pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

I'm betting there's a "What the value of music writing?" Vice/Noisey post in the works as we speak.

Lisa Turtle is writing it to impress a boy

outside of ILX all of the writers i know are either writing for financial publications or maybe technical writing, i.e. product manuals. they were also not the 'best writers' out of the people i knew but the ones who were the best at getting their name out there, getting positions that would look good on the resume, etc.

― 乒乓, Wednesday, October 23, 2013 1:51 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is true, i do technical writing for my full-time gig.

i've made more money off music writing this year than any of the previous 8 or so years i've done it, but i realize that's a total aberration (and is due, in part, to the fact that i've never done it full-time, and in fact got more freelance work from one publication because the editorial position i was hired to do basically ceased to exist 6 days after i was hired for it, and some of that position's work still needed to be done by freelancers).

why's it an aberration

fucking hell I knew you guys' existence was contingent but damn

because for the last few years before that my experience was similar to that of other people itt of places i'm writing for either shutting down or commissioning less writing for less money, and i have no reason to expect it won't be like that again next year. (xp)

this is the Cold Truth-

-the idea that there is no money to be made in music journalism is a fallacy. there are no safe jobs and there are very few jobs that will pay a livable wage (think sfj at new yorker or the top editors at p4k). those jobs exist of course and always will but they are increasingly rare and as we know from xgau no one is untouchable. but if you can afford to make your way up the ladder and are lucky enough to get a footing on the bottom rung you can get those gigs. (or you can write a breakout book like kloseterman or carl wilson.) better odds than winning the lottery certainly.

-no one is going to make a living as a freelancer writing record reviews or artist profiles and not supplementing elsewhere. but trying to live in brooklyn as a freelancer is insane. move to the rust belt and do phoners.

-most people trying to make money writing about music are going to end up in the same place as most musicians trying to make money making music: complaining about how it used to be and how it is not anymore. few writers are able to identify areas of need but they do exist.

-here is one: start pitching advertorials aka branded content or native advertising. it is a huge growth sector in online entertainment publishing because it is the future of the revenue model and good writers with credible authentic voices are needed to mirror the credibility and authenticity of the site without sacrificing the integrity of the house staff. basically: no one wants to do this stuff. but that is where the money is and anybody not hiring for those roles either has them filled (the exception) or has not yet come to the realization that they will need a relaible advertorialist or 2 onboard (the rule). don't pitch editors pitch sales managers. and editors. if you want cred write a blog.

it all reminds me of that alec baldwin scene in glengarry glenross: "good family man? fuck you. go home and play with your kids."

it sucks but its true writers need to adapt w the industry.

appreciating dashsnowden itt

reminds me of that al pacino scene in glengarry glen ross: "who TOLD you you could WORK with MEN"

haha u could be right i guess i just feel like i am seeing a lot of "oh yeah i used to be a writer. it's a tough racket" itt.

http://mrmarakai.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/20130629-161303.jpg

always be filing

Chuck Klosterman's watch cost more than your car.

i have a pretty good guess as to who dashsnowden is and I am lovin' it

pynchon?

Justin Timberlake

"no one is going to make a living as a freelancer writing record reviews or artist profiles and not supplementing elsewhere. but trying to live in brooklyn as a freelancer is insane. move to the rust belt and do phoners."

as much as I would like this to be true, it isn't true. or it can be true, but it undeniably helps to be where the publications are. I'm honestly not sure that I would have any of my writing gigs in 2013 were I not either in NYC or in NYC a sufficient portion of the time that I might as well just live there.

as for branded content, as someone who has actually done some of this, your model is, again, a bit optimistic. Leaving aside the fact that it's about the hundredth thing that is going to save journalism by my count: either this sort of thing is done in-house (i.e. freelancers aren't asked; in these cases the "authenticity of the house staff" line tends to be crossed at the same time as the decision to do branded content), hastily added to existing freelancers' stuff (i.e. freelancing would go on as normal, just with someone in-house slapping a logo and some italic copy on top of some thinkpiece or whatever), or outsourced to writers who come from more traditional PR/advertising backgrounds. (The "credible, authentic voice" aspect is substantially more malleable to sales-department types than you'd expect; at worst (I'm not saying everyone is like this), all writers are interchangeable. This is where you get all the mini-scandals about whatever site running sponsored content -- they get PR people to write PR pieces, which are maybe in snark-vernacular or whatnot but read like PR pieces, and people catch on.)

(plus your standard caveat that any trend in online publishing and advertising has a lifespan of about a year or two, but that should go without saying.)

I def know a few people making a living as a music freelancer and living in NYC — I've done it myself — but they''ve been in the game a long time

haha u could be right i guess i just feel like i am seeing a lot of "oh yeah i used to be a writer. it's a tough racket" itt.

it's hardly a woe is me scenario - you can do other things with your life. if you pathologically need to write about music to be happy then of course, make it work.

no one said anything about saving journalism frankly its exactly the opposite haha its where the money is though and if literally you gotta write to put food on table than you gotta chase the money and in a year or two lets meet back and figure out where the money is at that point.

well, you did say "the future of the revenue model," which is close enough.

at least bsod had the good grace to not be anonymous (and not call himself SNOWDEN lol)

like with most other good jobs post-bush, who comes from a charmed enough life to be in the position of making a living writing or making music is a narrower and narrower crew every year. pretty soon there will be just one critic and just one band

i call dibs for me and Sum 41

firsties!

you can do other things with your life. if you pathologically need to write about music to be happy then of course, make it work.

mmm yes, just walk into any of the many jobs requiring a freelance journalist's skillset that are so thick on the ground, easy

well, nobody gets sympathy for not having a backup plan or being able to adapt to reality

katherine: immediate future i mean. we all gotta pay rent for the next 2 years. and re money maybe im wrong alls i know is budgets tied to marketing campaigns including native content are a lot healthier than freelance allowances.

somedude: i dont know who the fuck any of u people are eiuther i found this board 2 days ago bc of soderberghs thing. ur literally called somedude btw thanx for the transparency. but i dont mean to crash ur gathering i was just looking 4 a place to talk abt this stuff bc found soderbergh's post so hilariously shortsighed (esp bc every person in online media knew this shit was going down at spin media in the next few months except him i guess) but also miselading; again p4k pays fair value for the content they produce. the ones u want to worry abt are the junior staff who make like 30k and live like college students and don't have much ladder to climb

here's hoping alec baldwin plays ryan in 'the social network' ii

-the idea that there is no money to be made in music journalism is a fallacy. there are no safe jobs and there are very few jobs that will pay a livable wage (think sfj at new yorker or the top editors at p4k). those jobs exist of course and always will but they are increasingly rare and as we know from xgau no one is untouchable. but if you can afford to make your way up the ladder and are lucky enough to get a footing on the bottom rung you can get those gigs. (or you can write a breakout book like kloseterman or carl wilson.) better odds than winning the lottery certainly.

you can't start a career hoping to be the one guy writing for the new yorker- it might be better odds than winning the lottery, but only just. And yes, while it might be possible to scrape together a $15k a year salary hustling like crazy and writing branded content, that's not enough to support a family. if it's your calling to write about popular music then maybe you might be willing to make pretty much nothing (obamacare might help w/ the health insurance) to live out your dream, but for most human beings who maybe want to have kids and not worry about affording an iced coffee from the local coffee shop, better to look in another industry in 2013 imho.

sadly, $30K is also, as I understand it (obviously this is not an arena with much information in public), average for entry-level jobs in media. if anything it is above average.

always
be
critiquing

learn how to write software, y'all

or pitch yrselves as tech writers if the idea of coding terrifies you

well, nobody gets sympathy for not having a backup plan or being able to adapt to reality

― some dude, Thursday, October 24, 2013 12:31 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes god forbid anyone is sympathetic to somebody in a rough situation

this is pretty much the reason i bailed on academia too - elimination of tenure track jobs, no health insurance, no pay for adjuncts. it doesn't make sense to do something you love if you can't support yourself doing it. maybe if i had super wealthy parents + a trust fund i could've pursued one of these 'calling' professions and felt okay about it but instead i'm doing sales during the day and doing stuff i love on my own time.

i'm not looking for sympathy but "just do something else!!!" is such bullshit. YES IF ONLY IT WERE THAT EASY.

lol @ backup plan, i have never even had a PLAN

i'd certainly say that freelancing is doable if you're not locking yourself into one area of writing

i made fine money freelancing but most of my consistent money came from writing about sports and general news

curious what percentage of smugness and dismissiveness in record reviews these days results from pecuniary insecurity, resentment thereof and toward such a spendthrift profession. 5%? 15%?

everyone's talking past each other on one point, I think. it isn't really about the supply of available work and money for work. Well, OK, it is. But it's also, more immediately, about the demand for your work as a freelancer, or lack thereof. how much work is out there undeniably is going to affect how willing publications are to take a chance on new writers, but all of this is moot if you aren't in demand.

totally. freelancing is pretty much about being open to any sort of opportunities that crop up. perfectly possible to be specialist and generalist at the same time.

xps

(the analogy I always think of is casting actors, for what it's worth.)

yes god forbid anyone is sympathetic to somebody in a rough situation

― socki (s1ocki), Thursday, October 24, 2013 12:35 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hey there's a lot of commiseration to go around in this thread, i'm just saying going "this is all i know? what do i do now?" is kinda funny given how long things have been headed in this direction.

i think the acting comparison is a good one. yes it's possible to make money, even a lot of money, being an actor. most ppl trying to be actors though are not going to make money and if you are trying to be pragmatic maybe don't move to hollywood (or nyc) quite yet.

yeah. except everyone can name a million actors who got rich off it and we're sitting here watching The Dean of our profession bounce from gig to gig hoping he's making an okay living.

it's no 94k plus bennies

i literally know nothing about xgau's situation but i'm pretty sure he could've gotten a gig better than "columnist at msn" if he wanted to/needed to

i don't think there was a shortage of people reaching out to him w/ gigs, i'm sure his life is at a point where he can afford to pursue keeping a pet project (consumer guide) alive to whatever end

yeah, if anything you're more likely to make it as a hollywood actor than as a successful music critic. something to keep in mind next time yr scoffing about that fb friend who thinks they're a big break away from being the next ben affleck.

xgau's been quiet, which makes me think he did land a steady gig (his acolytes seem to think so)