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Music Discourse Is Plentiful, Often Angry and Increasingly Not About Music at All
Why is industry- and culture-focused commentary now taking up such a huge portion of the music conversation?
May 5
•
Shawn Reynaldo
31
9
The Pyramids Have Become a Rave Backdrop
With large-scale electronic music events increasingly being staged at heritage sites around the globe, questions have arisen about who these events are…
Apr 28
•
April Clare Welsh
35
8
The Experimental Sounds of Lebanon
In a moment when Lebanese voices are largely being ignored, First Floor highlights some of the country's most crucial experimental and electronic…
Apr 7
•
Shawn Reynaldo
69
12
10
The Majors Are Ushering in an Era of DAWifcation and Hyper-Personalization
And with it, fans will be able to alter and play with the traits and catalogs of their favorite musical artists, creating a mash-up economy that will…
Mar 31
•
Frankie Pizá
31
9
The Established Canon of Good Taste Is for Old People
With young people increasingly excluded from the professional media and other traditional bastions of music discourse, their interest in the narratives…
Mar 24
•
Shawn Reynaldo
59
9
The Dance Music Press Is Still Selling the Culture to the Highest Bidder
Even as media outlets have begun to employ a more critical lens in their editorial output, their underlying business models remain hopelessly reliant on…
Mar 17
•
Shawn Reynaldo
43
5
The Ambient Events Moment Is Real
Moving past the trappings of the club and the dated template of the chillout room, a new wave of events is specifically centering vaporous sounds and…
Mar 10
•
Chris Zaldua
64
8
Pitchfork's New Reader Scores Already Look Like a Flop
A little more than a month after the feature was launched, participation remains low—and appears to be declining.
Feb 24
•
Shawn Reynaldo
36
6
The Rise of the Dance Music Infomercial
With Instagram's stranglehold on the culture showing few signs of letting up, artists, promoters and even journalists are marketing themselves via…
Feb 10
•
Shawn Reynaldo
49
6
Sixteen Great Electronic Records from 2016 That You Probably Forgot
Putting the internet's latest nostalgic impulse to good use.
Jan 20
•
Shawn Reynaldo
22
Your Favorite Artist Is Probably Starting a Newsletter
Frustrated with the algorithm and the underlying rigidity of social media, musicians are looking for new ways to communicate with the public.
Jan 13
•
Shawn Reynaldo
69
17
The Majors Have Flipped on AI—Get Ready for a New Era of “Fan Empowerment,” “Statistical Authorship” and Corporate Consolidation
With Universal and Warner Cutting Deals with Udio, Suno, KLAY and Stability AI, the musical landscape is about to be upended, though the majors remain…
Dec 2, 2025
•
Frankie Pizá
41
4
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