On An Overgrown Path is perhaps the best example of how classical music blogging is moving ahead of traditional journalistic outlets. Bob Shingleton has become one of the leading voices in the world of classical music journalism, and he is a prime example of how the blogging medium is actually more useful than newspapers, magazines, or television when it comes to creating and providing intelligent music journalism. The ability to embed photos and video within print and to be able to link to other resources on the internet makes blogging an excellent fusion of print, television, and online innovations.

Bob frequently refers to ‘paths’ on his blog, which is a great descriptive term for one of the most powerful results of posting on a blog with a vast archive. Each post on Bob’s blog offers a path (link) to an older post about a similar subject, which then in turn allows the reader to continue down the path (through yet another link) as deeply into the blog thicket as they desire. This cross-referencing is something that really can’t be replicated in print or on television, and
it is one of the prime examples why blogging is so powerful.

Check out this recent video with Bob Shingleton, made by Nick Reynolds from the BBC for the Radio Academy Conference in Cambridge last week, and hear in his own words his thoughts on blogging, podcasting, and the power of this communication tool:

I especially like how Bob describes the flat hierarchy (a subject that I have written extensively about) that an online setting imposes upon media outlets, theoretically giving the lone blogger just as much power to reach people as the BBC, New York Times, or CNN. Online distribution radically changes the nature of the game, and I find these remarks from Bob Shingleton very perceptive.

I also find his remarks about webcasting very interesting, particularly how he is turning more and more to online resources for his musical needs. I wonder how he feels about podcasting, which most people see as webcasting on steroids. Podcasting combines the power of online distribution (flat hierarchy) with the power of on-demand content (like a TiVo), giving the listener better fidelity and the ability to listen to any program at any time.

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