(Note: When I post reader email, it doesn't neccesarily mean I agree with it... just that I think it raises a point worthy of consideration.)
Here are some excerpts…
"HaRebbe M'Lubavitch Hu Moshiach - V'Hu Yigaleinu... That struck me. I didn't know Avi P. was a dyed-in-the-wool meshichist. I may have to stop listening to his music. Then again, I listen to gospel choirs, so it's the same thing, right?"
"I happen to agree that the Moshav Band CD is awesome. My question is: When did the JPost wake up? If I'm not mistaken, the CD has been out since at least Chanukah of 5763, over a year ago. Are they going to review the Beatle's White Album next?"
"They don't particularly care, do they, because the *audience* doesn't know how silly the articles look, either. In corresponding with people on the Yahoo! Jewish Music group, I found that they either don't know the difference between they're, there, and their, so they have no clue that the phrase 'heart-rendering melodies' is funny, or they willfully ignore the over-hype and silliness--they pretend the articles are real and the albums are all uniformly amazing--and buy the music anyway.People who know good writing aren't going to give any JM fluff piece the time of day, except maybe to make fun of it. It's a lose-lose situation, because if they raise the quality of the writing, nobody will notice."
"Just like the secular business, we now have musical ignorami running record labels pushing out the worst kind of over produced, under-talented schlock. The JM in the AM - Sameach Music- Shea Mendlowitz- Adam Melzer cycle just digs a deeper groove of mediocrity, as what was once a simple little corner of the music business that attempted to provide an outlet for a small ethnic market has become just another way for some untalented, unmusical, uneducated hacks to make money."
"My best story is when a guy did kedushah to "cats" memories."
"This does not mean the JM business model is proper, correct, ethical or al pi Torah (all synonyms, I couldn't agree with you more). Perhaps I feel that you hold your colleagues to a higher standard, perhaps because you feel you are struggling to make that higher standard the norm. I can understand the frustration of being a lone voice of reason; my sister left a job where several supposedly frum people were not acting al pi halacha. Clearly the right thing to do is act in an ethical manner. The question is what can be done to change the system, and that was essentially my second point. If you can blog about what's good, what's quality, or even critique in an unoffensive manner (it's possible!) about what's not, maybe I could actually start visiting the Jewish music aisle again based on your recommendations."
"Chas veshalom to justify the behavior. What I'm trying to say is that for me, not being a business owner, not knowing the hardships of trying to lure corporate advertisers, it is wrong to judge since you know al tadun es chavercha etc."And this is just some of it...
