Ingebjørg Sofie Larsen: Music Criticism as Mediation

Field of study: Performance Practice

This study proposes a conceptual shift in understanding music critics from ‘intermediaries’ to ‘mediators’, contributing theoretically and empirically to debates about critics’ evolving role and potential in today’s media landscapes. It builds the argument that music critics’ practice of mediation can be understood as a process involving four modes: encountering, connecting, co-performing, and transforming. These modes describe how critics’ practices evolve from the micro-level of their musical encounters into the macro-level of public discourse.

This perspective on critics’ practices contrasts the dominant understanding of critics in previous research, which foregrounds critics’ function as market intermediaries, guiding music listeners on what to buy or listen to, as well as cultural intermediaries that frame goods as legitimate and worthy (and have the authority to do so). Disruptive changes in both the media and music industries – including media fragmentation and algorithm-driven recommendations – create new imperatives to examine under-explored dimensions of music criticism, particularly aesthetic and normative practices.

The full title is From ‘intermediary’ to ‘mediator'. Rethinking music criticism within and through Norwegian legacy media.

The dissertation will be presented as three articles and a precis ("kappe").