{"id":763,"date":"2013-06-07T12:47:23","date_gmt":"2013-06-07T11:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/?p=763"},"modified":"2016-10-03T00:30:52","modified_gmt":"2016-10-02T23:30:52","slug":"writing-about-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/writing-about-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing about music"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

New approaches to music journalism<\/h1>\n

The Editor in Chief \u00a0thinks about news ways of writing about live music and the bands and artists that make it\u00a0\u220f<\/p>\n

Read this on the Editorial column<\/a><\/p>\n

7th August 2013<\/p>\n

Trevor Locke writes:<\/p>\n

How to get paid for writing about music<\/h2>\n

Thanks to James Hickingbottom for commenting “I love writing about music, I just want to get paid for it for once ” on\u00a0our Facebook wall. I challenged him to write about this but I thought I would give it a try myself.<\/p>\n

People do get paid for writing about music but it tends to be where they are writing for commercially successful\u00a0paper-based magazines and newspapers. That might be strange when you realise that the subscriptions for paper-based\u00a0publications are going down as fast as on-line content is going up.<\/p>\n

Getting paid for writing about music seems to depend on (a) there being people out there who are willing to pay to read about\u00a0music and\/or (b) there being plenty of commercial advertising that can fund the process of writing and reading.<\/p>\n

Paper-based publications appear to have been successful in getting paid advertising in sufficient quantities to pay\u00a0authors fees. I am not sure that the same can be said for on-line publications.<\/p>\n

If we focus on writing about unsigned bands, is it possible that the bands themselves would pay people to write about\u00a0their records and their gigs? Not very likely I hear you say. That is mainly because unsigned bands make very little\u00a0money out of their music and certainly not enough to pay for reviews. If I write something really nice about an EP or a\u00a0live performance (of an unsigned band) they are often very (verbally) grateful but almost never put their hands into\u00a0their collective pockets and offer a gratuity for the service they have received.<\/p>\n

It costs me money to write about bands: particularly where I go to gigs and spend a fairly long time watching a band play\u00a0and then going home and writing about it. In the time I am at the venue I might spend a tenner or more if I can there for\u00a0the whole evening. Ok I get the valuable pleasure of an evening’s entertainment but I can’t pay that into the bank.<\/p>\n

Positive reviews (whether or records or gigs) can be valuable asset, especially for a new or rising band. I know this\u00a0because many bands have quoted what I have written about them in their profiles. I have never asked for payment and I\u00a0don’t know if I should in fact offer my services as professional reviewer.<\/p>\n

Writing for pay has its downside: bands might pay for a positive review which, had it been impartial, would have said\u00a0something different. If readers find out that reviews are being paid for, the work might appear to be less than honest.<\/p>\n

Advertising copywriters get paid but they are not expected to write objectively about a product.\u00a0Music writers work best when they can be completely honest. I sometimes get criticised for being too nice about bands. I\u00a0usually reply that if I don;t like a band, I don’t waste my time writing about them. I am not the Which Guide to live\u00a0bands. Nor can I be bribed to write nicely about a band I don’t like.<\/p>\n

It’s commonly understood that music magazines separate their content from their advertising. Having said that, it’s uncommon\u00a0to see a magazine where a reviewer has penned a damning review of a band’s album and a couple of pages later there is an\u00a0advert urging people to buy said album. It’s more common to see paid advertising for albums and glowingly good reviews of\u00a0them.\u00a0So, the good thing about writing for Music in Leicester is that no one pays anything for any of what’s in it. What ever we\u00a0write can be assumed, therefore, to be our genuine opinions. Maybe that counts for something.<\/p>\n

Writing about music generally – an article on metal, punk or indie – without over-lauding any one band, might be worth paying for. \u00a0I have also commented, elsewhere, that we should be writing more about what the audience at gigs does not see: all the work that goes on behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

It would be nice to receive a gratuity for one’s literary efforts but I don’t hold my breath waiting for it. Neither do I want\u00a0to be thought of as having a pen in one hand and a wallet in the other. If we \u00a0could pay people to write about bands I guess we probably would, if only to get more copy for people to read.<\/p>\n

In my dreams …<\/p>\n

Thanks to Simon Faulks for pointing to ‘Frank Zappa declared that, “Most rock journalism is people who can’t write,
\ninterviewing people who can’t talk, for people who can’t read.”‘<\/p>\n

In Wikipedia: http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Music_journalism<\/a><\/p>\n

Join out team<\/h2>\n

Become a music writer – join our growing team of contributors and editors<\/a><\/p>\n

Become an editor – vacancies at Music in Leicester<\/a><\/p>\n

Writing in the 21st century is becoming more and more about the Internet, than about paper-based media.<\/p>\n

I like this piece: \u00a0How not to write about music<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What is a magazine? \u00a0The editor of Arts in Leicester magazine asks<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Music journalism in 2013.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":8034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[108,86,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-relating-to-2013","category-columns","category-music-home-page"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/eifel-tower.jpg?fit=590%2C587&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73uhX-cj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":331,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/join-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":763,"position":0},"title":"Vacancies at Music in Leicester","author":"Trevor Locke","date":"24\/05\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Vacancies for writers","rel":"","context":"In "2013"","block_context":{"text":"2013","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/Music\/history-of-leicester-music\/articles-relating-to-2013\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/proper-MIL-loho-from-arj.jpg?fit=370%2C369&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11158,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/writing\/","url_meta":{"origin":763,"position":1},"title":"Writing about music","author":"Trevor Locke","date":"09\/11\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Writing about music","rel":"","context":"In "2016"","block_context":{"text":"2016","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/Music\/2016\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/06-Jouska-TC.jpg?fit=600%2C411&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/06-Jouska-TC.jpg?fit=600%2C411&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/06-Jouska-TC.jpg?fit=600%2C411&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":381,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/glastonbudget-music-festival-2013\/","url_meta":{"origin":763,"position":2},"title":"Glastonbudget Music festival 2013","author":"Trevor Locke","date":"26\/05\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Glastonbudget Festival 2013 26th May 2013 Leicestershire's Glastonbudget Music Festival took place over the weekend 24th to 26th May 2013 and was attended by a record crowd. Saturday and Sunday were fabulous - hot sunshine, a great atmosphere and music to make your heart sing from a wide variety of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2013"","block_context":{"text":"2013","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/Music\/history-of-leicester-music\/articles-relating-to-2013\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Glastonbudget music festival","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/glastonbudget_mainstage_kg_friday.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/glastonbudget_mainstage_kg_friday.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/glastonbudget_mainstage_kg_friday.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/glastonbudget_mainstage_kg_friday.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1499,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/columns\/","url_meta":{"origin":763,"position":3},"title":"Columns","author":"Trevor Locke","date":"18\/07\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Posts by regular contributors","rel":"","context":"In "2013"","block_context":{"text":"2013","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/Music\/history-of-leicester-music\/articles-relating-to-2013\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/icon-512-1-reduced-to-300.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8456,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/contents2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":763,"position":4},"title":"Contents2015","author":"Trevor Locke","date":"12\/01\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Contents of this magazine in 2015 archive page","rel":"","context":"In "2015"","block_context":{"text":"2015","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/Music\/history-of-leicester-music\/the-year-2015\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/proper-MIL-loho-from-arj.jpg?fit=370%2C369&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8354,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/matthenshaw\/","url_meta":{"origin":763,"position":5},"title":"MattHenshaw","author":"Trevor Locke","date":"20\/12\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Singer Matt Henshaw at The Scholar Bar in 2015.","rel":"","context":"In "2015"","block_context":{"text":"2015","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/Music\/history-of-leicester-music\/the-year-2015\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Matt-Henshaw-4.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Matt-Henshaw-4.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Matt-Henshaw-4.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=763"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10900,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763\/revisions\/10900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}