The New Fury’s Guide to Becoming a Music Journalist (2018 Edition)

Sounds like a lot of “Hoopla!”. Have you ever looked at something that Metal Injection. It Djents, or TNF has written and thought to yourself “Hey, I should be doing this because I know way too much about music”? If you answered this question with a resounding “yes”, welcome aboard. And if you’re reading this article, then let me be the first to say: Congratulations! You’ve recently been hired at The New Fury, and this is your first official day of training.

You may be asking yourself, “Can I write an article now?” – that answer is no. You’ve got a lot to learn before you’re ready to write your first article. As you can see by this graph, The New Fury is moving on up. You have been employed in one of the most successful publications worldwide. But it didn’t start that way overnight…

It took years of work to make this publication what it is today. It also took years of personal growth to truly find my way in getting the writing I published to a big audience (you know, so people would actually care), many hours of lost sleep, and even writing for countless hours at work. A protip: If you can afford to, choose a career field that’s conducive to having lots of free time to write. I can tell you that I do not have a degree of any sort. I don’t necessarily recommend the path I went on to everyone, a lot of it happened by chance and meeting the right (write) people – I dropped out of community college and didn’t really start considering this as a hobby until a couple years after.

Here’s 4 traits you need to have to excel in this cutthroat field. Keep in mind how many music blogs there are out there – most will fail within 6 months of starting, because it is serious work to build one up. It takes a lot of trial, error, and patience to see something like this build up overnight – not every new website can explode like RockFeed.

1. You need to LOVE music.

Seriously. If you don’t have a wide variety of love for music, or at least the interest in developing it, this might not be the field for you. Granted, you don’t necessarily have to listen to pop-country or whatever (please don’t), but enjoying something besides obscure 90’s thrash metal bands will serve you well. Always be open to anything that comes in your inbox, whether it’s indie pop or death metal. Even if you don’t like it, at least you gave something new a go. It also goes without saying that diversity can make you a valuable commodity to certain publications. Seek to become an expert in your field.

2. Don’t expect to make money right away.

It’s important to preface this by saying that paying jobs are out there. They do exist – freelance writers are a valuable commodity. Getting a music blog off the ground is a daunting task, though, and if you’re writing for a smaller one, chances are they don’t have the budget to pay their writers. Hell, we barely do, and we’ve existed for almost 5 years now. Generally speaking, though, you really have to have a keen eye (well, ear) for new music, and a distinct writing style. Which leads us to my next very important point…

3: Develop your own distinct voice.

This may actually be the most important trait any popular music journalist has. If you write the same boring, drab, hackneyed articles as everyone else, why should people pay attention to you? Talk about unique and under the radar bands, write about classic albums, and the ability to put a new twist on an older style is also a positive trait. Let your personality shine through as a writer and a tastemaker! That’s half the fun.

4: Never. Stop. Writing. Also, network.

Making friends and connections in the music industry, especially a small scene like this, is highly important. Gaining all the writing skill you can is essential as well. Maintaining your own site is a huge plus, as if you develop it well enough, you can run the show yourself. Writing for other publications, especially as a guest columnist for other respected sites, is a good idea – even if it’s for free. You never know when you’ll pick up an opportunity from someone much higher up the food chain.

5. Your social media presence is paramount. Watch what you say.

Be careful about what you say, how you say it, and who you say it to. Be mindful of your words and what you share and interact with online, because you never know who is watching. Word travels fast about great writing, but at lightspeed when even questionable things are posted. The upside of this is that quality work can spread like wildfire, so if you’re truly passionate about what you write and you’re skilled at marketing it, you’re miles ahead of other people who might only be good at one of those things.

I could add plenty of other traits and skills of an aspiring music writer, but the underlying theme here is this; music is magnificent. It should be fun to write about, and if you work hard + efficient enough, you can make a name for yourself in this industry.