FEATURE:
With Thanks…
PHOTO CREDIT: Kindel Media/Pexels
Marking Fifteen Years of Music Musings and Such
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ON 15th November…
IN THIS PHOTO: Jae Stephens/PHOTO CREDIT: Cass Meyers
it will fifteen years since I started my blog, Music Musings and Such. You can see the first post here. I was not sure back then where it would lead and how much stuff I would post. I am not sure how many things I have published in fifteen years, though it is somewhere between five and six-thousand. That would be my guess. Even if a lot of the artists I have written about or interviewed have ceased or done other things, there are many more that are still going strong. I would like to say I have become more ambitious as I have gone on. So may artists around the world who I have featured on my blog. From Iraina Mancini (one of my absolute favourites) to Jae Stephens and Natalie Gray, through to The Anchoress and Eaves Wilder. To be honest, I have lost count of what I have done. I think I have shared a post every day for well over a decade. Not missed a day since then. That is pretty much unheard of for any journalist in any field. For me, there is this constant need to put content out. Maybe the sense that, unless I am sharing things, then I am not going to get much traction. I put the quality in there, but I also want to publish as much as I can. In terms of the long-term, I am not certain when I will wind up the site. I would like to think it will still be going when I am in my seventies (I am forty-three now), but I kind of feel that something else will take over me soon enough. Something else music-related. What I do love is how writing gives me an outlet to release and vent. Getting any anxieties out through positive writing. I also do love spotlighting artists and bringing them to wider attention. I write about big album anniversaries. I do a fair bit on Kate Bush, and I also publish interviews.
IN THIS PHOTO: Iraina Mancini/PHOTO CREDIT: Johnny Green
I have not gone into videos and down that route quite yet. I am an introvert and self-conscious, and I am not sure what I would do in videos. Maybe interviews. I tend to stick to features, and I have not done a review in a while. I may review an album if one comes along that strikes me. Iraina Mancini’s second album will come at some point, so I will write about that. I love her 2023 debut, Undo the Blue. There is no single proudest moment when it comes to the artists I have written about and what affect that had. Interviews such as the one with Kelly Jade this May, and Carly Wilford last November got a lot of interaction. They both shared their interviews on Instagram, so that was really rewarding. However, I think way back Ellene Masri and her track, RAIN. I reviewed it in 2014. That was taken from her album, Music. She is still recording and singing, and I know – or I hope – that my review meant something. We contacted one another and have been in contact now and then. But hearing that incredible album and a song like RAIN. That was something that stuck with me as a real standout. A highlight in the fifteen years. I think the times when artists write and say how much my feature or review meant to them. It does not happen as often as I’d like, though you can’t really force people to do anything. I think the writing itself is reward enough. Things have changed since 2011. When I started out, there were a fair few music blogs around. Like me. Small ones run by one person. Now, there are independent sites, though most of them have teams. The number of blogs that are from a single person or smaller is vanishingly thin. So many have stopped because they cannot afford to or cannot grab a big enough audience. I feel music journalism is still undervalued and under threat. This erroneous assumption that social media means everyone can be a critic. Music criticism is much more than just posting comments online. The knowledge, depth, nuance and skill is something that you are not going to get from random people on social media. Artists still value reviews.
I think independent music journalism will shrink once more. We need to support it more than ever. I do not go to many gigs or travel much for the blog because I cannot afford to. I know there is Substack and people can make money but, unless you are a major artist, you are not going to earn enough that it makes a difference. And I like to keep my site free and free from cookies and adverts. I can write features and publish interviews for not much at all. I would like to know how close I am to ten-thousand posts, as that would be something to celebrate. I suspect it is quite a few years away! As I look back to 15th November, 2011, I can see how far I have come. My posts look better. So many of the photos I used for features are not there anymore, so it is just text and it looks a bit naff. Now, I think things look better. I always try to improve and do new things, so I am not yet amt my best. It is a shame that there is no real money in music journalism. My ambition was to make a career of it. Some people do, though the landscape has changed so much. Very few are actually able to make a career of it. Most of us either do it for free or have to raise money through advertising or Substack/Ko-fi. I am glad to have almost made it to fifteen years. I am looking ahead to the twentieth birthday in 2031. I hope I can continue to put out at least one thing every day to that point, though it may be a tall ask! I am sure my life will change a lot to then. Moving somewhere different and the blog may also change. New things and broadening it a bit. I would like to do more interviews and some regular reviews, though it is just finding the time to fit it all in. I would like to thank everyone who has supported Music Musings and Such since 2011. Whether that is commenting on stuff, or sharing and liking features, it does all add up. Even if there are periods where I feel stuff is being ignored and artists are not providing feedback, in a few days, I will share something that does get a good reaction. I will be sure to share another anniversary feature…
IN five years’ time!