Music Blog List: What’s Happening in Music for Fans, Insiders, and Pros
A music blog is a powerful learning tool, but surfing the web to feed your musical interests can be intense. Trying to sort out what’s legit from what’s noise, finding what you want to know from ‘who cares,’ and unearthing proven tips and tricks that are buried in the opinions of people … well, you might as well go to the library and take your chances with the Dewey Decimal System.
We’re going to save you that trip by naming the top-quality music blogs that our team and partners in the business recommend.
KICKING IT OLD SCHOOL
Billboard is the digital doppelganger of the magazine that has been the first name in music coverage for more than 40 years. If it has anything to do with music, from inside-the-business to the charts and who’s climbing, it’s in Billboard.
Pitchfork, the self-proclaimed “most trusted voice in music” has been on top of the music scene since you needed a modem and AOL account to surf the interwebs. It’s the music blog for experimental, metal, electronic pop, and hip-hop sounds, and posts new reviews, interviews, features, news, and information on upcoming music events daily.
INSTRUCTION AND HOW-TO
Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. Doron Orenstein has sat in with performers ranging from the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra to reggae master Half Pint. When he posts about anything from great saxophonists, business wisdom, and elements of saxophone mastery, you can take it to the bank.
The International Clarinet Association’s music blog not only sponsors its world-famous Clarinetfest® but also nurtures a global online community of clarinetists, and publishes the quarterly scholarly journal, The Clarinet.
Ledger Note offers authoritative content designed to advance the skills, knowledge, and competency in the performance of all musicians. Its rigorous standards and experience make it worth bookmarking for expert information regarding all aspects of music.
CMU Insights (Complete Music Updates) is a music blog about anything and everything pertaining to current trends and best practices in the business of music. Make it your one-stop resource for training, research, webinars, and masterclasses.
Hypebot updates its news, views, and do-it-yourself content daily to keep readers at the intersection of music, technology, and business informed. It is the spot for keeping up with how emerging technologies are changing the way music is produced, discovered, consumed, marketed, and monetized.
MUSIC INSIDERS
Music Business Ahead delivers timely and authoritative information for music store owners who are looking for tips, tricks, and trends to help their businesses thrive.
The Music Entrepreneur serves the whole scope of the music industry: musicians, label owners, producers, managers, and anyone else who makes and markets music. Its insider contributors’ music blog is about promotion, instrumentation, tech, and playing techniques.
The Buzz Factor is run by Bob Baker, musician, lecturer, and author of the Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook and the Berklee School of Music’s online Music Marketing 101 course. He’s the guy to read if you’re ready to break out and step up.
MBW has been the go-to music blog for news, insight, and jobs for 15 years. How popular is it? Very. It gets 300,000 unique users every month—with a total of 7-million-plus page views since 2019. It’s the place to go before making career and business decisions.
Ditto Music blog is the spot where Indies of the world unite. If you have a question about music distribution, ramping up your social media, marketing, promoting, and—most important—how to get paid, hit Ditto.
GENRES
Pigeons & Planes lives at COMPLEX.com and covers everything from the best new artists in hip-hop, pop, indie rock, and electronic music to in-depth interviews with the biggest names in the genres.
Brooklyn Vegan covers the metal, punk, and dance music scenes. It also throws in news and views from the world of comedy and film to keep things interesting.
Stereogum calls itself “the world’s best music blog.” It earned its rep more than 15 years of covering breaking news, new music, informed opinion writing, interviews, and lists.
Resident Advisor is the premier music blog for electronic and dance enthusiasts. Staffed entirely by dance music aficionados, it is dedicated to shining light on the people and communities who make electronic music tick at the local, national, and global scene.
Hip Hop Wired is a music blog with a mission. It is committed to covering Hip Hop Nation with respect and verve, advocacy, and promoting meaningful discussion and debate on critical issues.
While this is by no means a complete list of all the music blogs out there, it provides a nice mix of reputable blogs that are publishing great content across music types, audiences, and interests. Stay up to date by following the ones that provide information about the topics you care about, like ours, of course – The Songbirds Knowledge Blog!
Stay tuned for a future edition of this post which will include my favorite musical YouTubers and streamers if you prefer the video format. 🙂