Every year young writers wait with bated breath for the newest edition of Robert Brewer’s, Writer’s Market (Writers Digest Books), where lists of publications, contact names and numbers appear. But by the end of the year (or even sooner if you go by Magazine Death Watch), many have changed or are no longer. And with the state of the music industry, job-seeking security can be even more elusive. That’s why The Music Press Report has issued the Music Press Directory 2009, the most comprehensive and editor/user-friendly guide for writers seeking editors, journalists seeking journals.
This first edition contains contact information for music writers, photographers, artists, websites and print publications in one 213-page e-book. Collected largely by readers of MusicPressReport.com, this directory has the distinction of precision where the user can benefit from the sort of detail necessary for specifically targeted searches. The reasoning behind this is that publicists, labels and musicians spend too much time and money finding and pursuing every writer they can with un-targeted quests for coverage that often go ignored.
Similarly, print, e-magazines and web sites acquire new talent many times by haphazard meetings, or ads if there is even a budget. Thirdly, all participants in music publishing would do well to increase networking more time-effectively, yet too often there is not enough time during the average workday to find and meet with the appropriate professionals. While still modestly considered an experiment, if enough downloads are recorded, the guide will be expanded to other areas of music publishing and a companion print edition will be released next year.
The Music Press Directory 2009 can be viewed at http://www.lulu.com/content/3052680.
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