Eric Weisbard is an American music critic known for founding the Pop Conference, which for many years was hosted annually by the

Museum of Pop Culture The Museum of Pop Culture (or MoPOP) is a nonprofit museum in Seattle, Washington, United States, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then ...

(formerly known as the

EMP Museum The Museum of Pop Culture (or MoPOP) is a nonprofit museum in Seattle, Washington, United States, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then ...

), and which continues with other sponsors. He also organized the conference for many years.

Career

Weisbard serves as professor of

American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, History of the United States, history, Society of the United States, society, and Culture of the Unit ...

at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

. He is also the author of both a

33⅓ ' (''Thirty-Three and a Third'') is a series of books, each about a single music album. The series title refers to the rotation speed of a vinyl LP, RPM. History Originally published by Continuum, the series was founded by editor David Ba ...

book entry about ''

Use Your Illusion ''Use Your Illusion'' is the name of two releases by American rock band Guns N' Roses: a 1998 compilation album, drawing from the ''Use Your Illusion I'' and ''Use Your Illusion II, II'' studio albums featuring songs without explicit lyrics, an ...

'' and the 2014 book ''Top 40 Democracy: The Rival Mainstreams of American Music'', and a former editor for ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

''. With Craig Marks, he was also the co-editor of the ''

Spin Alternative Record Guide The ''Spin Alternative Record Guide'' is a music reference book compiled by the American music magazine ''Spin (magazine), Spin'' and published in 1995 by Vintage Books. It was editing, edited by the rock music, rock critic Eric Weisbard and Crai ...

'', and has also written for ''

the Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

''. For ''Top 40 Democracy'', he received the 2015

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...

Award from the

International Association for the Study of Popular Music The International Association for the Study of Popular Music (abbreviated IASPM) is an international learned society dedicated to the scholarly study of popular music. It was established in September 1981, with Charles Hamm and Simon Frith as two ...

's United States branch.

Personal life

Weisbard is married to

Ann Powers Ann K. Powers (born February 4, 1964) is an American writer and popular music critic. She is a music critic for NPR and a contributor at the ''Los Angeles Times'', where she was previously chief pop critic. She has also written for other publicat ...

, a music critic for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. They were married in 1998.

References

External links

* Living people American music critics American book editors University of Alabama faculty American music journalists The Village Voice people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-journalist-20thC-stub