Rolling Music Writers' Thread

i’m giving up

WHAT

at every turn this year i felt either implicitly disrespected by the publications i wrote for and/or the writing and editing process itself was so horrible and full of second-guessing that i could never enjoy the work that came out of it. i couldn’t even get a band i like into a year-end list which is just the latest way in which i feel my taste and my approach as a critic and my work aren’t “correct”

just gotta figure out something else to do

More to say after lunch but short answer: hell no

i don’t feel valued as a freelancer and has been proven countless times over the past four years, no one would ever hire me. so why put myself through it xp

which band? :(

i'd rather not say

i know it's extremely dramatic to announce this in a thread on ilx but writing it to myself wasn't enough

we need good people fighting critical orthodoxy from within so this is a shame

also a shame for you obviously

this is extremely sad, but I understand it so badly.
it's a completely different reality, but I did the same in Portugal.
it's not much, but you have all my support.

I'm also sad about this, but tbh quitting pursuits that are decreasing in personal enjoyment levels and/or compensation/sustainability is a super underrated move even if it feels shitty at the time so I can't help but support this decision

thanks y'all <3

THAT SAID if you were to start some kind of monthly emo newsletter or something just to have a project, I'd throw a couple $$ at that

Brad, I won't ask for details here, but I and quite a few of us would miss your precision, grace, and humor should you renounce criticism. Even pre-internet criticism was never a numbers game. Whether it's about Van Morrison or sundry remarks here, your POV means a great deal.

thanks alfred <3

my taste and my approach as a critic and my work aren’t “correct”

ironically, about this, you are

rong

writer as worst interpreter of his own work shockah

that's not how i feel about my own work but it is how music media makes me think i should feel about my own work, if that helps

Brad's taste and approach aren't the most appealing to editors, which doesn't make them wrong, just out of sync with the lame state of music writing rn

THAT SAID if you were to start some kind of monthly emo newsletter or something just to have a project, I'd throw a couple $$ at that

― wayne trotsky (Simon H.)

same.

it’s a terrible time and brad deserves better. and so do brad’s potential readers

but there are horrible young men getting covered by tmz who happen to release music in between photo ops and court dates, and they appeal to “millennial males” so...

Brad if you hide your light under a bushel I will drive to where you are and shake you so hard

Your writing brings me great joy & your interests & passions & life experience make yours a unique voice. I hate that the industry is bringing you low <3

Brad, I get where you are coming from. You do indeed have idiosyncratic tastes, which I sometimes don't relate to, and I can imagine how that plays out at a professional level, where it's always about hyping the next big thing, or jumping on one bandwagon or another. But even when I don't get a particular band that you are championing, I always admire your passion and eloquence, and I believe the world needs more space for talented writers with unique perspectives.

that's a real shame to hear, I've always enjoyed your writing and taste Brad, so best of luck with whatever you do next

Brad i literally did a dramatic reading of some parts of your Love Deluxe review to my friend and they were like "holy shit"

but yeah, i totally get it if the way things are in the industry have beaten you down, and i hope you find a bit more peace in what you end up deciding to do. i just wanted to chime in and say your writing voice (and your taste profile) is probably one of the biggest inspirations for me both as a listener and a writer, and i know a few other young writers who'd say the same. thanks for being a great critic.

I can’t say I don’t completely relate. Idiosyncratic taste is the only thing worth anything, taste forward writing is the only honest kind

Brad, let's start an email newsletter or something about awesome rock bands. fill an unfilled niche, enjoy writing again. maybe someone who has had some success with the newsletter format (which seems to be a thing?) can provide some guidance?

Bandcamp is looking for a writer/editor to take the spot of Marcus Moore who is leaving to finish a book on Kendrick Lamar. Bandcamp wants someone who knows hiphop and jazz and more.

LA Times is hiring a music editor

https://www.journalismjobs.com/1649049-music-editor-los-angeles-times

thanks y'all, it is especially heartening to read these things from some of my favorite posters here <3

i tried doing a newsletter a few years ago but couldn't really keep up with it, but that was more a vehicle for mixes and maybe if i took that side work out of the equation i could just focus on the writing. it def wouldn't be about new emo or rock music bc... idk, it gets harder and harder for me to write anything substantial about music i haven't lived with for a while. thinking about it still

very sad to hear this brad :( :(

"Quitting pursuits that are decreasing in personal enjoyment levels and/or compensation/sustainability is a super underrated move even if it feels shitty at the time so I can't help but support this decision."

Having sacked music journalism for similar reasons, I'd say this is wise. Good luck with whatever you do next.

Only just saw this, sorry for that (full week last week). Wish I had more concrete advice to offer but ultimately I'd say you'd want to find your best balance in what is ever more increasingly a shifting-sands landscape. And I've long since concluded that there is absolutely no one sure way to do that.

Brad, nooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I know, man. I KNOW. I have had very real frustrations in the last 2-3 years and felt myself close to walking away, too. But you're too smart and knowledgeable and insightful to leave this profession. So stay.

(Your review of the last Green Day album was deeply on point. Did I mention that?)

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8530075/spin-stereogum-vibe-layoffs

Lay-offs at Spin, Stereogum, and Vibe. Includes an ilxor or maybe several.

Several friends posted updates on social media yesterday. Ugh.

Bezos shut down on 1 day notice the Express, a free Washington Post published paper that employed some arts writers

https://www.washingtonian.com/2019/09/13/the-washington-post-killed-express-in-such-a-shabby-way/

Owner of the OC Weekly suddenly shut down that Orange County , California publication

Jeff Weiss tweet excerpt: LA Weekly, OC Weekly, East Bay Express, and San Diego City Beat destroyed by greedy mayonnaise brained ghouls in the last 2 years alone. That’s basically four of the five biggest markets in California. Can’t stress how deep the impact is.

Greg Kot took a buyout at the Chicago Tribune, which is currently capitulating to new corporate overlord Alden Global Capital. He was always great to me, and a boon to the beleaguered major city paper beat.

https://www.robertfeder.com/2020/02/05/music-critic-greg-kot-leaving-chicago-tribune/

Kot taking a buyout and retiring as Chicago Tribume music critic at age 62.

Still gonna do radio show

I liked his book Ripped.

I wonder if Chicago Tribune will hire a replacement

My guess is they will appoint a nominal replacement, but everything I hear I hear out of there is dire. DeRogatis's wife worked in the arts section, and she just took a buyout, too. Budgets (and assignments) have been decimated.

Chicago Tribune has done itself no favors. Just running itself into the ground for the last decade plus. Endorsed Gary Johnson ffs. Best wishes to Kot who is by all accounts an incredibly good human.

A friend tweeted "I honestly don't remember a time when Kot wasn't the pop music critic of the Trib," which is the same for me. He'd been in that role since 1990. I haven't read his Trib reviews in a while, but I'm a longtime Sound Opinions listener, and I've always been super-impressed with his thoughtfulness and the range of music he's open to (including jazz and international stuff).

In other news , the Ringer that has some music coverage, has unionized, but it also got bought by Spotify.

This applies to any kind of online writing.

I'm sure most do already, but if you have any kind of writing on a blog or a web page, I'd start backing it up on a flash drive or something. I was thinking that some of these platforms just aren't going to survive this. You would hope they'd give notice, but you never know. I've had a homepage on Tripod (true!) for 20+ years, so--always figuring they'd disappear overnight one day--I've already done this, and also with a couple of WordPress-related things.