Jon Pareles

Jon Pareles is the chief pop music critic at The New York Times.

What I Cover

I explore popular music in all its manifestations, from Top 10 contenders to esoteric experiments, from the local to the international. Music connects to cultures, emotions, technologies, histories, ideas, instincts, the physical, the commercial and the inspirational, and it’s constantly changing and surprising me. I try to understand it, learn from it, seek out what’s worth paying attention to and explain it to readers — and to myself.

My Background

I was always drawn to music. I started playing piano at 6, flute at 8, church organ at 10, early synthesizers at 18; I went to the 1969 Woodstock festival before I could drive. I majored in music at Yale, where I also played the carillon: bronze bells weighing tons. I’ve performed in classical, rock, folk and jazz groups; I was a college-radio disc jockey and music director. But my listening led to writing: for high-school and college newspapers, for Crawdaddy, Rolling Stone and the Village Voice and, since the early 1980s, for The Times. I oversaw the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. I’m still perpetually fascinated by sound.

Journalistic Ethics

Criticism draws on facts, and I strive for accuracy in every fact, date, instrument, musical element and quotation. But criticism is also inherently subjective — a personal reaction to an artist’s work. My opinions and reactions are mine only; I’m glad readers have been trusting me (and arguing with me) for some time. I receive advance copies of albums — once discs, now downloads — and sometimes complimentary physical copies; I also generally receive complimentary concert tickets and club admissions. But it is always understood that those are provided merely in hopes of coverage amid the deluge of music available. What I write about, and what I write, are strictly my own honest decisions.

Music can be sent as downloads (not streams) to pareles@nytimes.com. Sorry, but I’d rather listen to music than click around social media.

• Email: pareles@nytimes.com

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