The Music Writer Exercise is coming, and you would be a fool to ignore the opportunities it presents.
As the saying goes, everyone is a critic. The age of social media has given everyone a voice to talk about everything they experience. One glance at Facebook or Twitter at any time of day will reveal countless opinions about everything, from entertainment to fast food. You don’t need a degree or any amount of experience to classify yourself as a critic, just like you don’t necessarily need any measurement tools to claim you’re an influencer. Did your friend do something because you suggested it? Congratulations. You’re an influencer.
Being a music writer in 2020 is a strange thing. You believe your passion for music and your knowledge of its history are so great that people should take an interest in your perspective on an industry that millions try and fail to join annually. Everything a music writer attempts today is challenging to achieve. Successfully pitching stories is hard, securing exclusive access or content is hard, and finding an audience for your work often feels impossible. That said, there may be no more excellent feeling in this life than writing something you believe in that connects with people, even if “people” turns out to be someone you’ve known for years.
Writing about music is a passion many possess, and we want to make you better at conveying your thoughts on artists and songs with a challenge. Music Writer Exercise, otherwise known as #MWE, is a month-long writing challenge that will expand your palette and improve your wordplay. Watch the video below for more information.
Anyone can find someone to post about their music, but finding the right place to promote your next release takes time.
The state of music is pretty wild right now. There are more artists than ever releasing more music than ever onto platforms that more people can access than anything that came before. The opportunities for exposure and fan creation are limitless, yet meaningful engagement and promotion are increasingly rare. People are distracted, and who can blame them?
The music discourse is increasingly splintered. There are countless blogs and podcasts and YouTube channels claiming to know what you should be listening to, but most struggle to retain an audience as much as the artists they support. Even the biggest publications, like Rolling Stone and Alternative Press, are struggling to stay on top of everything in today’s marketplace. The reasons for this are numerous, but they largely boil down to being driven by what gets clicks over what is most important or engaging. New artists and songs from unknown talent generate far less traffic than the latest insta-update from an arena headliner. That is a hard truth pill to swallow, but it’s nonetheless true.
Some artists will tell you it has never been easier to get press coverage, and in some respects that may be true. There are an infinite number of outlets in existence, and if you email enough of them you are bound to find several who are willing to post about your latest endeavors. However, posting alone does not benefit an artist. You’ve heard the question about whether or not a tree falling in the woods makes a sound if no one is around to hear it and the same applies here. If no one is reading the blog that posts about your music, does it matter that the post happened?
As a journalist myself, young artists often share songs and videos with me that they hope will attract attention from the press. The key, I tell them, is to make as big of an impression with the initial release as possible. A song may live forever online, but if people don’t notice your talent right away the likelihood that material takes off at any point in the future is incredibly low.
Generally speaking, artists looking to premiere a song or video need to be more patient in their hunt for coverage. Everyone wants to share everything right now, but a speedy release does nothing if the content isn’t properly supported. My advice is to allow up to six weeks to find and secure an outlet to share your content. That way, musicians can find the outlet that best suits their material and, hopefully, they can work with the writer preparing their coverage to create the best article possible. Maybe there can be a digital campaign that teases the premiere for a week before the material drops or maybe the song or video being shared can be coupled with an interview that shares insight into the artist’s career.
Artists should treat every update as the biggest thing that has happened to their career to date. You can’t expect consumers to feel strongly about your latest activity if you don’t feel the same. If the press for your next release is rushed or sloppy or underwhelming, the impression it makes on consumers will not be good. We’re talking about your art, after all, and that is an extension of how people view you. Take your time, plan everything as much as possible, and position your next release to be the one that changes everything.
The holiday season is upon us, and in no time at all businesses across the industry will go dark so employees can celebrate this time of year with their loved ones. It’s a beautiful thing, especially in an industry notorious for long hours, but for a few professionals it’s also maddening. Allow me to explain…
While many music professionals are able to setup out of office replies for the holidays there are still bloggers, podcasters, and a wide variety of media people in between with audiences who demand a constant feed of fresh content. When the industry goes dark for the holiday these poor souls (including yours truly) find themselves clicking through every pitch they receive in hopes of discovering something worth writing about. More often than not they settle on additional editorial content, generally in the form of telling you the best stuff you might have missed, and they pray it’s enough to keep clicks rolling in while the snow falls.
There is a saying in journalism that you should seek to tell stories you would want to read. If you should find yourself writing something you have no interest in reading it is highly likely those who find that article will feel the same. As much as fresh stories in a feed can be good for business is it really worth whatever investment of time they require if next to no one cares to read them?
People care less about entertainment news around the holidays than they do practically any other time of year. Don’t take this personally though, as it is true for virtually every publication. Entertainment and entertainment news is the distraction we fill our days with when doing things we would otherwise avoid if we could, like work. Holidays are communal escapes, offerings friends and family the chance to do things they want to do, therefore lowering the need for distractions.
To put it another way, the demand does not exist because the need for something that brings joy is met through other (arguably far more important) means.
This year, I want to challenge all music writers out there to try something different. Rather than beat your head against your keyboard in between clicking refresh on your RSS feeds just try and take a little time to experience what the rest of the world does this time of year. Schedule tweets and make whatever necessary posts you feel you must make to maintain appearances, but as soon as that is done shutdown your computer and experience this thing call life. Talk to the people who support you and tell them of your vision for the new year. Ask people what they have been up to with their time, and make it a point to really listen to their words. Be present, and remember you will never have two holiday seasons that work the same way. The people around you now may not be there next year, so don’t take a minute for granted.
This won’t be easy, but I have good news: The music industry will still be here when you get back. I know you will feel like you are slipping behind, but there is rarely a single headline in the last ten to fourteen days of the new year that drastically impacts the music landscape. You know this as well as I do, so quit lying to yourself and accept that it is okay to spend a little time offline. Who knows? It might even do you good to unplug.
