Music blogs serve a definite purpose in our modern world; with so many new tracks being produced on a daily basis it makes it close to impossible to sift through them all and find the tunes we like.
It may seem like the dream job to some but music blogging is a competitive game. New blogs are popping up daily, so how then does one stand out from the crowd? And is it possible to make a career exclusively out of blogging? We talk to established music blogger Frank Yang from Chromewaves about his many years of experience working in the music blogosphere and get his advice on what makes for a successful blog.
How did Chromewaves come about?
The blog, specifically, happened because in mid-2002 I found myself with a domain name and webhosting and no purpose for them. I’d intended to use them as a portfolio site as I was just getting started as a freelance web developer, but then I found a full-time job so that was less of a priority. I had some friends who were running personal blogs and thought I’d give it a shot since, despite being gainfully employed, I was still bored.The personal blog angle got tired pretty quickly since, as it turned out, I was as boring as I was bored, so I shifted focus to pop cultural interests and eventually narrowed down to just music – old favourites, new discoveries and just stuff happening in and around Toronto and anywhere I happened to be. I’d done some music writing for the school newspaper in university so it wasn’t completely unknown terrain to me, but finding my voice, style and format still took a few years to develop.
Chromewaves has received a significant amount of notoriety over the years. Did you anticipate this success when you started out?
I’ve been nominated for a number of things over the years but never actually won anything besides getting named “Best Music Website in Toronto” by NOW in 2008. I’ve always likened myself to the Martin Scorsese or Susan Lucci of the blogosphere, but then they eventually won their respective Oscars and Emmys so I guess I’m just a guy who doesn’t win much. And no, I didn’t anticipate anything of the sort when I started because the idea of a blog even being considered for any kind of recognition didn’t exist. It was alien enough of a concept that someone out there might actually want to read the stuff I spewed, let alone give it an award. I mean, when I started out you could count the number of music blogs on two hands – just getting a link from another site was like getting high fives from a million angels and I was genuinely befuddled the first time someone said they wanted to send me a CD to review. Those were the days.
What type of music/musician catches your attention?
It’s funny, I went through a phase where I was trying to listen to anything and everything and take advantage of the opportunities afforded to me by the blog to broaden my musical taste and experience. Then I realized I was spending a lot of time listening to and trying to write about stuff that I really didn’t like or care about. These days, I don’t try nearly as hard to discover new stuff – I let it find me, keeping in mind that this statement is from the perspective of someone who gets new stuff flung at me 24-7. I’ll take the recommendations of friends, other writers I respect, PR people I have a genuine relationship with – it’s ironic that with all of the ways of finding and hearing new music online, it’s old-fashioned word of mouth that carries the most weight.
But to answer the question, my tastes are still pop music at the core, with a particular affection for things that echo the stuff I grew up with – Britpop, shoegaze, twee-pop, alt.country,90’s college rock. Thankfully that covers a huge range of stuff so I don’t think I’m too pigeonholed. And I’ve developed more of an affinity for electronic-y stuff of late. That said, I often find that stuff that’s a little too on the nose (as far as being derivative of stuff I like) gets ignored pretty quickly – like I’ve already heard this style done perfectly; if you don’t have anything new to add, then thanks but no thanks.
What blogs do you follow yourself?
I mostly stick with the old school blogs who’ve been around as long or almost as long as I have, whose tastes I trust or who are otherwise good sources of info. That’d be your Largehearted Boy, Herohill, Aquarium Drunkard, You Ain’t No Picasso, etc. I don’t do a very good job of keeping up with newer blogs though I’m sure some are doing great things as well. With blogs, like music, there’s just too much to try and keep up with.
Is it possible to make a living exclusively out of blogging?
That really depends on what kind of standard of living you’re willing to accept, but basically the answer is no – at least not music blogging. I mean, I’ve seen a lot of people and companies try to find a way to monetize the medium and I’ve profited from a lot of it but ultimately, they’ve all packed it in. It’s just too niche and there’s no model by which you can make any kind of good money and certainly not anything you can budget or plan on. But I’ve seen people use the blog as a calling card for doing other things, like full-time journalism, concert promotion, label A&R – it’s a great showcase for your taste and talents, but to expect to make a living just writing about music without being attached to a stable, corporate entity able and willing to pay you for it? If you can figure that out, you’re a better blogger than I.
What do you think is the key to a successful blog?
You have to define success. Financial success? Be Stereogum or Pitchfork, the end. But if you’re looking for less concrete rewards, whatever they may be, then I think the common denominator would be to be passionate about it and have fun. If you’re not genuinely having fun, then I guarantee you your time and energy is better spent elsewhere. Find your own voice and have something interesting to say – original content is what will differentiate you from everyone else re-posting press releases. And don’t chase trends, there’s more than enough sites that do that; consider the history and the context of the art, look at the long game.
How have blogs come to have such an influence on the music industry? What are your thoughts on the future of music blogs?
Independent blogs are able to cover their respective grassroots scenes with more immediacy and enthusiasm than more mainstream or established media outlets who may have more of a responsibility or necessity to cover what’s popular or of the zeitgeist.They may not necessarily reach a lot of ears with the music they’re writing about, but it’s still ears and sometimes those ears can be attached to people capable of getting that music to exponentially more ears. Much is made about how the internet has levelled the playing field as far as being able to get one’s art out into the world, but that playing field is now infinitely broad – gatekeepers are still needed to help sort through it all, and that’s a role that blogs excel at.
As for the future of blogs, that I’m not so sure about. The traditional format blog, of which I consider mine to be, is becoming archaic in the age of Twitter, Tumblr and magazine-format sites.It’s much harder to stand out and find any kind of audience with so many competing voices, and blogging probably fails any real objective effort-to-payoff equations. It may be that the lifespan of sites ends up much shorter than they were as people lose interest or real life just eventually wins out; I really don’t know. But I think the role they play – which was originally likened to the fanzine in the ’80s and ’90s – will remain, whatever the format.People will always discover something new and want to share it.
“Music Blogs: A Conversation with Today’s Digital Tastemakers”, a panel discussion featuring Frank Yang will take place on Friday, March 6th at the ING Café on 221 Yonge Street from 6:30 pm. Reserve your tickets online.
SÃle Cleary is a regular contributor to Toronto Standard. Follow her on Twitter at @silecleary.
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