Journalism is the activity or profession of writing newspapers articles, content in magazines, or preparing news to be broadcasted. Music is one of the many ways that journalism can portray news around the world. Music journalism is a type of media reporting about music topics, which includes popular, classical, and traditional music. The discourse community for this type of genre are individuals who seek information about musical artists, songs, and/or anything that relates to writing about music.
Music journalism began in the 1960’s, covering music topics such as rock and pop. As the years passed, the internet came into play with music. During the early 2000’s, there was a large increase with the online audience of music bloggers, music critics, and print media. Journalism began discussing and reporting about classical music, rock, etc. As they began to realize that the fan base for reading classical music was decreasing, music journalists began to focus on rock music. This especially occurred after the breakthrough of a band called, “The Beatles”. This began the Rock Era, also called rock n’roll, which originated in the United States in the mid 1950’s-1980’s. This era brought a great introduction to the journalism of music. A magazine known as Rolling Stones, was founded by Jann Wenner in San Francisco in 1967 This magazine is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. Till this day, Rolling Stones is a popular magazine and still presents news.
Between the 1970s-1990s, the genre pop was introduced and became just as famous as rock n’ roll. Pop stars like Michael Jackson and Prince were getting introduced into the music world. Music magazines and newspapers were hammering stories about the music world like never before. In the 21st century, pop has taken over the music industry. Magazines such as Billboard, Entertainment Weekly, etc., have all been introduced to the public and are starting to become extremely popular in music journalism. During the 21st century, the internet has taken a huge role into the journalism industry. It has made it a lot easier for the discourse community to get their hands on the latest news for music. Platforms such as Twitter, Billboard, and more all presented what was occurring during that time for music. Even today in the year 2021, social media has taken journalism for music and many other news topics to the next level. If you were to go onto apps such as Instagram or Snapchat, you can search or view multiple articles on the type of music genre or artist you are looking for. However, music journalism does not necessarily have to be written articles about music. If a publisher were to post a photo about music on social media platforms with a written caption attached to it or a musical artist such as Beyonce were to do the same, it would be music journalism. This is because they are discussing something in relation to music.
There are countless music magazines such as Rolling Stone, Music Alive!, Jazz Times, etc. Music Journalism help’s present news on what is happening in the music industry or what is occurring with musical artists. This includes musical artists and industries all around the world. For individuals, such as I, who just adore listening to music and want to be informed on the newest trend of artists or songs that are out there, music journalism is a great news source. I am also a musical producer and DJ, which makes it very important for me to be informed what is occurring with the music industry.
Music journalism does not only have to be in magazines or newspapers. They can also be portrayed on websites. The website “billboard” provides the discourse community with information on musical artists or the current top 100 songs. On a website such as that, they tell you the latest news on whatever artist you are interested in. I love the fact of this because if you are looking for a pop artist or a r&b artist, the user can just click on the music genre they are currently looking for. For example, say that I want to know the latest news on the pop star Justin Bieber. I will have to go onto the billboard website, then click on the tab that says “news,” and then click on the pop section. So, if there is any latest news on this pop star, I will be able to read an article that was written about him. This will go for any other genre of music as well.
Journalism on music can also be displayed on magazines that sell musical instruments, such as companies like Guitar Center or Sam Ash. Someone in the discourse group can subscribe to receive monthly magazines to see what their monthly sales are. This is considered music journalism because they have a written text on musical instruments. These written texts contain information on the type of instruments and prices. Imagine an individual who is a drummer and wanted to search for a drum set. That person would need to get their hands on a music store magazine and look for the drum section. Once they find that section, they will be able to read descriptions on each drum set they provide for their consumers. If they are not sure on which drum set to decide on, they will later be able to do their own research by reading articles or reviews on which one is the best choice for them.
Autobiographies or biographies on well-known music or musicians are even more sources of music journalism that this discourse community would consider. If there are written biographies on famous musicians such as Beethoven or Justin Timberlake, it will be considered a written text of music. The reason for this is because it will be a written text on well-known musical artists as well as discusses their most well-known pieces. This is a way that a writer or the artist themselves can portray their journalism of music to the discourse community.
In conclusion, music journalism is a type of media reporting about music topics, including popular, classical, and traditional music. These are just a few of many ways music journalism is portrayed. Whether you are interested in a specific genre of music or a musical artist, music journalism provides the information that is being searched for.