I’m welcome to all opinions if anyone happens to read this, but I want to give mine first here.
On some reviews of albums and music on this site, I have seen many times people discussing certain people’s actions as reasons for why they liked or didn’t like a person’s music (though I have mostly seen it used in negative reviews). Some examples I’ve seen of this are of Melanie Martinez, Doja Cat, Chris Brown, and Dream, where I’ve seen some people talk about their actions and what events they may have been involved in their reviews and associating them with their music.
Honestly, imo, I don’t think a person’s character and actions should be used in a review on music to be a reason to say why a person’s music was good or bad. I’ve noticed especially this happening to specific artists who aren’t the most enjoyed on the platform (again, you are entitled to how you feel about certain artists’ music and whatnot). I’ve read reviews of people saying things like how a specific artist did some action or event that a person didnt like and not provide any other detail to the music itself and just then gave it a low score.
I think it’s kind of unfair to give the music judgement based on notions and the actions of the artist who made the music. I am not saying to excuse their actions (ex. people like Chris Brown who abused his partners) but to keep it out of discussion for a music review. Aren’t music reviews about the quality of music, like production, vocals, lyrics, etc? I feel since this site is a music review site, personal biases on a person’s character should stay out and people should focus on the music itself. People should be asking themselves why they give the music a low score for an artist. Was it just because they didn’t like some action they did, their controversies or whatnot? Did it affect their listening with the music and make them associate the artist’s actions with meaning bad music and then not caring to give the music a full, nuanced listen to see if the quality is good?
Let me state myself clear, I do believe in sparking discussions about artists’ actions with their release of music, and I am fine with mentioning those actions alongside of your review. However, I think we should keep them completely out of the review when you are focusing on critiquing the music. Unless the music specifically talked about certain actions the artist may have done (ex. Maybe Dream), the point of your review is to add your input and view on the music itself, not how you feel about the artist who made it. Travis Scott was responsible for the Astroworld tragedy, but made a user-beloved album UTOPIA last year, with many stating how good the music was even with Scott’s actions. Bad people don’t always make bad music, and good people don’t always make good music. Shouldnt you focus more on the quality of the music in your music review, rather than the artist’s character? Isn’t that what this site is all about? Sharing and reviewing MUSIC, not CHARACTER?