Music Journalism- By Devan Cook

To put it simply: music journalism, or music criticism, is reporting about music.  Critics of popular music will often write album reviews, song reviews, concert reviews and previews, band/artist profiles, music related news, etc. While music journalism is most frequently associated with magazines like Rolling Stone and Spin, music critiques can be found everywhere from local weeklies, television broadcasts (this once included MTV, back when the “M” actually stood for music), websites and blogs, and major newspapers like the New York Times.

Music Journalism- By Justin Hoyt

For musicians, creating a brand for oneself is the most important factor in becoming a recognized and revered artist; the same goes for music writers. However, the art in music writing is a reaction, a gut feeling everyone gets when they listen to a song is put into words and hopefully understood by the reader. In a clogged market for music writers though, being able to define the way one feels about a song or album isn’t enough; you need to be able to define it quickly in an age where new music spreads across the internet at a stellar pace. It’s kind of petty but seems crucial that music writers know about the next big thing before everyone else does. It lends them credibility and in many cases is what defines a music writer’s career, allowing them to ascend in what is an incredibly competitive field. Take for example Seattle Times music writer Andrew Matson and Seattle hip-hop group Shabazz Palaces. Shabazz Palaces (pictured above) was and still is a relatively unknown hip-hop group from Seattle’s Central District. The group has no MySpace page, and were cloaked in mystery for much of their early existence. Matson was one of the first to publicly write about them and has championed the group ever since, even bestowing them the honor of his “Best Album of 2009”. Recently the group was discovered, in part due to some of his Twitter updates, by Larry Fitzmaurice of the mighty online music site Pitchfork. Matson immediately went to work blogging about blogging. A portion of which is below:

Music Journalism: Why We Write

My friend Sandra became obsessed with a rising starlet by the name of La Roux last year. She made a cute little fan page on Tumblr in which she aggregated every interview, review, what have you on La Roux and updated it daily. Every picture of La Roux, each single as it was released, and even contests for the fans – it was a very solid, thorough and professional effort. An email soon showed up in her inbox from La Roux’s manager, offering Sandra the position of “official social networker.”

Of course, she readily accepted the offer and her website was given official endorsement. She was also charged with making and maintaining an official Twitter account for the singer. A box full of stickers, posters and even an autographed CD and too-large T-shirt soon arrived at her door. Sandra even got to hang out with her backstage after she played a concert in Seattle – an event she described as “feeling very uncute next to her and really awkward as I didn’t have anything to say beyond ‘I liked your show.” Sandra still updates the social networking sites frequently, but she’s never gotten paid for it and is under the obligation to devote a lot of time.

This seems to be the common first step in making moves towards being a music journalist – cutting your teeth anyway you can to get exposed and validated for your efforts.