From institutionally embedded ‘serious’ to individualized ‘popular’: a report on values and attitudes in Estonian music criticism

ABSTRACT

This article examines the values and attitudes of Estonian music criticism in print publications. The findings suggest that state-subsidized publications are characterized by Romantic ideology, professionalism, and tradition, and cover almost exclusively classical music, whereas commercial publications review mostly popular music and adopt a more individualized, less normative attitude to music. While transnational studies have referred to the growing legitimation of the ‘popular’ in elite publications, the high–low discrimination evident in Estonian state-subsidized music journalism upholds the dominant cultural value hierarchy. This could be embedded in the institutional framework of Estonian music culture and its Soviet heritage.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural journalism
• legitimation
• cultural hierarchies
• classical music
• popular music
• cultural policy
• Estonia
• music criticism

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Indrek Ibrus for assistance in writing this article, the peer reviewers for high-quality feedback, and colleagues at the University of Tartu for including him in the research group “Content and audience of the Estonian cultural media” (LSHUH14157).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Müürileht secured public funding in 2018. At the time of the study in 2015 it was not fully state-subsidized.

2. All materials can be accessed here: http://www.kul.ee/et/kultuuriajakirjanduse-uuringu-vahearuande-tutvustus.

3. MI ceased production in late spring 2018.

4. Estonian Music Council homepage: http://www.emc.ee/organisation/?lang=en#1472730136161-2b349187-9622.

5. The right to represents composers and songwriters in collecting and distributing the royalties for public performance and reproduction of all kinds of music has been granted to the  Estonian Authors' Society: https://www.eau.org/

6. See: https://www.kul.ee/sites/kulminn/files/culture2020_eng.pdf.

7. See: https://www.kul.ee/sites/kulminn/files/culture2020_eng.pdf.

8. For a comparative analysis of state funds given to various fields of culture in Estonia, see Karulin (2016).

9. See Latvia’s profile: https://www.culturalpolicies.net/down/latvia_082016.pdf; and Lithuania’s profile: https://www.culturalpolicies.net/down/lithuania_102014.pdf.

10. All excerpts translated by Juta Ristsoo.

Additional information

Funding

The research was conducted as part of the study on the content of and audience for Estonian arts and culture media from 2014 to 2016 by the Institute of Social Studies at the University of Tartu. The study was financed by the Estonian Ministry of Culture.

Notes on contributors

Madis Järvekülg

Madis Järvekülg is a junior research fellow at the Center of Excellence in Media Innovation and Digital Culture (MEDIT) and a doctoral student at the Baltic, Film, Media, Arts and Communication School (BFM) in Tallinn University. His research examines the critical discourse on music in the digital media networks and its relation to the system of music production in Estonia. Madis holds an MA degree in journalism from the University of Tartu.