Starting Out as a Music Journalist

18th September 2018

When browsing through the module options for the next academic year, the Special Project module jumped out at me: “This module allows students to negotiate a ‘special project’ that does not conform to Dissertation, Performance or Composition.” For me this was perfect because unfortunately, and to many people’s surprise, I get terrible performance anxiety which has led me to stop playing my instruments (piano and clarinet) altogether whilst at university. Composition never really inspired me either, meaning that I have always felt a bit of a misfit when compared to other music students. Though I do hope to take up playing again in the future, for the purposes of university I have taken a more musicological approach to my studies, which I’m very glad I did because it has opened avenues within music that I didn’t previously know existed. Therefore, this module was a breath of fresh air which would allow me to take my study of music in a direction I was much happier with.

I decided to take this opportunity to explore a pathway within music that has always intrigued me: music journalism. I have always enjoyed writing; I see it as a form of art which can be extremely frustrating but also very gratifying when you get it right. And of course, as a music student it is clear that I have a passion for music – particularly the way it relates to and functions within different cultures. I immediately researched and contacted a few music-based companies in Sheffield. Luckily, Exposed Magazine got back to me saying yes!

Exposed said their interns usually do two days a week, but as I would be in final year of university I felt this would be too much, so we agreed on one day per week because I was going to stay longer than interns normally do.

17th October 2018

Really enjoying my internship so far. After a chat with the editor of Exposed on my first day, he assigned me my first article to write: 900 words on ‘The Album That Changed My Life.’ It was a tricky piece to start with, but I appreciated being thrown in at the deep end and given such a hefty piece to get my teeth into.