#096: The Deluxe Version
The Deluxe Version
I’m Todd L. Burns, and welcome to Music Journalism Insider, a newsletter about music journalism. I highlight some of the best stuff I hear, read, and watch every week; publish news about the industry; and interview writers, scholars, and editors about their work. My goal is to share knowledge, celebrate great work, and expand the idea of what music journalism is—and where it happens. Questions, comments, concerns? You can reach me anytime at music.journalism.insider@gmail.com. And if you’re not already subscribed to the newsletter, you can do so at musicjournalisminsider.com.
Today in the newsletter: Interviews with Rolling Stone research editor Jonathan Bernstein; Scott Blankenship, co-host of the classical music podcast Trilloquy; and Lai Frances, a freelance writer focusing on K-pop. Plus! Reading recommendations, TikToks worth watching, and much more! But first…
“Been A Crazy… Uh… Last 14 Months?”
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Reading List
- Robert Christgau reviews Eric Weisbard’s Songbooks: The Literature of American Popular Music, calling it “one of the best books about music I’ve ever read”
- Hannah Edgar shines a light on pioneering music scholar Eileen Southern
- Sandra E. Garcia profiles vogueing protestors in Colombia [h/t Dada Strain]
- Harriet Roden on the 19th-century inventors who first recorded sound [h/t MusicREDEF]
- Beatriz Ramalho da Silva writes about morna, the important Cape Verdan musical practice
- Park Sang-Moon talks with one of the world’s largest collectors of Korean pop music
- Marshall Bowden looks at musical hoaxes across time
- Stephanie Phillips wonders, a year after Blackout Tuesday, how much has changed
- Robyn Huang profiles Afghan rappers who have never known a world without US troops stationed in their country
- The New York Times checks in on the progress of the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program
Q&A: Jonathan Bernstein
Jonathan Bernstein is a research editor at Rolling Stone. On the side, he also writes for the magazine, focusing primarily on Americana and country music. (He was responsible for the story of Justin Townes Earle’s final days.) In this excerpt from our interview, Justin highlights some of the mentors who have helped him through the years.
In college, I had the immense privilege of getting to take creative writing classes with Marlon James, whose teachings and wisdom I still think about all the time. Marlon treated his students as equals, which meant telling me that a line I had written was absolute cliche garbage if what I had written was absolute cliche garbage, which happened often.
I write for a number of different editors at Rolling Stone, and have truly learned so much from all of them. If there’s one thing my many editors at RS have helped teach me, it’s to be more concise and to-the-point in my writing, and to be less concerned with trying to sound smart with long sentences and convoluted prose. I’m still working on that!
The two people I’ve learned the most from in my career have been my bosses in Rolling Stone’s research/fact-checking department: Coco McPherson, who first hired me, and Hannah Murphy, who currently runs the department. They’ve taught me everything I know about journalism and reporting and I would be a way worse writer and journalist (and a worthless fact-checker) without their guidance and generosity.
Read the full interview with Jonathan here.
A Cause Worth Supporting
From Jonathan Bernstein:
I highly recommend donating to The Rainey Day Fund, which gives out grants to BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled artists in roots music. It’s a really straightforward way to distribute resources within the roots music industry to artists who are systematically at a disadvantage in this sector of the music industry.
Or You Can Always Get Another Freelancer To Add A Verse
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Podcasts!
- New podcast: Songs in the Key of Death tells the stories behind famous murder ballads
- Longtime music journalist Carol Cooper walks through her career with Rock’s Backpages
- Pianist Jason Moran joins The United States of Anxiety to talk about how the 369th Infantry Regiment brought jazz to Europe
- Olivia Quan has a few tips for novice podcasters
- Marcus K. Dowling talks with The Country Music Media podcast
- Soho Radio presents a fascinating look at ’70s Italian dissent through the lens of music
- In Search of Sauce went deep on former Pulitzer Prize winners for music journalism
- Call Out Culture and Dad Bod Rap Pod faced off in a hip-hop quiz show hosted by Open Mike Eagle
Q&A: Scott Blankenship
A few weeks ago, I interviewed Garrett McQueen, executive producer and co-host of classical music podcast Trilloquy. This week, it’s co-host Scott Blankenship’s turn. In addition to his work on Trilloquy, Scott is on the air with American Public Media, working on video series such as Hop Notes and Classical Kids Storytime, plus mentoring and training new radio hosts. In this excerpt from our interview, Scott offers some tips for new podcasters.
Don’t be intimidated by the wide-open field. I used to teach radio production as an adjunct and whenever I would assign a project that left most of the parameters to the student, some felt intimidated—they WANTED boundaries. Weird.
Also, just focus on getting one podcast done at a time. Garrett heard a quote that said the big hurdles for podcasts are the 6th episode and the 100th episode. Most podcasts don’t make it past the sixth episode, even fewer passed 100. Kinda like the wide open/no parameter idea, if you worry about what you’re going to do in a week or a month or whatever, the one in front of you will probably suffer. It’s also a good idea to have a few episodes in the can and ready to go to give you the breathing room you need to work on the episode in front of you.
The best free way to get your podcast noticed is by doing some pod trades. Try to find a podcast that’s similar to yours, or deals with a related subject, and offer to trade interviews so you can get some cross pollination.
Read the full interview with Scott here.
How Do You Do, Fellow TikTokers?
- @markmallman says it’s no surprise the song “Castaways” went viral on TikTok
- @luxxuryxx highlights similarities among countless hit songs
- @halfdiminishedseventh takes on “big music theory”
- @mancypodcast explains how punk rock may be responsible for a major shift in accents in America
- @svpplybeats celebrates the work of funk bassist Larry Graham
- @thejacks pokes fun at pretentious music fans
So I’m Basically a Tenured Professor
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Trivia Time!
In a recent interview, Bruce Springsteen named five music critics influential to his early work. Who were they? Catch the answer at the bottom of the newsletter.
Bits, Bobs
- Reeperbahn Festival is once again hosting The International Music Journalism Awards; submissions are due by June 18
- Hip-hop writer Lucas Foster has passed away
- Far Out has a list of some of the best bad reviews for great albums
- Pete Paphides has won the Christopher Bland Prize for his book Broken Greek
- Repeater Radio will be hosting a K-Punk marathon on June 12
- Rob Chapman points toward some excellent column writing advice from Keith Waterhouse
Q&A: Lai Frances
Lai Frances is an Asian American freelancer focusing on K-pop. Early on, Lai decided that she wanted “to become an Asian American multimedia journalist and host covering music and entertainment.... Growing up the only person I remember, and truly admire, on television was Suchin Pak. She is one of the driving forces that pushed me into what I wanted to do. I still want to be like her!” Today, Lai contributes to a number of outlets and runs her own podcast, A Slice of L(a)ife. In this excerpt from our interview, Lai explains how she organizes her work.
I always have hawk eyes on who is predicted to release new music soon, who and what’s trending on socials at the moment, and most importantly my personal interest. With the countless music releases weekly, I look at which artists pique my interest as well as figuring out what’s different about this release. From there, I do a mental analysis of past releases or a quick deep dive into the artist or new music and see how I can angle that for a pitch. At the end of the day, for me, I want to make sure I’m publishing something I’m completely passionate about; whether it be an artist, song, topic. Because, you don’t want to release something you’re not happy about, right? That also doesn’t give the subject you’re talking about any justice as well.
Read the full interview with Lai here.
Academic Stuff
- New issues: Popular Music, Popular Music and Society, American Music, Ethnomusicology, The International Journal of Music Business Research
- Registration is open for Sounds of Power: Sonic Court Rituals In- and Outside Europe in the 15th–17th Centuries (Online, June 17-19)
- Call for Papers: The theme for Innovation in Music 2022 is Music Production: International Perspectives (Submissions due September 1)
- Registration for 40 Years of Popular Music Perspectives is open (Online, June 22)
- “Feminism and Metal – An Academic Workshop” will take place on June 15
- Society for Ethnomusicology has launched a new website called Musicians in America during the Covid-19 Pandemic, featuring 240 interviews with musicians
- Call for Papers: Scoring Peak TV: Music and Sound in Television’s New ‘Golden Age’ (Abstracts due November 1)
Hey, Thanks For This Newsletter! How Can I Support This Thing?
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Reading Recommendations - Access to a resource page collecting great pieces of music journalism, sourced from great music journalists
Advice - Access to a resource page devoted to collecting advice from journalists and editors on how to excel at music journalism
Interviews - Access to the hundreds of interviews that have appeared in the newsletter, with writers and editors from Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, the Guardian, and more
Trivia Time Answer
The five music critics Bruce Springsteen mentioned by name were Dave Marsh, Jon Landau, Bob Christgau, Lester Bangs, and Greil Marcus.
Do you have a question you’d like to see included in Trivia Time? Hit reply and let me know.
The Closing Credits
Thanks for reading! Full disclosure: My day job is at uDiscover Music, a branded content online magazine owned by Universal Music. This newsletter is not affiliated or sponsored in any way by Universal, and any links that relate to the work of my department will be clearly marked. Feel free to reach out to me via email at music.journalism.insider@gmail.com. On Twitter, it’s @JournalismMusic. Until next time…