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The popular music review website MusicCritic.com today revealed a new career guide for potential music critics.
Music Critic was founded in 1998, and publishes album reviews, music articles, concert and live band reviews and instrument guides. The new guide is titled ‘How to Become a Music Critic’, and is an in-depth look at what is involved in becoming a music critic, the levels of experience and education required, salary expectations and advice.
“As a site dedicated to music, band and album reviews for over 20 years, we frequently find requests for advice on how to become a music critic in our email and social media inboxes,” said Music Critic’s editor Matt Aird. “We decided that the best thing to do would be to compile information and the advice on the topic and put it all down in one place for the budding critics of the future.”
While the media landscape has changed dramatically over the last decade, and it is now entirely possible to build up a large online following as a music critic by reviewing music without any specific education or training, the new guide is focussed on what is involved in becoming a professional music critic as a career.
According to statistics released by the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, over two thirds of the metropolitan music critics in the US were music majors in college. Higher education is more common among critics covering Classical Music, with the UNC reporting that almost half of these critics have a master’s degree in music. Students in master’s degree programs may take additional coursework in such areas as music theory, music history, music librarianship, composition and performance. Music critics must have strong writing skills, so coursework in creative writing or other English classes may help develop knowledge of writing structure, style, and grammar.
“Aside from a strong work ethic, a good attitude and the willingness to learn, a good music critic is free-thinking and brave,” continued Matt Aird for Music Critic. “To attract and hold a readership, the writing must provide something different from what’s already out there. This could be controversial opinions, a surprising descriptive style, or the bravery to challenge popular thought. As well as having a strong opinion of their own, good music critics must also have an open mind toward the opinions and tastes of others.”
Founded as an online music review site, with reviews written for the people, by the people, Music Critic includes thousands of Album reviews across a wide range of genres, all the way from the popular Rock, Rap, Indie and Pop categories to Blues, World Music, Electronic and Reggae. Other popular sections include reviews of individual Concerts and live performances and soundtracks and movie themes.
Release ID: 390689