Buying a Professional Music Review
With my Social Icons' management hat firmly atop my bonce last night, I spent a few hours scanning Myspace and noticed a number of pages which both scared and appauled me.
'Professional Music Writers: We'll write you a great review in exchange for some cash."
I'm sorry, but not only does this miss the point, it sticks two fingers up at the point and insults its mother.
After all, how much credibility can be given to a review that was paid for?
In the past, I've noticed a number of bands that I've reviewed sticking clips from said reviews on their Myspace, websites etc. Some, if it's a CD I've reviewed, have even used the full thing in place of your standard band bio, and all that's fine; if I wrote something positive about your band, it's because I liked the music on its own merit and if you want to use that to big yourself up, then that's fine.
But to pay someone to say good things about you? Isn't that like saying 'Well, we can't get anyone to say anything good about us because they genuinly like us, let's pay this guy who doesn't actually care about the music and will say anything just to get paid.'
Come on guys, what's going on here? If all you have to do to gain adulation is open your wallet, doesn't that tell you something
a) about your own music and
b) about the state of indipendent music in general?
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to bands who spend money on PR firms to help with their publicity; hell, as a music writer, PR folk can often be my best friends (they come sometimes be a pain in the proverbial too, but that's another story).
At least when you hire a PR firm, you know that any positive publicity you gain from that will be because the writer on the recieving end of your CD and press bumf enjoyed what he heard, and not because your publicisit slipped him £50 and said 'go on, say something nice.'
Soundbites from reviews are often used to hype bands and their music, and that's cool if you can get quotes from people who genuinly dig what you're doing. I mean, I'm hardly the most well-respected name in the music biz', but at least I'm honest and genuine.
And OK, so if you stick my name or the name of The LINC etc beneath a soundbite, it's hardly the same as a quote from someone like Zane Lowe, but at least it's far better than 'By Johnny Bobbledobble, guy who takes peoples money to write good things about them.'
If you're a band and you've used one of these rip-off merchants, consider all your credibility thrown right out the window.
'Professional Music Writers: We'll write you a great review in exchange for some cash."
I'm sorry, but not only does this miss the point, it sticks two fingers up at the point and insults its mother.
After all, how much credibility can be given to a review that was paid for?
In the past, I've noticed a number of bands that I've reviewed sticking clips from said reviews on their Myspace, websites etc. Some, if it's a CD I've reviewed, have even used the full thing in place of your standard band bio, and all that's fine; if I wrote something positive about your band, it's because I liked the music on its own merit and if you want to use that to big yourself up, then that's fine.
But to pay someone to say good things about you? Isn't that like saying 'Well, we can't get anyone to say anything good about us because they genuinly like us, let's pay this guy who doesn't actually care about the music and will say anything just to get paid.'
Come on guys, what's going on here? If all you have to do to gain adulation is open your wallet, doesn't that tell you something
a) about your own music and
b) about the state of indipendent music in general?
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to bands who spend money on PR firms to help with their publicity; hell, as a music writer, PR folk can often be my best friends (they come sometimes be a pain in the proverbial too, but that's another story).
At least when you hire a PR firm, you know that any positive publicity you gain from that will be because the writer on the recieving end of your CD and press bumf enjoyed what he heard, and not because your publicisit slipped him £50 and said 'go on, say something nice.'
Soundbites from reviews are often used to hype bands and their music, and that's cool if you can get quotes from people who genuinly dig what you're doing. I mean, I'm hardly the most well-respected name in the music biz', but at least I'm honest and genuine.
And OK, so if you stick my name or the name of The LINC etc beneath a soundbite, it's hardly the same as a quote from someone like Zane Lowe, but at least it's far better than 'By Johnny Bobbledobble, guy who takes peoples money to write good things about them.'
If you're a band and you've used one of these rip-off merchants, consider all your credibility thrown right out the window.
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