Voting In Critic's Polls

There seems to be a tug of war that keeps growing every year between the Old School music critics and the Pitchfork generation of music critics.  It got played out more so in the 2013 Village Voice Pazz & Jop Poll then in any other year.  The number of voters is down, but that could be because the first generation of critics no longer votes.

I've been voting since the early 2000's, but tried to get ballots before then.  It wasn't until the Internet came along that I was able to send an email request for a ballot.  I often feel like my ballot is too populist.  Not enough obscure titles, even though I hear plenty of those.

I'm somewhere between the older and newer generation of music critics.  And the advent of blogging has been able to get my opinions out there, where I never had a chance with print.  I feel no shame in calling myself a child of the online world of music critics.  I've done my research into music history and continue to keep up with the past and present.

But it bothers some that every blogger is now a critic.  I don't know how long Pazz & Jop will continue.  Why shouldn't it?  People have been saying it's going away every year, and it doesn't.  I usually don't agree with most of what finishes near the top anyway.  But I'm going to continue to cast a ballot as long as its around.