Music Guide
For its music guide, Zagat hired photographer, writer, and veteran tastemaker Pat Blashill to draw up a list of 2,050 records, including classical, jazz, show tunes, sound tracks and scores, and of course pop (with a surprisingly rich selection of hip-hop and electronica), and invited reviews through its Web site. The company claims 10,656 people submitted ballots, 59 percent of whom were men; the average age of respondents was 38.2, while the typical record collection included 516 titles. In other words, they have a better gender balance than the American Association of Professional Rock Critics, and they’re probably a little older. The guide provides no ethnic breakdown, but I have my suspicions about it.
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Musicianship: 21
Or maybe I’m just a hopeless snob with a professional interest in perpetuating a cultural commissariat. Maybe you do choose what to listen to based on what everybody else thinks is worth listening to. Isn’t the problem here that anyone who would do that wouldn’t be buying a book to tell them how to do it?
But a little consensus isn’t always a bad thing. The truth is, most of the time when I go out I just want a decent meal at a familiar place. It’s the same with music: now that I’m a new parent, I’m looking longingly up at my Beatles records, unplayed lo these many years, daydreaming about spinning them for Junior. Kids love Ringo. I think we can all agree on that.
