Michael Tedder Interview

Michael Tedder is the author of Top Eight: How MySpace Changed Music. Michael has freelanced for many years for The Ringer, Stereogum, The Daily Beast, and more. This is his first book.

How did you get to where you are today, professionally?

I started writing for The Orlando Sentinel when I was in high school, and then attended the University of Missouri-Columbia, where I was the Arts Editor of the student newspaper The Maneater. After kicking around Orlando for a little while freelancing for places, I moved to Brooklyn and went to NYU. I interned at CMJ and then later graduated up to the Managing Editor position.

Since then, I've worked at Paper and The Talkhouse and written for Spin, The Village Voice, The Ringer, Stereogum, Esquire, and a bunch of other places, covering film, music, television, and the like. I've also done my share of business reporting and copywriting, as one does. While watching the industry change has been difficult, I'm glad I got in the print editions of Spin and the Voice before they ended. But while freelancing can be tough, it's also rewarding and filled with weird experiences. I've seen the forest where The Hotelier took the "naked old people" photo for their album Goodness, Stan Lee told me to speak slower, I was fortunate that Ted Leo trusted me with his story and I've talked to Titus Andronicus' Patrick Stickles about a million times.