Steven LaClair, founder and editor for Nothing Original, joins us today to share some thoughts on email, publicity, and why many in the industry need to think about the way they communicate with music bloggers/journalists.
The time I have available to spend blogging about music has decreased dramatically over the last three years. There was a time when I could wake up at 8am, catch up on any emails I received during the night, respond, and post accordingly in a surprisingly small amount of time. Sadly, that is not the case anymore. It’s a full-time job trying to keep up on the world of music. The news cycle never stops, and falling behind can be detrimental to a blog. When I decided working 15-18 hours a day for a few dollars wasn’t worth it compared to a full-time job, I scaled everything I did back and believed I could still make my site, Nothing Original, work. I was dead wrong.
I always preferred to have a constant flow of fresh content on Nothing Original. I’d consider it a good day if I could get post somewhere around 10 articles, if not more. Going through emails and albums trying to figure out what I care about and what I think my readers would care about was fun, but it took a toll on me day after day. I kept at it though, because I love writing about music and I love sharing my opinions on music with others. I wish I could still do it, but there’s only so much time in a day. When I do have the time, I open up my email to over a hundred pitches that are a mix of press releases, requests, album advances, and whatever else a publicist or band is trying to get posted that day. It’s simply overwhelming.
Some publicists share three to four press releases a day, if not more based on the amount of clients they have and the number of releases being worked on that particular day. With ten or more publicists doing the same thing I’m receiving well over fifty emails daily, which makes determining what’s worth posting incredibly difficult, and that is before I scan the net for stories or streams I may not have been directly pitched. I have to figure out what is the best material to post and then find a way to say it that actually engages an audience that is already inundated with an untold number of headlines, advertisements, and clickbait-readied tweets before myself or the Nothing Original team even make an attempt at grabbing their attention, and I have to do all that in a very little amount of time. There is no possible way to make every publicist and every reader happy, but I do my best. Still, even on the good weeks, a lot of potentially great material gets discarded.
This is not the way writers should feel about receiving email. The idea of checking for pitches should not incite an overwhelming sense of anxiety or stress, but it does and that can lead one to wonder why they bother trying to be a writer at all. Most of us only have so much time in a day, and when we spend half of it going through just emails on things that honestly don’t really matter. What makes the first pitch from a publicist on a particular client different than the four follow-ups they send in the next two days? Writers cannot meet every request, and if we’re going to meet any while delivering quality content to our readers then writers’ schedules needs to be considered. I’m not asking for a world where we only receive one email a day, but I am asking for those pitching writers to be more considerate in the amount of content they shovel our way. Make the headline grab our attention, ensure the content is remotely interesting and keep it short. Also, don’t follow-up more than once in 48 hours.
I love writing about music and I wish I had more time to do it, but the truth of the matter is that adulthood and the responsibilities that come with it make writing for next to nothing a hard hobby to justify. When I do have the time, I wish looking through requests wasn’t a chore. Let us care about your band. Make each band try and seem special to you. Making them feel special to you will make the band feel important to us and then hopefully we can write about it. Make your emails and requests count. I can’t meet them all, but I’d like to at least try.
Hello and welcome back to the Haulix spotlight series. So far this week we have spoken to an entrepreneurial publicist and an industry professional who takes on multiple job titles in order to chase his dreams. Today’s talent is nothing like these two, but his journey is nonetheless inspiring. If you know of a writer or site we should cover in a future spotlight column (including yourself), please do not hesitate to contact james@haulix.com and share your story.
The amount of sites covering alternative music in recent years has ballooned in big way, but sadly the variety of content being offered has not. Most sites post carbon copies (or in some cases, literal copies) of press releases and/or band announcements in full with only a handful of accompanying sentences actually being written by a contributing team member. It’s not as much journalism as it ‘bulletin board’ style announcing, but based on the success sites using this method of writing have found it’s easy to see how some may think the world no longer needs people who are willing to do the work of actually putting together a story. Still, in the face of this over-simplification there remains a few willing to put in the added effort, and today we’re going to learn about one such individual.
Steven LaClair is about as punk as it gets when it comes to music bloggers. He didn’t start writing with plans of exposing bands he loved or sharing the latest music videos, but rather to discuss topics in music he saw other sites avoiding. He realized that many writers worry going against “the machine” will lead to the demise of their career and decided to take it upon himself to inform the world. Those actions lead to the birth of his site, Nothing Original, and today we’re going to cover everything that came after.
Music blogging needs more people like Steven LaClair. He and I have only recently gotten to know one another, but in the process of learning his story I realized how ‘safe’ my own efforts in writing had become. He finds a balance between informative and op-ed writing that feels more welcoming than preachy, and I sincerely hope others soon follow in his footsteps.
If you would like to learn more about Steven, be sure to stop by Nothing Original as soon as time allows. Any questions or comments can be left at the end of this post.
H: For those unaware, please state your name, the site you work for, and your role at said site:
SL: I’m Steven LaClair, the owner and editor-in-chief at Nothing Original Media!
H: To what or whom do you attribute your interest in music?
SL: I was that guy and played the trumpet in junior high through college. I found my passion for music from playing the trumpet, it was a jumping point into other fields of music.
H: Who is your biggest inspiration as a writer?
SL: My college English professors really made me love writing. I scored very low in my placement test for college writing but a lot of dedicated teachers shaped my writing into what it is now.
H: What was the first album you ever purchased with your own money? Do you still own it today?
SL: Blink-182 – Enema of the State, and I do still own it!
H: You were in bands before diving into the world of music blogging. In fact, the name of your site comes from one such act. What initially attracted you to the world of music blogging?
SL: Originally, I really wanted a place to voice my opinion about some things I knew about in the music industry. Not many people were talking about certain things because they were afraid of burning a bridge or pissing off the wrong person but I didn’t have many connections at the time so I didn’t have a lot to lose.
H: You write on your site that Nothing Original has evolved into more than you ever anticipated. Do you recall the moment you realized the site was growing beyond being a simple outlet for your thoughts?
SL: I remember thinking about who I should contact for interviews, and then realizing how many requests we were getting from bands who wanted our press. I knew we had something going.
H: The site is more than just you. How many contributors do you have? How would you describe the ideal Nothing Original contributor?
SL: Nothing Original has ten people who regularly contribute their own unique thing to the site. We have one editor, two interviewers, three writers, and four photographers. When hiring, I look for someone who is motivated, can follow deadlines, and has a lot of initiative. Someone who is looking to grow with us is key to Nothing Original’s success.
H: You’re one of a handful of young sites building a brand with a Tumblr backbone. Do you think Nothing Original would exist without the micro-blogging site? Do you have any plans to expand beyond Tumblr?
SL: It would exist somewhere, we’ve used WordPress as a platform in the past for publishing content and I loved it, but the Tumblr community is so strong that it’s tough to use something else without such a developed following already. We do have some plans to expand but we can’t give away all of our secrets!
H: Video content has become a part of your site in 2013. How important is it to your overall original content goals?
SL: We always want to have Chloe doing video interviews and recording sets at shows, it’s how we started and I love that. It’s always our goal to get a video interview with an artist before anything else. We’ve invested a lot recently into new video equipment and I am hoping by the end of 2013 that you can expect our YouTube channel to fill up!
H: There are a number of sites covering the same areas of music highlighted on Nothing Original. What is it about the content you offer that separates your site from its competitors?
SL: We aren’t afraid to cover small bands who have just recorded their first EP if we see genuine potential and we aren’t afraid to cover talented musicians who fall out of the genre boundaries…like Justin Timberlake.
H: Nothing Original had been focused on helping expose young bands since day one. Where do you turn when hoping to discover new music?
SL: Friend recommendations are huge. I take their word about a band more than any polished press request. I usually dig through Spotify’s related artists or AbsolutePunk’s self-promotion forum. As far as Michigan is concerned, I’m fairly involved in the local music scene and have covered a lot of bands after going to their shows and seeing what they’re all about.
H: What are some of the biggest mistakes you see young artists make when attempting to promote themselves online?
SL: Hyping up the announcement of an announcement and then delaying the announcement for whatever reason. I understand teasing that you’re up to something, but if you’re trying to get your band out there, very few people are going to have the patience.
H: When it comes to receiving music for feature consideration, which services do you prefer and why?
SL: I love Haulix because of the simplicity it offers. Everything I could need for an artist’s upcoming release is usually sent along in a clean and organized fashion with the album advance. I also like SoundCloud due to its fantastic mobile layout and ease of use.
H: What is the hardest part of this ‘job’ you’ve made for yourself?
SL: Time management – I used to take care of the blog at nights when I had nothing else to do, but now it’s so much bigger than me. Most of the staff is in school or works outside of Nothing Original, and to fit things like writing a piece or editing photos by a certain time can be difficult. You want to follow a schedule for your viewers to get used to so they can start to look forward to the piece of content that made them a fan of your site. It’s tough when we can’t make our own deadlines because of the obligations of life.
H: How do you feel about music piracy? Can it be prevented?
SL: I’ve purchased all of my music since I was in my last year of high school. I find it more difficult to pirate music and just convenient to purchase it. Most of the time the pirated version of an album is poor quality and not worth the time.
Of course it can be prevented, but it’s tough to sell an individual on the value of music. I think record labels and artists are moving in the right direction with pushing out an album early if it leaks and by offering pre-order and purchase incentives. Technology develops rapidly and so will technology to share music easily. Streaming services will become more crucial in the next five years and will put a huge dent in music piracy.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
SL: The negative stereotype that the music industry is an awful place. Of course it has its bad ends because of bad people, but not everyone in this business is looking to take money out of your wallet while you sleep. I’ve had very few bad experiences and when you do find one of those bad people, it’s easy to spread word and get them out of there.
H: What is your ultimate career goal?
SL: I would ultimately like to do band management or write for a larger publication one day. I really love all aspects of the music industry and wouldn’t mind doing any of them in ten years. Right now, I love organizing and running Nothing Original and I think that can tie into management or a deeper field of writing some day.
H: Before we let you go, can you tell us a bit about what you have planned in the months ahead?
SL: We do plan on doing A LOT more video content, diving back into editorials and preparing more content that’s fun for us and the viewers.
