
Should Wind and Wire remain at windandwire.com or should it become a
"blog" site so that you can subscribe to it via RSS capability? (if
I've misspoken about this from a terminology standpoint, bear with me,
as blogging is still an unknown frontier to me, but someone where I
work thinks a blog is a better way to go since subscribers are
notified when new content appears). If Wind and Wire goes back to what
it was, it will be a webzine with regularly scheduled (relatively
speaking) uploads. If it's a blog site, the reviews will appear when
they are written with no set schedule.
How do you feel about reviews in general from someone like me? In
other words, are they worth anything except to the artist (and no, I'm
not being purposely self-deprecating)? As a consumer, do you even read
reviews any more or do you evaluate recordings for purchase based
solely on either sound clips or informal word of mouth (e.g. "now
playing" or "now listening to" threads in groups)? Do you feel
differently about "legitimate" reviews (i.e. in hard copy print
magazines or on "formal" websites that have commercial backing) than
about "amateur" critics like myself?
Would you have ANY interest in a grass roots paper publication at all?
This would be along the lines of, I think, what Asterism used to look
like (8.5 x 11 folded in half so the page size was 8.5 x 5.5). That
way I could print it myself and assemble it/staple it myself. Cost
would be whatever the price of copying it and mailing it was plus a
small amount for profit and overhead. I don't know if I would take ads
or not at this point. As far as how regular it would publish, I would
guess quarterly. And subscrips or single issues could be purchased
online through paypal or via traditional check/cash in the mail.
Right now, for all these options, I'm the only writer. No one else is
involved. If it's a blog, I would almost certainly remain the only
person involved. There don't seem to be many reviewers out there
anyway so it seems a foregone conclusion that it'd be just little ole
me.
I want to make an informed decision about all this. I'm now in my
eleventh year of reviewing and I figure I can either just plod along
like always, most likely eventually petering out to nothingness as my
interest wanes or I can try and make some changes to renew both my
zeal and also spark some renewed interest "out there." But I don't
want to do something that has no worth to you folks. I'm no longer
interested in writing SOLELY for my own pleasure or for what SOME
perceive as the "glory and fame" of reviewing (haha) and I sure as
hell don't need any more free CDs for my collection. I DO continue to
review currently because I still enjoy writing about the music for the
most part (although I admit that ambient reviewing has gotten much
harder the last two or three years).
However, the internet and the ambient scene has changed so much since
1997 that I truly have no idea what people want any more. The failure
of E-dition and e/i have me thinking that there really is little need
or use for reviewing of ambient music any longer (new age music is a
whole different beast and reviews there still carry a lot of worth
since very little new age music is digital download only...people still
want to buy CDs and most of the audience probably doesn't go looking
for sound clips/samples). The end result is that I don't want to
reinvent myself if all I'm doing is feeding the artist's ego/
validating their vision (take your pick) and practicing my writing
craft, as opposed to having an impact on the scene and buying
decisions. If reaction to or feelings about my reviews are more or
less perfunctory, I'd rather just stop reviewing ambient music
altogether and concentrate on new age music instead...but enough said
about that. It takes lots of time to review music (the way I do tit,
that is) and if there's no need/want for it any more from the general
public, I'd rather find out sooner than later.
So, help me out if you can take the time to offer some opinions, no
matter how derisive, dismissive or condescending. I want to know what
you think about this topic. You can also email me directly if you
prefer.
Thanks everyone.
Bill Binkelman
founder and former editor, Wind and Wire
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