So as I do every Wednesday I went to El Burrito after the lunch crowd hit to enjoy two chicken tacos and read the Free Times. I don’t think I get nearly as many press releases as they do, so they do a really good job of covering a wider array of music and arts than I do (Plus they are professionals and it is their job). At Scene SC we get maybe 1 or 2 press releases a week from bands or venues or promoters that help us know what shows to cover. Other than that I find all of our news from various blogs/websites around the Carolinas, personal connections that I have made and Myspace. Hopefully once our name gets out there a little bit better people will realize how many readers we have and that we too are a valid news source. I’ve come to find out over the last year that people don’t always take “blogs” too seriously. I’m not really worried about this now because as more and more news sources are dying off websites are going to become even more the backbone of daily news.
When Ron Aiken says towards the beginning of the article that the arts are getting “potentially less media coverage than at any time in recent history” it kind of irked me at first. I obviously understand where he is coming from though. In the past there have always been a handful of zines and a website or two to help cover local arts and entertainment. That is why we started Scene SC. To start to fill this void. So in the future I believe that coverage will be the same as it always has been, just not in the print sector. In my opinion blogs and the internet are a way better place to find out about upcoming events than print has ever been. When you are reading a show preview in the paper you can’t instantly listen to the band or watch a video of the band. When you are reading a show review in a zine you can’t comment and disagree with the author. When you read an album review on the web you can download the album instantly on Itunes. The world will always move toward the fastest mode of information exchange. So when we all have internet chips in our contacts or heads in 20 years, you can tell your kids how you used to have to sit at a computer to read news articles.
David,
Being a good, upcoming source for music in SC, you should definitely be proactive in reaching out to record labels and other outlets. Many small “guerilla” and online press shops would be more than happy to include you on their lists. (Many just simply use SEO tactics for blogger outreach.)
While many pubs no longer have the revenue to keep arts writers on their respective beats, obviously bloggers are picking up the slack, most purely out of their own personal interest.
And now they’re feeling the love in kind from the flacks. So keep up the good work.
Drew
Er… ‘Up and coming.’ Another reason to keep print alive – Copy editors.