Who Is Stephen Thomas Erlewine and Why?

Its like the radio, the public should never be involved.

Hate to think Naim have actually paid for this service. But I have a horrible feeling they have.

In which case they actually think current Naim users and music-lovers are very dumb - or they think the new generation of buyers will be.

Actually. the more I think about it and see the reviews posted it is so, so wrong.

What happens in 10 years? Will the reviews be rewritten to reflect how a certain album is viewed then? Or will the reviewer be dead or retired so it's not possible? Or recruit a new reviewer to give his/her views?

Perhaps I'm getting to hung up on this. But I do think it is so really short-term.

I'd love Paul Stephenson to give us all a rationale for this move.

And to just to add.....

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band at the Apollo Theatre is, apparently: "An astonishing record of James and the Flames tearing the roof off the sucker at the mecca of R&B theatres, New York's Apollo. When King Records owner Syd Nathan refused to fund the recording, thinking it commercial folly, Brown single-mindedly proceeded anyway, paying for it out of his own pocket....."

It goes on and on. And I'm sure it is all true. But it bears no relation to the download I'm listening to.

Bit like buying a record with the right sleeve and wrong record. Or vice-versa. Or whatever.

Hope Naim didn't pay too much for this.

Unless the people who sold it to them have fled. In which case, all credit to you!

He writes for allmusic.com...took me a while to remember where I'd seen his name.

Interesting, sharply-observed post Jon.

I have only read a review on the info button once, a Smiths the best of, and thought STE got it spot on in terms of the album and the history of the band.

Will give his reviews a further glegg whilst listening today and report back.

Ray

It's probably got a "Like " button and FB access too.

Well perhaps my reaction is over the top, but music reviews are simply something I might look at once, but never again .... what info do I value about a song .... title and artist and album title ... yes: I like to know who wrote it, who played on it and who produced/engineered it ... the lyrics would be nice. You know the things I got from the old fashioned record sleeve. The history of band can be interesting, but not essential and is perhaps the domain of Record Collector. 

Reviews may be useful if I've never heard the music, but if I have already bought it than strangely I still feel capable of making up my own mind whether I like it or not. Is this not the case for everybody else? I find views of folk hereon more useful (Gary Shaw has provided lots of useful recommendations). 

What does a Like button do? I've seen it on the forum.

So is somebody interested whether I like their post or not? 

Perhaps Naim is addressing the needs of market place that I'm no longer in. I just want the essentials: products that are easy to use and just work in tandem with Naim build, SQ and support. Perhaps I'm the one who is past my sell by date. 

Just a picture of the album cover and the title of the track currently playing was previously one of the weak points of streaming.

Naim has now addressed this with the info button which makes a lot of material available, maybe too much in some instances. Overall though, it gets a thumbs up from me.

Ray

Ray,

I can see the benefits.

But I really have to take issue with comments such as "Happy Mondays.....were thugs, purely and simply. Under the leadership of Shaun Ryder the group sounded and acted like thugs....

"They didn't sample, but they borrowed melodies and lyrics and in the process committed rock blasphemy." 

It's a fine line between information and pure opinion. This is pure opinion tied into a Naim application. That's where I think this has been a mistake.

And, moreover, I'd think one or two members of Happy Mondays could actually find it actionable no matter what you think of their music. In which case Naim - as the publisher in this case - could find themselves liable.

And the defence of fair comment would not even apply as it's not the music being commented on but the character of the members of the band.

Hi Jon

I too find myself disagreeing with STE sometimes. I often find that its just one or two sentences in his reviews that jar with my world-view. The other reviewers i have encountered so far seem more neutral and have had me nodding in agreement. I have also discovered lots of things about artists which I either have forgotten or never knew so the info button remains a positive experience for me.

Regarding the legal side of things, I couldn't give a shiny shite.

Ray

hello all,

i felt a response is in order to this post.

Naim intergrated the extended metadata feature on the n-Stream app and we provide the data that is already available to the public via the Rovi website (allmusic.com). The data displayed is based on the album/artist details we pass to them. Any data shown on the n-stream app is provided "as is" from Rovi directly without any Naim editorial control to the content.

As to the content of the album reviews themselves these are the opinions of the reviewer in question (as provided by Rovi) and do not reflect the opinion of Naim in any way.

cheers

Trev

Appreciate your comments Paul!!