R.I.P To The Music Reporter

Dear Buzznet,

I would like to take a moment of silence for the death of music reporters.

Where to begin, where to begin. If you haven’t noticed already, music reporters are popping up everywhere. And no, it’s not a good thing. What use to be a truthful and honest rare breed of insight, has now become an industry of girls just wanting to meet bands. The internet has given the tool to anyone by allowing them to create their own websites and ask generic questions to a band they just wanted to meet, but didn’t feel the need to pay the 50 bucks for the Meet and Greet.

This has caused three major problems.

One: The hard working reporters are no longer taken seriously.

Let me define the hard working reporter: Someone who puts hours into researching the band, writes their own questions, books their own interview, and genuinely wants to give insight into the music.

Today: We show up and they already begin to size us up. Can we get this one to sleep with us? Should we just take a picture and call it a day? I wonder if she/he will ask us about how our band name came about?

There’s a stereotype for music reporters! Not, the kind where they worry if we will write a bad review about them. This is my passion, dream, and career I’ve been personally chasing for 5 years now. It’s sad when I get complimented on how refreshing and professional my interview style was. All interviews should be professional. I shouldn’t be receiving these comments EVER.

Problem number two: We no longer get the credit/ pay we deserve. There’s so many girls who will work for free just to get the backstage access. There’s also a dime a dozen sites popping up dragging down viewership/profit. I work for three different music sites currently and receive no pay. I have a 10-6 job (it’s still a cool job :), just so I can afford to pay the bills and travel to shows for them. Don’t get me wrong, I would do what I do for free because I love it, but at some point, you deserve credit and payment.

Problem number three: Most correspondents, reporters, host for major music sites all have a few things in common. They have an agent or they know someone. Since when did you need an agent to talk about music? Also, since when did being someones relative, or having a ton of followers land you a job? These things do not equal a good reporter.

There’s still hope that one day I will land a gig with MTV, CMT, VH1 or AXS. I will continue to prove the

stereotype wrong, and bust my A$$ to show how valuable my style is. I encourage you to do the same in your careers.