nick sylvester = maker upper

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"existentialist rants" = the NT's formulaic anti-intellectual dismissal of the best VV pieces of the past, no doubt

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 18 May 2006 02:17 (twenty years ago)

"it used to be crazy man, all these, these ... i dunno, existentialist rants! those were different times though, you know?"

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 18 May 2006 02:24 (twenty years ago)

Funny you should mention, Rob just e-mailed me today and asked if I wanted to do a fomulaic anti-intellectual dismissal of a great VV piece of the past.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 18 May 2006 02:47 (twenty years ago)

Also, I briefly confused the title of this thread with the one below it at the time and thought it was "nick sylvester = bon jovi". Now there's a think-piece for you.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 18 May 2006 02:49 (twenty years ago)

damn. i was in the middle of a pitch for an anti-formulaic intellectual dismissal of a great VV piece of the past. I guess that pitch has been nearly scooped.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 18 May 2006 02:52 (twenty years ago)

No, I bet we'll do different ones.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 18 May 2006 02:56 (twenty years ago)

I'm pitching to review music blogs in the style of Cheryl Tweedy.

― alext (alext), Thursday, 18 May 2006 06:21 (twenty years ago)

I never knew the Voice was lacking people who wanted to write for the music section!

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 18 May 2006 10:50 (twenty years ago)

HI ILX, WE HATE YOU TOO

― NEW TIMES GUY (Enrique), Thursday, 18 May 2006 10:53 (twenty years ago)

that solicitation reads like a house ad that would run in a college newspaper. i guess the transformation is nearly complete.

― maura (maura), Thursday, 18 May 2006 12:06 (twenty years ago)

i like the ad, i think it slightly demystifies the whole thing, it's sweet. lord knows if anyone will get through, but there's a whiff of entitlement among the antis.

― Enrique IX: The Mediator (Enrique), Thursday, 18 May 2006 12:13 (twenty years ago)

entitlement? um, no. just unimpressed by 'cute' bits like the request for 'existentialist rants' followed by an immediate retraction of that request. i mean, wtf, seriously. in a venue that's shrinking its word counts by the minute, flabby ha-has like that -- especially when they're coming *from an editor* -- aren't a good sign ...

― maura (maura), Thursday, 18 May 2006 12:42 (twenty years ago)

And sorry, but this does have an air of "you can all be replaced," whether intended or not. It'd be one thing to phase out the current crop of freelancers and use writers he prefers instead--that's just how the game goes. But the announcement sounds desperate, like "God, anyone would be better than these chumps I've been left with."

― Martin Van Buren (Martin Van Buren), Thursday, 18 May 2006 12:49 (twenty years ago)

I kinda assumed this ad was because people they were "left with" stopped pitching, but I may be projecting.

― Zwan (miccio), Thursday, 18 May 2006 12:57 (twenty years ago)

ok, how shd he go about getting in new talent?

blogs? pitchfork?

― Enrique IX: The Mediator (Enrique), Thursday, 18 May 2006 12:57 (twenty years ago)

i just saw the ad and thought that if people have really stopped feeding the machine, then this has been an amazing bit of collective action. i may be projecting, but it's my guess that xhuxk didn't have a shortage of pitches.

and maura otm. that ad reeks of desperation. as far as getting new writers: pay them fairly (read: more) and allow for creative, interesting work.

― blackmail (blackmail.is.my.life), Thursday, 18 May 2006 13:09 (twenty years ago)

yes yes, that hasn't been precluded. he's asked for pitches is all.

― Enrique IX: The Mediator (Enrique), Thursday, 18 May 2006 13:14 (twenty years ago)

I APPLIED IMMEDIATELY. URGENT AND KEY XPOSURE!111!

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Thursday, 18 May 2006 13:15 (twenty years ago)

doesn't the voice maintain a database of a couple thousand music critics already?

and did anybody notice the music section's lead review this week?

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0620,harding,73181,22.html

― the barracuda sleeps at sundown, Thursday, 18 May 2006 13:18 (twenty years ago)

Chuck used to get like 100 pitches a week.

― Whiney G. Weingarten (whineyg), Thursday, 18 May 2006 13:38 (twenty years ago)

doesn't the voice maintain a database of a couple thousand music critics already?
and did anybody notice the music section's lead review this week?
http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0620,harding,73181,22.html

-- the barracuda sleeps at sundown (libr...), May 18th, 2006.

people die, people start to suck, new eds want new blood -- shocking i know.

― Enrique IX: The Mediator (Enrique), Thursday, 18 May 2006 13:40 (twenty years ago)

new eds want new blood who work cheaper than old blood -- shocking I know.

― Roy Kasten (Roy Kasten), Thursday, 18 May 2006 13:49 (twenty years ago)

new blogd

― Whiney G. Weingarten (whineyg), Thursday, 18 May 2006 13:55 (twenty years ago)

i just saw the ad and thought that if people have really stopped feeding the machine, then this has been an amazing bit of collective action.

are you seriously suggesting that everybody should quit writing for the village voice as a "collective action"? i can't wait to see how collectively active you clowns feel when your beloved pazz and jop rolls into town next year... and why is xgau off the hook here? it would take him like 2 phone calls to find a new roost and he's still "feeding the machine" last time i checked. and if the most established music writer in america can't be bothered to move his ass, why should us struggling hacks?

― Struggling Hack, Thursday, 18 May 2006 14:00 (twenty years ago)

The goal is clear -- become an unstruggling hack.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 18 May 2006 14:03 (twenty years ago)

yes, i am. and i know a number of music writers who are getting paychecks elsewhere because of this trend against creativity and writing generally. i'm circumspect as to whether or not it's a collective action, since it's probably not something that was planned out, but i'm sure there are a number of people who are no longer pitching new times on principle. if the paper's starved for content, so be it. it's a tough lesson for management to learn.

― blackmail (blackmail.is.my.life), Thursday, 18 May 2006 14:04 (twenty years ago)

hahaha yeah, it'll be new times who suffers!

― Enrique IX: The Mediator (Enrique), Thursday, 18 May 2006 14:06 (twenty years ago)

i think that new times nyc is already suffering, hence the pathetic ad on the music page. xpost

― blackmail (blackmail.is.my.life), Thursday, 18 May 2006 14:08 (twenty years ago)

Also, I currently see no reason to stop writing for the Voice. They still let me talk about bands.

― Whiney G. Weingarten (whineyg), Thursday, 18 May 2006 14:17 (twenty years ago)

I didn't mean to suggest that people shouldn't write for the Voice if they want to. I was just saying I assumed the ad was in response to lack of pitches.

― Zwan (miccio), Thursday, 18 May 2006 14:25 (twenty years ago)

it is fun to make struggling hacks defensive, though

― Zwan (miccio), Thursday, 18 May 2006 14:28 (twenty years ago)

blackmail, do you think that the strategy of not pitching to the voice will make the management increase wordcounts?

― Enrique IX: The Mediator (Enrique), Thursday, 18 May 2006 14:30 (twenty years ago)

But why would people stop pitching? The field is competitive and unstable as it is. And Harvilla, by all accounts, is a good guy.

Like a bunch of seasoned veterans who have to feed their kids on writing about rock bands are gonna turn their back on the best known alt-weekly in the nation because a big, scary corporation bought it?

― Whiney G. Weingarten (whineyg), Thursday, 18 May 2006 14:34 (twenty years ago)

I guess the Voice is turning their back on them, then!

― Zwan (miccio), Thursday, 18 May 2006 14:38 (twenty years ago)

Like a bunch of seasoned veterans who have to feed their kids on writing about rock bands

The amount of people actually doing this and only this and making it work for themselves in this current historical moment is, I suspect, pretty damn small. (I'm sure Douglas Wolk isn't the only one, I agree, and it's not the only thing he writes about!)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 18 May 2006 14:43 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, something's amiss. I realize that a lot of folks find the notion of collective action unsavory, and chances are this is just a coincidence, unless as Zwan suggests, it's a partial lock out situation that's produced a "talent search" of sorts. Management is clearly taking initiative in finding ways to get around established contributors - like Whiney G said, Chuck was never short for pitches. But without decent content, the New Times model is just another race to the bottom in an unstable industry that seems hellbent on needless self-destruction.

I understand people have to eat, but working for less and less with stricter rules isn't working toward stability either. It's just taking a pay cut.

― blackmail (blackmail.is.my.life), Thursday, 18 May 2006 14:44 (twenty years ago)

if the most established music writer in america can't be bothered to move his ass, why should us struggling hacks?

-- Struggling Hack (hackoram...), May 18th, 2006.

― struggling hack, Thursday, 18 May 2006 15:13 (twenty years ago)

working for less and less with stricter rules isn't working toward stability either.

having one less outlet to pitch to is another form of working for less and less

― struggling hack, Thursday, 18 May 2006 15:16 (twenty years ago)

First assignment: this thread.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Thursday, 18 May 2006 15:16 (twenty years ago)

look, i can understand if some of you have some lingering loyalty to chuck eddy that would make you feel bad about continuing to write for the voice, that's your perogative. but for those of us for whom chuckles never did nothing no-how, fuck it... this sounds like an opening to me. one i'm gonna take. also, why the fuck should we feel that tug of loyalty for chuck (which i admit, i kinda do, not even knowing him, just as an admirer of his writing from a loooooong time ago) when his mentor can't even be bothered to make some noise...

― struggling hack, Thursday, 18 May 2006 15:23 (twenty years ago)

its times like this i wish you people had an I Love Freelancing (ILF) board to fuck off to.

― and there are lot's of other sites, but all of them are fake... (sanskrit), Thursday, 18 May 2006 15:31 (twenty years ago)

How do I get a hackland account?

― Whiney G. Weingarten (whineyg), Thursday, 18 May 2006 15:31 (twenty years ago)

"ok, how shd he go about getting in new talent? blogs? pitchfork?"

That would seem like the obvious place to start. The online world is crawling with amateur and semi-pro writers who wouldn't mind a paycheck. It'd be a hell of a lot easier than asking for blind submissions and hoping for the best. I mean, seriously, does this guy not have any favorite writers? And he's been doing this how long?

― Martin Van Buren (Martin Van Buren), Thursday, 18 May 2006 15:43 (twenty years ago)

why the fuck should we feel that tug of loyalty for chuck (which i admit, i kinda do, not even knowing him, just as an admirer of his writing from a loooooong time ago) when his mentor can't even be bothered to make some noise...

what are you talking about? hot tip: faux-insider poses don't really work when you get things wrong.

― maura (maura), Thursday, 18 May 2006 15:44 (twenty years ago)

If established writers stop pitching the Voice, it'll be as much or more a matter of self-interest than collective action in support of Chuck. The pay is only good by alt-weekly standards--nobody getting magazine work is surviving off Voice pieces. If there's no longer any presige to the section, and if creativity is curtailed, why not go make $1 a word as a hack and use yr blog as self-expression.

― Martin Van Buren (Martin Van Buren), Thursday, 18 May 2006 15:56 (twenty years ago)

Oh, and, duh, if you're not getting pitches, you can always ask writers you like if they want to review something for you. Not sure when the idea of an editor *assigning* a story went out of style.

― Martin Van Buren (Martin Van Buren), Thursday, 18 May 2006 16:01 (twenty years ago)

i'm not pretending to be an insider, i'm just saying i still see christigau's by-lines in the voice - so why should i join the "collective action" if someone like the dean isn't - especially since his taking a PUBLIC stand would mean about a million times more than most of us

― struggling hack, Thursday, 18 May 2006 16:07 (twenty years ago)

Seems a slightly odd rationale on your part, s.h.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 18 May 2006 16:18 (twenty years ago)

i'm beginning to understand the 'struggling' part

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 18 May 2006 16:27 (twenty years ago)

right. i'm rationalizing, but people who believe that an informal "collective action" (minus christgau) will teach new times "a lesson" are being reasonable.

― s.h., Thursday, 18 May 2006 16:28 (twenty years ago)

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