Corner.co.nz, The (2009 – 2014)
Born in a time of tumult for local music journalism, into a field crowded by old-guard traditionalists and ad-revenue-focused press release regurgitators, The Corner sought to make a difference. With considerable support from spiritual older siblings Real Groove and Volume, both now sadly deceased, The Corner prioritised quality music, quality writing and a loose unwritten philosophy of gentle agitation over appeasement, holding no cows sacred and avoiding assumed local critical convention wherever possible.
Named for those mythical inner-city places of conversation, The Corner sought to foster community. Completely open to contributions and submissions, it aimed to provide a place where near anyone could write about music or could have their music written about. Occasionally, with assistance from the site’s liberal editorial and comment moderation policies, this went wrong – perusal of the vitriolic swamps that make up many of the ‘Great Sounds Great, Bad Sounds Bad’ discussion threads is testament to this – but more often it gave The Corner a uniquely broad output, one with little regard for the walls usually created by isolation, trend and genre.
The Corner was a music website that, like all music websites, thrived largely via the work of others. To every musician whose work featured on the site in any form, and especially those whose singles were heartlessly eviscerated, to every writer and to every reader, we’re eternally grateful. As of next week, and for the forseeable future, we’ll say goodbye, with the sincere hope that you enjoy your return to a world in which Cheese on Toast is New Zealand’s preeminent music website.
And so, in the spirit of things that seemed important when they happened, we sign off like this:
The Corner is dead. Start your own fucking website.
