BREAKING: We can finally afford to commission music writing

We've dabbled in the odd bit of editorial since the day we launched, covering local artists, releases, live scenes, community, and cultural history. We consider it nearly as vital a part of the project as the gig guide, actually – but we couldn’t make editorial happen regularly on top of the work of making the guide unless we got other people to do the writing, and we didn't have the resources to pay those writers fairly. Not paying writers fairly is gross, so we didn't do that.

We want to publish thoughtful, informed, insightful, fun, fascinating, really fucking good work that documents what’s happening in Sydney right now, explores how we got here, and gets people amped for the future. We also want to grow the tiny pool of outlets that both cover local music at the grassroots level and actually pay writers fairly for their time, labour, and expertise, so that they can earn a living writing, and so that coverage can continue to exist and expand in other outlets too. 

And now, thanks to the generous support of the SM community, we can start doing that.

How to contribute

Whether you're just starting out as a writer or you're an established professional, apply to join our contributor pool via this brief form. If you seem like a good fit, we'll send you our detailed guide to pitching to us.

If you’re not a writer but you’re delighted that we want to pay writers for writing, you can help us do that for as long as possible by making a one-off donation or merch purchase, pledging regular support via our Patreon, or just spreading the word to your writer friends, your rich friends, and anyone in between.

And if you don't have your own stuff to pitch but you do have ideas for what you'd like to see on the site, we always love hearing from you mouthy lot. Hit our inbox and tell us what music outlets or blogs or writers you read regularly, what makes you click on a headline about an act you've never heard of, the last article that made you miss your stop because you were so absorbed in reading, and what you want – what you need – from a new local music rag.

(If you work in another creative medium and your practice or subject matter overlaps with music, we're always looking for ways to get you involved too. Drop us a line if you've got ideas.)