The DePaulia
Emma Oxnevad, Online Managing Editor|April 4, 2021
Jim DeRogatis knows what it’s like to face an artist’s wrath. The veteran music critic, who covered pop music at the Chicago Sun-Times for 15 years, was once on the receiving end of an enraged voicemail from singer-songwriter Ryan Adams following a particularly negative review of a 2003 concert.
The voicemail, which made headlines once it was made public, is perhaps one of the most well-known examples of music critics facing hostility for performing the basic tenets of their profession: providing criticism and analysis of an artist and their work. The rise of social media as a dominant cultural conversation-starter, however, has given critics both more visibility and greater access from angry fans and artists alike.