Music journalism careers

How can I get into music journalism?

To be a music journalist, you'll either need:

• A good knowledge of the greats. You have to put today's music in context; or
• To specialise in a particular type of music (eg, folk, country, trip-hop, ambient); or
• To be a musician. This opens doors on the musicians' magazines.

There probably are opportunities if you don't fit those three categories, but it's a competitive marketplace so it's important you can differentiate yourself.

Staff jobs do get advertised from time to time, but your best approach might be to work freelance. It'll give you the freedom to write about other subjects (so you can do non-music writing to bring your average pay up) and you'll have greater creative freedom by writing for different magazines.

You could take any album due to come out in the next six months and predict how most publications will review it. They pander to their readers' expectations, and sometimes that's stifling.

Which comes first, pitching an idea for an interview to a magazine or seeing if the artist will give you the interview?

It might help to tackle first whoever is least likely to cooperate: so in the case of a well-known star, that might be the PR agent but when you're looking at an unknown band, it's likely to be the publication.

PR people will want to know where the interview is going to be published before giving their charges any time with you, and you'll look stupid if you're commissioned to write up an interview that doesn't happen. Don't make promises you can't keep or say somebody has made a commitment they haven't.

You can start out by asking casually whether the artist is available for interviews and whether the magazine is interested in commissioning interviews before getting into specifics.

The main thing is that the interviewee you're lining up has got to have something new to say of interest to your readers. Most music interviews happen around album releases because there's a chance to talk about the latest music and the artist is motivated to help shift units while they're prominently displayed in shops. If you've got something topical, you're bound to find a magazine to take it off you (unless everyone else is chasing the same idea, which often happens).

Some magazines will feed you interview jobs they want doing once you've got a relationship with them.