For those who have a passionate interest in music and the music industry, being a music blogger and can be an enjoyable and productive way of channeling this interest, although it presents plenty of challenges along the way as well.
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Guest post by Rachel Summers
If you’ve got a love and a passion for music and the music industry, why not channel this passion into a career as a music blogger. If you’ve ever thought about living the life where you travel to concerts around your country, or even the world, interviewing your favourite artists and bands and meeting your idols, this could be the ideal job for you.
However, the world of the music blogger is exclusive with limited opportunities. To help you get the best start, here are ten tips you must always remember so you can be the best.
Start Free
To start getting the experience you need behind you, you’re going to have to work for free, to begin with. Unfortunately, you’re not going to be able to jump straight in and secure a job at the Rolling Stone magazine; you’ve got to earn it and build up to it.
If this means working for free initially, then so be it. However, don’t keep your prices down for long. Once you’ve got a few blogs and jobs under your belt, you’ll be able to prove you have the experience whuch you can then start to charge for.
Live Frugally
Unless you’re writing for the leading publications, the end goal, you’re not going to make that much money music blogging. The majority of freelancing writing jobs are low-paid, as in blogging in this industry. Even a local or small-time publication will average around $18K a year. Bear this in mind when starting out.
Start Your Own Blog
There’s no better way to create a portfolio for yourself as a music blogger than starting your own blog. These can be easier set up for minimal cost, and it’s a great way to practice your technique and find your own individual style.
When starting your own blog, make sure you develop your own kind of style that stands out from your competitors, In time, once you start building up a follower. You can charge entry to your website and material.
Read Other Blogs
One of the best ways to help you find your own blogging to style is to research other blogs for ideas that you can implement. Maybe you want to write quite formally? You could be quite witty and humorous, or you can be quite direct and blunt.
For example, online publications, such as the Huffington Post, have a very diverse range of articles with all kinds of styles you can use for ideas. When you’ve got a rough idea, start practising this style, and your own technique will form.
Use Tools
When writing your blogs, it’s important that you create high-quality content that people want to read. This means taking the time to perfect your writing and ensuring it’s perfect for your blog. Here are some tools to help.
A free online tool for tracking your word count in real time.
A database of writers who can help answer any writing-related questions.
A tool for adding quotes and references to your blogs professionally.
An online writing agency that can provide editing and proofreading services.
An online blog with a tonne of writing resources and writing guides.
An online writing community that can talk you through the process of writing a blog.
An online blog with information on how to use grammar properly.
Searching for a Position
If you head over to your favourite publication’s website, the chances are that they’ll have a career page. Either sign up for alerts or continue to check back here to see whether a job is available. You never know when a vacancy might become available and you might be at a stage where you’re exactly what they’re looking for.
Use Social Media as a Tool
As a blogger, you need to start seeing social media as your tool for success. It will help you to share your content, it will help you connect with your readers, and it can also be used to keep you up to date with everything that’s going on.
Luisa Riley, a professional content writer for Australian Reviewer, states;
“Using platforms like Twitter, you can Tweet about the music industry, helping yourself to gain more followers and a better reputation as someone who knows what they’re talking about.”
Promoting Your Own Music
As you start moving up the ranks, it can be tempting to start trying to make your own music. Maybe you’ve been making from the start, but you’ve now got the contacts to get your music to the masses. However, this is a completely different ball game and switching careers so suddenly can be fatal for your work.
Decide early on whether you want to be a musician or a music blogger and stick to your guns. You will rarely be able to be both, and both need a lot of time invested in becoming skilled.
Don’t Let Feedback Get to You
As a music blogger, you’re going to be voicing your opinion a lot and critiquing bands, artists, gigs and albums. As with any opinion, there are going to be people who disagree with you and will make these feelings known.
Don’t take these criticisms to heart and try to learn constructively from them. Just because a few people don’t agree with you, it doesn’t mean that other people won’t.
Keep Practising
As with any skill, music writing takes time to master. Don’t give it, keep experimenting with styles and work hard. It will also pay off in the long-term.
Rachel Summers is a freelance writer whose passion is helping students get the most out of their learning journey. She started out as a writer and journalist in the newspaper industry, including Revieweal, before breaking out to go freelance and follow her own passions. Her writing is designed to help you get the most out of college.