Rendering 16

     

The article which is called   "Russian music journalist supports the local scene" was published  on April 15 by Daryana Antipova. The author told us about music critic and award judge Vadim Ponomaryov, known by his professional name, Guru Ken who had thrived just on practical training - no degree or university diploma to his name. It was while working at the Teatr Chikhachyova in Moscow that Ponomaryov realized he did not want to be an actor. Instead, self-education and experience in various fields - from theaters to sales to rock music - gave him all the skills he needed when he settled on a profession.
       The author underlined the fact that Ponomaryov's first online journalistic foray was guruken.ru, where he began posting his own articles about show business and music. In 2002, when he started the site, the Russian Internet was mostly devoid of coverage about Russian music. Instead, there were many sites about Western artists who were still obscure in Russia - rather than popular taste dictating coverage, it was the people running the sites, who followed artists of narrow appeal and whom Ponomaryov calls a "fifth column."
       Ponomaryov thought that he  did't call all the journalists that, but only that clan that believes that all good music was abroad, and imposes this ridiculous point of view on readers. The cultural bias of music journalists pushed Ponomaryov to try to fill this gap himself, building on guruken.ru and developing newsmusic.ru - his current project - in 2005.
       Ponomaryov divides up his materials: rock fans go to the rock section, where there is nothing about pop music. The same happens with the annual Russian TOP award, which has been running since 2006. Newsmusic.ru originally created the prize per category, with votes for the best rock and pop music, but now runs single, non-genre votes for best album, artist, singer and group. Fans of the heavy metal band Kipelov and the pop singer Nyusha still exchange insults, but Ponomaryov feels a general understanding: it's not genre that defines who is the best singer, but instead the singer's voice and artistry.
       Ponomaryov has a bleak view of the industry's prospects, partly due to a lack of new musical ideas in the world. In Russia, people are losing interest in music, and less money is coming into entertainment. Many talented musicians are leaving the profession, since working in large companies - he cited Gazprom as an example - is more profitable. The decline in the industry marks a return to the environment of the early 1980s, despite the flourishing Russian music scene of the past 25 years.
        As a result, Ponomaryov consciously keeps his contact with artists to a minimum, preferring to deal with directors and PR managers. His reputation is very high, allowing him to participate on national award juries and to write for industry-specific and news publications, such as, respectively, Muzykalnaya Zhizn and Ogonyok. He also hosts a Friday evening radio show about rock music on Komsomolskaya Pravda radio, "The Guru Ken Show."