By exploring the exchanges between two composers, Max d’Ollone and Charles Koechlin in Le Ménestrel and Le Monde musical in 1932, we will question their conception of the public of music in order to better understand the way in which they defend an artistic, even aesthetic position. D’Ollone raised the question of whether composers must take into account the tastes of the public in order to be successful in a context of crisis in the operatic repertoire. Koechlin’s response was to propose a singular categorization of audiences that took into account both social conditions and listening sensitivities. By using their “media” power through well-known music magazines, they seek no less to influence points of view, particularly in terms of musical taste. The interest of this exchange is not limited to the duel between composers and magazines, as the director of the Opéra-Comique, Georges Ricou, gets involved in the reflection through musicologist Paul Bertrand, columnist in Le Ménestrel.