Music Bloggers Archives

As many of you know, we here at Haulix spend a lot of time and money every year making appearances at music festivals and conferences, as well as a number of college campuses across the nation. We do this both to raise awareness for our work behind-the-scenes of the industry and to help aspiring music professionals find their own paths to success. Our experiences up to this point have been nothing short of life-affirming, and with each new event we find another reason to believe in the future of the entertainment business.

After three years of working to build a reputation on the industry speaking circuit we have found one area of the industry that is almost completely overlooked in the world of conferences: Journalism. Whether you’re a music blogger working for free from the comfort of their parents’ house or a paid contributor to Rolling Stone, finding a panel or event that caters specifically to your work and interests is almost impossible in 2016. There were less than three journalism related panels at SXSW this year, and that event is considered to be the largest annual industry gathering in the world. Smaller conferences often only have one, if any, panels or events built around the world of journalism.

Our big question is: Why? Artists depends on writers to help expose their work to potential new fans, just like labels rely on writers to help maintain brand awareness. Writers rely on both of those groups in order to develop their publications, and they often attend conferences or festivals to help those events get more recognition on a national/international level, so why are they so underserved?

We continue to pitch panels on writing and the relationship writing has with music promotion to any event or school willing to hear us out, but we have come to the conclusion that the best course of action may be to give bloggers/journalists/writers of all varieties an event of their own. A blogger conference, if you will, where the topics of ethics, monetization, industry growth, career development, artist relations, and more can be discussed at length by writers for writers.

Here’s the problem: Conferences are expensive and they require months of planning, not to mention sponsorship dollars, in order to make a reality. On top of this, we would have to convince people to come. We are passionate about the idea of such an event existing, but we fear wasting a year of our lives on a project that only interests us and the circle of industry friends we have surrounded ourselves with over the years. Something like this requires the interest of thousands with the hopes that hundreds end up participating.

So we have to ask – Do you think a blogger conference is a good idea?

Working in the music industry has provided me with the opportunity to attend numerous industry conferences, panels, and events. I’ve spoken at some places, but more often than not I’ve sat in the same crowd alongside many of you, hoping something would be said on stage that related to my career. What I have found however, is that the vast majority of music conferences do not put much time or effort into engaging music writers, despite the fact a good portion of these events are attended and covered by people currently trying their best to make a living with words. I think a change is needed, and I’m writing this today to see if I am alone in my belief.

I believe we need a yearly music blogger conference. This event would start as a one day gathering, but in time it would ideally become something much bigger. The day would be filled with panels, workshops, and a keynote from an influential industry figure, as well as a few performances to cap off the night. I have brainstormed a few topics/events to provide a better idea of what might be covered at this event:

Monetization Is The New Selling Out: Making money without betraying your readers

How To Handle Controversy: A beginner’s guide to breaking news, checking facts, and telling the whole story.
You’re Here To Work: Maintaining professionalism at shows and events

Tour Sponsorships: What are they, what do they entail, and why should I care?

Embracing Video: A crash course in creating great visual content

Branding: The Dos and Don’ts of Marketing Your Blog

Keeping Exclusives Exclusive: Making the most of every premiere you get

Conflicts Of Interest: How to keep your projects separate, yet equal

It’s Bigger Than Me: Building a community with your readers

Stop Asking Bad Questions: Interviews tips, tricks, and pitfalls

These are literally the first things that came to mind, but I think it provides a good range of topics and possibilities. Given the number of controversies that have arisen in 2015 alone, the need for a formal workshop on properly reporting such stories is very much needed in blogging right now. Likewise, I think we all have seen a blogger who was less than professionals when covering a live event. Maybe they want a selfie with the band, or maybe they blow off interviews to catch their favorite artists’ set. Whatever the case, we need to try and stop that trend before a select few make us all look like fools.

Having given almost a decade of my life to music blogging, nothing bothers me more than when people treat my chosen career path as a hobby or something to be laughed at. I have dedicated myself fully to this craft for a very long time, and though I am still not where I want to be I take great pride in everything I have accomplished. I know many of you do as well, which is why we should find a way to come together as an industry and push for real, meaningful change. I know not everyone who needs a conference like this will attend, but simply have the option available to people would be better than what we have now, which is essentially nothing.

I understand that the beauty of blogging stems from its ability to give anyone a voice, but as music writers trying to make a living with our words we need to hold ourselves and our peers to higher standards than simply doing whatever makes us happy. If we want people to take us seriously then we need to be serious about what is happening in our industry as well as what we as individuals are doing to make it better. So far, I see a lot of people complaining that things need to change, but no one is actually doing anything to make a difference. I want to change that, but only if you are willing to help me make it happen.

So tell me, what do you think?

James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.