Introduction
In this article, I will discuss the ideologies developed by Portuguese music journalists towards Portuguese acts.Footnote 1 The significance of the topic is framed by the context of globalisation and the ongoing concern among different sectors within the national music space about the place of Portuguese music in a global music industry. The period between 2001 and 2003, in which this research was carried out and the interviews were conducted, was a peculiar one since it was during this period that a global crisis in the recording industry was acknowledged and impacted on local music production. International record labels with Portuguese artists in their portfolio started to be more cautious in their strategies towards local acts, and major cuts in national repertoires were made. Music journalists were not immune to such concerns, both because they play an important role in mediating between national artists and their audiences, and mostly because they are enrolled in a professional relationship on a daily basis with the record labels. Since the majority of both local and multinational record labels develop strategies towards the promotion of national acts, this relationship is paramount in my approach to the problem. Such discussion will enlighten further debates on the role of music journalism and on the relationship between music journalists and record labels.
The place of Portuguese music in both the local and transnational markets has been debated in the media and is ever present in record label and concert promoters' policies and strategic decisions. Artists, record companies, concert promoters and journalists all play an important part in the success and failure of Portuguese music. As this is a matter that concerns many agents within the industry, it has been reflected in music press coverage since the mid-1980s. For music journalists, the problem is reflected at two levels. First, how much coverage of Portuguese music should the newspaper/supplement contain, considering the market share of the domestic repertoire? And second, how should Portuguese music be covered considering its distinctive features and the sources of information available?
For the past twenty years, the yearly sales figures of Portuguese music place its share between 12 and 25 per cent, compared to an international repertoire of 60 per cent and above (Neves Reference Neves1999).Footnote 2 Such figures confirm Portugal as mostly a consumer of foreign music and less a producer of local music (ibid.). While such a tendency has been acknowledged by the industry, it reached dramatic lows in the years prior to 2001. These had seen a general crisis in the recording industry, arguably caused by an increase in the use of digital audio files to upload and download music and, more broadly, to the arrival of the CD-R as a new tool for recording music without loss of sound quality.Footnote 3 This global crisis had an impact on the Portuguese music market with 2001 showing one of the lowest figures in domestic sales.Footnote 4 One indication of the impact of the global crisis on local music policies was the limited responsibilities attributed to the BMG office in Portugal. BMG was in 2001 a multinational record company, which in the past had been responsible for launching many Portuguese acts. By the early 1990s, it had the second biggest share of Portuguese artists in its roster, next to the leading group EMI-Valentim de Carvalho. In 2001, BMG-Portugal limited its local catalogue to three acts and reduced its activities to promotion, shifting all major decisions to its division in Madrid as its managing director and several key executives resigned. This decision reflected the local effects of a global crisis, as record labels were reluctant to expand or invest in local acts. However, in contrast with this tendency, it is noticeable that over the previous twenty years, some of the biggest-selling acts were national. Platinum sales of Portuguese acts reached around 36 per cent of the total of platinum sales (Neves Reference Neves1999). This undermines the much-touted claim in the media that Portuguese music is under-appreciated by Portuguese audiences.
The balance between the local and the global music market is managed differently by different forms of media. On radio, there was a noticeable and worrying decline in Portuguese music airplay.Footnote 5 On television, apart from a programme devoted to the album sales' charts, Portuguese acts – usually being the ones that have already achieved a certain status – have little else than a couple of appearances in talk and quiz shows. By contrast, music journalism has been seen as the ‘good Samaritan’ in the promotion of Portuguese music, something that is attributed to its greater independence from the music industry and to a consequent immunity to its trends: ‘music is secondary in the politics of most newspapers, therefore music journalists objectively enjoy more independence than the DJs’ (Label Manager, major label, Interview 7 May 2002).
The ideological positions of the music journalist, as a mediator between the industry (including artists and labels) and the audiences, is an important element in my approach to the problem. The context of a crisis in the global recording industry and its effects at the local level will be used as a case-study of the relationship between the journalists and the record labels (Chapel and Garofalo Reference Chapel and Garofalo1977; Frith Reference Frith1978/1981; Stratton Reference Stratton1982, Reference Stratton1983; Negus Reference Negus1992; Jones Reference Jones1993; Toynbee Reference Toynbee1993; Shuker Reference Shuker1994; Forde Reference Forde2001; Fenster Reference Fenster and Jones2002). Indeed, this relationship will be my starting point, through a review of the main contributions to the study of music journalism.
Music journalism and the recording industry
In the context of the music industries, music journalism is in an ambivalent position. On the one hand, music journalists are in a position of double-dependency: dependent on the labels which supply or facilitate access to the subject materials (artists, records, concerts); and dependent on the readers who produce the sales of the title in which they write. On the other hand, journalists, as cultural producers/mediators, have to articulate the tension between those two poles by managing the relation between the commercial and the artistic in popular music. Finally and apart from its relation to the record industry, the journalist belongs primarily to another industry – the press – and to a professional organisation – the title for which s/he writes.
Most studies of music journalism were done within the well-established Anglophone tradition of popular music studies. In an overarching review of that body of work, we can distinguish different ways of approaching the role of the popular music journalist/critic. However, these approaches can be encapsulated in two trends which are not necessarily exclusive: one more centred in the active role played by the journalist in the creation of taste and as an (active) participant in the course of the history of pop music (Chambers Reference Chambers1985; Savage Reference Savage1991; Toynbee Reference Toynbee1993; Regev Reference Regev1994; Shuker Reference Shuker1994; Lindberg et al. Reference Lindberg, Guomundsson, Michelsen and Weisethaunet2005); the other, more concerned with the controlling powers of the music industry over journalistic practices (Chappel and Garofalo 1977; Frith Reference Frith1978/1981; Harley and Botsman Reference Harley, Botsman and Botsman1982; Negus Reference Negus1992). What we notice in this division is the absence of any studies which address the peculiar case of the role of music journalism towards national/international repertoires. Such an absence goes in tandem with two other biases: little research on music journalism being conducted out of the Anglo-Saxon tradition (with the exception of Lindberg et al. Reference Lindberg, Guomundsson, Michelsen and Weisethaunet2005), and little on music industries other than Anglo-Saxon ones.
Music journalism has a historically acknowledged status in the legitimisation of popular music within the hierarchy of culture production (Regev Reference Regev1994; Shuker Reference Shuker1994; Lindberg et al. Reference Lindberg, Guomundsson, Michelsen and Weisethaunet2005, Klein Reference Klein2005). This was made possible through the creation of alliances with artists, aesthetic movements and trends, and subgroups within the audience (working-class youth, Afro-Americans) which played a key role in the history of popular culture in the post-war years (Lindberg et al. Reference Lindberg, Guomundsson, Michelsen and Weisethaunet2005). Certain authors have mentioned the importance of music journalism in the assertion of ideologies and aesthetic movements, as exemplified in the case of the 1960s counterculture and the late-1970s British punk revolution (Frith Reference Frith1978/1981; Chambers Reference Chambers1985; Toynbee Reference Toynbee1993). For Chambers (Reference Chambers1985), music journalism was established in parallel with the development of popular music as a political force and this double process of legitimisation (cultural and professional) was symbiotic.
The ideological function of the music press must, thus, be scrutinised. The simple dichotomy of the critic being aligned either with the industry or with the artist and the public is contested by certain authors (Stratton Reference Stratton1983; Shuker Reference Shuker1994) who, otherwise, see a complementary relation, not always explicit, between journalists, the audience/readers and the record industry:
By increasing the importance of the non-economic aspect of the music they stimulate ‘cultural’ discussion such as the relative aesthetic value of different pieces of music. This type of discussion decreases the awareness, on the part of the consumer, of the economic constraints under which record companies operate. To put it simply, the consumers become less aware of the record companies' need under capitalism to sell product, records. (Stratton Reference Stratton1983, p. 295)
For Stratton (Reference Stratton1982, Reference Stratton1983), in order to prevail, the music press must be able to solve, for the consumers, the tension between art and capitalism. That is why the music press, like radio, while working as a conduit for the record companies, simultaneously claims independence or even opposition to the latter. This is done by creating the illusion that art (valued by journalists and critics) is detached from its capitalist modes of production. Stratton further argues that ideologies embedded in music journalism serve the function of detaching the press from the music industry. The ideological discourse of popular music criticism, in all its diversity, generally empathises with both the artist and the reader in creating the perception of independence from the companies (Stratton Reference Stratton1982). Such demarcation is illusory:
The music press operates to increase thought and discussion in the discourse which is ‘popular music’ (…) the result (…) is in appearance to make people more aware of the ‘problems’ of popular music whilst in reality aiding the mystification of fundamental tensions generated by the practice of capitalism as a mode of production. (Stratton Reference Stratton1982, p. 270)
In order to survive as a profitable enterprise, the popular music press has, thus, to ground the tension between capitalism and artistry for the record-buying public. Such tension is visible in rock criticism discourses, especially in the opposition, claimed by Stratton, between ‘emotion’ and ‘the intrusion of analysis’:
I have suggested that the intensity of the emphasis on ‘emotion’ for defining quality is so great that it does not allow for the intrusion of analysis (…) I would suggest that it is possible to turn this phrase around and suggest that it is the fear of the intrusion of analysis, indeed of capitalism, which demands the emphasis on emotion. (ibid., p. 281)
The criteria used to judge whether a record is good, while being generated in opposition to the values of the music industry, also depend on it and would not be there if they did not have an essential, oppositional quality. They solve the problem, at the output end of the music industry, between music as art and music as commodity.Footnote 6 By celebrating the ‘art’ (as the non-rational, emotional) in popular music, rock critics invest the commodity with the necessary credibility to be sold as such.
Therefore, in opposition to the idea that journalism is independent from the recording industry, some writers have suggested that journalists work most of the time to the benefit of the record companies (Frith Reference Frith1978/1981; Stratton Reference Stratton1982; Reynolds Reference Reynolds1990; Negus Reference Negus1992; Toynbee Reference Toynbee1993). Both journalism and record labels share the same interest in keeping music consumers in line with the latest releases. Studies centred on the music industry do not leave much space for the autonomy of the journalist, focusing rather on the co-optation mechanisms operated by the record labels in their dealings with journalists (Chapel and Garofalo Reference Chapel and Garofalo1977; Frith Reference Frith1978/1981; Negus Reference Negus1992).Footnote 7 Negus mentions the strategies deployed by press departments in record labels to promote their acts. Such strategies include spotting the right critic to write about a certain act, establishing a personal contact and socialising:
In a similar way to promotion staff, the press officer is attempting to sensitise a journalistic community to an act (…) By the time the artist's material is ready for release the press officer will know who likes a particular act and who might write the most interesting and influential feature or review. (Negus Reference Negus1992, p. 120)
One of the problems with these studies is that most tend to approach music journalism from the point of view of the record labels and never from the point of view of music journalism as such, thus neglecting the professional ideologies that underlie that relationship and the resulting practices (Forde Reference Forde2001). Klein (Reference Klein2005) argues that due to a set of constraints, music critics often end up playing the role of the cheerleader to the industry rather than one of gatekeeping. Among those constraints, she mentions the professional relationship between the publication and record labels which may be advertisers; the space constraints which lead to fewer negative reviews; the relationship to an artist and the role of the publicist who spots the right critic to which copies of a new release should be sent. But she also suggests that critics can influence label decisions about a certain artists (Klein Reference Klein2005; cf. Frith Reference Frith1978/1981). What space for disruption is there in this relationship of mutual dependency between journalists and press promoters within record companies? According to Forde (Reference Forde2001), the relation of dependency is not necessarily a deterministic one. Instead, he suggests that more than a relationship of total control from the labels towards the press, there is a complex relationship of ‘mutual dependency, characterised by consent, compromise and resistance from both sides’ (ibid., p. 5). The outcome of this relationship is more uncertain than has been previously suggested (ibid.).
The case which I am addressing here will therefore contribute to such a debate by taking into consideration the ideologies of music journalists towards their profession and their relationship to record labels. The case study of Portuguese music coverage will enlighten our understanding of both points by focusing on the way journalists approach such coverage and the ways in which this may be affected by the mediation of record labels.
Case-study: ideologies on coverage of Portuguese music
In late 2001, when a crisis in the local recording industry became a matter of public concern, music journalists were compelled to take a stand. This highlighted differences among journalists in terms of their attitudes towards coverage of Portuguese music. At the time, ‘serious’ coverage of popular music in the press was centred in four weekly titles, one being the only title mainly devoted to popular music (Blitz), the other three being the arts and culture supplements produced by three major Portuguese daily and weekly newspapers, Público, Diário de Notícias and Expresso. Since its launch in 1984, Blitz (see Figure 1) had survived as the only specialist title, establishing itself over the years as a key reference point of Portuguese youth culture.Footnote 8 By 2001, the title was facing a serious drop in sales and its editorial followed current music trends in youth culture (post-grunge, nu-metal, hip-hop). It was a broadly generalist title covering most areas in popular music. Y was the third incarnation of the arts/culture supplement for Público (see first incarnation as Pop/Rock, Figure 2), a daily newspaper launched in 1990, generally regarded as a Portuguese equivalent of the UK's leading daily newspaper The Guardian. Y's editorial line reflected Publico's more media-savvy, well educated readership, covering certain niche markets (indie-pop, electronica, left-field dance music styles), yet always paying attention to the mainstream. DN + (see Figure 3) was the arts/entertainment supplement of the Diário de Notícias.Footnote 9 It covered popular music among other entertainment formats, namely movies and DVDs. In comparison with its rival Y, its editorial line could broadly be defined as veering towards the mainstream. Cartaz was the arts/culture supplement for the weekly newspaper Expresso and its impact for a popular music readership was based on the reputation of João Lisboa and Ricardo Saló, two of the best-known popular music critics.
Figure 1. Blitz issue from 1987 featuring Portuguese pop band Mler Ife Dada.
Figure 2. Music supplement Pop-Rock, issue from 1993, featuring Portuguese pop band Madredeus.
Figure 3. Arts/entertainment supplement DN+, issue from 2000, featuring Portuguese singer-songwriter José Afonso.
By 2001, the amount of Portuguese music coverage differed among the four titles. Blitz, which had proudly claimed to have had an important role in the launch of new artists in the 1980s, would mostly cover Portuguese acts in news' pages and in concert reviews. Occasionally, a Portuguese act would make the cover and get a two-page feature. For the most part, though, feature articles were about foreign acts. Y largely ignored national acts in its music section to focus mostly on foreign mainstream and ‘indie’ acts. In Cartaz, the decreasing space devoted to popular music reviews meant that the onboard critics would just pick whatever they thought was aesthetically worth a one-page feature review. DN + was the exception with a Portuguese act often making the front-cover (usually every two or three weeks) and with an almost even split between Portuguese and international acts.
How did these different titles address the crisis when it was acknowledged by the labels? While in DN + the editor's weekly column had been addressing the matter on a regular basis and the editorial line had always reflected a concern with the national market, the other titles reacted to the problem in different ways. Y, for instance, made no reference to the crisis. In Cartaz, where the status enjoyed by critics allows them to choose albums for review regardless of their market significance, the popular music critics João Lisboa and Jorge Lima Alves co-authored a piece which addressed the crisis, following the publication of the annual poll for best albums in 2002. Commenting on the difficulties they found in coming up with a list of the ten best national albums, they blamed a third party for the problem. Beginning with the assumption that ‘in Cartaz we have always been more interested in the music as such – whether from Portugal, Estonia or America – than in stories of ‘imperialist’ conspirations or in the labyrinths of the music industry’ (in Cartaz, 5 January 2003, p. 10), the two critics abjured their responsibility by drawing a distinction between rock journalism and criticism and the politics of the industry:
Well, is it us (and the critics in general) who have this penchant for ‘marginal’, ‘esoteric’ and ‘strange’ music tastes? Or was it ‘the industry’ (and its privileged outlets in radio and television) that have definitely resorted to bet exclusively on ‘product’ for immediate and guaranteed success? (ibid.)
In Blitz, the recently created column titled ‘new adventures in hi-fi’, published on the second page, was open for members of the music industry to write their thoughts on the crisis. The views from label managers, musicians and journalists that were published in the column ensured a pluralism of opinion.
The above examples show how these different titles approached the state of emergency in the local music industry. While a brief look at how the issue was addressed in the press tells us about journalists' views on Portuguese music, a more in-depth analysis is required. Coverage of Portuguese music has always had a peculiar status in popular music journalism. The responsibility to cover national artists has been an ever-present issue in editorial offices on the basis of the importance it has for the record industry. When Portuguese singer Rui Reininho was asked ironically to make a dismissive comment about Blitz in its 400th special issue, he doubled the irony by stating that ‘Blitz is the best Portuguese publication on foreign music’. The comment did not entirely do justice to the title due to fact that Blitz had played an important role in the promotion of new Portuguese artists in the past. But, in its irony, it showed the relevance of covering Portuguese music, as well as the weight of expectations upon the media.
Methodology
The survey conducted via semi-directed interviews comprised journalists, former journalists, professionals from record labels and concert promoters. The journalists were picked from the weekly music newspaper, Blitz, and the arts supplements Y, DN + and Cartaz. Since this research was focused on a particular cultural and professional space, it was clear that a qualitative approach was needed. Portuguese popular music journalism is a relatively small field, but its significance must be assessed in the context of the equally small scope of Portuguese music production. Since I assume that Portuguese music journalism has played an important role in the national music industry regardless of the number of agents that worked within it, I privileged the significance of the interviewees over frequency in my approach to the subject.
Emphasis on semi-directed interviews allowed me to understand music journalism from the actors' point of view (Bogdan and Taylor Reference Bogdan and Taylor1975; Quivy and Campenhoudt Reference Quivy and Campenhoudt1988/1992). These actors included former and current music journalists and sub-categories of editors, critics, staff-journalists and contributors. It also included those whose work is related to and has an effect upon the output of music journalism: press and media-officers in record and concert promotion companies, label managers, record retailers/distributors and mainstream newspaper editors. These interviews gave me an insight into journalistic ideologies and the journalists' views on music journalism and on the music industry. As professional (and broader) ideologies in music journalism were central, these interviews were an important methodological device for understanding journalists' perceptions of their own work and the wider field (the publication, the music industry) in which they operate.
Interviews were carried out in the aforementioned period, transcribed and then analysed. Following ethnographic rules for identifying sources, interviewees are not named when quoted. They are identified with reference to their present or former post and the type of music publication or organisation they work (or worked) for. Some quantitative analysis on coverage of national acts in the four titles was also used to complement the data from interviews.
Analysis
Contrary to beliefs about the amount of attention given to Portuguese music, it was found that there were different ways of perceiving the problem, which [therefore] translated into different journalistic practices towards Portuguese music. One important question to consider was whether coverage of Portuguese music could be regarded as a filter in journalistic practices:
There is the misconception that once a Portuguese album is released, it is our duty to write about it. It is not. The press is one thing, music acts are another, full stop (…) It is not our problem but the market's. (Music Editor, Arts/Culture supplement, Interview 3 August 2001)
This is another strong premise from this direction: Portuguese music first. For a simple reason: I can praise the Sigur RósFootnote 10 album as much as I can (…) but it will never have a single impact in what they do because they will never read me. But anything I write about Camané, Mafalda Arnauth, Rui Veloso, Belle Chase Hotel or The GiftFootnote 11 not only has an effect on the artist but in whoever signed them and all those who work with them. In other words, there is necessarily a feedback to our writing that is absent when it comes to foreign music. (Music Editor, Arts/Culture supplement, Interview 22 December 2001).
The quotations reveal different perceptions of the role of the journalist in relation to Portuguese music. In the first quote, we find a detachment on the part of the journalist towards a problem which, from his perspective, belongs to record labels, the market and the artists themselves. The journalist claims that his responsibility is towards music as such, regardless of its origin. A stress upon origin is regarded as an intrusion to the professional ideology of the journalist as critic, which values a commitment to the artistic relevance of the act. On the other hand, the second quotation reflects a more compromising attitude towards coverage of Portuguese music. Such a compromising attitude is justified by the feedback and the interest of the industry, thus advocating a mutual dependence between the interests of the press and the interests of the music industry as represented by different agents. In this case, the definition of an editorial line is not limited to a simple accompaniment of record releases, but involves a conscious decision to compromise. Musicians, record labels, concert promoters and a large number of professionals who work in the music industry are seen as concerned with the matter and are, consequently, affected by the work of the journalist.
These two approaches, far from being explained by editorial options, must be understood on the basis of the social and professional conditions that frame journalistic practices, reflecting those practices and ideologies that emerge from the interaction between the journalist and his/her sources. Starting with the first quotation, should we consider that the absence of the Portuguese/Non-Portuguese criteria as a filter for the definition of journalistic practices translates into a stronger independence from the industry, bearing in mind the interests of certain agents within the recording industry in ‘protecting’ Portuguese music? Certain journalists, indeed, see any duty to write about Portuguese music as an external pressure [that is] imposed upon them:
I remember when I was working for Blitz, we did receive letters and phone calls almost every week to tell us that there was a new band and, ‘You are not paying attention to them’. I mean, Blitz or Y do not have to be a charity institution for every new band around. (Music Editor, Arts/Culture supplement, Interview 9 November 2002)
Such comments assume that any ‘origin filter’ acquires an ideological weight prompting a journalist to stand in opposition to external pressures (mostly from record labels). While external pressures suggest that Portuguese music should be covered, the journalist claims he does not have to cover Portuguese music as this could appear patronising: ‘If there has ever been a preposition in this title, then it is not to treat Portuguese music differently. We think that it would lessen its value and give it a lesser status than it has’ (Former Editor, weekly music newspaper, Interview 8 November 2001). Other journalists claim that the lack of attention towards Portuguese music reflects the increasing influence of the ‘majors’ in the press. That influence is felt not only in the lack of attention given to Portuguese music, but also in a denial of what is of public interest.
What I think would be essential in defining an editorial line, regardless of the title, is an understanding of the place of Portugal in the context of the global music industry (…) to try to understand, from all those releases that come from the multinationals, what is of interest to the Portuguese audience and whether we are not simply working as a ‘transmission-belt’ for record label policies that have nothing to do with us (Journalist, Arts/Culture supplement, Interview 20 December 2001).
This tendency is reinforced by the hegemonic effect of the international sources of information. Acknowledged British, North American and French titles act as important sources for music journalists, something that reinforces the influence of foreign music industries in Portuguese music journalism. The importance of the Web as a source of information, instead of lessening this impact, increases it:
One thing that would be very interesting would be to see the difference between the coverage of Portuguese acts and foreign ones. Because in Portuguese acts you don't have the British magazines or the web sites as a source of information. That explains the poorness that you often find in the coverage of Portuguese acts because the journalists do not know what they are talking about. (Journalist, Arts/Culture supplement, Interview 20 December 2001)
The importance of sources is essential to the understanding of the journalists' agenda. The problem here is not so much the amount of coverage of Portuguese acts, but the way they are covered. Coverage of Portuguese acts, excluding the longstanding, acknowledged ones, demands more research than do foreign ones, about whom information is far more accessible. Constraints in journalistic practice are, thus, important in understanding the ideologies about Portuguese music:
It is hard to understand when this milieu is so small and most bands which deserve attention and have nothing in the internet, are at the distance of a phone call … (…) One common expression that I use to describe music journalism in Portugal is ‘desk journalism’. (Label Manager, former journalist, Interview 9 May 2002)
Something that DN + does and I think that Sons used to do very well too was to try to go and search for new things that were happening, gigs that no one else would go to. That is something that is not done here anymore, clearly. (Journalist, Arts/Culture supplement, Interview 22 December 2001)
This ‘desk journalism’ is seen as a recent tendency, associated with the rise of the web as a source of information and with the disappearance of a certain sense of community that characterised music journalism during the 1980s and early 1990s. Journalistic practices in that period would reflect the proximity between journalists themselves and between journalists and artists. In a way, it was less professional and more informal. Immediate contact with sources – especially the artists themselves – was common:
When it came to Portuguese music, our primary sources were the artists, the musicians, with whom we would socialise in cafes, in clubs, whatever… We had a close contact. We would go to every gig. There was the Rock Rendez-Vous and everybody would go there.Footnote 12 So we all knew each other and we'd treat each other informally (Former Editor, weekly music newspaper, Interview 8 November 2002).
This closeness between journalists and artists was determined by the social and professional context of that period. The information available was much more limited, not only because the Internet was not available yet but because the record industry in Portugal was still quite small. The mediation role of the record labels was also limited. It became natural for the journalist to gather information through direct contact with music acts by attending gigs, if not from knowing them through sharing the same social spaces (cafes, clubs, etc.). These contexts would, therefore, create conditions for journalism to have a more active role in coverage of local music. The importance of music journalism for local acts then was typified in the launch of Madredeus Footnote 13 who eventually achieved huge success: ‘Fifteen years ago things worked differently. We'd talk of music projects that were not yet recorded. I remember that Blitz was the first newspaper to cover Madredeus and it all began with an informal talk between Rui Monteiro and Miguel Esteves Cardoso in Frágil, which led to a small news piece and then triggered the whole phenomena … And the band had not even recorded yet’Footnote 14 (Former Editor, weekly music newspaper, Interview 7 May 2002).
This trend has waned as journalists have reverted to more sedentary journalistic practices, in which access to the artists is mediated both by the record labels and the new information technologies with the use of the Web being of paramount importance here. The evolution of music journalism may be seen, in this respect, as leading to a paradoxical effect: journalists now have more information and, simultaneously, larger and easier access (though mediated by the labels that represent the act) to foreign acts: ‘All we would do was half a dozen phone-calls … And there was not an accompaniment of the artists in terms of gigs or even interviews. And now that happens because, on one side, foreign acts come to Portugal more often and, on the other, journalists travel much more and contact the artists more directly’ (Journalist, Arts/Culture supplement, Interview 20 December 2001). At the same time, journalists have become more detached from local production, especially in terms of their role in discovering new talent and breaking new acts. Because access to artists is more and more mediated by the work of the label promoter/PR – who grant them ‘direct’ access to the artists – certain journalists, especially the ones with wider professional experience and knowledge of the ‘industry’, tend to be more critical towards contemporary journalism in which their younger colleagues allow the record labels to determine their agenda. They argue that instead of creating more flexibility in journalistic practices, these changes have lead to a uniformity of practices, making music journalism merely reactive to the record companies:
The first editor of a newspaper is the press promoter from a major because the first filter for the records that are covered and reviewed in a newspaper or a supplement is the press departments. If they decide to send this record instead of another, there is a 90% probability that the one that was not sent will never get attention in the press. (Label Manager, former journalist, Interview 9 May 2002).
The need for a more pro-active approach, finding his/her own sources of information, apart from those from the record labels, is seen by some journalists as beneficial for Portuguese music coverage, while at the same time strengthening the autonomy of music journalism.
The relationship between journalists and record labels is now part of daily working routines for both sides. This departs from 1980s ‘militant’ journalism when, still in its early stages, the music press was relatively ignored or looked upon with disdain by the labels while, on the other hand, journalists were more reluctant to compromise with the press officers of record labels. In the present context, however, record labels recognise the journalist as a professional partner who is essential if they are to meet their needs. At the same time, the journalist has become aware that in order for the title to be viable, s/he must compromise with the label. As this symbiotic relationship is acknowledged by both sides, a journalist must manage this relation with professionalism or risk allowing the labels' promotion departments to become the prime filter for editorial and journalistic choices. In fact, such choices do quite often reflect [their] dependency upon press departments, while at the same time less coverage of Portuguese music is seen by many agents within the industry as reflecting the labels' own policies and their reluctance to signing new Portuguese acts.
As journalists use the Web as a source of information, this new tool also works as a filter of a journalists' work while, simultaneously, detaching them from contact with artists without a record contract or media publicity. Easy access to information through the Web creates a new sort of selectivity determined, on the one hand, by its daily use which contributes to so-called ‘desk journalism’ and, on the other, by the amount of information about a certain artist or scene which can usually increases their popularity and coverage in the traditional media.
Finally, journalists mention the hype effect, which translates into an excessive attention given, usually in a celebratory tone, to a certain artist or music phenomenon: ‘That is the labels trying to sell their local product. Then, if you see properly, because of those open channels between the promotion departments and the newspapers, the New Musical Express sells their pals’ music and Wire does the same, too' (Journalist, Arts/Culture supplement, Interview 20 December 2001). Hype is, therefore seen by many journalists as being caused by the press when it complies with a record label's agenda. Certain foreign titles have been long-standing references for music writers and journalists. Such influence also helps in alienating the journalist from local production: ‘There is a powerful lobby from the independent labels, especially in the foreign press, being American, British or French, which is then emulated in Portugal because of our provincialism’ (Journalist, Arts/Culture supplement, Interview 20 December 2001). This hype effect also triggers the need in certain journalists to be the first to cover music or an artist who is big abroad but to which Portuguese audiences are still oblivious. In this way pioneering in hype coverage introduces the possible recognition from both readers and agents.
The habit of anticipating coverage of local acts, the interest in watching new acts perform live, direct contact with new artists, and journalistic interest research are opposed to the rather conservative – and easy – habits of contemporary journalism, deemed as news-debiting, ‘formal’ and formatted:
Music journalism is not just about record reviews and interviews and gig chronicles, which are the only three things you read in the press, nowadays. Reflecting about music, doing some research about it … these things have disappeared completely. (Label Manager, former journalist, Interview 9 May 2002)
These mechanisms not only act at the level of a journalists' professional routine but also at an ideological level, creating preconceptions and stereotyped images about Portuguese music. One obvious example, mentioned by a press-officer from a label particularly involved in the Portuguese music ‘cause’, is the choice of front cover:
If they have to choose between a national and an international artist, even if the newspaper considers both important in equal terms, most times they go for the foreign artist! This is most visible when choosing the cover. (Press Promoter, major label, Interview 21 December 2001)
With the claim, not always backed by market surveys, that ‘Portuguese front covers’ always sell less than foreign ones, the journalist (in this case, the Editor) helps reinforce a double assumption: first, that the public is not so interested in Portuguese music (because front covers are chosen to meet selling demands); and, second, that Portuguese music is less relevant than Anglo-Saxon music (because covers are also perceived as reflecting what an editor considers relevant).
At this point, I suggest that rather than being in opposition to market forces, music journalism can also assist in prejudicing against Portuguese music. An illusion of autonomy in journalistic choices helps a journalist manage any problem that may arise, by remitting it to external factors, whether to the market (‘It is a market problem, not ours’) or to the artist. The idea of the press as not ‘providing charity for local music’ fits into this context. However, this trend is not common to all journalists. The absence of coverage of Portuguese music also creates conditions for certain journalists (as other professionals from the record industry) to react against such a state of affairs. Those conditions have to be understood in relation to music journalism as a cultural space in which agents (the journalists) and larger groups (the newspapers) compete among themselves, making use of their available resources (knowledge of a subject, networks of sources, credit and recognition inside the milieu).
Covering Portuguese music is paramount. And what others see as boring, that is to disseminate what is done this side of the border, here is a priority, because it has to, because if there is no coverage of what is being done here, there will be no Portuguese record industry in the future and then we will have a Polygram office to sell their records. (Music Editor, Arts/Culture supplement, Interview 22 December 2001)
In this sense, the frequently mentioned opposition between the journalist and the record industry becomes obsolete and needs reconsideration. Not only is the industry not an abstract, monolithic block, as is often suggested, but a journalist can and does freely choose whether to be involved in a cause that he shares with other agents within the local music industry.Footnote 15 Such an option does not necessarily mean a submission on behalf of a journalist to the interests of a label. Instead of a simple association between both sides, we can talk of a convergence of interests that leads to the creation of synergies between the media and certain agents within the industry:
Currently there are journalists who are very interested in the problem of low airplay of Portuguese music. And in this sort of struggle, we find allies more easily among the journalists who, compared to their radio colleagues, benefit from much more independence and, thus, may freely join a crusade that seems right to them. (Label Manager, multinational label, Interview 7 May 2002)
Such a politics has its own risks. First, the risk of changing from a situation where Portuguese music is underrated, to one in which its importance is overstated when compared to its relevance in the market: ‘I cannot conceive how at the end of the year a Portuguese title chooses the ten best foreign releases and the five best Portuguese ones. Here we do the opposite: we pick the ten best foreign albums and the twenty best Portuguese’ (Music Editor, Arts/Culture supplement, Interview 22 December 2001). The risk in this case is that any ‘stigma’ is reproduced by excessive and disproportionate attention being paid to Portuguese music. This suggests that Portuguese music has more coverage because it needs the support from the media to reach the public rather than because of any inherent qualities. In face of this, a journalist is at risk of rendering true the idea of journalism as potentially doing charity for Portuguese music: ‘There is always that patronising side in saying that we must give more attention to Portuguese acts, those “poor little ones who need help”’ (Journalist, Arts/ Culture supplement, Interview 20 December 2001).
Secondly, a ‘missionary’ attitude towards Portuguese music, in a small-scale local industry where the biggest selling local phenomena happen every four years or so, favours the creation of synergies around certain projects: ‘DN + did that with The Gift Footnote 16 … It seemed that there was nothing else on the face of the earth but The Gift. This is obviously a case of lobbying, isn't it?’ (Former Editor, weekly music newspaper, Interview 8 November 2001); ‘Truth be told, when the record came out, it was the newspaper that gave strongest coverage. And why? Because there is a strong empathy between the journalist-critic and the artist. In that week maybe someone was losing out because there were other releases that were not featured nor reviewed’ (Concert Promoter, Interview 21 December 2001). The autonomy of a journalist, attached to his/her recognition and credibility inside their milieu, allows them to forge alliances with other agents, notably certain labels, the artists themselves or even other journalists. These practices, though they are in the interest of certain agents within the industry (particularly labels with a significant share of Portuguese music in their catalogue and concert promoters), as well as the artists themselves, have to be treated cautiously by a journalist, at the risk of misunderstanding. Concentrating on a single artist, who is seen as having potential to succeed, may alienate readers who do not identify with those choices, while at the same time such a position may be met with reservations from colleagues who align themselves differently towards coverage of Portuguese music.
The intervention of other criteria – primarily that of ‘being Portuguese’ but also an artists' professionalism and their working capacity – seldom taken into consideration and rarely part of the system of values that guide music criticism – may become a crucial element in any response to the perceived stigma. A journalist assumes an interest that, though not neglecting the artistic consideration that is because the music is good, is grounded in the broader ideology of promoting Portuguese music when few other media may be willing to do the same:
The same way we saw the NME ‘making’ Suede, the press here, like the radio, has an important role in picking new artists and showing them, that is if they are worth it. We are not doing anyone a favour (…) I would never do the same with another artist if s/he did not have qualities worth being shown to the public, if the music was not very good or if they did not show a staggering working capacity. (Editor, Arts/Culture supplement, Interview 22 December 2001)
Such intervention cannot be made unless a journalist creates conditions to legitimise their own options. A journalist's credibility, the acknowledgement of his devotion to the cause (of Portuguese music) and the empathy of other agents within the industry, are elements that assist in legitimating the journalist's practices.
Journalists are often like antennae that pick up what's happening in the milieu, aren't they? And many times the anticipated interest that certain journalists have… I mean certain journalists because it's obvious that we cannot make general claims … Obviously there are people whose opinions are more important to us than others, right? So their opinion is very important, no doubt about it. (Manager, Multinational Label, Interview 7 May 2002)
Here, we find a type of ‘proactive’ music journalism in the sense that a journalist may deliberately assume a compromising attitude towards their coverage of Portuguese music. The predominance of coverage of foreign repertoire tends to be the norm with attention to Portuguese music waning due to important changes in newspaper production coupled with technological change. At the same time, this proactive journalism makes use of a journalist's own resources (social capital/social networks/links, acknowledged status) to go against the perceived grain. It is an approach to music journalism where an ideological principle (protection of a national market) overcomes the taste and aesthetic interests of the journalist.
Conclusion
Throughout its relatively recent existence, popular music journalism in Portugal has been an important reference point for the music industry in the promotion of national acts. Since the mid-1980s, with the emergence of Blitz and [up until the present day] the impact of music supplements from daily newspapers, journalists have played an important role in the ‘making’ of new talent as well as the coverage of well-established artists. However, having evolved alongside the development of the recording industry and having responded to new contexts that have emerged over the years, such importance cannot be taken for granted.
What I have defined as ‘militant’ journalism coincided with the rise of Blitz in the 1980s. It made sense within the framework of an incipient national music industry, reflecting a sense of solidarity and empathy between journalists and artists. This era in music journalism was progressively replaced by a different kind of professional journalism characterised by specialisation and fragmentation (both in relation to the titles, editorial lines, journalistic competences and targets).Footnote 17 Contemporary journalism is more aware of the importance of managing a relationship with the industry, especially in terms of what concerns the mediating role of record labels. To this we add the emergence of new information sources which have become essential tools for journalists, having crucial consequences for professional routines.
These transformations are crucial to any understanding of the journalist's position vis à vis the place of Portuguese music in national and global music markets. Rather than explaining these different positions on the basis of the different editorial practices, it is necessary to go further and find an explanation within the social and professional conditions in which music journalism is practised and in the way in which those conditions work on and, simultaneously, germinate different ideologies about Portuguese music.
Two different ideologies were found. The first one attributes any problem to the market (that is labels, promoters) and to production spheres (that is artists, musicians, producers, engineers, etc.), arguably securing a journalists' independence and underscoring their duty to act as a critic/consumer guide for the reader. The second assumes that journalism plays an active part in the evolution (and solving) of any such problem. Here the journalist sees the interests of Portuguese acts as a priority that justifies their claim of responsibility towards the music industry. This is a more holistic viewpoint, one in which all agents within the industry, including journalists, are seen as both a cause and solution to any problem with the local music industry.
The first ideology, with its illusion of independence and exemption from the problems of the industry, conceals the fact that professional music journalism is nowadays part of the music industry, in the sense that its practice both requires and is determined by contact with agents within the industry, particularly the press departments and publicists in record labels. Such contact translates, for instance, in sending new releases to the ‘right’ journalist (e.g. specialised in the artist's music genre and perceived as having an aesthetic taste that might dispose them towards the artist), in the yielding of exclusive news and interviews and the covering of travel expenses to concerts abroad. The use of the Web, on the other hand, through the official and non-official sites of acts and events covered by a journalist, contributes to the emergence of a certain professional ideology that can be defined (drawing on the words of one of the interviewees) as ‘desk journalism’. I refer to it as an ideology because such a professional routine has consequences for the choice of content[s], diverting a journalist from once valued practices such as direct contact with an artist[s] still without a contract and, thus, diminishing the role of a journalist in the making of new acts. In practical terms, these new contexts have contributed to a decline in the interest of music journalists in Portuguese music. This decline reproduces and reinforces the stigmatised image which overshadows the whole local music industry, from record labels which are cautious about signing Portuguese acts, to the media (especially, radio and television) which pay little interest to Portuguese music.
(Journalists) prefer not to make judgements nor even talk to Portuguese artists, except for the acknowledged ones … Over recent years this became a bit reductive and there is a big problem for the industry and for its media outlets because after a certain period, especially because of the radio but also because of television, only those who had a star status received airplay or are broadcast. So, it is necessary to have achieved some popularity or a longstanding career in order to break into the media, while fifteen years ago this was not necessary … I mean, you would write about projects that were not even recorded. (Former Editor, weekly music newspaper, Interview 18 December 2001)
A second ideology responds proactively to the stigma by treating music journalism as a profession within the music industry, thereby bearing a responsibility for coverage of Portuguese music. In this context a journalist participates actively in certain synergetic movements that involve other agents and groups within the industry and which revolve around a certain cause, ideology or even a promotional goal. The defence of Portuguese music emerges as a cause which mobilises a journalist and which justifies their participation in synergies that value certain music projects. Such a position has a double impact that a journalist must be able to manage. On the one hand, a journalist must be able to participate effectively in the reversion of the perceived stigma, helping to make new acts successful, while, at the same time, assembling the credentials and acknowledgement from the industry for his/her dedication to a ‘good cause’. On the other hand, by doing so, they are at risk of subverting certain established values in music criticism concerning a journalist's duty to be independent in what they choose to write about rather than be perceived as being only subject to the interests of the record labels.
The formation of ideologies in Portuguese music coverage allows us to conclude that, in the understanding of such problems, it is necessary to go beyond any traditional opposition between a journalist and the music industry (as represented by record labels). The influence of the industry on journalistic practices and ideologies seems indisputable. However, the industry cannot be taken as a monolithic bloc that acts according to the hegemonic logic of the global market, nor can a journalist be regarded as being fixed in either an autonomous or submissive position towards the interests of the industry. In the same way as within the industry, there are different policies and ideologies towards Portuguese music, so journalists assume different positions towards the perceived problem, positions that cannot be dissociated from their relationship with the industry as represented by record labels and concert promoters.
The matter must then be seen more accurately in the way journalists mobilise their individual assets (forms of social, cultural and symbolic capital) while managing their ideological relationship with other agents within the industry through them (Bourdieu Reference Bourdieu1993). The ideological independence of a journalist (and of music journalism in general) is thus achieved in their capacity to understand the music industry's modus operandi and to act, simultaneously, above and within the industry, contributing to its change while, at the same time, establishing a space (and a status) recognised by other agents.
The Portuguese case provides evidence of the importance of nationality as an issue that a journalist has to manage and which prompts different ideologies about the role of music journalism towards Portuguese music and Portuguese culture. It is well understood that in a small-scale music industry where national acts are secondary to multinational record companies' strategies, journalists and the Portuguese media in general are an important referent for the national industry in the promotion of Portuguese music. The management of such issues allows us to understand how far journalists remain ideologically independent of the industry (even when s/he consciously aligns with coverage of Portuguese music as a collective concern) and the professional ideologies developed within music journalism which both reflect and affect the balance between a small national music industry and the overwhelming power of the global music industry.
Finally, what this case illustrates is the importance of an awareness of music journalists in relation to their own place within the broader space of music production in a global context. In semi-peripheral countries such as Portugal, where the local music industry is overwhelmed by the power of the global industry as represented by multinational record companies, music journalism (as presumably with any other mediated cultural space) is in need of a more autonomous status which does not exclude an engagement with agents within the music industry per se. A more self-conscious cultural and professional space is perhaps what is needed for music journalists to fully grasp and assess their role in relation to Portuguese music.
