Maybe you've seen ‘Almost Famous’ one too many times or you've been inspired to write with your indie leanings, but being a music blogger is one of those things that sounds like the good life on the surface, but in order to become a music blogger you need to walk on a certain path rather than walk on the wild side. What does any budding music blogger need to know so they can forge a successful career in one of the many publications like Pitchfork, Drowned In Sound or the NME?
By Team Savant
Image: Jamakassi
Build Up Your Foundations
Knowledge and experience will go hand in hand. You may have some great albums you know backwards and forwards and this can certainly help you to create a killer review to submit to publications. But when you are given a test piece it's much like the difficult second album syndrome. You've been able to spend your entire life crafting that great review but now you are having to rely on your instincts somewhat. Read, listen, and absorb. These are the ways you need to build your music foundation.
Put Your Personality Into It
This is all about finding your voice. You may admire the words of Lester Bangs or Dele Fadele, but what made them so enticing was their ability to infuse their personalities into their prose. Lester Bangs had his balls to the wall, no fear approach, destroyed bands in a handful of spitted epithets. Whereas Dele Fadele was a unique individual who lived and breathed music which spilt over into his honest-but-with-a-heart reviews. Think about your personality and your voice and put this into your material. Again, this is, to an extent, going back to trusting your instincts. You may feel that you need to drink a few pints of Dutch courage to stop thinking about what you're writing. It may take you a few years to find your voice but the only way you can get to this point is to…
Write!
In order to truly get into the midst of what you want to achieve, you have got to start writing. Don't think you need to get it perfect. Just put every little idea you have on paper, whether it is in terms of structured sentences or words that you like the sound of. Remember the age-old adage: don't get it right, get it written. Tony Parsons who wrote for the NME in the early 80s was all about “tarting it up later.” And that is the most important thing. Yes, there will come a point when you have to write to deadlines but this is the most exciting time of your journey. You can truly focus on the love of it. This can help you branch out into making your own music blog with genres and styles that appeal to you. Many people believe that they have to do it to earn a living. The real thing about any creative endeavour is that you've got to have the passion for it first then the finances will follow.