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To become a music journalist, one must have excellent writing skills and knowledge of musicians, songs, and genres. This can be achieved by starting a blog, working for a newspaper or magazine, or working for music-oriented publications. Continual study and listening are necessary, and travel may be required.
The first step to becoming a music journalist is to define exactly what this term means. There are many people who consider themselves journalists of this type, but exactly what they write about can vary greatly. Typically, the music journalist is a little different from the music critic, writing in a more educated way about different forms of music and the musicians who create it. People need excellent writing skills and considerable knowledge about the musicians/songs/genres they write in to successfully do this job.
One way to become a music journalist is extremely informal. Those with strong writing skills (or not) and an interest in music could start a blog, writing about favorite types or artists. With a strong following, the journalist can use pay per click ads or get sponsors to earn money from the website. The web is already saturated with fan sites and music sites, and even good writers don’t always get noticed with this method.
Other people become music journalists almost by accident. They work with a newspaper or magazine, perhaps after majoring in English, journalism or communications, and are assigned to the beat of the newspaper’s music. Others look for jobs that specifically cover the music or lifestyle sections of local magazines or newspapers. Over time, they build up a resume of good articles that can help them find work for more music-oriented publications.
Some people start working in a variety of professional online or print magazines that only focus on different types of music. In that capacity, writers can not only write reviews, but write interviews, stories, comparative studies, and anything else the magazine deems print-worthy. Generally, the more focused the journal, the more people need intellectual knowledge, which might require other educational avenues.
Sometimes a person becomes a music journalist because he is a skilled musician who writes well. A person may have years of musical experience or have a background in music history, appreciation, or performance. Backgrounds and training are very diverse, but again, the more a publication is designed to attract specialists, the more people need to possess specialist knowledge.
Some of this knowledge is acquired through continual study and listening. It’s hard to become a music journalist without keeping an eye on current research and music production. It doesn’t matter if one analyzes classical music or hard rock, he must be able to compare and criticize all the new things that are happening in music. This means that good journalists are constantly in investigative and research mode. They rely on other publications and artist productions to inform their work.
Some journalists also expect a lot of travel. They may need to regularly attend live performances or do plays that follow the lives of musicians or band members. Many of the best journalists live close to urban centers, where live music can be of the highest quality or easy to find.
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