Streaming was supposed to end the music blog. Instead it moved it, from discovery, which algorithms now handle badly but constantly, to context, which they do not handle at all.

Why the survivors survived

The blogs still mattering in 2020 write about scenes rather than singles. They cover labels, venues and the economics underneath, which is exactly the material a recommendation engine cannot generate.

Several have moved to newsletters, a handful to member funding, and a few remain stubbornly on their original platforms with the original layouts.

Follow the writers rather than the sites. In this corner of publishing the byline has always been the durable part.