For our latest spotlight we’re headed across the Atlantic Ocean for a conversation with someone who has been involved in a number of influential music sites. Sean Reid cut his teeth developing AlterThePress in the early days of his writing career. In time, Reid networked his way into a position writing the UK News Roundup for the team at Absolutepunk. After years refining his work with both these efforts, Reid realized he had bigger vision, and not longer after Already Heard was born.
Putting the talent in the UK first, Already Heard has built a reputation for in depth news coverage that matches sites who have existed far longer. Reid has taken the lessons learned from his years working with other people’s projects and created an outlet that stands apart in a scene flooded with familiarity. Being the first UK blogger to appear on our site, we could not be more excited to share how the international music community engages with our product and the labels who choose to use it. If you would like to know more about Sean’s work, Like Already Heard on Facebook or follow the site on Twitter.
H: For those unaware, please state your name, the site you work for, and your role at said site:
S: I’m Sean Reid and I am the Founder and Senior Editor for an Alternative music website called Already Heard, which is based in the United Kingdom.
H: You have been blogging about music for a few years now. Where did you get your start, and how did Already Heard come into existence?
S: I started writing/blogging about music in August 2008 when I joined a site called Alter The Press. I parted ways with that site after three years. I then took a slight step back for a few months. During this time I wrote for a few sites; Under The Gun Review, Rock Louder and Stencil Magazine.
I guess Already Heard started in late 2011 under the name of Play Crack The Sky Music. I missed the day in, day out interaction of running a site, communicating with bands, labels and PR groups so I started PCTS with help from a friend (Mikey Brown) as a tester to see if I could do something by myself. After a few months we put that on hiatus and relaunched in April 2012 as Already Heard. Since then we’ve had multiple writers and photographers join the team, resulting in a constant growth of the site.
H: There are a number of sites trying to become the next top alternative music community. What do you think separates Already Heard from the competition?
S: For starters we put a strong emphasis on UK-only news. Speaking from experience theres far too many sites covering the same news which is mostly US-heavy. I’ve lost count the amount of times I’ve opened up my Google Reader feed and seen the same story from multiple sites, multiple times. In my opinion there are far too many news-centric sites.
On top of that, we all contribute to the site alongside full-time jobs/study, so we prefer to use our time more wisely by creating original content that you’re not going to see elsewhere.
From the start of Already Heard, I wanted the focus to be on original content, and even though its taken sometime to get there, I feel we’re now at a stage where we are heading in the right direction.
H: Though you cover a number of artists around the globe, you pay special attention to artists hailing from the UK. Any particular reason for this decision?
S: We’re a UK site, all but one of our team live in the UK. Of course that limits us in terms of growing the site, we box ourselves by restricting what content is posted especially when it comes to news. However we the array of reviews, live photos, and features we produce, we’re able to cater to overseas bands.
H: Speaking of discovering new music, you feature a number of emerging artists on Already Heard. As a tastemaker yourself, where do you go to discover new talent?
S: I live in a small town and I can’t drive so I rarely go to shows to check out new bands, so most new music is through the internet. Some of its through recommendations on social media, some from bands directly contacting the site or through Pubic Relations.
H: Let’s say an artist wants to be featured on Already Heard. What advice would you offer that inspiring group or individual to help them stand out from the others hoping to make your news feed?
S: First of all I would say research the site/publication you’re contacting. There has been countless times when I’ve received an email from a band or artist where you can clearly tell they’ve not researched our site. In terms of our site, if I quickly read over your email and you describe yourself as a Rapper or an electro artist or whatever, its highly unlikely you’ll be featured on the site. I think mentioning a band or genre that your site covers often is useful and is more likely to grab my attention.
Secondly I would advise to make sure your presentation is right. For example don’t send an email with just a link to your Soundcloud or Facebook with no information, it’ll be ignored. Also things like correct spelling and grammar go a long way, if your email is full of mistakes and poorly presented, it doesn’t make a good first impression.
I would also ask to keep it simple yet informative.
H: When it comes to receiving music for review and feature consideration, which services do you prefer and why?
S: In terms of streaming, Soundcloud is very reliable and user friendly. Of course there is Haulix who are equally as reliable and user friendly, both for streaming and downloading. It just looks good and has everything you need on one page; the music to hear, the necessary band and album info, as well as images and videos. Its pretty faultless.
Bandcamp and Dropbox also have there advantages but they’re not perfect. The former is a simple audio player with artwork whist Dropbox can sometimes be problematic.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
S: Just one? I guess album leaks would be one thing I would change. I find digital advances are sometimes given out too freely, resulting in the album being leaked hours later. I guess the industry needs to some how be made more strict and secure when it comes to advance releases.
H: You tweet a lot about having big plans for the future. Before we let you go, can you tell us a bit about what Already Heard has planned for the remainder of 2013?
S: We’re still a young site but over the coming months we aim on putting more emphasis on our original features and content; developing new ideas and expanding current ones. Our main goal is just to keep growing as a site and by getting the name ‘Already Heard’ out there and recognized. I’ll admit its difficult when there seems to be new sites popping up every week, but the Already Heard team and myself are confident enough we have the right content to stand out from the crowd.
