hi-fi+ Global Network | hi-fi+ Issue 256
I’m all for music discovery, and the wider the scope of that discovery the better. But, there’s a difference between ‘discovery’ and ‘curated discovery’. I come from a time where everyone who was passionate about music would tune into the radio and hear new music, often from bands we had never heard of and would have had no exposure to were it not for some DJ plugging something beyond the charts.
The late John Peel’s reputation has been tarnished by allegations of impropriety, but he discovered everyone from Pink Floyd to the White Stripes, including bands like Led Zeppelin, Joy Division, The Smiths, Pulp and PJ Harvey. People like that are rare (fellow BBC DJ Bob Harris supported David Bowie, Elton John and Bob Marley in the earlier parts of their respective careers), but that curation has given way to “that was... this is” DJs who are entirely playlist-bound. And online systems frequently rely on algorithms to generate your next discovery.
Ultimately, music needs that human touch. It needs people to listen and spread the word; like channel KEXP, who helped make Angine de Poitrine more of a thing!
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Articles in this issue
Below is a selection of articles in hi-fi+ Global Network hi-fi+ Issue 256.