Photo by Jared
I’m involved in a start-up project for which I will need writers. It’s a commercial project — separate to this site — and I’m in charge of recruiting the bloggers.
This new site is about the music industries, and what’s going on in the world of music — a bit like this blog here, I suppose, but with a difference: This site will be about the globalisation of music.
You’ll be working with a team of really great people from all around the world and – at least at first – I’ll be acting as Managing Editor. I’ll not only be making sure that the content is of the highest standard, but also putting together something of a ‘manual’ and style guide for the team — and helping select an eventual replacement Managing Editor when that time comes.
About the site
While the internet has allowed access to global markets for a lot of artists and labels, there are still significant differences in access, copyright, music culture and laws between nation states. Different infrastructural problems affect the industries in very localised ways. For example, a poor or unreliable local postal service will impact upon the success of an online CD mail-order service.
And of course, different things happen in the news in different countries.
One government may decide to allow format-shifting one week, another may impose a tariff on digital devices. Deregulation of the telecommunications industry in your country might be the topic of the day, or it might be the success of a local artist on the world stage by online means.
Recruiting writers
I have handpicked some of my favourite writers from a range of different countries, but of course there are more places that are not so well represented. We are looking for writers from around the world, writing in English (multi-lingual versions are planned, but not at launch). Of course, we have British and American writers, but this should not prevent other British and American applicants from submitting. These are very active markets, and there is a lot to be said about different territories within those places.
However, I am looking for coverage in France and Argentina, Australia and Japan, Ghana and Jamaica — and wherever you happen to live. As long as you know what you’re talking about and can write, where you’re from is interesting.
The writing style we are after is colloquial, personal and direct. This is not news journalism. It is, however, professional. If you aim it as if you are writing a regular column for a magazine, or a radio feature, or — in fact — this blog, then you’ll probably be bang-on. We are after short paragraphs, rather than long essays, and the typical post will be less than 500 words.
Target readership is music industry professionals, musicians and those interested in the intersection between music culture, technology and politics.
The writing itself is unpaid work. However, successful applicants will be offered a share in both profit and equity in the site. Writers must be familiar with their local music industry sector, be able to write about it in an informed and entertaining way. They should also be comfortable with simple blog software and HTML links. On average, a blog post every one to two weeks would be expected.
Follow the instructions
If you’re interested in being involved in this project, please write a sample blog post in a plain text email. Emails with Word documents or other file attachments will be deleted without being read. Comments on this site are not accepted as submissions.
The post should contain at least two links. It must be between 400 and 500 words in length, be specific and current to your local music industry, and demonstrate your suitability for the project. Be sure to include your full name and country of residence.
Please email your sample blog posts to me: dubber@gmail.com
The deadline is Friday March 7th. After that, I’ll go through them with a couple of my colleagues and we’ll make decisions about successful applicants by the end of that month.