DIY or die

The price of writing about music is plunging. Supply is skyrocketing. Anyone with Internet can start a blog. This by itself is not a bad thing. Professional critics are often blowhards. Laymen's blogs can be appealingly accessible. But language has become cheap. Standards have disappeared. People still pay for photographers and graphic designers, but often opt to do writing themselves. The result is an epidemic of poor spelling and grammar. Perhaps the strongest argument for American educational reform is blogspot.com.

At the same time, demand is plummeting. Print publications are shuttering left and right. Few have figured out how to profit from Internet content. 2009 was the first year editors turned down my pitches due to budget concerns. Music publications are especially suffering. They depend on advertising from the record industry, which is heading south in a hurry. With fewer outlets than ever for work, many of my colleagues are scrambling to pay their bills.

Unsurprisingly, writers have turned to self-publishing. (Much of this site derives from failed pitches to larger outlets.) Lulu.com lets writers build and sell books according to their own specs. Two music critics, Greg Prato and Phil Freeman, have gone the Lulu route.

Prato's CV includes Billboard.com, RollingStone.com, and All Music Guide. ECW recently published his book Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music. On Lulu, Prato has published biographies of Shannon Hoon and Tommy Bolin, and No Schlock...Just Rock!, a collection of writing for various publications. Prato's style is unobtrusive, letting subjects speak at length in their own words. The Q&A is my favorite mode of music journalism, and Prato does it well.

Freeman's (who comments here as "pdf") résumé includes Alternative Press, Global Rhythms, The Wire, and Metal Edge. He excels at features that mix quotes with actual writing. I don't particularly like to read these kinds of articles, much less write them. (My instinct is to get out of the way and let subjects speak for themselves.)

Phil Freeman - Sample Chapters [.pdf]

But Freeman makes them move. He sent me three chapters from his new book, Sound Levels: Profiles in American Music, 2002-2009. I found them riveting. Their subjects — Mike Patton, the Melvins, and Oxbow's Eugene Robinson — are fascinating to begin with. But Freeman weaves in sharp insights. He gets Patton to admit to inspiration from Obituary's John Tardy, points out how the Melvins are metal but not, and dissects the lack of sexuality in indie rock fans. Good, thoughtful music journalism like this is worth supporting. Contrary to what the world may think, it doesn't come for free.

Buy:
Greg Prato
Phil Freeman