I can't say that I walked away from the event too thrilled with what I had just witnessed, that being a somewhat intimate discussion between the four and about 30 or so students scattered throughout the seats, but it was interesting to hear some of their perspectives on music writing throughout their differing careers. Andrew Whitman told the audience he got his start writing for Paste by posting on a message board around the same time the magazine started up, knew some of the folks who were running it, who then asked him to contribute. I found that anecdote appealing considering how much message board posting I do myself...
At my own prodding, Whitman also gave his perspective on making a living off music journalism--or rather, the lack of living to be made. Whitman blogged about it earlier in the week, referencing his upcoming participation in the panel in Scripps. I only had time to skim the piece before I attended, but the following stuck out at me:
I’ll probably be polite and encouraging. God knows the poor, deluded kids need all the encouragement they can get, with their bleak decades of barista duty at Starbucks still ahead of them. So I probably won’t say any of this. But here’s what I’d like to say.All of this Whitman did actually go on to say, after I asked the panel how they made their living. 3 our of the 4 write about music for the love of it rather than its lucrative possibilities, with Jeff Niesel being the only one to claim his career as a music journalist paid all the bills.
You will earn more money by creatively mouthing the words “Would you like fries with that?” than you will as a music critic. If you are pursuing a career in music journalism thinking that you will actually have a career in music journalism, think again. You probably will not.
It's a sobering thought, to be sure. I love writing about music, and to turn it into a career would probably be the greatest thing ever, but it's not something I'm really expecting to pan out. I'm certainly glad that Whitman and the rest of the panel didn't shy away from telling a room full of young, hopeful college kids this when asked, lest the discussion completely devolve into why everyone just loves music so gosh-darned much (which it started to).
Those on the panel will also be judging the Battle of the Bands taking place at The Union bar tonight. I'm currently wrestling with whether to attend that, or a house show on Grosvenor street. You'll find out my decision tomorrow, as one of the events is going to be the subject of my next post.
-WD
I attended the panel as well, as you can see in my last blog post. Hearing the reality of how little music journalists make really got me thinking. I am interested to hear your thoughts on the battle of the bands if you attended. The bands were more impressive than I expected. I wish I knew who the winner was. If they announced it at the end of the night I must have left before they did.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post. It's funny how he was at first going to sugar coat the industry, and needed encouragement to actually tell the truth. It's a scary thought that once we graduate from school and need to generate an income, there will be no livable salary in certain areas of journalism.
ReplyDeleteIn your question (prodding) to Whitman about making a living off of music journalism, did you reference his blog?? Just curious. B, this is a thoughtful post, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI did not reference his blog when I asked, because I'd only really glanced at it about 10 minutes before the panel started. I mostly just gleaned some cynicism from the first bit of his post before I went back to read it after I got home.
ReplyDelete