In some ways, we live in a Golden Age of music journalism. The field is at its largest and most diverse, so artists are generally covered by those with specialized knowledge of and appreciation for the artists’ sonic traditions.
Yet music journalism is also dying. Pitchfork Magazine is the latest victim of a familiar cycle: conglomerates swallow up independent operations, orient them towards profit with dispassionate schemes cooked up by consultants, and gut them the second it blows up in their faces.
Social Media spectacle fills the void. My contemporaries are increasingly compelled to engage with art like consumers of lifestyle brands. Shortform videos centering fandoms and hot takes insulate us from criticism, inquiry, and the uncomfortable notion that there is better music out there to enjoy, that sometimes we’re going to be confused on the first listen, and that it takes work to expand our horizons.
But something else is happening, broadcast live on Social Media, that has sent profound shockwaves through my generation, shattering forever the illusion that we’re living in a post-historic world with nothing on our horizons beyond passive consumption, alienated labor, and death. The American ruling class is perpetrating through its Zionist colony a genocide against the people of Palestine, and our mainstream “journalists” are not just silent, but complicit. My generation has taken to Social Media to educate each other about this genocide. It is evident that we are awaiting a new birth of independent journalism with ideological clarity and analytical depth.
Jellybones is a music publication that seeks to deliver longform essays and interviews with tomorrow’s most influential artists from all around the world. Unlike other outlets operating inside of or agnostic toward the institutions that shape art, Jellybones is defined in opposition to the institutions – record labels, corporate media, awards committees, social media, celebrity, the market. Although we can love pop music, Jellybones is a platform for writers to investigate critically the relationship between these structures, pop music, and society.
Our content need not be political, but we seek contributors who are interested in writing about music on a meta level – those who can navigate how artistic expression is embedded within our social relations that are moderated by these institutions, as niche as internet forums or as vast as totalitarian states.
It is important to identify the central institution that commodifies artistic expression, compels the self-censorship of journalists, pacifies and perpetuates youth with the spectacle of Social Media and celebrity, and slaughters Palestinians by the tens of thousands: global capitalism. Ideology underpins every written word, and Jellybones makes ours explicit: anti-capitalism and anti-fascism, which are one and the same endeavor.
In accordance with our mission, Jellybones will always be worker-owned and will never seek profit nor accept corporate sponsorship. In the short term, we strive to compensate contributors based on what they think is fair value for their own work. In the long term, we are working on supplementing our core journalism with audiovisual content like podcasts and video essays to attract the crowdsourced patronage necessary to award the best possible compensation for all contributions.
I dream that Jellybones cultivates a transnational community of contributors who recognize us as the premier independent platform to share ambitious essays about music’s cutting edge, histories, absurdities, triumphs, failures, and intricacies – especially those which would be too heterodox, transgressive, ideological, or otherwise honest for establishment outlets. Or just those which would make us laugh hardest and smile widest.
If any of this resonates with you, we’re looking for talented writers who are exceptional fans of music. Don’t hesitate to reach out – I have specific details about how to pitch me and what sorts of essays we’re working on. I’m also down to just chat about music or whatever. Welcome to Jellybones.
Ali Saeed, Editor-in-Chief
ali@jellybones.net
Contact several of us: staff@jellybones.net
Co-signed: Founder & Editor young@jellybones.net, Designer & Editor justin@jellybones.net.