Tag: Music Writing

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Journalism Tips #29 – Why It’s Never A Good Idea to Forward Your Haulix Promos

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the latest edition of our long-running Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the couple months we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. This entry was created in regards to a question we found on a journalism forum earlier this week, and we think the solution could very well keep many young writers from inadvertently becoming the source of a future music leak.

This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

As we mentioned above, this specific column came to life after a forum post was brought to our attention earlier this week. The message read:

“Okay…. I just want to make sure I’m not making some rookie mistake. When I get haulix invites or private links, I forward it to my writer depending on their tastes, yeah? Obviously, you’re not supposed to share the invite, and my writers sign a disclaimer about not sharing music and if they do it’s on them, but surely they don’t mean "do not forward this to a writer?” I just ask because I got Finch’s album from razor and tie and she asked me to please not share it. I would never do that outside of sharing it with ONE writer that is writing the review.”

This is not an uncommon question, and to be honest we are kind of glad someone brought this post to our attention as it provides the perfect opportunity to address this concern on a large scale.

To put it the simplest terms possible: You should never share a Haulix promo. There is messaging included with every promo sent out that informs recipients their promos are not to be shared, but there are many who do not follow this request. By sharing Haulix promos you are not only breaking the trust of the label/publicist who sent you that material, but you are also putting yourself in a position to face severe legal repercussions should that material find its way onto the internet.

Most promos sent from Haulix are injected with numerous watermarks that not only identify the original recipient, but also the geo-locations of every person who accesses the respective promo. You should check each promo you receive to know whether or not that particular advance has a watermark. If you share your watermarked promo with someone, and that person later leaks the material online, our tools will point to you as the person responsible for the piracy. You may not have leaked the album yourself, but because the record was entrusted to you it is your responsibility to ensure it is not made available for public consumption. Should that occur, any legal action taken to recoup lost profits will be made against you and not the friend who you allowed to enjoy your advance.

To better explain what happens when an album leaks, we asked Rey Roldan of Another Reybee Production to share some of his experience with piracy:

“A blogger who is part of this site once sent a download of a band I was working with to two writers. One of his writers leaked the album (it was a very highly coveted advance). When we traced it back, we found his watermark. Label, management, band and I were thisclose to taking this a step further in the legal direction. While the writer was responsible for the leak, said "blogger” was ultimately responsible because he breached the contract (I often tick off the “watermark warning” with writers who I am unsure of, just as an extra warning). We got very close to making it legal but we opted to re-strategize and move forward. 

I know some editors pass round links designated for them and it sucks. I usually often tell editors that if they are assigning a writer, give me their email address so I can get them their own watermarked music. To be honest, do YOU trust your writers to NOT leak music? If they did leak it, do you want to be legally and professionally responsible for that because YOUR watermark is on that music? God forbid, you pass your streak or download to a writer who inadvertently leaks it, do you want to become that industry pariah?

The music industry is really pretty tiny… Make the wrong move and it can follow you… Be smart about this… Request a link for anyone who is reviewing it for you. Don’t take the fall for anyone because it can happen a LOT easier than you think.”

Some sites may believe an easy solution to this problem is to have one email dedicated to receiving promos that every contributor can access. This may work at first, but should any member of your staff leave the site it is of the utmost importance you change both your email password, as well as your 4-digit Haulix passcode. That way, if they have a promo link and/or access to a promo, they can’t get to ***all**** promos, because they won’t know the passcode.

Likewise, if you allow writers to reach out to publicists on their own and one of your writers decides to leave your site, make sure you inform all publicists the writer has left and is no longer a part of your writing team. If not, that person may continue to receive advances that are linked to your site. Should something happen to those files, it may come back to you.

The best thing you can do to protect yourself and the reputation of your site is to first do a good job vetting your writing staff. Make sure you trust everyone you send releases to not only as writers, but as professionals in the industry. If you would not trust a writer to contact a label directly you might not want them handling advance releases.

Haulix has no say in what happens to individuals caught sharing watermarked materials. We are simply a middle man between journalists and labels. It’s up to our customers to handle the situation how they see fit. 

Additionally, you should ALWAYS request additional promos if someone other than you will be reviewing material you have been sent. It may seem like this complicates or otherwise draws out the assignment process, but publicists would rather know who is in possession of their music than have less work to do. For example, let’s say I send you, a blog owner, a copy of my client’s album for your site. You receive the promo, pass it off to a writers, and several days later send me a link to a review of my client’s album written by someone who is not you. Who is this third party? How did they get the watermarked music I sent you? Are they someone I can trust? I have a million questions about this anonymous person. In fact, I may not want to send you another advance if I think you’re going to pass it off to more people I do not know.

It’s easy to understand why forwarding promos seems like a quick solution to the issue of how to get advances from one person to another, but actually taking part in such efforts puts you, your reputation, the livelihood of your site, and possibly even the reputations of your contributors at risk. It takes less than a minute to request additional promos, and doing so keeps you out of trouble.

Don’t risk a leak just to save time. It’s just not worth it.

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Why I Write About Music

Thank you for joining us for another installment in our our ongoing Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the couple months we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. Today we are running a special editorial by our very own James Shotwell about the reason behind his work in music writing. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

What makes us fall in love with a song? In all my years on this planet the closest I have ever come to answering that question is a half-assed understanding that everyone connects with music in their own way. What makes my heart soar may bore others to death. Likewise, the hits people cannot get enough of often make me feel like I’ve lost touch with what is ‘trendy’ at the moment. The best you can hope to do is find something that works for you and support that project or group or album or single in whatever way you can. As I am a writer, it’s through the written word that I profess my love and make my admiration known, which is why this post first came to life.

The past week has taken me hallways across the country and back again. My family reside in the midwest, but I have been a resident of Boston – aka the world’s greatest city – for nearly five years. I take vacations every year, but the majority of my ‘free time’ is spent visiting loved ones over a thousand miles away from my tiny, one bedroom apartment. As a result, I have had a lot of time to dig into new music and the records people have been telling me to check out. I don’t have any hard data on the amount of music that has passed through my headphones over the last seven days, but I can think of at least half a dozen albums and a handful of major promotional singles. Most of it was good, some of it was bad, but only one album kept me coming back for more and more: I Can See Mountains.

Full disclosure: I am helping I Can See Mountains press their latest EP, Gone Beachy, to vinyl. You may think that makes me bias, and I guess in a way it probably does, but the only reason I even spoke to the band in the first place about working together was because I had the opportunity to hear Gone Beachy early and immediately felt a strong type of connection to the material that has been unmatched by every other release of 2014. I had no intentions of putting it out at first. In fact, I thought they would probably say no, but when you are so moved by something that you find yourself scrolling to that record or single every time you go to listen to music then I believe it is the responsibility of every music to promote, support, and otherwise nourish that talent as much as they are able. I believe it’s impossible for anyone to truly explain the connection they have with any one release. It may be due in part to the music or lyrics, maybe even the combination of the two, but there is also something else. Something more, if you will. This intangible, impossible to describe force that makes you feel as if the universe has brought this work of art to life solely to reach you in your time of need. You might not even have known you were looking for an answer or a friend, but then the music begins and the feels come flowing out. It happens to everyone, and anyone who tells you otherwise is probably just a little embarrassed by whatever material has grabbed their heart strings. If that applies to you, it’s okay. There is no such thing as a guilty pleasure. There is only the shame you feel because of how society tells you to feel about a certain type of music.

“I swear / you caught me staring / the lighting was awful / but the moment was perfect for me”

When it came to I Can See Mountains and their Gone Beachy EP, my initial connection with the record was forged when the first few notes of “My Aquatic” poured through my speakers at the tail end of May. It’s a dizzying rush of melodic guitar work that is both hypnotic and catchy. More importantly, the evolution between the band’s 2013 full-length and now was obvious from the get go, and as the song played out I began to fall in love with their unique take on Buffalo, NY influenced indie rock all over again. My heart was happy, but I would not say I was moved. It was more intrigue than anything, and it worked well enough to keep me listening as the first track transitioned into the second.

”I looked up at the sun above the trees / bright lights, big city are over me / I’m beat up but not defeated / I’m half raised like a lower case ’t’”

“Bald” begins with a few unassuming chords that feel pulled from a Sunday morning church service and quickly transition into driving and pulsating drum-filled verse that opens with a vision of a night that seems like it will never end. Everyone is taking everything out on our protagonist, who seems firmly transfixed on the challenges of growing up, who speaks and feels far older than his age would lead you to believe. He ponders if he’s truly his own person, or if he’ll simply fall into line like his elders did, but eventually realizes that he’s already started down his own path and only needs to stay focused in order to become the person he always wanted to be.

Listening to this song takes me back to every night over the last decade I have spent questioning my own life and career choices. Living in a city far away from the small town where I grew up, trips home often make me feel like some things never change, which makes me question whether or not we can actually change our own lives. Are we truly capable to create our own destiny, or has fate predetermined the course I will follow, thus negating any reason for me to try and be something different than what I have always been? That’s a tough question for anyone, and I think it’s something we all find ourselves asking at one point or another in our lives. If you’re smart, you eventually decide that regardless of what is actually true you are better off fighting to be who you want to be than settling for anything less. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to see things in that light. “Bald” focuses mainly on those who do, but as with any kind of art there is plenty of room to read between the lines.

”I wanna hold you close / for the record I’m an asshole”

This is where the feels train really begins to pull into the metaphorical station. “She’s My Bobby Orr, Pt. 2” was a song I was immediately curious about as I knew it to be a musical sequel to one of my favorite I Can See Mountains’ songs. To my surprise, it not only entertained, but legitimately moved me to tears on a first play through. It’s not the kind of track you would initially classify as a ‘unique love song,’ but as it plays out it becomes clear that is exactly what the guys in ICSM had in mind when they penned the lyrics at the beginning of the year. There is an urgency to each line, as if you’re listening to one hopeless romantic asking another to close their eyes and jump into one of those crazy things we call a relationship. It’s not just a crush, it’s a full blown romance from day one, and our protagonist is focused solely on conveying his emotion to the one who has caught his eye. He doesn’t want a date or a one night stand. He wants a wife and a family, but only if she wants that too. He wants her to be as happy as her very existence makes him and if that doesn’t melt your heart you may need to double check that their is still a muscle beating in your chest.

When I first heard “She’s My Bobby Orr, Pt. 2” I was not reminded of a single relationship I had actually experienced. Instead, I was taken back to all those random moments on subway trains and crowded streets when your eyes fall on someone who makes every bone in your body tingle with excitement. There is a sexual element, sure, but this – again – is something more. You don’t know how you ever lived before this person crossed your path and you’re immediately fighting the knowledge that in a few brief moments you’ll pass one another and move on with existence (or run to your laptop and post a ‘missed connection’ on Craigslist, which later goes viral because you sound more like a crazy person than someone capable of feeling true emotion).

…But what if you didn’t? What if you saw that person and dropped whatever else you were doing to express just how amazing you think they are even though it’s a feeling you cannot explain. You would probably trip over yourself a bit, foolishly downplaying your own good qualities because something inside tells you to cut yourself down so you don’t sound like a crazy person, which is exactly how the verses play out on “She’s My Bobby Orr Pt. 2.“ They take a chance on honesty and go for broke. I don’t know if the girl the song was written for was won over with the final product, but I sure as hell was, and the same goes for every person I’ve shared the song with to date. If you haven’t heard it yet, do so below:

By the time I realized my iTunes had played “She’s My Bobby Orr Pt. 2” for the sixth consecutive time I knew I had to do something to make more people aware of the recordings found on Gone Beachy. I knew I Can See Mountains had previously worked with Panic Records, which is a company a bit larger than my own label, so I assumed the most we could ever hope to do is collaborate with the guys in ICSM on a feature or two for UTG. That would have been enough in my book because it would have given me the opportunity to express the impact the music had on my life from the very first spin. Something told me I could do more, however, so I wrote the guys on a whim and asked if they would be interested in working with my label (Antique Records) on Gone Beachy. To my surprise, they said yes, and within a week I was placing an order to United Record Pressing for 300 7” vinyl.

I know not everyone who hears Gone Beachy will feel the same way about it that I do. In fact, I anticipated at least a few people will flat out say it sucks, but that’s part of the give and take that comes with being a passionate music fan. This is one of, if not the most subjective of any art form, and the fact anyone can write a song that connects with more than a handful of people is as an absolute miracle. The fact some have the ability to do more than just connect, even moving people to feel certain ways or making certain changes in their life, is something I am in awe of on a daily basis. Every person is different and every relationship is too, but for whatever random twist of evolutionary fate we have learned that we can relate to one another through metaphor and rhyme. That’s astounding.

There will never be a record label for every person who loves music, and the chances that you will ever be in a position to financially support your favorite artist to a significant degree are slim to none, but believe me when I say that those facts in no way downplay the power your voice has to help artists and groups alike. I created UTG for the sole purpose of using my voice to reach artists, and at that point in my life I barely had friends, let alone an audience. It did not take long for people to recognize my passion for music once I began sharing it, and over time that recognition allowed me to do more to help the artists I love. The same can happen to you, even if you have no interest in ever working in the music business full time. If you love something, be it music, art, film, photography, books, podcasts, or anything in between then you should share that love with the world. You never know who will connect with or the lives that you will help change. There are probably a thousand people who feel the same way you do or are going through similar situations, but you never know until you put yourself out there. Once you do that, your audience will begin to find you, and if you’re lucky they too will take it upon themselves to promote your efforts to the those they know and love. Additional connections will be made, networking opportunities will present themselves, and before you know it you will be well on your way to bettering you ability to help the artists you love. Who knows, you might even make a career for yourself in the process, but always remember that if you’re writing about others with personal gain in mind the likelihood you will succeed pretty much bottoms out.

James Shotwell runs the Haulix blog and serves as the founder of Under The Gun Review. He can be found on Twitter talking about entertainment and offering reasons why Boston is greatest city in the continental United States. It’s also one of the most expensive, which is why he willing to move if someone knows of another place he may love. Seriously. His lease is almost up. Do people keep reading this? I guess we shouldn’t let people write their own anymore.

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The Gender Gap In Heavy Metal Journalists

Hello and welcome to the beginning of a brand new work week. There is a major holiday stateside this week, but that is in no way slowing our efforts to bring you every bit of information you need in order to conquer the modern music industry. For today’s post, we are running a guest blog from seasoned metal writer Lauren Wise about the gender gap in today’s hard rock journalism scene. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a musician, a vocalist, a fan or a journalist; if you’re a chick in metal I can guarantee at some point in time you’ve heard the question: “why are you here?”

Women’s role in heavy metal music is rooted deeply in mystery, lust and temptation; the one thing that could overcome a male’s self-control. Immediately this has made us women either sexually objectified or looked down upon as not able to understand heavy metal music. The misogyny that runs wild in the scene since Black Sabbath days will never disappear. 

But even though women have to work twice as hard to be accepted on some levels, things have come a long way since the 1960s. As stated in one of my favorite books, “Running With The Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music” by Robert Walser, “Heavy metal revolves around identification with power, intensity of experience, freedom and community.” 

Women and men slam through the same mosh pits and can belt the same guttural screams from stage. Women who thrive on heavy metal often dash the normal idea of femininity; you’re more likely to see her in an Exodus t-shirt at a show rather than in a bikini on Instagram. She might go to the mall on occasion; but it will only be to refill her corpse paint supply at Sephora. And she can usually drink more whiskey than you and is totally fine that her hair is dreaded out after headbanging. 

However, there’s always going to be an undercurrent of male chauvinism, along with guys who feel that there’s no reason to have women on tour unless they are there to have sex. 

Well, when I’m there, it’s for a job. I’m a journalist and heavy metal columnist. Some of the musicians I interview and review may be cute, yeah; but I’ve never once been tempted to have any type of interaction with them on that level. Serious women journalists know that if you ever once put yourself in that position, you will never be treated with any respect. 

I established a rule for myself a long time ago: It’s of the upmost importance to keep myself (somewhat) collected, professional and, for lack of a better word, indifferent when dealing with the musicians in person. Sure, when I was 18, interviewing local bands comprised mostly of my friends, we would hash out music philosophy over a bottle of Jack Daniels. But times changed quickly when I realized that if I wanted to be taken seriously as a woman in the heavy metal business, I had to make it clear that my intentions were always purely professional. 

When I was 12-years-old listening to Pantera and Metallica in my bedroom, I would’ve never believed it if someone told me I’d eventually interview Phil Anselmo and speak with Lars Ulrich one day. As a child I competed in classical piano competitions, reveling in compositions by Bach, Beethoven, Debussy and Vivaldi. These composers that led me to heavy metal, are the very same composers that helped spawn the genre’s best guitarists. I graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, and for a decade I’ve built my career and I’ve been blessed to interview other influential figures, including Alice Cooper, Tom Araya, Buzz Osborne, Zakk Wylde, Al Jourgensen, Corey Taylor, Dani Filth, and James “Munky” Shaffer. 

I’ve also spoken to many women on the issue of gender in heavy metal. It’s a never-ending fight for females, from Joan Jett to Wendy O, Otep to Angela Gossow, Maria Brink and the Butcher Babies’ Carla Harvey and Heidi Shepherd. The latter two and I have had extensive conversations about their struggle as attractive female metal musicians. In short, it’s a no-win situation: you’re going to get shit for something, whether you’re not attractive enough, too attractive, wear too little clothing, wear too much clothing. If you’re a fantastic musician, fans tend to pick you apart even more closely than your male counterparts. Sometimes, the same goes for womens’ roles elsewhere in the genre. 

The majority of professionals I work with in heavy metal are woman, and damn good at what they do. Women take a lot of risks putting their opinion and knowledge out into the world of heavy metal, and I’ve personally been discriminated against for it: I’m too young, I’m a woman, I don’t like enough black metal. Hell, I’ve even had people say that because I’m a Christian I can’t fully appreciate the depth of different metal genres. 

While we can say that the gender gap continues to close, I can’t help but wonder… why is it that a majority of established women heavy metal journalists are still treated differently than males? Is the stigma of “girls are backstage only for one reason” really that hard to shake?  

After being backstage enough for show reviews and interviews, it’s easy to spot the groupies; mostly because they portray themselves that way. Plus, word spreads quickly between dudes. They gossip more than women; I swear.  But even though I can throw on my Chucks, torn jeans and Led Zep t-shirt, hold some conversations with a member of the band about work, and show zero sexual interest—I’m still be seen as competition for these girls. 

In 2013, a certain bad-ass third generation musician toured through Phoenix. As a heavy metal writer it appealed to me because this particular artist was known for bringing a healthy dose of metal into his repertoire. One of my favorite PR companies was handling the tour, and when I went to will call my press pass read “all access.” That wasn’t really common for my press passes, but who was I to question the logic? 

My photographer for the show was a girlfriend of mine whose full-time job was in managing production crews and VIP events for a major concert production company. A few songs into the show, we headed to watch from side stage and get a feel for the environment. Surprisingly, we were the only people back there. In a flash, a big burly guy approached us, demanding to know who we were. I showed him our passes and explained that I was reviewing the show. Skeptically, he questioned if we had made or stolen the passes. Finally he gave up, and returned a few minutes later with the musician’s road manager and guitar tech, who proceeded to try and feed us booze and joints in abundance. Finally we slipped away from the conversation that had turned from light-hearted banter to coaxing and creepy. We literally snuck out of backstage in order to enjoy the show. 

Half the time I go to shows I am greeted with skepticism that I’m on the “press list.” One time, a security guard didn’t even look at the list. I reiterated that I was reviewing the show, and finally he sighed, looked at the list and was surprised to see my name. When I asked him why he was so defiant, he said that there have been girls in the past that say that and are just trying to get into the show. Okay; well that doesn’t mean that you can’t continue to do your job. 

There have even been times where a musician didn’t want to be interviewed in person by a female journalist. I can only assume that this is because they themselves don’t want to cause any issue for a girlfriend or wife, and it’s just a personal rule. This type of situation is rare, but still astounds me. Nothing can be more frustrating for a writer then trying to build a career on talent and knowledge, with the double whammy of having to prove oneself as a woman. I believe in my craft, but there are times I have to force certain thoughts out of my head: Am I here because I’m talented, or because there’s an inkling in a guy’s mind that he might get laid? 

For example: I have a male friend; a very talented writer; who began writing professionally about a year ago. In that time span, he has hung out with more of the musicians he’s interviewed far more often than I have. They invite him on the bus for a beer and a shot, accepting him immediately as one of the guys. He’s never seen as a threat. But when I get an invite to meet an artist for drinks or lunch, I’m left wondering if my acceptance is going to be read into as a flirtation. 

In the end, my goal has always been to show society the positive intelligence of the heavy metal genre.  All I can do is help increase the credibility and visibility of female heavy metal journalists; and one day, it truly won’t matter if you’re a musician, a vocalist, a fan or a journalist. As long as you’re a chick passionate about metal and loving the music, there won’t be any questions about why you’re there. 

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Journalism Tips #21: ‘Making The Most Of Your New Music Coverage’

Thank you for joining us for another installment in our our ongoing Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the couple months we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. Today we are continuing that effort with a response to a question posed by multiple readers in regard to how writers can make the most of their upcoming album coverage. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

New music is at the core of every writer’s efforts. Whether it’s reviewing, discovering, promoting, or generally updating readers, nearly every single thing we music writers post about in our day to day lives revolves around the idea of exposing more people to new music. Many sites, however, fail to properly explore every avenue for content creation when approaching coverage for a new release. There is far more that can be done than your typical review and interview column. So, with that in mind, we put together this handy dandy guide to maximizing your coverage of the next big release:

Album Announcement/News:

This is where it all begins. If you want to have the biggest return for your efforts you need to make it a point to follow the promotional campaign of new releases from the moment they begin. Response and clicks may be slow at first, but as you continue to cover the album you and your site will be a reputation amongst the fans of that particular artist and your overall following will grow. In order to become a site people frequent they need to believe you will always be on top of their favorite artist’s next move.

Album Review:

This is your basic ‘bread and butter’ coverage. If you want to talk about music you are probably already writing album and/or single reviews. Don’t stop. People may tell you professional criticism is dead, but it is not. With the amount of music available at an all time high it is more important than ever that the world have tastemakers people are able to connect and relate to. You and your site should be the lighthouse on the shore of an endless sea of content, each drop representing one artist hoping for mentions and coverage in the press.

Interview (email or phone):

Along with album reviews, this is the most common type of coverage to be created around new releases. Interviews are great because they allow you to connect with new readers by first forging a connection with a musician who is working as hard as possible to make creating art their career. These efforts forge relationships and networking opportunities that would otherwise be impossible to create.

Exclusive Premieres:

This is the holy grail of coverage, and it’s not hard to understand why. Partnering with an artist to premiere unreleased content from their album is guaranteed to bring a wealth of new visitors to your site. Artists will promote your content on all their networks, and in many cases their PR team will also send out a press release. Young writers and sites my have a hard time locking in big premieres, but with consistent posting and hard work it’s possible to position yourself to be among the first consider for an artist’s next big reveal.

Track-By-Track:

This could fall under exclusives, but it’s one piece of content that is often overlooked, especially with young/up and coming artists. Track-by-track features transform your website into the ultimate artist to fan digital engagement this side of streaming video. Lyrics are incredibly important when it comes to forging a connection with listeners, and as host to the secrets behind the songs your site is viewed as being close with talent. Artists trust you enough to host the true motivations behind songs that potentially change countless lives. It’s a big honor, regardless of the size of the talent’s fan base.

Listicle:

I call this the ‘Buzzfeed Approach.’ Create a list that correlates to the artist’s new release. It does not have to be deep or complex, but it’s never a bad thing to challenge yourself. Not everyone is a fan of the listicle, but in terms of generating more clicks for your site it’s easily created content that is easy to digest. I don’t know if anyone has cracked the code behind why people like sharing listicles, but it’s digital trend that shows no signs of slowing anytime soon.

Custom Editorial:

This is my favorite of the bunch. If you’re going to write about the music your passionate about it only makes sense to share the reasons you care so much with your readers. You can choose a single track or an entire record, either way the goal of these articles should be to share a piece of yourself with readers by leveraging the popularity of an upcoming release. Fans of that artist seeking others to be excited with will find your content and feel a connection with you and the work you do. In some cases, that alone can be enough to make them a reader for life.

Album Previews:

Last, but certainly not least, those fortunate enough to hear an album in advance of its release can craft content to excite fans for the record’s eventual street date. Some sites frame this content as ‘first impressions,’ but be careful to not cross the line and write a full blown review. There is a difference, and if your ‘advanced preview’ reads more like a ‘super early review’ you could risk upsetting industry contacts. 

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How To Become An Online Music Writer

Hello, everyone. We know the demands of the day are many, and we thank you for carving out even a few brief minutes of your time to spend clicking around on this blog. We use this site as a way to spread our message about the importance of building a better music industry, as well as means to showcase the talented people who work behind-the-scenes of the music business to ensure you know everything everyone could ever hope to know about your favorite musician. If you have any questions about the content of the blog, or if you would like more information regarding the distributional services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

Every week we engage with a number of different personalities from around the music blogging scene, and every week we seem to come away from those interactions with a new perspective on the business as a whole. Most of these conversations are captured in the interview you see appear on this blog every couple of days, but every now and then a story is shared that is too good to be delivered in any way other than how it is told by the person who experienced it first hand. Such is the case with the post you’re about to enjoy.

Bradley Dillon, otherwise known as Brad or B-Rad (I may have made that one up), has been blogging about music for a handful of years at this point, and he recently shared with me a desire to help the next generation of online music writers prepare to enter the scene. I told him about our ‘Journalism Tips’ series, but as we continued our discussion I realized Bradley would need to share his own journey in order to properly set up the lesson he wanted to share. With that in mind, we decided together to create the following feature which recounts Bradley’s time in music, as well as the advice he has to offer others hoping to become more involved in online music coverage. You can find his journey and thoughts below.

If you would like to learn more about Bradley and his efforts in music writing, please take a few moments to follow The New Fury on Twitter. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.

Hi, I’m Bradley. I run TheNewFury.com and I’m in love with writing, sports, and music. I’m known as “that guy who does interviews” in my local scene, but not many people know how I got my start in music journalism. This is my story.

It was the end of 2011. I had just moved in with my grandparents in St Pete, and I had been to some awesome shows that year – saw Underoath, As I Lay Dying, and many more bands. I also helped my friend Lisa film a few interviews with The Chariot and Upon a Burning Body. It was pretty sweet to be able to talk to those bands for a while about…everything.

Fast forward to the end of December. I was awake late one night and got to thinking – why am I not in the music scene? I’m no musician – but I do love many different bands, bands I know people need to hear.

I started going to a few local shows and interviewing them. Bands like Coralise, Blunt Trauma, and some band called Dark Sermon – maybe you’ve heard of them. The local scene back then was awesome – and it’s still solid today.

It was a week or so later I got a message from one Tim Morris of IMSZine, one that would change my life very much. He immediately saw my potential (and lack of direction) and taught me almost everything I know – how to email people, post on WordPress, and much more. 

It was then I started going to more shows in 3 months than I had ever been in my life. Local bands, huge tours, you name it – I was likely there. I even hit up bands I wasn’t interviewing in person on the day of shows for interviews – Man Overboard, Seahaven, and a lot more. What’s more interesting is I never really got turned down. But it takes a lot of balls to do something like that. 

Going to Warped Tour, Summer Slaughter, and Uproar Fest all in one year was a highlight, too. I never thought I’d get to interview Periphery, Memphis May Fire, or New Found Glory – some of my favorite bands at the time.

Fast forward a year later, and unfortunately Tim and I went our separate ways (he runs Rise Above The Anchor now, you should check it out) and I was left with a choice – join another blog and not have creative control, or venture on my own, do everything myself, and really learn how to use WordPress?

I chose the latter. 

Sure, I had to get some help from my friends (my friend Matt hosts my server and manages it for me, my ex-Facebook wife Taylor did the backgrounds for me) but I learned a lot on my own, and I’m very glad it all happened like this. 

Where I’m at now, you ask? I’m still attending every show I can get my legs to, I finally am getting a good staff together, and I’d like to think TNF is helping people discover new bands before anyone else. 

That’s my story. 

You may be asking yourself, “how do I get into the industry?”. It’s honestly not too hard (if you have a passion for writing and music) but here’s some things you can do to get a leg up.

First, decide if you’re wanting to join another website, or start an entity of your own. I started an entity of my own – but it took me a while to hone my craft. My vision (an amalgamation of love for 80’s-90’s alternative rock, sludge metal, post-metal, and other somewhat niche genres combined with my love for nu-metal and today’s cutting edge prog rock bands) is certainly not going to be yours. 

It’s hard to keep motivation high when you’re not making much money (I’m still not) but there’s plenty of perks – free music, meeting your favorite bands, and being guest listed for many shows. I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything.

If you’re wanting to contribute to someone else’s vision, it may be your best bet. You likely won’t see money (unless you’re really, REALLY good) but you’ll likely see more people reading your material, which can be awesome. The choice is yours, and yours alone. 

I was lucky enough to find someone who saw my potential, but the same thing may not happen to you. My advice? Find your niche. Write what you love. If you’re interviewing a well-known band, don’t write generic questions that everyone has already asked. Make the interview a conversation.

I may have a love for writing, but keep something in mind – I’m very socially awkward. I rarely know how to act in front of people and I’m often in my own little world. 

If I can do this, you can do it too. Have a vision. Whether or not I do this for the next 5-10 years, I wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything – whether it’s hanging out with my friends in Silver Snakes at a restaurant in Ybor City, or doing an impromptu interview on Wolves At The Gate’s tour bus, everything I do for TNF isn’t work – it’s a blast.

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Journalism Tips #10: ‘Making The Most Of Email Interviews’

Hello and welcome to the tenth installment of our Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the last month we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. Today we are continuing that effort with a response to a question posed by one reader in regards to one can make the most of email interviews. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

Let me preface this article with two caveats. Firstly, there’s no right way to conduct an interview (aside from maintaining some professionalism). Everyone develops their own style, and what’s right for me might not be right for you. My style tends toward the conversational. It’s not that I don’t prep questions. I actually prep a lot of them, more than I could reasonably ask. But I treat those questions as guideposts – they’re places to stop at and explore along the journey of a conversation, not turn-by-turn directions to be followed in strict linear sequence. Sure, I make certain to hit on the points I want to hit on, but I don’t worry too much about how I’m going to get to them – if things go as planned, I generally find I wind up in those places without really having to try. If it’s interesting to you, it will be interesting to your readers, so trust your gut and go off-script if you’re onto something interesting.

That leads to the second caveat: I abhor email interviews, because they don’t offer any interplay. (I don’t even like phoners; so much is said in body language). They’re craft, not art; they’re classical, not jazz. Useful for gathering basic info, to be sure, but no fun, and your readers will snuff it out in a heartbeat. The original premise of this article was going to spend time on how to make the most of an email interview, but it turns out I don’t really have any good advice. You have Google, you have Facebook and Twitter, you know how to find whatever info about a band is already out there – I don’t need to tell you how to do your homework. Just try and ask the questions you’re genuinely curious about, in a way that lets the interviewee elaborate, and trust that your readers want to know the same things you do. 

Email interviews aside, the best tip I can give for garnering a revealing interview is to let your subject do just that: reveal themselves. Give them room to answer; let them ramble. Let your interviewee follow their own train of thought – if they briefly touch on something that merits further exploration, make a mental note to come back to what they said, but don’t interrupt their flow.  

If there’s a pause in the conversation, I try to hold back, to let the moment breathe for a second rather than jumping in with another question right away. In doing so, I’m creating silence. Why? Because silence is awkward, and that awkwardness is something you can use to your advantage. Nobody likes awkward silences, and if you don’t fill that silence, odds are your subject will, often with things they would never have said otherwise. I’ve frequently found that the best, most interesting answer is the one that comes after the stock answer, when my interviewee suddenly finds themselves unexpectedly digging for something more to say. Sometimes, they even surprise themselves with what they reveal in those moments. My best interviews are the ones where I manage to make my subject feel comfortable while simultaneously keeping them ever-so-slightly off-balance. It’s definitely not a technique that comes easily or naturally, but it’s well worth practicing.

Yes, practicing. Especially when you’re first starting out, take every interview opportunity you can get, and pursure the ones that aren’t presented. There are a million bands out there dying to have someone talk to them, even if the results are just going to end up on a personal blog that nobody but their friends will ever see. There are plenty of times I’ve interviewed bands whose music I don’t care for, or about. Remember, your interview isn’t about the music, not really; it’s about the musician, and people are endlessly fascinating. Every artist has a story to sell, but there’s always a story behind the story, too. That’s the part that I find compelling, and it’s the part your readers will find compelling. The facts are important, sure, but – unless you’re getting an exclusive – every interview that artist does will contain those same facts. It’s the other stuff that will make your interview worth reading. I love the challenge of trying to unearth that hidden substory. The more interviews I do, the better I get at it.

There are even occasions where I’ve interviewed bands whose music I haven’t even heard. Usually, that involves a publicist throwing one of their baby bands in front of me  while I’m waiting on the artist I’m scheduled to chat with. It’s a dirty trick, but it happens. Instead of treating it as an annoyance, treat it as an opportunity to practice your skills. Even if it goes terribly, what have you got to lose aside from a couple minutes of your day? Also, it will keep you in said publicist’s good graces, which is always a plus, because access is everything.

When you’re done, take the time to listen back to your interviews. There’s nothing I hate more than transcribing a long audio interview, and yet it’s a vitally important part of my process, because it forces me to rehear as a third party what I originally heard as a participant. Generally, I give one listen while I transcribe; a second listen after transcription is done, to make sure that what I’ve written is accurate and captures the context and mood in which things were said; and then, finally, a full read through of the written interview to ensure for clarity and flow. Remember, it’s not just about getting a good interview, it’s about writing a good interview, and those aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Throughout, I’m not just listening for accuracy. I’m paying attention to what I should have asked but didn’t; noting where I jumped in when I should have let my subject talk; and listening for things I should have keyed in on for follow-up, but missed. Every mistake is a learning opportunity, a chance for me to do better the next time out. Because ultimately, interviewing is like any other skill – the more you work at it, the better you will be. 

Jesse Richman is a contributor to PropertyOfZack and someone you generally need to know in the alternative music scene. If you would like to learn more about Jesse’s efforts, be sure to follow him on Twitter.

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Journalism Tips #8 ‘Don’t Let The Internet Ruin Your Feature’

One of the most exciting things about starting a new column is seeing how you, our readers, engage with the content and help shape it moving forward. In the weeks since Journalism Tips launched we have been inundated with requests for columns on various aspects of the music writing world, and we plan to tackle each one over time. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

We talk a lot about music piracy and the way it impacts the lives of artists, but album leaks have a way of hurting writers as well. The Rolling Stones of the world may be able to rely on their hundreds of thousands of dedicated readers to support them day in and day out, but writers on the rise and sites just starting to develop their brand rely heavily on features and exclusive content to help bring attention to their efforts. When albums leak in advance of their intended release date the content writers have planned is likely to suffer a drop in appeal. Song premieres are usually the worst hit, but even reviews and interviews can see a dip depending on when the album leaks in relation to its street date and whether or not people seem to like it.

There is not much you can do to prevent pirates from leaking music aside from not supporting or promoting their efforts, but there are ways to alter your original content plans to pull in readers regardless of an album’s availability online.

Address the leak and explain how your content will offer superior sound quality.

The one thing artists hate as much as seeing their music leak is seeing a poor quality version of their music leak. First impressions are everything, and that goes double when the decision of whether or not to spend money on something (in this case, an artist’s music) is concerned.

If you see content you plan to feature leak, take it upon yourself to begin promoting the quality of the audio you will be hosting through your various social networks. There may be a version of the album online, but you have the ‘studio version’ of the recording you plan to share.

A lot of artists take this additional promotional angle into their own hands by creating lyric videos or similar accompanying content in advance of planning exclusives. These artists should be your best friend and whenever you cross paths with them in real life you need to give them all the high fives your hands can stand because they ‘get it.’

I do not advise creating a blog post about the leak. No one (labels, publicists, artists, etc.) appreciates that stuff.

Go ‘Behind The Music’

When albums leak more than a few days before their scheduled release date, it’s possible your site will find itself with a song premiere fans are now less interested in than they were prior to the album leak. Your traffic will still see a bump, and you will most likely still receive a mention in press releases, but the young people who actually engage with the artist day in and day out will have already heard whatever exclusive you have planned. What they may not have heard, however, is the story behind the song. By requesting a quote from the artists on the inspiration for the song, or perhaps some information on the artist’s studio experience, you will be able to create more dynamic content that has a ‘cool’ factor which extends beyond the song at the center of the article.

You can also take things further and request an interview with artist, but time constraints may make such undertakings impossible.

Ask for a contest / something to expand your offering

One thing people love more than the allure of free digital music is the allure of free vinyl and/or concert tickets. Most people are willing to work with sites to create contests, and many have both tickets and physical copies of the album to give away. If a leak should occur, draft an original contest tie-in for the exclusive you are planning to run and ask if the band is interested in working with you. Most will see the opportunity as another way to detract attention from the leak and pounce.

Creativity goes a long way with this tip. I advise making those who want to enter share your content on various networks (tagging both you and the artist as part of their entry).

Prepare for the worst

We ran a column last week that advised every artist, regardless of genre or level of success, to create a plan of action in case their album should leak. Writers need to put similar contingency plans in place should their features be spoiled by the internet.

Whenever you have the opportunity to set up a song premiere or related exclusive with an artist, think ahead and ask yourself: “What would make this content irresistible to the band’s fans?” Your role as a music writer is more than copy and pasting code and album information from one page to another. Create something worth reading and, perhaps more importantly, something worth sharing. Readers will appreciate it and artists will too.

(Special thanks to Jonathan Barkan of Bloody-Disgusting and Jordan Mohler of Kill The Music for their help in creating this article.)

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Common Mistakes Artists Need To Avoid When Contacting Journalists

Hello and welcome to another week of music industry insight and advice here on the official blog of Haulix. We love to entertain, but being informative in a way that is easy to understand is always our primary goal. If you have an idea for this blog, or if you would like to learn more about the digital distribution services we offer, please do not hesitate to email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. If you prefer social media, feel free to reach out to us on Facebook and Twitter. 

There are more music zines, blogs, forums, and fan sites now than ever before in the history of entertainment. If you have a unique audio creation to promote, there is most certainly a corner of the internet’s boundless landscape waiting to devour every second you lay to digital tape. You already know this, of course, which is why you’re so excited to send press kits, press releases, and every type of blanket promotional messaging you can think of to any writer whose email address has been foolishly made available to the general public. We don’t think that is the best way to get your name out there, but if you think it will work for you then by all means give it a go. After all, sometimes the best way to learn is through trial and error.

If you can resist hitting the send button for just a few minutes, however, there are a few simple tips we can offer to help increase your music’s chances of receiving consideration. It’s not a guaranteed formula for success by any means, but if you avoid the following common pitch messaging mistakes you will have an upper hand on the countless bands who are also competing for those writers’ attention.

1. Forgetting to properly introduce yourself

Most small bands handle their own press, but some choose to let friends and small PR firms lend a hand as well. Either way, make sure the person handling your band’s publicity identifies themselves across all messaging and social networks. There are few things more frustrating than receiving genuinely promising music delivered by people who failed to make their own identities known to the people they are writing. It may sound like a hard mistake to make, but it actually occurs quite frequently. Musicians want to share the good news of their exciting new sounds so badly they forget the importance of introductions, leaving journalists to wonder whether the person writing them is a fan of the band, an incredibly amateur publicist, or a member of the group themselves.

In short, don’t let bandname123@gmail.com be your only calling card.

2. Forgetting bios and contact information

This one goes hand-in-hand with number 1. Don’t let the thrill of possibly having your latest creation shared on a popular music publication distract you from covering the basic steps of artist promotion. Introduce yourself and your music, share your latest news, and then provide enough supplemental information that the journalist receiving your materials can create their content without a lengthy string of emails. Your messaging needs to provide everything writers and their readers may need or want to know about you and your music, including your history as an artist and where you can be found online. No one wants to write about someone they’ve never heard or who has no history and seemingly no presence online.

3. No photo

Essentially every website uses photos when creating new content. Whether it’s a review, news tidbit, interview, or something else, sites who cover your music will need photos to help sell the content to their readers. Including an image with your pitch email, or at least a link to an image stored online (via dropbox, for example) makes it easier for journalists to quickly create content around your music. If they like what they hear, but do not have any images for their article they will need to delay writing about you until finding/receiving a photo.

Remember: The fewer hurdles a journalist has to go through to cover you the better.

4. Links Don’t work

This one is just plain embarrassing. You finally get the attention of the editor you have always hoped to contact and the link you’ve supplied for your new EP is dud. Maybe you copy/pasted the wrong link, or perhaps the way you formatted your email caused an error, but either way the person you wanted to impress is now presented with a blank page informing them no such site exists.

These mistakes can momentarily squash all hopes an artist has of being covered by any publication, and the worst part of all if 99% of the time they never know it’s happening to them because they didn’t bother to check the links themselves. It’s possible the editor for Rolling Stone will write you to say the link in the email you sent about that band they had never heard of who has not done too much of note did not work, but it is far from a likely scenario. With most editors you get one chance, at least per album cycle, and broken links is a guaranteed way to get your pitch letter a one-way ticket to the trash bin.

5. Wrong Names, AKA ‘The Copy/Paste fail’

My name is James. If I receive an email to james@haulix.com and it begins ‘Dear Matt, I am writing because I am a big fan of your site,” I get a sneaking suspicion the person contacting me is being a tad disingenuous. Further, it makes me not want to read your kind words and accompanying pitch because it’s the same words you tried to sell one or more of my writing peers.

If you want to make writers think you are creating something unique you need to remember that all writers are also unique, and the same selling points that work for some will not work for others. We have stressed this in previous posts, but cannot be said enough that there is no better way to contact people than with genuinely personal emails. Use their name (and make sure it’s theirs), ask how their day is, and take the time to highlight a specific aspect or two of their craft you enjoy. Kindness and sincerity will get you much further in this business than haste and repetition. Always.

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Journalism Tips #4 – ‘How To Avoid Becoming Jaded’

Hello again. We know it’s Saturday, so before diving in we just wanted to thank you for taking a little time out from your weekend to read up on the latest industry advice and insight. We are thrilled to be sharing the fourth chapter of our ongoing ‘Journalism Tips’ series this afternoon, and at the same time a bit sad as it is the final contribution (for now) from writer Adrian Garza. We have enjoyed have his work on the site in recent weeks and encourage all of you to follow his industry efforts moving forward. 

We are always looking for new ways to expand and further refine our efforts here at Haulix. If you have an idea for this blog, or if you would like to learn more about the digital distribution services we offer, please do not hesitate to email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. If you prefer social media, feel free to reach out to us on Facebook and Twitter.

I hate admitting this, but the truth is, as one who dedicates so much time towards an involvement with music, I mistakenly became pretty arrogant and jaded about my taste. But thankfully, I eventually caught and corrected myself before I stepped on one too many toes. 

It’s scary how fast these sorts of things could happen to you if you don’t keep yourself in check. Even worse, it’s really easy to grow to get tired of some specific aspects of music, which can become a shame, because we all know that’s one of the reasons why we came into working with music: We love it. 

This isn’t what I would claim as the answer to the problem. This is just my answer to the problem. Go and make your own choices.

Realize Your Opinion Isn’t the Only One That Matters 

Fresh faces to music journalism are the ones who are most likely to come to fault here. Just because you’re in a position where complete strangers look to you for your opinions and insight on something doesn’t mean that you’re correct with what you say all of the time. More than anything, you’re just somebody who’s developed an ear for what sounds good, a talent for writing appealing articles, and a passion that drives you to put the two together. So consider yourself just another voice that can easily be ignored.

Create Something

As one who puts my own personal musical endeavors on the backburner, I occasionally pick up my guitar from time to time. Every time that I do so, I usually walk away from it feeling more inspired than ever before. It’s tricky to attempt to label down specific reasons for why this just works for me in the way that it does, but I will say that by playing along to my favorite records, it’s easy to gain a whole new level of understanding why some musicians just love to smother records with catchy and simple parts: They’re usually really, really fun to play.

Even if you have no artistic skill whatsoever, you could still get a lot out of simply sitting in on a friend’s band’s writing session or practice. Call it weird, but I find it fulfilling to see the look in a musician’s eyes when they discover a way to hike up the quality of a song just by changing up a couple parts.

Surround Yourself with People Who Are New to Music

In a very similar vein, take a look at people who are new to going to shows. It might be a little hard to believe, but that was you not too long ago. They’re having a freaking blast just by standing in the third row, and it makes their freaking day when they get the chance to meet the artist that they’ve waited “x” amount of hours to see perform for 30 minutes.

I’m not suggesting that people should return back to that state of mind, because I don’t ever see myself going back to waiting in lines just to get in early to shows, or riding city busses for 2+ hours just to pick up a physical copy of an album on its release date. That’s just way too inconvenient for me nowadays. Instead, realize that you can still re-live that and enjoy the gratification by sharing your favorite groups with friends. If they fan-boy/girl a bit, it’s only natural.  

Move on

Have you ever tried to step out past your conventional listening boundaries? There’s no way you’re literally that full of yourself that you couldn’t possibly check out a foreign genre, or even newer artists. There’s likely some redeeming quality that attracts fans to this. Branch out and try something new, because it will give you that much more of an understanding for why people enjoy their music. Don’t even think about doing this for the sake of looking “versatile” to others, do it so you’re not so close-minded and judgmental. You never know when you’ll come across your new favorite artist that inspires you to do great things, and for all you know, that could very well be a jazz fusion band. 

When he’s not getting the feels from listening to some ‘Through Being Cool,’ Adrian Garza writes at Under the Gun Review and works as the Editor-In-Chief at The Southeastern Times, Southeastern University’s student newspaper. Follow him on Twitter.

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