All fair questions. And yes, I’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do…. Let’s dig into it.

Alright, here’s the deal.

Music writing is a dirty, thankless job. It’s not even actually most people’s “jobs” who do it, let alone those who do it well. They (and, yes, now I myself) do it for the love of music and the love of the written word — writing and music can both be fulfilling acts of instantaneous-yet-ephemeral creation in and of themselves — and for the enjoyment of a supportive readership and/or the betterment of a vulnerable artist community. Sadly, less and less writers are doing it at all… It’s a bummer.

I’m an artist, too — I make analog electronic tape music, and play in this band and this band — I know how hard it’s been these past few years to get media coverage on new releases. The outlets are disappearing, the readerships shrinking, and subscriptions are getting costly and saturated.

That doesn’t mean it’s all bad news though. On the one hand, there’s more music out there than ever — new sounds, new processes, new talents, new means of constructing and organizing music and enabling sound, and more ways for artists to reach audiences than ever before. And that means more better music out there. I’m personally pretty excited about that.

But it’s a jungle, and I’d like to try to help.

I’d love to write about your album. And while I can’t guarantee I’ll fall in love with everything that comes across my desk, I can promise that I will really listen to it, and to what you’re trying to say with it. I’ll also totally ignore that and formulate my own impressions on your music because the intellect can only really drive us up to the base of the mountain. Climbing from there requires assets more innate. Music is incredibly important to the human experience, it’s mostly a communicative tool that originates way deeper inside of us than communication typically reaches. Serious artists deserve to have their hard work taken seriously and respected.

That said, reviewing records is also hard work deserving of respect, and compensation. And so with that in mind, here’s how this works.

Artists and Labels are free to send me newly released music (it must be an “official” release, not interested in b-sides, live cuts, and basement tapes). But for every submission, I ask for $15 CAD from the artist/label, and this is crucial.

This is a service. Let’s think of it this way. A pure readership willing to pay to read record reviews no longer exists at the scale required to develop an artist’s career. Subscriptions for music and art writing do, and those are usually built around a particular type of culture writer (maybe that will happen here in the future), but if anything this is a deeply saturated space and in my experience, readerships are much more robust when they’re free. You want to be talking to a free readership, not a paid one.

So, why does the artist/label have to pay?

Well, firstly I’m not interested in taking advertising dollars, sorry, things only get worse when we let brands into the house party through the back door. Secondly, the amount is the lowest possible remuneration I’m able to ask for, and pennies compared to what I charge to write for someone else. This is writing for me and for you, but it is labour in the end. But most of all, press coverage does a hell of a lot more for an artist than the reader. You can share your coverage, you can use it for grant funding, you can use quotes on record sleeves and tour EPKs; confirmation bias is a powerful thing. This ain’t no scheme, babes, it’s a model.

If I cannot review your album, I will refund you via Paypal — you’re not paying me to listen, you’re paying me to write.

Interested? Let’s do this.

• Do not add me to a bulk press list. I am not the “press.”
• Send me your new record with a personal note using the Contact page. Either format, physical or digital, is fine but it must be an “official” release. I’m unlikely to review singles and EPs, but if it’s really, really good I probably will. *Labels are welcome to submit multiple records at once.
• And send $15 CAD via Paypal to comet.meteor@gmail.com per release, with a note referencing your artist name and album name.
• Send any press release and promo materials along for context.
• I will share the review with you when it’s live, and tag you on Instagram at @theroyaleditoryal.

My preferential genres include: experimental, avant-garde, jazz, free jazz, free-folk, improvised music, “sound art,” ambient, electroacoustic, electronic soundscapes, and independent, progressive songwriting of all sorts. But when it comes down to it, I’m pretty excited to hear something that you’re excited about making.

Thanks for reading, and for doing your thing.

Jeremy Young