Are Critics Too Soft?

The New Yorker asks if we need more slash-and-burn writing

It’s a lousy week to be a music critic.

On Monday, The New Yorker announces that critics have lost their edge—getting soft and flabby. But on Tuesday, The Guardian warns that critics (even flabby ones) are disappearing.

Are critics soft and flabby?

It gets worse—because I learn on Wednesday that AI will cause the extinction of all critics (and everybody else)—at least according to some pundits quoted in the Wall Street Journal.

In my line of work, we face a new crisis every day of the week.

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But I have to laugh at all this hand-wringing. That’s because the biggest news story in the entire world at that same moment came from the music scene.

Maybe a few hundred thousand people read that article in The New Yorker. But a billion people took notice of a pop singer’s engagement. Many wondered what kind of songs might result from this conjugal union—because Ms. Swift’s music is famously driven by her love life.

So it’s a great week to be a music critic.

Are you confused? So am I.

Am I irrelevant and headed for the dustbin of history, along with all the other Mister Softee critics? Or is music still an essential part of human life—and requiring some human commentary from discerning commentators?

Where is criticism heading? Will it still be around in five or ten years? And, if so, will I be writing it? Or will I get replaced by a super-intelligent bot?

Those are tricky issues. But here’s what I see coming. Let me share ten observations.