The Editorial
By David Browne • November 11th, 2007Free Trial Issue:
Welcome to this, the first and somewhat skinny edition of Op-Ed. Op-Ed is published monthly and features writers from around the world putting forward their views on their world from within the constraints of the monthly word. Different month, different word, different views. This first issue deals with Elitism and is a greatest hits compilation of a few previously written articles surrounding music and the elitism that surrounds, well, writing about music. As Marilyn Manson once said:
Music critics get their records for free so their opinion doesn’t usually matter.
These pieces were written with another less-than-noble cause in mind: to win a competition. Nothing brings out elitism more than trying to better than one’s fellows in order to win a prize that’s probably of little significance anyway. At the risk of overdoing the quotes, I’ll leave you with this very music-centric truism from Jason Freid’s keynote speech at the music festival SXSW from 2006:
You don’t need to outdo the competition, It’s expensive and defensive. Underdo your competition. We need more simplicity and clarity.
David Browne is David once wrote for his school newspaper. He has spent the subsequent years earning money from writing, playing, singing and typing for other people. As of 2008, his net worth from such pursuits is estimated to be around $1.27. In January 2007 he left his home in the United States to travel the world in the hope that non-native English speakers would enjoy his company. He has not returned home since (although their enjoyment is currently unproven). He was born in England, resides in Amsterdam but is domiciled in Seattle.
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