We live in the age of content overload. It is impossible for most people to keep up with a single feed, let alone multiple accounts across numerous platforms. Add to this the thousands of websites publishing tens of thousands of articles, each vying for the almighty click, and it’s no wonder people in 2018 would still believe people might not notice plagiarism. After all, nobody has time for everything.
Professionals never plagiarize. Professionals believe their purpose is to create, so they would never think to copy the work of another because it could never be a fitting representation of their creativity.
The amateur, however, lacks this mindset. The rookie wants to create and impress at the same. They take on more than they can handle and refuse to disappoint. They mean well but cannot follow through on their commitments because they have not yet developed the skills needed to do so. They also haven’t been able to realize and admit this to themselves.
Here’s the reality of plagiarism in music writing in 2018
Every music publicist worth working with has become a master of Google alerts and traditional online research. There is not a single post about their clients they cannot find because proving they got coverage for their client is crucial to their continued success. In short, they see everything.
When a new post appears that resembles or outright steals from another post, that publicist then contacts the author of the original post, as well as their editor. Together, those three decide how they wish to proceed.
There are three ways these situations tend to be handled:
1. No one does anything, and the plagiarized post remains up.
2. The editor of the offending site is contacted and made aware of the situation, thus transferring the responsibility of taking action to them and their website.
3. The alleged plagiarizer is contacted directly, often by the publicist who discovered the similarities or the editor of the site whose content was stolen, demanding answers
Of these options, the second method of response tends to be the most beneficial. Once the editor of the offending site is made aware of the problem they typically remove the plagiarized post and confront their writer. More often than not, the offending writer is then removed from the site’s contributor pool.
…But the fallout does not end there.
The music industry is small, and the music journalism community is even smaller. It is not a lie to say everyone knows everyone, even if we do not know one another on a personal level. As soon as plagiarism allegation arise the offender – otherwise known as the plagiarizer – may find it challenging to continue pursuing their work in music writing. After all, what site would want to work with someone who steals other writers’ work? What publicist or label or artist would wish to work with someone incapable of creating original content to cover their latest release?
Many who plagiarize claim they did so not out of a desire to mislead, but rather to make their deadlines and otherwise please those who demand they produce content. While this reasoning is understandable to an extent, it does not make stealing okay or otherwise acceptable. It is far more professional to admit you are incapable of meeting a deadline or otherwise finishing something you were assigned than it is to lie about how you completed the work. Lies will get you nowhere in the business. Just don’t it.
To avoid plagiarizing others works, even when you think your thoughts are original, please try these services:
Grammarly: Used by writing and business professionals worldwide, Grammarly aspires to improve your writing better through in-depth analysis. Not only can the service identify plagiarized works, but it can also help you tell your story more interestingly and originally. There are free and premium versions of the software.
Plagiarism Checker: Provided by SmallSEOTools, this site allows you to paste your written work and have it checked for plagiarism. It’s free. https://smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker/
BibMe: An emerging service in the grammar world, BibMe offers plagiarism review and grammar checking for writers of all types.
If you would like to learn more about plagiarism, as well as gain insight on how to emphasize the importance of originality in creative effort, we also recommend spending time at plagiarism.org.
