― uptoeleven (uptoeleven), Friday, 25 November 2005 21:55 (eighteen years ago) link
― uptoeleven (uptoeleven), Friday, 25 November 2005 22:01 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ronan (Ronan), Friday, 25 November 2005 22:03 (eighteen years ago) link
― the bellefox, Friday, 25 November 2005 22:09 (eighteen years ago) link
So if writing, and not specifically music writing, is your passion, you'll want to start thinking about other things you could cover to supplement or replace your music work.
But you know, you're not exactly "committing" to it - you could try it and just see where it leads. You might end up writing steadily for one of the three or four music publications that are worth reading, and really enjoy it. You might do it for a few years and decide to get into the industry. You might have a lot of fun and see a ton of free concerts and then go to law school.
― save the robot (save the robot), Friday, 25 November 2005 22:11 (eighteen years ago) link
I'm not entirely sure I want it to become my lifeIf you already have doubts I'm afraid they will only get bigger...
― blunt (blunt), Friday, 25 November 2005 22:18 (eighteen years ago) link
― 11V (11V), Friday, 25 November 2005 23:21 (eighteen years ago) link
― mike h. (mike h.), Friday, 25 November 2005 23:36 (eighteen years ago) link
As Kafka had it "I live for the struggle for it is all I know." Sure his novels aren't exactly a laugh a minute but it's what drove him beyond the paperwork at an insurance company for chirstsake!
― tolstoy (tolstoy), Saturday, 26 November 2005 00:24 (eighteen years ago) link
that's why i'm currently switching to be an interfax news agency correspondent/translator, ha ha
― nique (nique), Saturday, 26 November 2005 00:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― tolstoy (tolstoy), Saturday, 26 November 2005 00:26 (eighteen years ago) link
― don, Saturday, 26 November 2005 00:30 (eighteen years ago) link
― louie shelton, Saturday, 26 November 2005 00:54 (eighteen years ago) link
― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Saturday, 26 November 2005 02:14 (eighteen years ago) link
― nique (nique), Saturday, 26 November 2005 02:36 (eighteen years ago) link
― Abbadabba Berman (Hurting), Saturday, 26 November 2005 02:38 (eighteen years ago) link
― louie shelton, Saturday, 26 November 2005 02:39 (eighteen years ago) link
― athol fugard (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 26 November 2005 02:53 (eighteen years ago) link
:::(((
― nique (nique), Saturday, 26 November 2005 03:45 (eighteen years ago) link
Instead of hunting and scraping for work that I'm not always thrilled with, I work in administration for an art school. I receive a solid salary with benefits, and I never have to worry about hunting for work.
There are certain people who thrive off of this particular hustle, but I'd just like to point out that there are plenty of fulfilling writing jobs out there that don't involve journalism and allow for some artistic license.
― polyphonic (polyphonic), Saturday, 26 November 2005 04:12 (eighteen years ago) link
Society at large and most grown-ups will tell you not to be a music journalist. And, no, being a music journalist isn't Something Grown-Ups Do. If you're looking for any kind of acceptance from grown-ups (even if you do become "successful" many grown-ups will not acknowledge it as true success, but success as graspable and relevant to them as building a really intricate sand castle or something) from current or future grown-ups, you are not likely to get it. If that kind of acceptance is important to you--if you do not want to be considered eccentric or an outsider by respectable normal grown-ups--do something else.
To be successul as a music journalist (and many other vocations) you pretty much have to be obsessed with it--and in that case you pretty much don't have a choice but to become a music journalist.
I guess I heard more about why you wouldn't choose to be a music journalist than why you would...
― limeginger, Saturday, 26 November 2005 06:08 (eighteen years ago) link
especially with organizations that publish research reports -- it's a great way to get that urge out of your system without any of the pressure that comes from being "a writer."
― athol fugard (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 26 November 2005 06:19 (eighteen years ago) link
― Reggie, Saturday, 26 November 2005 06:35 (eighteen years ago) link
― Kapec, Saturday, 26 November 2005 10:21 (eighteen years ago) link
― grant, Saturday, 26 November 2005 11:08 (eighteen years ago) link
I'm not entirely sure that's true. I think my peers and social superiors would probably have more respect for me for doing this than say, pursuing a more typical "grown-up" path. It's more about whether I would find it rewarding enough to do it long term, or would simply get tired of churning out the same mind-numbing bullshit about records I couldn't give two fucks about.
I suspect I may have just answered my own question right there.
― uptoeleven (uptoeleven), Saturday, 26 November 2005 16:39 (eighteen years ago) link
Again, what's the "long-term" anymore? Do it for a couple years and see where it takes you. You'll probably get more real world experience having to interview bands and write under deadlines than at most of the office jobs out there.
― save the robot (save the robot), Saturday, 26 November 2005 16:59 (eighteen years ago) link
― nique (nique), Saturday, 26 November 2005 22:20 (eighteen years ago) link
― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Saturday, 26 November 2005 22:22 (eighteen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 26 November 2005 23:24 (eighteen years ago) link
and, like, only other oldsters listened to john peel, didn't they? daddio.
― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Sunday, 27 November 2005 00:15 (eighteen years ago) link
this is very true. most people don't follow one career path anymore; that's a holdover from the days when there was such a thing as job security.
― athol fugard (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 27 November 2005 00:21 (eighteen years ago) link
― athol fugard (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 27 November 2005 00:24 (eighteen years ago) link
OTM
― Huk-L (Huk-L), Sunday, 27 November 2005 02:42 (eighteen years ago) link
I wish I had had that feeling!
― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Sunday, 27 November 2005 02:46 (eighteen years ago) link
I got forwarded a posting about a music blogging job opportunity and one of the stipulations was that you had to read 200 blogs on google reader a day
sounds like some sort of personal hell, tbh
― Oh boy, ILX! That's where I'm a Whiney! (dyao), Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:00 (fourteen years ago) link
how often are you allowed to pee?
― cool and remote like dancing girls (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:03 (fourteen years ago) link
What, exactly, were the other stipulations?
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:06 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/2009/04/prison.jpgread yr blogs
― tylerw, Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:07 (fourteen years ago) link
You couldn't date, you need fresh sand in your litter box, and contact lenses are not included.
― cool and remote like dancing girls (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:07 (fourteen years ago) link
hmm you have to oversee a couple of interns, be able to write on a deadline (not too pitchfork-y or press release-y), work at an office in NY
― Oh boy, ILX! That's where I'm a Whiney! (dyao), Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:10 (fourteen years ago) link
not too pitchfork-y or press release-y
Just kind of journalist...y?
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:10 (fourteen years ago) link
i'd be very interested to see a list of music journalists who aren't the editor of something, who currently, in 2010, live off of it.
― black sheep boys and chips ahoys (kiss out the jams), Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:14 (fourteen years ago) link
you are in a field
― super sexy psycho fantasy world (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 10 December 2009 23:30 (4 months ago)
it is dark now
you sleep
it is day
you take out your notepad
on it, you find a picture of your face
the notepad, you realize, is a mirror
you write a note
― super sexy psycho fantasy world (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 10 December 2009 23:31 (4 months ago)
it is night
you are sleepy
you look at the notepad
you fall into the notepad
into the notepad
in front you, you see your wife
― super sexy psycho fantasy world (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 10 December 2009 23:32 (4 months ago)
your child is in your arms
your face is covered with blood
― super sexy psycho fantasy world (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 10 December 2009 23:33 (4 months ago)
you write on your notepad
you are a journalist
― sausage s4rgent (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:16 (fourteen years ago) link
the job descript says "show that you can write in an animated, intelligent way" that's not too "insider-y, pitchfork academic, or brainless PR"...y
anyway if anyone's interested on this board webmail me and I can forward you the posting. it's for /\/\TV but tbh it sounds like it's for a fresh grad who's willing to live off of cheerios
― dyao, Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:17 (fourteen years ago) link
Not much different from any other grad.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 28 April 2010 15:19 (fourteen years ago) link
My friend Polly of the Popinjays always said being in a band was for people who hadn't grown up yet
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Wednesday, 28 April 2010 18:16 (fourteen years ago) link
is music journalism really a career for an adult?
― emotional radiohead whatever (Jordan), Wednesday, 28 April 2010 18:24 (fourteen years ago) link
― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Wednesday, 28 April 2010 18:25 (fourteen years ago) link
― ksh, Wednesday, 28 April 2010 18:41 (fourteen years ago) link
<3 JD
― maura, Sunday, 30 July 2017 01:43 (six years ago) link
Heavy third to that.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 30 July 2017 01:53 (six years ago) link
Though it's written by a movie critic, I thought this article provided some interesting insight into the reviewing/rating process. He talks about exactly what the difference is between a two-star and a three-star movie, etc.
― grawlix (unperson), Sunday, 30 July 2017 14:02 (six years ago) link
Speaking as an "artist" in another medium, I love good journalism and criticism. It has regularly opened my eyes to seeing things differently and informed my creativity. Carry on, jurnos.
― yesca, Sunday, 30 July 2017 14:14 (six years ago) link
how much of "music journalism" is album reviews at this point, anyway? It seems like what people pay attention to (or at least what I see people post about on fb) are interviews or concert or festival reviews. The only album reviews I see getting shared are by obscure acts mostly in the vein of, "Hey someone actually published something about us!"
But I'm not a music journalist, so *shruggy emoticon*
― sarahell, Monday, 31 July 2017 01:15 (six years ago) link
... okay, also obituaries and "scene reports" -- but seriously, I don't really think very many people I know read reviews of widely available popular music, because they can just listen to it themselves for free with nominal effort. Who cares what some writer thinks.
― sarahell, Monday, 31 July 2017 01:20 (six years ago) link
^ yeah. Only time I read a review of something is if it's a new record by an artist I'm psyched about and cannot help but want to know what it sounds like ahead of time.
― Week of Wonders (Ross), Monday, 31 July 2017 01:44 (six years ago) link
Obituaries, definitely. Number-one growth industry after wind power.
― clemenza, Monday, 31 July 2017 01:46 (six years ago) link
the original piece sort of tiptoed around this, but there's something very demoralizing about how how this whole discussion cycle started with Kings of Leon and Chance waging proxy-wars-via-employers on twentysomething writers over some "offensive" mildly critical reviews of their work, yet music writers receive far worse pretty much every time they publish anything that isn't glowing (or if it's glowing about the "wrong" artist) and they're told to just get a thicker skin
― sick, fucking funny, and well tasty (katherine), Monday, 31 July 2017 01:54 (six years ago) link
Whoa man
Brutal words from new MTV president Chris McCarthy re: MTV News, whose staff he fired. It's from this NYT profile: https://t.co/u7aottjQmX pic.twitter.com/9IGAJIviCs— Andy Dehnart (@realityblurred) July 30, 2017
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 31 July 2017 03:14 (six years ago) link
― grawlix (unperson), 30. juli 2017 16:02 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Wow, I hated hated hated that article. Zero stars. So wrongheaded about criticism. Though I guess I'm lucky that I pick and choose my reviews as well, so I don't have to think about how Kevin Smith would fit into my rating system. But this description of a four-star film is horrible and convinces me I never need to read that critic:
Every so often, though, I don't have anything to complain about. (It's rare, I know.) The movie starts clearly, and with a strong point of view. The actors disappear into their characters, and the characters have their own emotional logic. The plot is intriguing as it unfolds -- and yet afterwards, often seems inevitable, because it springs directly from the way these people would act. The cinematography and editing and music are both artistic and modest - serving the story stylishly while never only calling attention to themselves.
― Frederik B, Monday, 31 July 2017 09:46 (six years ago) link
i bet that guy's a blast on tindr
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 31 July 2017 19:40 (six years ago) link
... okay, also obituaries and "scene reports" -- but seriously, I don't really think very many people I know read reviews of widely available popular music, because they can just listen to it themselves for free with nominal effort. Who cares what some writer thinks.― sarahell, Sunday, July 30, 2017 9:20 PM (six days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― sarahell, Sunday, July 30, 2017 9:20 PM (six days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Reviews, historically, were probably only useful within the narrow purview of music nerds - and most people aren't hardcore music nerds - but I still utilize them to figure out who to check out among the vast array of new-to-me artists. I kind of agree with you about artists you already have affection for; no matter what the reviews are for the new War on Drugs record, for example, I'm going to check it out.
― Rod Steel (musicfanatic), Saturday, 5 August 2017 23:21 (six years ago) link
welp looks like MTV.com laying off good writers and pivoting to video is really paying off!!
https://s7.postimg.org/oio71kbuz/mtv-stats.jpg
― Universal LULU Nation (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 21:01 (six years ago) link
Cool, cool
https://amp.theguardian.com/media/2021/jan/23/rolling-stone-magazine-culture-council-publication?fbclid=IwAR130Avc5Rgsem1uKWf6l3HLnB70iSzBvzVaqI9Nx0n6WFoNEA1aTz1OSTo
― Everything's Blue In This Whorl (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 23 January 2021 11:43 (three years ago) link
Ugh
― Next Time Might Be Hammer Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 23 January 2021 11:51 (three years ago) link
At least they've been marking them off separately.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Saturday, 23 January 2021 13:33 (three years ago) link
Rolling Stone seeks wallet council to submit for inspection
― the scamp has a thousand fries (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 23 January 2021 13:42 (three years ago) link
Every thought leader needs their thought sheeple tbf - just boycott this shitrag and encourage everyone else to do so imo
― imago, Saturday, 23 January 2021 13:44 (three years ago) link
wow going the Forbes route
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 23 January 2021 15:00 (three years ago) link
One of the best writers I know is an editor at Rolling Stone right now. I honestly feel bad for him, going down with the ship like this.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Saturday, 23 January 2021 15:04 (three years ago) link
I dealt with a couple of RS contributing editors recently and they seemed liked pretty good guys as some others that knew them confirmed. Hint: the two of them are best friends since college.
― Next Time Might Be Hammer Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 23 January 2021 15:10 (three years ago) link
i think im gonna do it
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Saturday, 23 January 2021 15:17 (three years ago) link
idk just for a year or two, see if it gets my followers up
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Saturday, 23 January 2021 15:18 (three years ago) link
O_O
― Inside there's a box and that box has another box within (Sund4r), Saturday, 23 January 2021 15:30 (three years ago) link
https://amp.?fbclid=IwAR130Avc5Rgsem1uKWf6l3HLnB70iSzBvzVaqI9Nx0n6WFoNEA1aTz1OSToman I hate it when journalistic outlets run into financial straits in the current publishing environment
― shivers me timber (sic), Saturday, 23 January 2021 17:00 (three years ago) link
lol
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Saturday, 23 January 2021 18:27 (three years ago) link
The answer for this thread title is “no but it should be”
― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Saturday, 23 January 2021 18:48 (three years ago) link
Otm.
― meticulously crafted, socially responsible, morally upsta (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 23 January 2021 18:48 (three years ago) link
Looked up the lyrics for "Cover of the Rolling Stone" and made an attempt at a Rob Sheffield-style rewrite. ("Thoreau is like Ralph Emerson/Ralph Emerson is what I read!") Quickly gave up--virtually impossible to work in "Just to be clear, you'll be paying them."
― clemenza, Saturday, 23 January 2021 19:14 (three years ago) link
Rolling Stone rescinded my job offer after I attempted to negotiate the salary. https://t.co/FVRCQRKaaN— kate lindsay (@kathrynfiona) January 22, 2021
― Everything's Blue In This Whorl (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 25 January 2021 13:22 (three years ago) link
I don't know if anyone gets Todd Burns' Substack newsletter, but this was pretty funny in this morning's:
Corrections Department
Last week, I wrote that Rolling Stone is paying thought leaders to write for them. It is, in fact, the opposite. Rolling Stone is asking thought leaders to pay Rolling Stone to write for the magazine. Which is, uh, quite a difference.
― clemenza, Monday, 1 February 2021 16:06 (three years ago) link
OnThisDay 1978: The Clash’s Joe Strummer and Rick Wakeman from Yes discussed the press with music journalists Nick Kent and Ray Coleman. pic.twitter.com/dGfF2SbX4e— BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) May 20, 2021
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 20 May 2021 13:35 (three years ago) link