Bill Pirkle wrote:

>Could someone enlighten me as to what public service music critics
>perform.

Music critics provide public service in a few areas.  One is the simple
ability to describe, subjectively of course, a performance as they see it.
This could help members of the public when they decide whether to see the
performer when he comes to his/her own city.  For example, if a performer
is on a tour and has reached Melbourne, then I might read the Melbourne
papers and decide whether I should attend this particular artists' concert
in Sydney.  Reviews are especially useful for keeping track of a particular
performer who may not travel to a particular place very often.  This is
especially the case here in Australia because it is "so far off the beaten
track", it's not in the Atlantic gateway, so to speak, that artists have
to travel a huge distance to get here.  It is possible with the Internet
to read critics' opinions from papers around the world, and keep up with
certain performers' schedules and standards.  It is also good for hearing
about young talents who are up and coming.

>How is life better with them here? What kind of music world would it be if
>there were no music critics?

I think that it would be rather insulated, we are all critics at heart,
I think, hence Bill's later comment about whether or not we should take
critics seriously.  If there were no music critics, the only witnesses of
a concert would be the limited audience of a concert hall, rather than the
many more one could get from the newspaper.  It would be harder to find out
information about each concert, because one would have to know somebody who
was in that concert hall to be able to find out about the performance.

>Are music critics certified or accredited?

I would assume that they would be qualified as journalists with a wide and
detailed appreciation of classical music, or musically trained to be
accepted by the major newspapers.

>Should they be taken seriously or is it just another amusement item in
>the paper like the cartoons and the horoscope.  Is there any politics
>involved?

Yes, I think they should be taken seriously because, although their view
is always subjetive, it's an opinion, like a historical debate, one has to
listen to the opposing sides' arguments to be able to criticize thoroughly
and meaningfully.  Politics, as in all subjective fields, pervades music
(just ask any competitor about piano competitions).  It's an unfortunate
fact of life, I'm afraid.

Regards,

Clement
Sydney, Australia