Why bother writing about music?

The title of this post explains why I haven't had much output at Soundslope lately.

I'm not sure exactly what the point is. I like to consider myself an advocate of music, both broadly and in relation that pesky music we call jazz, but I'm no longer sure what is accomplished by writing about it.

I never end up feeling like I've hit the target or attained anything in the way of accurately describing music.

I also want to avoid shilling too much for music I like to the point that it dilutes my overall message and focus. I have no interest in delving into the narcissistic world of thumbs up and down, x number of stars, what I call the journalistic circle jerk.

Ultimately music is the most powerful commentary on music. Musicians absorb past and present influence, their own experiences, and myriad consciousness into their craft.

They music about music (amongst other things), and if you want to really understand the music, the best thing to do is to listen to it.

I understand that it can be difficult to navigate and find out about what to listen to, which is my only motivation in writing. To turn people on to what I hear as good music. I'm just not convinced any more that I was accomplishing that in any real sense.

I wish there was some way to track actual purchases of music based on my reviews, that might provide some nice motivation. These days I'd be more likely to find out that people had illegally downloaded music I wrote about, which would just depress me further.

I'm also the kind of writer who approaches all subjects with the underlying question of "who cares what I think?" running at all times. If it doesn't pass the BS test I won't bother. Frankly, of late, I haven't felt compelled to put myself through that wringer.

And so Soundslope is more or less dormant these days. If you enjoy what I write I encourage you to check in now and then and keep me on your RSS feeds, but the truth is that I'm not sure if or when I'll be a reliable source of up to date reviews and information.

So life goes on: more time to sit on the cushion!

Thanks to everyone for reading.