On this episode of INSIDE MUSIC, host James Shotwell calls writer Anna Maria to start an open dialogue about diversity in music writing, as well as the way blogs are covering accusations of sexual assault within the alternative music scene. Both these topics have become hot button issues over the last year, and together James and Anna hope to answer as many questions they feel people have as possible. James and Anna are planning a follow-up conversation, so if you have any additional questions please do not hesitate to tweet them to @insidemusic or @theeannamaria on Twitter. You can also email you thoughts and questions to james@haulix.com.
The music you hear in this episode is “Everybody Does” by 6131 Records artist Julien Baker.
You may already know this, but Inside Music is now available on iTunes! Click here to subscribe.
The new year is about to begin and right now you’re more than likely staring at a barren inbox praying some pitch or announcement rolls through to give you an excuse to post something before the ball drops. We tried to warn you about the holiday slowdown, but every year without fail there is a large outcry from hungry bloggers in search of something worth sharing with their readers, and after the year most sites experienced it’s not hard to understand why. 2015 found many beginning to question the role of music blogs, as they have year after year since the initial boom of social media, but the last twelve months were particularly bad because of how many sites – both old and new – could not find the funding needed to keep their journalistic endeavors afloat. The lack of money in music writing has been a problem for over a decade at this point, but things seemed to come to some sort of head as fall gave way to a warmer than usual winter.
With all this in mind, we believe 2016 is going to be an important year for the world of music blogs. Whether your site is old or new, everyone attempting to make their mark online is going to have to rethink the way they operate, and that extends from editors all the way to the smallest contributors. Simply creating timely content is no longer enough to bring in hits, and even if it were those hits are probably nowhere near large enough to generate the kind of income needed to cover operational costs. There is more to running a successful online publication than simply being able to keep your site online, but all too often that is the most great content producers can hope to accomplish, and that is heartbreaking shame. We cannot provide you with anymore income than what you’re making from writing right now, but if you follows these tips in the new year we do believe your work in journalism will continue to thrive.
Focus on quality over quantity (AKA Death to copypasta)
We lost the ability to keep track of just how many pitches were hitting our inbox in 2015. The amount of bands being promoted by smart publicists who now how to write a good email has long surpassed the blogging industry’s ability to cover everything, but things seemed to be a little more out of control than usual as of late. Still, not a day went by that we didn’t see writer after writer copying and pasting every press release they could to create what they call ‘news’ posts on their individual sites. While we’re sure the publicists behind these mailings appreciate the support, this content has next to know journalistic value and rarely, if ever, contributes to a site’s overall traffic in a meaningful way. You can rest assured that if you’re taking the easy route of copy/paste that atlas a dozen other sites will do the same, and if you’re all running the same headline with the exact same information contained in each post then why should anyone bother to visit your particular site?
Make 2016 is the year of original content. Cover the news that matters to your audience (which you can decipher by learning to follow analytics), but focus the majority of your time on crafting content that cannot be found anywhere else online. It doesn’t matter if the final result is short or long, just make it yours. The artists we love earn our admiration for doing something that no one else can replicate and the same reasoning extends to the sites we frequent. Your blog should be a unique music destination, and that begins with quality original content.
Sources. Sources. Sources. (AKA Don’t be a dick)
Most the bloggers I speak with on a regular basis share their concerns over never being credited for the work they do. They don’t expect to get paid, or at least not at first, but whenever someone manages to learn a tasty exclusive through an interview or intelligent research they realize most, if not all sites who run the headline after them will not link to their original article. This is especially frustrating for small sites, as they rely the most on word of mouth to grow, and even if they have the best writers online there is no way they can scale their operation without people giving a damn about their existence.
The only way any site will be able to develop a real readership in 2016 will be if writers learn to respect and give credit to their peers. If you cover an exclusive someone else broke, make sure to give them credit. Doing so not only makes you look more professional, but it sends a message to another writer that you appreciate their hustle. That can of respect can go a long way toward developing both the brand of your site, as well as your personal efforts in music. It’s no more difficult than treating others the way you want to be treated, but you would be surprised how few have adopted this idea up to this point.
Leverage emerging technology
Twitter and Instagram takeovers were everywhere in music blogging over the last year, but with live broadcast services like Periscope becoming commonplace it’s time for blogs to think more creatively about their social media based exclusives. Live broadcast offers users a very unique way to interact with their musical heroes in real time, but right now very few outlets have adopted these services in their coverage of the industry. This will change in time however, and anyone hoping to stay ahead of the curve would be wise to begin planning their use of these platforms now.
For example, when covering festivals in 2016 it’s not hard to imagine blogs of all sizes running brief interviews or acoustic performances that air only on live broadcast networks. Likewise, we believe artist Q&As will be very popular on these services. The ability to not only see, but interact with talent in real time is something no other platform can offer. Artists don’t necessarily need blogs to use these tools, but through collaborations they (and you) can reach a new audience.
Innovative Brand Development
It’s hard to imagine many angles for digital features that haven’t been covered, so heading into the new year the sites that hope to develop their connection with readers will need to break the mold with their outreach. While it can be tempting to rely on the internet for everything you do and need, we suggest thinking of what can be done in the real world (otherwise known as ‘offline’) to help grow your site.
Two old school example of this that still have a lot of value are hosting or sponsoring local shows and releasing site-generated compilations. These efforts promote your site’s dedication to helping aspiring artists further their careers, as well as showcase your personal taste in music. The people who come to events you sponsor or host will see your name and align your site with the style of music being played. The same concept extends to the compilation, which tells listeners they can find more music like that featured on the track list on your outlet. If people feel strongly for the music they may learn to feel strongly for your writing, as the success of one can aide the success of the other.
Don’t Shy Away From Honesty
The one thing that cannot be taught to someone trying to navigate the waters of early music writing is that the quickest path to longterm success is found through accepting yourself for who you are as a person and a consumer of music. The reason this cannot be taught is because no one who has yet to embrace their true selves can force such a change to take place on command. It must happen naturally, and any writer trying to force their true selves onto paper or a blog post will only become frustrated at how unoriginal their words sound. Like all great art, great music writing comes from a pure place that worries not about clicks or finances. The best music writers, or perhaps I should say the best writers in general, are those who are unabashedly themselves in everything they do. They share with readers personal details both big and small that make their work, no matter how strange the subject, more relatable to consumers. That accessibility is what will convert blog visitors to dedicated readers, and it’s what will give readers a reason to tell their friends about your work.
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.
We pride ourselves on creating some of the best content on the web regarding the state of music blogs, where they are headed, and how those interested can participate in their proliferation, but to be honest there are dozens of other outlets producing quality material on these same topics. One of them, Pigeons & Planes, is a favorite among our staff. We read a post from their founder last month regarding the state of music blogs in 2015, and we knew right away that we had to share his thoughts here on our site. Out of respect to the site and author, we decided to wait a full month before sharing some of his insight here.
Below you can find a large excerpt from the original P&P article. If you like what you read and you want to know the rest, please follow THIS LINK to the original post. Enjoy:
When I started Pigeons & Planes in 2008, I didn’t even know what the word “blog” meant. I only started the site because Eskay, from my favorite website Nah Right, stopped responding to my requests for a job. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. My marketing plan involved going to the most popular music videos on YouTube and commenting: “PIGEONS AND PLANES. GOOGLE IT!”
I have no idea if anyone found the blog that way. I still think it was a decent idea. Back then, things were different. This was before social media was the lifeblood of any online publication. Back then, a spot on a blogroll (remember those?) was more important than a social media presence. Back then, there was an actual community of music blogs. If I needed help setting up some new plug-in, I’d just email Modi from DC to BC, or Legend from OnSmash, or Will from We All Want Someone To Shout For, or Luis from Pretty Much Amazing. We all shared ideas, strategies, and, of course, music. Back then, if you wanted to keep up with hip-hop, you needed to follow Nah Right, 2DopeBoyz, XclusivesZone, and OnSmash.
In 2008, the small start-up blogs were the ones keeping up with music in real time. They were posting 20+ times a day, engaging with the latest social media communities, and covering new music with an urgency that the internet demands. The major publications still hadn’t caught up. They were focused on bigger projects with longer turnaround times. They had not yet learned to move at the speed of the internet. In 2008, I started Pigeons & Planes with no intentions or master plans. I had no resources, budget, or know-how, but I also didn’t have any old practices to unlearn.
That same year, Brendan Frederick, who was Deputy Editor of Complex at the time, called the entire Complex edit staff together and announced something that would immediately change the company forever: “You’re all bloggers now.”
For years, blogs dominated the music space on the internet. Among the larger media outlets, Complex was early to realize that they needed to change their ways if they wanted to keep up. It took a few years, but the entire business model changed.
“The reason Complex was able to succeed in the digital space when so many others failed,” Frederick explains, “is because Complex was smart enough to develop a real business model for making money off of the web—the media network. This allowed Complex to fund additional heads dedicated to the web, and made it less risky for them to divert editors’ attention away from the magazine. Other magazines didn’t change their business model—they stayed focused on selling print ads and doing events—so they didn’t have the cash to hire additional web staff, and couldn’t risk diverting attention from the print magazine. So, for these companies, the best they could do is have one or two separate ‘web editors’ focused on the website, but because they didn’t have the underlying revenue model, they could never fully make the shift.”
Coverage on a music blog in 2005 is much different than it is today, yet there are still thousands of articles on how to get your young band coverage, from pitching writers to writing good subject lines. There’s a new one everyday it seems. Like this one!
That chart above is Google searches for “music blog.” It started to ramp up in 2005, peaked in 2009, and now it’s back to 2005 levels. Curios, huh?
I started Buzzgrinder in 2001, and the golden era was 2005 to 2008. The iPhone came out in 2007, right in the middle of that, and suddenly the average reader wasn’t just sitting at work on a desktop machine, or a laptop in a coffee shop. They were online more often, and in more places; in line at the bank, bored at a show, on the toilet, or just waking up.
Then as social media ramped up (Twitter and Facebook really got going in 2006), a brand new means of exposure for media outlets sprung up! You’re probably reading this article because it was linked from a social media platform. That just did not happen in 2005.
It’s a busy world online. Many of the music blogs you’re trying to get covered in publish 15+ times a day. And within your genre, that could mean 200+ posts a day across several sites. Your coverage will sit between a post about a washed-up singer getting arrested (which every outlet will re-publish) and a song premiere by some NASDAQ-listed company sponsored buzz-band. By 3pm EST, the Tweet announcing your new song will be a tumble weed rolling down an empty street.
Your coverage is also competing with, “that dress.” BuzzFeed wrote 30+ posts about the dress.
And the music fans you’re trying to win over are going to see movies, or watching the latest episodes of their favorite TV show on Netflix, all while answering work emails and deleting newsletters from The GAP, plus trying to keep up with the five podcasts they subscribe to, each of which is promoted by the show and their guests 13 time a day on social media.
Consider the person who consumes all of that. Then remember before they get out of bed in the morning they’re getting notifications from their friends and family on Facebook, SnapChat, and Instagram. Ongoing discussions about parties, travel arrangements, romantic dates, and shoe shopping.
By the time you get done reading this four new memes will have popped up online. And by tomorrow one of them will make the five o’clock news. A week later your parents will ask you via Facebook if you heard about it.
I’m not saying don’t pitch. Please, do. Just be aware that the landscape has changed. For a young band, pitching today is as difficult ever, but the impact of that coverage is not the same.
On February 10th, 2010, news broke that Howard Jones left Killswitch Engage (a Grammy nominated band) who were in the middle of touring. I was standing outside Irving Plaza in New York City (this is when I was running Noise Creep for AOL Music), at their March 18th or 19th show when venue staff came out to announce that Jones would not be singing that night. Nearly everyone at the front of line, die-hard KsE fans who probably bought tickets months before, were aghast. They were blind-sided by the news.
Month old news about a Grammy nominated band on big tour and fans at the NYC tour stop didn’t even know. That was just five years ago.
We’re all at a different places today, aren’t we? You feel it, right? The notifications, the Sunday night emails from work, the glut of new shows to watch, that new album, the stack of magazines you haven’t read yet, the texts from co-workers.
Your music isn’t just competing for coverage with others artists in your genre on the cool music blog, you’re competing with the next ‘Harlem Shake’ or the pop singer who messed up the National Anthem at an NBA game 12 minutes ago. I’m not saying it’s fair, or right, but I’m saying your coveted music blog coverage is a drop in the ocean of track listing announcements, movie star drama, and possibly the next meme that will become THE Halloween costume later this year.
Seth Werkheiser is the quiz master of metal trivia at Skulltoaster. He’s also the founder of some music sites you may have heard of, including Noise Creep (2009) + Buzzgrinder (2001). He’s anti-Facebook, anti-clickbait, and anti-growth hacking. You should most definitely follow him on Twitter. Yes, right now.
This morning I was listening to the latest episode of Inside Music and checking for any remaining edits that needed to be made when an article from The Awl caught my attention. The title of the piece was “All My Blogs Are Dead,” and within two paragraphs author Carter Maness had me on the edge of my seat. You can find the whole piece here, but I wanted to focus on this key portion for the rest of this post:
“Most of the media outlets I’ve written for have folded and then were flat-out deleted. In 2009, I had started blogging for AOL Music’s Spinner and The BoomBox, averaging three posts per day about indie rock and hip-hop. By 2010, I was writing approximately two print features and twenty blogposts per month on local music acts for New York Press. After that, in 2011, I joined the boutique MP3 blog RCRD LBL as the site’s lead editor/writer, publishing five posts per day. None of these outlets exist in 2014 beyond stray citations, rotten links and Facebook apparitions.”
When a music blog dies, the content created for that publication will remain online only as long as the person owning the URL continues to pay the site’s hosting fees. In my experience, that time is often quite short, and as soon as the metaphorical switch is flipped to shut down the site for good all of your hard work disappears faster than the blink of an eye. The internet time machine may save a post or two for you, if you’re lucky, but more than likely the bulk of your hard work will vanish from existence. This brings us to the same question Maness addresses when writing his article: If it’s deleted from the internet, did it ever really exist?
I’ve been writing about music for almost ten years, but I have only been presiding the site I currently contribute to most often for the last seven. The site where I got my start, the now long-forgotten High Beam Review, stopped posting new content int the fall of 2008. By the spring of 2009 the site was entirely offline, and with it any proof I had contributed content of any kind to a site other than the one I was writing for at that very moment. Fortunately, that site was one I owned, and though I since sold it to a media group it still exists today. All the content created over the last seven years still exists as well, though given the number of times the site’s design has changed I’m not sure how some of the older content would look when viewed on the current layout. Still, it’s there, and until the site dies it will remain available for everyone to see.
But what happens when the media company that now owns my site decides its a property no longer worth their time or hard drive space? Will I even get a warning? If I do, how long will I have to collect what is essentially the entirety of my professional experience up to this point and preserve it for future generations by other means?
I have no answers to these questions, and even before reading Maness’ piece today such inquiries had crossed my mind several times. The best solution I have developed thus far is to maintain a professional portfolio site, which contains links to all the content I create around the web. Those links are only good for as long as the sites they link to are active, but for now its the only means I’ve found aside from copy/pasting years of work onto a separate site. I’ve also begun keeping all the drafts I create on my own word processing programs, but without the sites the content ran on existing I have to wonder if anyone would believe such ramblings were actually published in the first place.
The future is a scary place, and for writers there are few thoughts more terrifying than having the bulk of your published work wiped from existence, but we cannot allow our fears of a potential future prevent us from taking action now. Create backups of your work, and be sure to maintain a digital portfolio whose URL you control. The only one who is going to look out for the livelihood of your content online, especially the more said content ages, is you. It is your responsibility to preserve your work, and I am urging you to begin doing so as soon as possible. Establish a system of preservation and stick with it. Your career will thank you.
James Shotwell is the editor of the Haulix blog. He is also the founder of Under The Gun Review, co-owner of Antique Records, and host of the Inside Music podcast. When not writing and talking about music, James can usually be found eating pizza or going to the movies. Follow him on Twitter.
