YouTube Music Expert Rick Beato Criticizes NYT’s ‘30 Greatest Living American Songwriters’ List

YouTube musicologist Rick Beato, widely regarded as the internet’s music professor, has sharply criticized the New York Times music critics’ list of the “30 Greatest Living American Songwriters.” The list so frustrated him that he released a second video this week targeting the panelists he described as “pretentious, cork-sniffing, smug people.”

Beato, a classically trained multi-instrumentalist and former session musician, engineer, producer, and educator, built his 5.4 million followers and 6 billion lifetime views on his “Everything Music” YouTube channel starting in 2015. Earlier this month, he released a video titled “The NYT ‘Greatest Songwriters’ List is an Absolute Disaster,” where he first took aim at the panel’s selections.

While Beato is known for his candid opinions, he typically maintains a broad appreciation for all music genres and rarely attacks individuals personally. However, after watching the May 7 episode of the New York Times podcast “Cannonball With Wesley Morris,” in which the critics defended their choices, he felt compelled to respond.

“It drove me nuts watching it,” Beato said in his Monday episode, which is available below. “I have to make a video about this.”

In the video, Beato criticized the panel’s academic backgrounds, stating:

“Here’s four Ivy League educated people. You’ve got two from Yale, one from Princeton, and Mr. Harvard there, that are the most pretentious, cork-sniffing, smug people that are all music critics with no background in music.”

The Times’ list included a mix of undisputed legends like Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, and Dolly Parton alongside more controversial picks such as Fiona Apple, Stephin Merritt, and Young Thug. Beato took particular issue with the reasoning behind the inclusions and omissions, especially critic Jon Caramanica’s argument that songwriting is often defined as “a heroic white man with a guitar struggling through his emotions.”

Beato responded:

“Exactly what you would expect from a New York Times music critic.”

He also mocked the panel’s discussion on why Billy Joel was excluded, asking, “You hear these guys competing for the worst take?”

Beato, whose long-running series “What Makes This Song Great?” helped establish him as a trusted voice among musicians, producers, and music fans, concluded by emphasizing the subjective nature of such lists:

“I’m not going to sit here and say this is a definitive list of the greatest living American songwriters. It’s ridiculous. … That’s why I always say at the end of these videos, this is my personal opinion.”

The original article, “YouTube Music Guru Shreds NYT Critic Panel’s ’30 Greatest’ Songwriters List: ‘Pretentious, Cork-Sniffing, Smug People’ | Video,” was first published by TheWrap.