The Pop Corporation

The world of music journalism is filled with entitled chancers and brazen liars. We don’t exclude ourselves from this, but we have the basic decency to embrace it. Given that music publications and departments at newspapers are incredibly keen to thwart any new blood treading on their toes and stopping anyone from getting in the way of a potential job for life, we figured we’d throw out a lifeline.

Imagine that! Someone in the world of journalism and criticism doing something and asking for absolutely nothing in return.

You’re here because you want to get into writing professionally (there’s nothing professional about it – what you mean is ‘you’d like someone to pay you for your opinions on music, because currently, your opinions are free and you’re worried you’ve been annoying everyone with them, so a paycheck might just give you an air of authenticity – that’s cool) or, indeed, you’re nosy and you assumed there’d be a catch to this article.

Effectively, music editors won’t have anything to do with a young writer unless they’ve got some experience. If every editor thinks that, then how is anyone supposed to get a gig? Set up their own blog and stick at it for years? That’s the obvious answer, but young people haven’t got time for that. Too busy peacocking about the place and scraping loose change together for pints and second-hand LPs. Good stuff.

That’s where The Pop Corporation comes in.

If you want to use any of these articles on this site and say that you wrote them on your CV to try and get a job with a fancy, paying company, feel free. Seriously.

We don’t have writer credits on our articles, so if you want to say you were a member of the Pop Corp, go ahead! Music journalism is 2023 is a complete farce and we’d like to contribute to that. You can pick a couple of articles you like and be all ‘sure, I wrote that one and contributed some shorter news pieces too, absolutely’. Save from a few personal vendettas, this is open to anyone!

So how do we go about doing that? We feel like we’re in danger of wiping your arse here, but what the hell. If you were a more focused and capable writer, you’d be sticking your foot in the door of city hall, bringing corrupt politicians to task with your well researched points and hard hitting questions wouldn’t you? You wouldn’t be trying to get someone to pay you to tell everyone how much you love Brian Wilson or Three 6 Mafia or whatever.

If you can find our email on this site (you have to show a smidge of gumption, c’mon), or want to get in our DMs on socials to say you’ve used us as a reference, let us know and we’ll write a glowing response to any questions from the NME, Pitchfork, Guardian, or whoever you’re writing for. To hell with it, what do we care? Go and move to London and live in a house share until you’re in your mid ’40s – it’s not our life.

Hell, even the smaller, supposedly independent sites have tried to maintain an air of being inaccessible, which is hilarious. They’re paying their bills in London with site revenue, that’s why they can’t pay you, not because they’re got a punk spirit and are running things like an outspoken fanzine. No drama though. Let’s not be those guys eh?

Besides, writing about music is supposed to be fun, so let’s sack off the pretence of having to know about journalism law and we’ll vouch for you if you want to get paid to write articles like ’20 Greatest Arctic Monkeys Tracks’ for someone, or vainly try and invent a new genre by grouping different bands together. Music journalism is largely a very silly endeavour and we refuse to stand in the way of that.

Hell, you can actually pitch to us if you like. We’re assuming you won’t because who wants to actually do any writing before applying for a writing job. You did enough of that at school or university or whatever you did during your formative years.

Lie to them. We’ll help. Let us know, or you’re rolling the dice and we might stitch you up when we reply to whoever the music editor at Observer Music Monthly is these days.

Happy to help.