Music journalism has lost its edge – or has it?

With such a high volume of music to sift through, we sorely need independent music publications such as DIY, Crack, Loud and Quiet, Dork, and The Quietus to continue taking punts on the most exciting new names, covering artists like Bob Vylan, Kneecap and Lambrini Girls long before they began making headlines for other reasons in the mainstream arena, and larger publications devoting page-space to newer names who could well be headlining festivals in years to come. The number of listeners tuning into niche podcasts or radio shows devoted to alternative, emerging music, and the punters heading along to discovery-centric festivals like Wide Awake or RALLY in London also tell a different story.