What matters most in music journalism

Today I would like to address to all of you who share the same passion as me for music journalism, no matter of they are aspiring writers or very experienced in the job.
Many people do think that what only matters in writing jobs are experienced people who manage to write very well structured texts and who will bring brilliant demonstrations of literacy and musical knowledge on paper. Little did you know if you think those details will make a brilliant and acclaimed music journalist of you.
While it is true that you need to meet some basic requirements to attract a readership that will include a quite proper spelling, some obvious editing skills, a good knowledge of the subject you are talking about, you can count them as nothing if you are not motivated by a genuine passion for what you are doing.
You obviously have to write with your heart and soul in order to communicate the same intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm to your readership. It is not only about raising rap or music fans interest, it is also about managing to captivate a neophyte s interest, sharing a genuine passion with the world and making the reader feel that it is real.
I once read a story about an interpreter who was singing I Know My Savior Lives. Technically, her interpretation seemed perfect, until she got some objective criticism that sounded like : Very good, miss…but you don t seem to know that your Savior lives…
Do you get my point? No matter how excellent you are in mastering your craft, you must be able to put some real feelings in what you are doing.
As Proof stated it in one of his songs, I put my soul to the ink should be a writer s state of mind when he is addressing to a readership.
As an employer, if I had to choose between a gifted, impersonal writer and a person with a genuine passion who happened to make some slight mistakes, I d chose the second person with no hesitation. You can always perfect mistakes, but you could barely remove the coldness from a so called perfect article.
Copyright 2007 by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved