Rolling Music Writers' Thread

something of a tangent but I keep imagining that I'm going to wake up in the middle night and have my past month's workload presented to me, Ghost of Christmas Past-style, as an intervention

just this very long dickensian clip show of everyone I've disappointed and everything I screwed up

https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/columns/article/20986837/long-live-city-paper

Mark Ein, Democrat philanthropist and Washington Kastles tennis team owner is buying the Washington DC City Paper. This looks like good news.

With purchase of @WCP by @Markein staff will NOT take pay cuts. @jaketapper will be part of advisory group as will former DC Mayor Tony Williams pic.twitter.com/pUVE1bAQjO

— Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) December 22, 2017

after 2 years of total burnout, i think i like writing again.. whoa

— Fire Marshal Meaghan (@meaghan_garvey) December 21, 2017

inspo for the burnt

oh neat a new at&t audience network (?) series about a failed music writer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38ZTaGlbQjM

lol

starting with "spent too long on the road with bands" (more like, spent too long in the coffee shop with strong enough wifi to download and stream), ending with "I think she's the reason he's redeemable"

The actor playing Loudermilk is 50, it's not that far-fetched imo

i like ron livingston a lot. he was really good in SEARCH PARTY.

also this was created by a farrelly brother...

to be fair I don't know how old he's supposed to be in the series, guy doesn't look 50 though

he turned 50 in june

Southcomm sold its Kansas City paper too

https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2017/12/26/the-pitch-new-ownership-editor-david-hudnall.html

wow voice media group sold them right before i started working there

It seems Southcomm bought up a bunch of alt-weeklies from the Voice media Group, then determined years later that they weren't going to become richer the way they were running them, and so they are now selling them off slowly (they still have Nashville Scene but let go of the editor and others; they sold Washington City Paper and Kansas City Pitch)

voice media group never owned washington city paper. it was started by the people who launched the baltimore cp.

this is depressing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SouthComm_Communications

True. That's right Washington City Paper got sold long ago to Chicago Reader, and later to Creative Loafing and then to Southcomm. Tronc.inc (that bought and later shut down Baltimore City Paper; along with what it did elsewhere) and Southcomm have not been helpful to the alt-weeklies

nope! neither has wrapports (owners of the reader). media executives are the worst.

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.