It’s now infinitely more expensive for everybody to live, and ad revenue is drying up as site-specific clicks are replaced by AI summaries. Music writers used to be paid, simply, by people paying £/$5 a month for the magazine they worked for. For 30 years Pitchfork, a brilliant resource, has instead been available for free, but it’s not longer tenable. I’m confused by the predominantly negative response to this, especially from music fans. Music criticism is an art form. How else exactly do people expect writers and editors, especially good ones, to get paid?
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