Music Journalist Writer (Freelance)
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Job Summary
This is a remote position.
Freelance features and interviews for an independent music editorial platform. The focus is adventurous music and the worlds around it: scenes as living systems shaped by people spaces platforms money technology politics desire belief labour and community.
Were especially interested in work that bridges contexts (local to global online to offline UK/Europe to Asia and beyond) and avoids inherited default narratives or descriptions by getting sourced balanced takes or deeply personal opinions.
Reference points (to give a feel for the types of music we enjoy top of mind right now not canon): ear weed420 caroline My New Band Believe Shinichi Atobe Car Culture Bloodz Boi Loraine James Caterina Barbieri Purelink Lustmord Phil Elverum John Beltran NVST Aya (Sinclair) Ouri Mica Levi Valentina Magaletti upsammy Kelman Duran Evian Christ.
What were commissioning right now:
1) Interviews (deep-dives not necessarily press-cycle related)
Interviews on method contradictions ethics economics internet life and the realities of making work today. Were keen for you to speak with: artists/producers/DJs with a defined philosophy and context; label heads collective organisers promoters venue operators sound engineers designers; music-founded builders and caretakers such as tool-makers (e.g. instruments) coders archivists librarians radio heads; researchers and thinkers who can speak plainly about complex ideas.
2) Features (reported specific scene-aware)
Were looking for features rooted in a place a network or a conflict for example: reported scene portraits (cities venues radio ecosystems micro-genres touring routes); pieces that map a venue ecosystem or micro-economy (e.g. funding team members audience etc.); stories that bridge online and offline music communities (forums Discords niche platforms recommendation pipelines shaping taste).
3) Investigations / analysis (infrastructure power)
We want writing that interrogates the machinery around music including: private equity and festival consolidation (e.g. KKR) and what ownership does to culture; club ownership models (co-ops vs private owners vs brand-backed venues) door policy labour risk governance; sponsorship ethics contested funding and what artists/audiences do with that tension; streaming and metadata power (tagging playlists bought plays etc.); archiving as politics (preservation/erasure ethics); touring logistics as culture (visas borders fees burnout and their effects); AI and synthetic culture (spam releases identity-as-metadata the dead internet). Data-led approaches are extremely welcome.
4) Photo-led pieces (document reveal)
Photo essays and visual documents are also welcome especially when they highlight labour economics exclusions and the material conditions of a scene.
5) Short-form video (based on articles related topical content)
Once we have articles in the pipeline we need video editors who can put together short-form videos about the same content and/or topical content in similar areas.
How to pitch:
Send a short pitch (250 words) your proposed structure and a line on what access/reporting you can bring.
Requirements
Required Skills:
Links to previous work are helpful but not required if the pitch is strong. Were open to new writers.
