Rolling Music Writers' Thread

I have a regular job (three of them, really), so writing Burning Ambulance is entirely a labor of love. Yes, I am willing to accept payment, but free and paid subscribers get the exact same thing, at the exact same dosage. Honestly, if everyone was reading the newsletter for free, but 10% of them bought a CD on the label, I'd be overjoyed.

I think I'm one of the last of the old school '00s bloggers, and I'm not sure I have it in me to charge for the service.

(I don't intend this comment as passive-aggressive anything against anyone here who does)

Well to be clear, the work that I charge for is NOT stuff I would do for free or out of love. It's going to County Commission and school board meetings and writing about budgets and zoning and state legislation and all that kind of thing. My free writing is all the movie/music stuff I post on Facebook (or ilx!) when I'm procrastinating from the day job.

tipsy, your stuff in particular enrages me! You should still be a staff writer covering a government beat. But it also works out: you've got editorial independence.

Yeah, it's a trade-off for sure. We're very fortunate there are people who will pay us to do what we do, but of course we lack a lot of resources. And, like, can't ever take a day off. Sad lol.

But to steer back to the music writing, and arts writing in general, which has gotten so hard to sustain — has anyone explored putting together some sort of cooperatives? Joining forces via mutual subscriptions, that kind of thing? Subscribe to any 3 of 5 for $10 a month, I don't know, I'm sure there are a lot of possible revenue-sharing models.

I suppose eventually you would just end up reinventing music magazines.

It's been fifteen years since someone asked about this, and that poster was interested in hearing from people who've been paid for their music writing, while I'd like to hear from anyone who has noticed themselves improve:

How do (or did) you get better at music writing? -- whether it's in terms of insight, voice/register, structuring, anything. I figure that, as with anything else, you've gotta write a lot, but that isn't quite enough, is it?

Curiosity and prolificity.

read a lot. of everything.

I barely do any music writing anymore, but when I was more regularly, I found that some of the writing I felt best about came via assignments — albums or shows that I might not have even listened to or gone to except someone asked me to. I think in those situations I was engaged critically in a way I maybe wasn't as much on things I was more enthusiastic about. A little bit of detachment from the material? I don't know.

But anyway I suppose even absent an assignment that could be replicated just by choosing to write about something that you normally wouldn't think to.

you can even do it here for practice! hey, at least 10 people will read it. that's pretty good for music writing these days.

Listen to an album you've never heard by an artist you never listen to and then tell us about it!

I will say, as someone who is currently working on a piece for Aqua Drunkard - and who has written many articles to paywalled websites in my lifetime - it is slightly de-motivating to know that this is going to publish and ... I guess the band won't be able to see it without subscribing? I'm sure far fewer people will read it than would've two weeks ago.

I support the effort fully and think everyone should be paid for their work, for sure. I just can't help but feel a little bit like I'm going to find myself directing some pitches elsewhere. Which is a bummer.

Yep. How many $70 paid substacks plus paid websites can people do although yes writers deserve to get paid

unfortunate

3 weeks ago i interviewed a trans artist, & the power of her voice made me realize the power of my own. this is the piece that got me fired from the fader, bc i believed trans girls deserve nothing less than the cover. please read it & share it if u can. https://t.co/tKWzQRK0ZF

— nadine on strike (@FakeNadine) April 17, 2024

you were not “fired” you quit after developing a wildly unprofessional parasocial relationship with an artist, who had to have her team intervene after you sent her 100s of text messages 👍🏾

and stop posting our emails asking people to “go stan mode” it’s beyond embarrassing 👍🏾👍🏾 https://t.co/C0RXiQ7Kj1

— vivian (@perlucidum) April 18, 2024

apparently, someone called the cops to do a wellness check on her, this is getting really fucking ugly, hope she has friends that could help her out