review requests of underrepresented voices
Overall, Allmusic's coverage of underrepresented voices is good especially for major-label artists that other publications also cover. Major labels are rarely willing to take a chance on underrepresented voices, and their marketers may not know how to market music that doesn't fit programmed radio formats. So simply advancing from indie releases to a record label's backing is a career milestone for underrepresented voices! Sunny War has just reached that milestone, and many publications have reviewed her new release.
Jake Blount has also reached that milestone, but I suspect that your editors slighted his release because they still consider Folkways Recordings to be a minor label. With the downsizing of labels for roots musicians though, Folkways has become a relatively major label. Blount's release was reviewed by several publications and ranked by a few (including Rolling Stone) on last year's best of lists.
Folkways is among the few labels that are prioritizing diversity in signing underrepresented voices like Dom Flemons. Unlike his former band mate, Flemons has committed to upholding his musical tradition as a heritage revivalist. Hence, his releases haven't been and won't be on major labels.
One reason that archaic styles aren't popular with multicultural audience is that they can't identify with the photographed artists who are playing those archaic styles. So underrepresented voices like Flemons, who have new releases in archaic styles, should be spotlighted despite a conscious bias against archaic styles and a subconscious bias!
Another reason that outside audiences aren't attracted to archaic styles is because most contemporary artists in those styles are revivalists whose music sound stale. But Blount is innovating archaic styles. Inspired by Sun Ra's Afrofuturism, Blount is reimagining his musical tradition as Afrofuturist folk. So it's unfair to stigmatize his music as related to the archaic styles from which he's trying to spin into a new sound!
