GENRE OVERVIEW: Track-by-Track Album Reviews on Billboard.com

ENGL 3104: Technical Writing Jessica Verba Fall 2014 Heilker

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Introduction………………………………………………………………………….….…….. 3

Billboard’s Audience……………………………………………………………….…………4

Purpose of Track-By-Track Reviews……………………………………….………….…. 6

Writers of Track-By-Track Reviews………………………………………….…………… 8

Processes that Go into Writing This Document……………………………………….. 9

Characteristics of this Genre…………………..………..……………………………….. 11

Constraints on this Genre…………………………………………………………………..13

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………… 14

Appendix……………………………………………………………………………………… 16

References…………………………………………………………………………………….18

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Music criticism plays an important role in the promotion of certain music and artists to the general public. Due to the massive volume of albums being released, the music industry needs critics who will help consumers sort through these albums and

find the best music in each musical genre. One of the most respected sources of music industry- related information and reviews is Billboard

Magazine. Billboard is a highly influential trade magazine which is best known for identifying and categorizing mainstream music using charts that rank albums by their sales, radio plays, and mentions in social media. Billboard’s writers listen to albums that are highly rated on these charts, and analyze their quality in track-by-track reviews. FIGURE 1: The first issue of Billboard. Billboard was founded in 1894 as an The tagline reads, “A Monthly Resume Of All That Is New, Bright, And Interesting On The Boards.” advertising and marketing magazine (see Figure Image Source: http://www.billboard.com/ 1), but eventually “evolved into the primary source articles/news/6304263/billboard- magazine-120-anniversary of information on trends and innovation in music” (“About Us”). It publishes news about the music industry, including business news, reviews of new albums, and celebrity news about popular music artists. Billboard

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While the print magazine version is popular, Billboard’s website has a larger audience and is visited by as many as 13 million unique visitors a month (“Billboard.com

Breaks Traffic Record”). The website is split into two parts, a consumer-oriented site and an industry-oriented sub-domain. The consumer-oriented site is where the track-by- track album reviews are posted so that the general public can read them.

In each track-by-track review, the writer gives his or her opinion and interpretation of the album, while often providing context by mentioning the artist’s background and previous albums, recent events in the life of the artist that may be reflected in the music, and other possible influences. The writer also briefly analyzes the track’s lyrics, music, and instruments.

BILLBOARD’S AUDIENCE

The website is so popular that it “now attracts over ten million unique visitors each month in more than 100 countries” (“About Us”). According to Billboard.com’s

“About Us” page, this website readership consists of “music fans, artists, top executives, tour promoters, publishers, radio programmers, lawyers, retailers, digital entrepreneurs, and many others” (“About Us”). As previously mentioned, the magazine’s website is split into two sub-sites, which are Billboard.com and Billboard.biz. Billboard.com is specifically targeted towards the music industry’s consumers (see Figure 2), while

Billboard.biz focuses on providing news and data that people who work within the

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Billboard.biz, and require an online subscription in order to be accessed.

Primary audience

All track-by-track album reviews are posted on Billboard.com, suggesting that the intended audience for these reviews is the consumer. The consumer wants to know which albums to buy, and reads the album reviews in order to find out which albums are popular. These reviews are visible to any site visitor and require no subscription (unlike much of the content on Billboard.biz). The reviews are surrounded by consumer- oriented ads for McDonalds, AT&T, and Samsung’s Galaxy Note, while Billboard.biz has industry-targeting ads for services like Eventbrite, which is music ticketing service aimed at “promoters, artists and venues.” Billboard music reviews serve as one way to introduce consumers to these brands through well-placed ads.

Figure 2: An old headline demonstrating that Billboard.com is targeted towards “music fans,” aka the consumers.

Secondary audience

Album reviews, like most of the information Billboard publishes, are also relevant to industry people. The industry is the secondary audience in this case. The industry

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PURPOSE OF TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEWS

The purpose for track-by-track album reviews is to satisfy the needs of the different groups of readers discussed previously. According to Ted Gioia, “…criticism is a tiny part of the ecology of the music business, but an essential part” (Gioia). There are three main types of needs that the reviews satisfy: consumer needs, industry needs and cultural needs.

Consumer needs

Consumers want to know what music to buy. They turn to the track-by-track reviews in order to find out which albums are popular as well as high quality. Music criticism in important in this respect because, as Gioia says, consumers need “reliable critics to guide them.” Besides helping the consumer narrow down his or her options on what to buy (and what not to buy), these track-by-track music reviews also “enhance the individual concertgoer’s capacity for critical listening” (Buelow). As another writer for The

Hollywood Reporter puts it, “the critic helps the listener understand what they’re listening to and how it fits into music’s big picture” (Zemler). By reading these reviews, the consumer begins to learn how to separate the good albums from the bad albums on his/her own. The consumer also turns to these reviews simply to “know what an album’s like before release.”

Industry needs

Track-by-Track Album Reviews on Billboard.com iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Page 6 of 18 There are also many people within the industry who need music reviews.

According to Gioia, “record labels… need frank, knowledgable feedback from critics— both to keep them honest and hold them accountable…” Record labels need to know how their artists work is being received, and these reviews also help them to have some idea of what the artist needs to work on in order to improve critical reception. The artists also benefit from the existence of music criticism. As Gioia explains, “artists deserve a milieu in which musical talent is celebrated and given some acknowledgement in the media.” Good press is important for the artist, the label, the tour promoters, and everyone else who benefits from the artist’s success. Andy Beulow, executive director of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra, adds that, in general, the critic also “instills and leads an ongoing dialogue about the art form within a musical community” (Buelow). This is important because it helps the industry to be more innovative as it learns from the mistakes and successes of each album.

Cultural needs

According to Zemler (of The Hollywood Reporter), “the role of the critic is to contextualize, to generate an understanding of how our world is being reflected in popular culture and how that reflection compares to what came before.” The critic doesn’t just interpret music as good or bad, he also explains how that music reflects and

fits into the general music culture. The reviewer explains the album by placing it in a certain genre, while also explaining how that music has been influenced by popular culture, previous albums, other genres, and other influences. In this way, the critic places the album in a certain slot in musical history and culture. Billboard has even been known to invent and redefine new genres in order in order to categorize new

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Billboard editor who coined the now-popular term “rhythm and blues” (Kahn).

WRITERS OF TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEWS

Most of the authors of track-by-track reviews on Billboard are freelancers who also write or have written for other publications such as Rolling Stone, Buzzfeed,

Pitchfork, Entertainment Weekly and many others. Several of the authors were Billboard interns before becoming freelancers or regular columnists. Billboard’s writers are based around the country, although their locations are only noted in on Billboard.com if the writer lives a city that is important to the music industry, like New York City, Los Angeles,

Nashville, and arguably Detroit. Most of the country music reviews are written by a few writers who live in Nashville, which is practically the country music genre’s headquarters. Many of the writers, however, live in New York (where Billboard’s offices are located).

All of these writers, according to their resumes, are college educated and have received at least a Bachelors degree. They received their degrees from a wide variety of colleges such as NYU, The College of New Jersey, University of Missouri, Boston

University, Full Sail University, and Virginia Tech. Most obtained degrees in Journalism or English, while others have degrees in Communication, Creative Writing,

Entertainment Business, Music, Economics, History, and Sociology.

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Research

The writer, having been assigned a topic by an editor, may do some research to

find information about the artist’s persona life, the new album, and the artist’s previous albums and releases. This helps the writer talk about the album in context. Mainly, though, the writer simply listens to the album itself and writes his opinions of it. Billboard writer Matt Medved has explained that he was in Barcelona when he was assigned a review of deadmau5’s newest album. He “listened to the album a few times on [his]

flight to Porto… then [he] hunkered down in an internet cafe and banged out the review over the course of maybe 3-4 hours” (Medved). Since music reviewers presumably keep up with industry news, they most likely don’t need to spend a lot of time researching when assigned a topic.

Writing

Since, as explained previously, many of Billboard’s writers are freelancers, the environment in which this document is written may vary widely. When asked where he does his writing, Billboard writer Matt Medved responded that he writes at home, on the bus, on the train, and basically everywhere except in an office.

“I started writing for Bilboard as a freelancer living in Berlin, and I still work

mostly remotely in a unique non-full-time role. I’ve written articles on my iPhone

from locales ranging from a hostel in Turkey to a salt mine in Poland, as well as

on pretty much every form of transportation out there that doesn’t break the

earth’s atmosphere” (Medved).

Track-by-Track Album Reviews on Billboard.com iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Page 9 of 18 Another writer for Billboard, Kenneth Partridge, also answered a recent question for information about his writing process. Although based in Brooklyn, NY, near the

Billboard offices, Partridge also prefers to work outside the office. “I work mostly from home, though I sometimes take my laptop other places, just to get out of the apartment”

(Partridge).

Writing music reviews may be done at any time of the day, but usually these documents are written before or on the release date of the album being reviewed. As mentioned before, for Medved, the process took only three or four hours. Medved says that the process took extra time because he is a “a perfectionist when it comes to longer pieces” (Medved).

Publication

The finished review is most likely emailed to the editor, but Partridge explained that in his experience, the editors don’t seem to do much trimming of submitted reviews.

He suggested that, “since the track-by-track reviews are for the website, as opposed to the magazine, word count isn't such a big concern, though I'm sure that if I turned in some 10,000-word piece, the editors would trim it down” (Partridge). The finished album review is published on Billboard.com, presumably by the web designer/developers in charge of Billboard’s website. It is then kept there indefinitely, because as long as

Billboard exists and remains influential, and the album exists, then the review remains relevant.

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Structure and Content

Header

-Title in large, bold letters

-Name of the author is immediately below the title

-Links to author’s Billboard page and Twitter page (this is the only contact info).

-Provides date and time that review was posted

-Has few visuals

-Album cover art at the beginning of the article

-YouTube videos in the short review section

-Twitter logo

-Button that says “Buy”

-Billboard rating provided next to the album cover art

Introduction

-Unindented paragraphs separated by line breaks

-Contains any information about the artist that the author thinks may have

influenced the album.

For example, these paragraphs may describe events in the life of the artist (such as

Coldplay singer Chris Martin’s separation from his wife Gwyneth Paltrow before he wrote the album Ghost Stories). Writer Jason Lipshutz interprets Ghost Stories as Chris

Martin’s way of showing his “gaping wound” to the world “in rather spectacular fashion.”

-Ends with the author’s overall impression of the album; this is the part where he

tells the reader whether the album is high quality or not.

Track-by-Track Album Reviews on Billboard.com iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Page 11 of 18 For example, Lipshutz ends the review by praising “Ghost Stories”: “Coldplay's sharp left turn is also its most listenable album in years, an evocative concoction of sullen phrases, sparse arrangements and powerful themes.”

Short Reviews

-List of tracks, numbered according to their position on the album

-Short review for each track

-Uses descriptive adjectives to describe the track

-Analyzes the track’s meaning and mood

-Talks about the song’s purpose in the overarching theme of the album,

and whether the song’s position in the album makes sense.

-Uses lots of music terms to add credibility

-Describes how the instruments link together.

-Track’s title in bold

-Line breaks between each track review

Example

“How to Destroy Angels” - Ice Age (deadmau5 Remix)

“A plucked bass line precedes immersive glitch work and thoughtful female vocals

that carry the track’s lovely lead melody. Panned fuzz guitars drift from ear to ear in a

lurching funky interplay between the song’s eclectic elements. This remix is complex

electronica that can be danced to, but it wasn’t specifically made for that purpose. In

retrospect, this track is an augury of the album’s overall approach” (Medved).

Track-by-Track Album Reviews on Billboard.com iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Page 12 of 18 This quotation showcases several characteristics of track-by-track reviews. First, writers typically use tons of adjectives in these reviews. By describing the “glitch work” as

“immersive,” the vocals as “thoughtful,” the instrumental interplay as “lurching” and the song’s elements as “eclectic,” the author is trying to put the sound and texture of the music into words. The author mainly uses basic music terms such as “synth,” “melody,”

“beat,” “bass,” and “percussion,” but by adding in terms like “glitch work” and “fuzz guitars,” the author shows some of his more in-depth knowledge of music. By naming each instrument, the author takes apart the track and displays its individual parts for the reader to see. Next, he puts the track back together by showing how each instrument links with the next: the bass line “precedes” the glitch work and vocals, which “carry” the melody, while panned guitars create an “interplay,” uniting the song’s elements. The characteristics displayed in the above quote are common in this genre of writing.

CONSTRAINTS ON THIS GENRE

The writer has to keep in mind a few basic restraints. First, according to

Billboard’s “Contact Us” page, the writer can only write about artists who have “charted on the Billboard charts.” The writer also needs to avoid letting personal beliefs and biases seep into his writing. For example, if a writer dislikes an artist’s personality, he should not allow that to affect his analysis of the artist’s album. Religion is another factor that can bias a review, so a writer covering Billboard’s Christian charts must keep that in mind.

Track-by-Track Album Reviews on Billboard.com iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Page 13 of 18 Beyond these basics, there are relatively few constraints which the writer must keep in mind in creating a document in this genre. Partridge has written several track- by-track reviews and explained that,

“In terms of constraints from editors, there aren’t too many. I suppose they trust

me to be fair and critical without being senselessly mean… I’m generally writing

about classic albums, so there’s some unspoken expectation these will have a

positive tone, I’d say” (Partridge).

Billboard occasionally reviews these classic albums, and those reviews seem to focus more on honoring the album than reviews of current albums do. Giving a negative review to an iconic album such as Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A would very likely result in a lot of backlash from Billboard’s readership, and would ultimately be pointless. According to author Tariq Goddard, “a critic has to hedge their bets and build a career based on speculation,” and a negative review of a classic album could possibly be damaging to the writer’s career (Goddard).

CONCLUSION

This genre of writing is widespread throughout publications related to the music industry or the entertainment industry. It is mainly written by freelancers who are allowed a lot of flexibility in their interpretation of the album, as well as in the writing process, and can write a music review at home, in the office, or wherever they happen to be at the time. Their music reviews are aimed at consumers and fans of the music industry,

Track-by-Track Album Reviews on Billboard.com iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Page 14 of 18 and reading them is a good way to learn which albums are high quality, which are not, and how to understand and appreciate the difference.

Track-by-Track Album Reviews on Billboard.com iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Page 15 of 18 APPENDIX (Email Interviews and Example Texts)

First Interview, from Matt Medved:

Hi Jessica,

No problem, happy to help.

1. Where do you do your work (home, office, bus, train)?

All of the above. Except for an office actually. I started writing for Billboard as a freelancer living in Berlin, and I still work mostly remotely in a unique non-full time role. I've written articles on my iPhone from locales ranging from a hostel in Turkey to a salt mine in Poland, as well as on pretty much every form of transportation out there that doesn't break the earth's atmosphere.

I'm currently writing to you on a bus from NYC bound for Rochester, just after transcribing a David Guetta interview. To be fair though, the other Billboard writers probably more often work from the office.

2. How much time did you have to write your review of deadmau5's album?

Funny story about that one. I was covering Sonar in Barcelona when I was assigned that review. I had plans to Couchsurf around Portugal right after. Listened to the album a few times on my flight to Porto and wandered around the city with my Couchsurfing host until the East Coast woke up. Then I hunkered down in an internet cafe and banged out the review over the course of maybe 3-4 hours? Wasn't how I had anticipated spending my trip's first afternoon, but I am a perfectionist when it comes to longer pieces like that one. So I suppose the answer was one day? Though I might have had more time if I didn't have other coverage obligations relating to Sonar.

Hope that helps, let me know if you have any more questions. Happy Thanksgiving!

MM

Second Interview, from Kenneth Partridge:

Hey Jessica,

Thanks for the email. In response to your questions:

Track-by-Track Album Reviews on Billboard.com iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Page 16 of 18 1. I work mostly from home, though I sometimes take my laptop other places, just to get out of the apartment. I'm based in Brooklyn, N.Y.

2. In terms of constraints from editors, there aren't too many. I suppose they trust me to be fair and critical without being senselessly mean or anything. Since the track-by-track reviews are for the website, as opposed to the magazine, word count isn't such a big concern, though I'm sure that if I turned in some 10,000- word piece, the editors would trim it down. For the most part, it's a few paragraphs to set up the piece, and then the song breakdowns. I'm generally writing about classic albums, so there's some unspoken expectation these will have a positive tone, I'd say.

3. I'm not sure what Billboard's readership demographics are like. I'd guess people between 18 and, say, 40 who like pop music and want to keep up with the latest news. There's probably data somewhere on their site.

I hope that helps. Good luck! Enjoy your holiday. Ken

Track-by-Track Album Reviews on Billboard.com iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Page 17 of 18 REFERENCES

“About Us.” Billboard.com. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.

“Billboard.com Breaks Traffic Record.” Billboard.com. 6 Oct. 2014. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.

Gioia, Ted. “Music Criticism Has Degenerated Into Lifestyle Reporting.” The Daily Beast.

18 Mar. 2014. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.

Buelow, Andy. “Concerning Music Criticism.” Tacoma Symphony Orchestra. 27 Oct.

2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.

Zemler, Emily. “Are Music Critics Pointless? (Opinion).” The Hollywood Reporter. 29

Mar. 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.

Kahn, Ashley. “Jerry Wexler: The Man Who Invented Rhythm & Blues.” Rolling Stone.

15 Aug. 2008. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.

Partridge, Kenneth. Email interview. 25 Nov. 2014.

Medved, Matt. Email interview. 25 Nov. 2014.

Goddard, Tariq. “Why Music Criticism Is Important, By Zer0 Sky Books’ Tariq Goddard.”

The Quietus. 20 Apr. 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.

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