FEATURE:
Write On…
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Incredible Music Blogs Worth Following
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MANY people wonder whether the music industry...
PHOTO CREDIT: Unsplash
is suffering because of the digitisation of the press. In fact, it is not really viable sustaining the physical press due to purchasing and production costs. The diaspora of music journalism has seen it migrate from the printing press to the Internet. It means we can get our music news and reviews instantly: none of the waiting for the magazine and becoming impatient. In a sea of music blogs – more coming into the market by the week – there are many great and noble; even more average ones; even more bad ones, it seems. Depending on your tastes and proclivities will determine which blogs you go looking for. I find the more all-round and multi-genre sites cater to music-lovers who have a broad scope.
With that in mind...I bring those blogs that everyone should keep in their ‘Favourites’ list.
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Pitchfork
Founded in 1995 by Ryan Schreiber, who was working in a record store at the time, the magazine developed a reputation for its extensive focus on independent music, but it has since expanded with a variety of coverage on both indie and popular music artists. Pitchfork publishes daily reviews, features and interviews - as well as real-time music news coverage. Pitchfork has developed one of the web's most devoted and loyal followings, in the process spawning Chicago's annual Pitchfork Music Festival and the online music video channel Pitchfork.tv.
Website: https://pitchfork.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pitchfork
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pitchfork/
Indie Shuffle
We’re a diverse group of people excited about sharing music. We’re not about 10-point ratings or giving bad reviews. You might not agree with all of our tastes, but hopefully a few of us can help you find something new. At Indie Shuffle, we believe humans are better than robots when it comes to music discovery. Think about it. How many of your favourite bands were recommended to you by a friend? That’s why we’ve assembled a team of international writers to bring you the best music, including indie rock, hip hop, electronic, and everything in between. It’s music discovery powered by real people. Consider us your new best friends.
Website: https://www.indieshuffle.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/indieshuffle
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indieshuffle
Consequence of Sound
Consequence of Sound is a New York and Chicago-based online music, film, and television publication. Since its inception in 2007, CoS has reported on all of music’s breaking news, in addition to hyping new artists and cracking highly anticipated lineups for music festivals across the globe. In 2014, Consequence of Sound expanded its coverage into film with daily reviews and features in addition to breaking news updates.
With a committed staff of just over 50 writers, editors, graphic designers, and photographers, CoS continues to successfully push its way ahead of the engaging and highly competitive new media market.
Website: https://consequenceofsound.net/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/consequence
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/consequence/
Drowned In Sound
Over the past 14 years, Drowned in Sound has established itself as “the first port of call for music obsessives” (The Observer). The site’s authoritative reviews and interesting interviews with everyone from Bjork to Paul McCartney have won many awards, whilst the irreverent community on the site’s forums have generated 5million different topics of discussion.
Our Wiki says:
DrownedinSound.com, or DiS, is a UK-based music webzine dedicated to new, independent, innovative and groundbreaking music, as well as the best from established artists and international talents.
DiS is one of the leading tastemakers in the UK, with an average of 500,000 unique users every month, and operates a critically celebrated independent record label - DiS Recordings - instrumental in launching the careers of Bat For Lashes, Kaiser Chiefs and Martha Wainwright. DiS recently signed a joint-venture deal with BSkyB to launch many new sites and upstream content into various parts of the Sky system.
DiS started in 1998 as The Last Resort (which was essentially an emailed blog) but was relaunched as DrownedinSound.com in 2000. It is managed by Sean Adams
The freelance writing team is spread across the globe, with contributors based in four continents - North America, Asia, Europe and Australasia. The site is largely based on contributions from unpaid writers and has an integrated forum to allow for discussion and comments on interviews, news and reviews. It also includes a user-rated database of artists and bands as well as details for most live music venues (big and small) in the UK. Aside from space for comments, there are separate forums for general discussion, music related discussion and advertisements for people requiring bands or musicians. The site has over 100,000 registered members.
Website: http://drownedinsound.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drownedinsound
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drownedinsounduk/
The Line of Best Fit
The Line of Best Fit is the UK's biggest independent website devoted to new music.
From bedroom blog beginnings ten years ago, we're one of the world’s most trusted voices for music discovery, read by more two million people a month who come to the site to find their new favourite band.
Follow our Discovery playlist on Spotify - updated weekly - to find out what we’re listening to right now.
Oh and we got our name from a song on Death Cab for Cutie's You Can Play These Songs with Chords.
Website: https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bestfitmusic
Ditto Music Blog
Introducing Ditto Music
We're an online digital music distributor with a proven record of getting unsigned artists into the UK Top 40, and the world's biggest artists into the world's digital stores.
We're musicians ourselves: we understand, care and have won awards for our customer service. We give you everything a record label can offer and value no one can match. Wherever the next innovation in online music distribution is, we'll find it and make it easier for you to get your music out there, heard and sold.
We're Ditto. And the world is listening.
Ditto Music
As well as digital distribution to hundreds of key stores, we provide you with the tools to succeed and build a brand behind your music.
Website: https://www.dittomusic.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dittomusic
Louder than War
In 2010 we decided that there was a space for a new type of website that didn’t follow the preconceived rules of music.
We were bored of genres and the conventional history of music; we liked so much music and we wanted to communicate it.
We didn’t realise how many people agreed with us and the site has become one of the fastest growing, award winning music websites in the UK.
Our Manifesto:
1. Fast forward to the future
We are always looking for the new noise, the next buzz, we have no borders, no boundaries – all the musical skree of the 21st century is ours to celebrate.
2. Old, new, borrowed and blue
The future does not mean a fear of the past – we have a wonderful archive of classic features which we will exhibit; movers and shakers from any period always burn brightly.
3. The world is ours
No corner of the planet is beyond bounds. Norwegian death metal, Brazilian freak punk, Baille funk, Mexican quiff bop, English punk, electronic pop, Angolan Kuduro music, north African hip hop, the foulest bedsit dubstep, Manchester lad bands, Turkish gypsy music, Goa Trance, Japanese freak noise, African rhythms, Karnatik folk, Greek Mohawked anarchists and Indian metal hardcore – it’s all in here and more; we celebrate the classic Anglo American axis but we are not constrained by it. We are open to suggestions. We are open.
4. Do you believe in the power of rock n roll?
We still believe in the power of music and we still believe in the counter culture.
5. New blood for young skulls
We actively seek new talent to compliment the old. Great writers from the past rub shoulders with youthful first-timers. We are open people.
6. I am the resurrection
We have no truck with the loose talk of pop culture being over. It’s not even started yet. These are fractured times and we are in the wild west of technology. There is an information overload and we are loving it.
7. Keep on moving
We travel a lot and we have writers from all over the world. We love the idea that technology can disseminate information about raw, very human music. The primitive is everywhere- the music business is over. We are the Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady’s of the 21st Century – the internet is our highway.
8. But we have no fear of the mainstream
There is great pop to love as well. We love the Beatles, modern girl pop and obscure Indian snake charmer music at the same time. We have Kraftwerk, WuTang, System Of A Down and Crass and a million others on our ipods. We love pop music and we love noise. It’s our choice.
9. Ignore alien orders was once written on a guitar
In 2011 it would be written in cyberspace.
10. The old models of rivalry and competition are banished
We actively encourage our readers to enjoy our comrades work in the likes of The Quietus. We are all mere portals conveying information.
11. The first rule of this Write Club is that there are no rules
12. Words are my weapons
The writing will be informative but also emotional. I want people who are immersed in culture and want to fire you up with their love of it.
13. Music is one of the last things we have left
No-one owns it. We can all make it. And we can all celebrate it. It is beyond the accountant’s grim fingers.
14. People once wanted to save the world now they are saving up to buy it
We are a break from that.
15. We are punk
Website: http://louderthanwar.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/louderthanwar
Clash
Clash Music is a dynamic independent media group with established platforms in both print and digital media, with a diverse Live calendar that includes festivals, international music events and bespoke events organised for brands. The group encompasses Clash Magazine, ClashMusic.com and Clash Live Events.
Clash has consolidated its position as a leading UK and international title within the music, fashion and film sectors. While music continues to diversify and evolve, Clash endeavours to represent the crossover appeal of different styles and sounds. We feature the best new and emerging bands alongside established and popular acts and legends of the industry across our multiple media platforms - magazine and online; and through live events.
Clash Magazine is a multi-award winning music magazine that launched to critical acclaim in 2004, combining underground and mainstream music genres that includes fashion, film and entertainment in its subject matter.
ClashMusic.com is a definitive online guide to leading music andmusic trends – covering the best of breaking to established artists alongside news, reviews, features, image gallery and forums, in addition to a collection of the best content from Clash Magazine.
Website: http://www.clashmusic.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/clash_music
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clashmusic/
Dots and Dashes
Dots & Dashes is an award-winning, London-based editorial, independent music publication, concerning both the upcoming and established.
Website: http://dotsanddashes.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dotsanddashes
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dotsandashes/
Make It in Music
Make It In Music (’MiiM’) is a Music Industry Resource Company set up by Ian Clifford, ably assisted by Amanda McGowan. Between us we have 30 years of frontline global Music Industry experience.
After working tirelessly to find, develop and hone young talent for many years, it became glaringly obvious to us that the young hopefuls always had the same questions and always made the same mistakes in their quest for fame and fortune.
That quest has only become harder in the last few years with the turmoil caused by the extended death throes of the long-serving Artist and Record Company model. Nobody knows quite how the explosion of the digital age in the Music Industry (downloading, social networking, the death of the CD etc) will play out. There are theories and there are potential new models, but for now, the future is clouded.
It was always difficult, in any age, to get a band together, learn to write and play, and then attract enough attention to get a shot at success. It’s even harder now that the record companies have less money and even less room for manoeuvre. But….there are now some truly feasible alternative ways to reach your future fans and even ways to financially sustain yourself outside of the record company model.
Some bad, and a little good then - but the same things remain true whether you try to go it alone or look to get signed. You need to work out how to be good enough and you need to find a fanbase.
It’s the lessons that we can impart to help in that quest that led to the creation of MiiM. Having worked as a music lawyer, artist and producer/songwriter manager, record label owner, music publisher, promoter and more, there are few things that Ian hasn’t seen in the Music Business. With No.1 records on both sides of the Atlantic and first hand experience in Rock, Pop, Indie, Hip-Hop and Dance (and even a little folk!) that knowledge can be transcribed to any artist in any genre. From a technical legal starting point, through the creative process, making the record and ultimately marketing it and the band to the public, we can share our knowledge of all of it.
Amanda has more than one degree in Psychology - an immensely helpful training both in dealing with artists and also in understanding what makes people become fans. Years of on-the-road touring and street team marketing, both in the moshpit and at the front edge of the digital frontier, make the value of her insight to any emerging artist incalculable.
Website: http://www.makeitinmusic.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MakeItInMusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakeitinMusic/
Pigeons and Planes
Here’s the basic idea: Pigeons and Planes is a music discovery site, brought to you by COMPLEX. It's where you can keep up with new music, across all genres and from all corners of the globe. We put you on to good music made by good artists, whether they’re established stars or rising newcomers.
We get asked what the name “Pigeons and Planes” means a lot. The idea was to incorporate two things that are complete opposites but also have something in common. In this case that common thing is flight. A pigeon is the perfect symbol for the starving artists who are trying to survive in a world that wasn’t made for them. They’re mostly ignored, mostly unwanted, and there are a lot of them. It’s a tough life, but they survive however they can and when the time comes, they take flight.
The planes represent the mainstream artists—finely tuned machines associated with major corporations, a global reach to the masses, and serious money. We could stretch this on for days, but use your imagination. Pigeons and Planes.
Website: http://pigeonsandplanes.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PigsAndPlans
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PigsAndPlans/
Aquarium Drunkard
Based in Los Angeles, Aquarium Drunkard is an eclectic audio blog featuring daily music reviews, interviews, features, mp3 samples and sessions. Originating in 2005, digging globally, the Drunkard bridges contemporary sounds with vintage garage, psych, folk, country, soul, funk, r&b and beyond.
Helmed by Justin Gage, the site has since spun off Autumn Tone Records, the Aquarium Drunkard Presents series, the Lagniappe Sessions and the weekly, two hour, Aquarium Drunkard Show airing Fridays on SIRIUS/XMU (channel 35), Noon-2pm EST. Gage is a working music supervisor for film and music consultant. He authored the 2009 guide/travelogue Memphis And The Delta Blues Trail.
Noteworthy AD guest contributors include: Robyn Hitchcock, Will Oldham, Dungen, Jim James, Lower Dens, Steve Gunn, Hiss Golden Messenger, Psychic Temple, Patterson Hood, James Elkington, Mark Kozelek, Allah-Las, Spooner Oldham, Jon Spencer, Kevin Morby, Joan Shelley, John Vanderslice, Akron/Family, Steve Earle, White Fence, Anton Newcombe, Mikal Cronin, The Sandwitches, Hamilton Leithauser, Parquet Courts, Gordon Gano, J. Tillman, The Antlers, Jason Isbell, Richard Swift, The Handsome Family, Daniel Hutchens, Frida Hyvönen, Castanets, Drive-By Truckers, William Tyler, William Elliott Whitmore, Tortoise, Father John Misty, Kikagaku Moyo, The Broken West, Lucero, Horse Feathers, Rodriguez, Bowerbirds, Port O’brien, Portugal The Man, Frankel, Roadside Graves, Josh Rouse, Throw Me The Statue, The Whigs, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Fruit Bats, James Jackson Toth, James Husband, Bear In Heaven, Japandroids, The Minus 5, Megafaun, King Tuff, White Hinterland, Wolf People, The Deadly Syndrome, Dean Wareham, Frog Eyes, Doug Paisley, Everest, Lotus Plaza, The Ruby Suns, The Jim Jones Revue, Chris Cohen, Sunset, Elf Power, Bobby Bare Jr., Breathe Owl Breathe, Ben Weaver, The Autumn Defense, Robert Ellis, Hacienda, John Grant, Wooden Wand, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Skygreen Leopards, Matthew E. White, The Amazing, Porcelain Raft, Tashaki Miyaki, Night Beds, Daniel Romano, Chris Forsyth, Sonny & The Sunsets, Bobby Bare Jr., Of Montreal, Eric D. Johnson, Jolie Holland, Benjamin Booker, Daniel Bachman, Ultimate Painting, Jennifer Castle, Alex Bleeker, Diane Coffee, Jess Williamson, Ryley Walker, Gruff Rhys, Rickie Lee Jones and many more.
Interviews: John Cale, Pere Ubu, Peter Buck, Brian Wilson, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Dwight Yoakam, Alan Vega, Adrian Sherwood, Michael Chapman, Dave Davies, Nick Lowe, Robyn Hitchcock, Protomartyr, Yo La Tengo, David Crosby, Jeff Bridges, Neko Case, Träd, Gräs & Stenar, Cass McCombs, Tom Jones, Jah Wobble, Idris Ackamoor, Paul Major, Bill Fay, Mike Watt, Lift To Experience, Joan Shelley, Woods, Laraaji, Bill Vitt, Vic Chesnutt, Kris Kristofferson, Mary Timony, Terry Allen, Henry Rollins, James Elkington, Cody Chesnutt, Lou Barlow, Willis Earl Beal, No Age, Psychic Temple, Jody Stephens (Big Star), The Weather Station, Lambchop, Richard Buckner, The Olivia Tremor Control, Kevin Morby, Jim White, Silver Jews, Elyse Weinberg, John Mulaney, Matthew Sweet, Chris Robinson, The Hold Steady, Merle Haggard, Moon Duo, Joanna Brouk, Centro-Matic, K. Leimer, Alejandro Escovedo, The National, Beth Orton, The Felice Brothers, Scott Fagan, Shearwater, Howe Gelb, Real Estate, Anton Newcombe, AA Bondy, Brendan Benson, Twin Peaks, The Low Anthem, Pere Ubu, Nathan Bowles, Jay Farrar, Shirley Collins, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Circulatory System, Ethan Miller, Condo Fucks, Jason Lytle, Akron/Family, William Bell, The Moondoggies, Telekinesis, Megafaun, Phosphorescent, Charlie Louvin, Castanets, Dan Auerbach, Benji Hughes, Cheap Trick, The Walkmen, Mikal Cronin, The Rosebuds, Horse Feathers, Mercyland, Blitzen Trapper, Kelly Hogan, Damien Jurado, DeVotchka, The Whigs, The Broken West, Car Seat Headrest, Quintron, Calexico, Hayden, Eric Bachmann, Patterson Hood, Arcade Fire, Whitney, Beach House, Skygreen Leopards, Portastatic, Born Ruffians, Twin Peaks, Animal Collective, The Antlers, Kelly Hogan, Foxygen, Mikael Jorgensen, Futurebirds, Lissie, The Love Language, Five Eight, Dale Murphy, Foxygen, Menomena, Corin Tucker, Destroyer, Superchunk, Beachwood Sparks, Lucinda Williams, Wooden Wand, Margo Guryan, The Growlers, Father John Misty, Chris Cohen, Steve Gunn, Hiss Golden Messenger, Chris Stamey, Angel Olsen, Camera Obscura, Bobby Whitlock, The Baptist Generals, Daughn Gibson, Van Dyke Parks, Califone, Gary Numan, William Tyler, Doug Paisley, Peter Walker, The Rock*A*Teens, Christopher Denny, Castanets, Dwight Twilley, John Lurie and many more.
Website: http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aquadrunkard
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aquadrunkard/