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Shelley Marie Hanvey
Student Number: 1223962
Title: Claim for Accredited Previous Experiential Learning (APEL)
Subject: Writing for the Web
Introduction
This is a 40 credit APEL claim at level 7, detailing my experiential learning in writing for
regional print press and the web, as a freelance music reviewer. I write for eFestivals
website and for my own WordPress blog.
My claim concerns three areas in which I will demonstrate my experiential learning in:
i. The critical understanding of my writing skills for the web
ii. The development of my communication skills, particularly when engaging with
music industry contacts such as promoters, PR and record label management
iii. The development of a personal online blog
In the process of working on the above elements of my freelance writing career, I was
also able to enhance my skills of corporate communications, encapsulating press, PR,
artist liaison/networking, marketing and promotions.
Background
In 2000, I graduated from Liverpool John Moore’s University with a BA (Hons) degree in
English Language and Literature. It had been my intention to pursue a career in
Marketing and I subsequently enrolled to complete the Chartered Institute of Marketing

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(CIM) Advanced Certificate at the University of Salford. I had held several administrative
roles whilst studying for my degree and was now working full-time as PA to the Managing
Director of Guardian Series Newspapers.
Writing had always been a passion of mine and I was encouraged by a journalist friend to
start writing live music reviews for the entertainments section of the Warrington Guardian
newspaper. I have loved going to music concerts from an early age and he identified this
passion as the ideal starting point for such a role. I had previously considered offering my
writing services in such a manner, but I wasn’t sure whether my pieces would be
published as they hadn’t been written by a qualified reporter. After an initial chat with the
sub-editor and reassurance that a journalism qualification would not be required, I set
about steadily building a portfolio of reviews and one-off editorial features for local
unsigned bands in the Liverpool and Manchester region. I learnt my trade on the job as I
was required to make contact with the bands’ management or press representative in
order to book interviews, arrange guest list passes and to forward the final review piece
after the show. As my portfolio grew, I began to build close working relationships with my
music industry contacts. I took a great pride in being approachable and reliable, whilst
being respected for my opinions and the quality of my written work. Kolb and Fry (Kolb &
Fry, 1975) suggest that the experiential learning process often begins with a person
carrying out a particular action and then seeing the effect of the action in this situation.
They define the next step as understanding these effects and the general principle which
has been applied in carrying out this action. When the general principle is understood,
Kolb outlines the last step as ‘application through action in a new circumstance’. In the
process of making contact with music industry colleagues, requesting to review artists on
their roster and producing editorial features, I was able to develop and use my concrete

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experience of this process in order to gain insider knowledge of the industry and its
characteristics, to be creative and to use feedback and positive praise so that I might
perfect my own approach and practices.
I continued to write for the publication until I left the company in 2008, and began working
at the University of Chester as an Executive Secretary. In 2009, I was approached by the
editor of eFestivals website who had read some of my reviews online, and asked whether
I would be interested to write for the website on a freelance basis. The website has an
excellent reputation and is respected throughout the festival industry, for providing up to
date news and resources for festival-goers across the UK and Europe. The site was
created in 2000, having grown out of the original Glastonbury Festival website. I was
particularly keen to review the wide range of festivals that the website covers, from small
independents to large-scale commercials. After accepting the reviewing role and covering
the Cambridge Folk Festival and several small scale indie-rock festivals in Cheshire and
Manchester, I also began to write for their sister site, eGigs, which features reviews of live
music shows. I was asked to focus on, and now specialise in, the genres of folk, pop and
electronica.
I grew in confidence after receiving positive feedback from artists, record label and PR
contacts on the quality and creative approach to my writing. I was told that it had been
my proactive approach to requesting guest list passes and the fact that I had taken full
responsibility for my work that had garnered such praise. Unlike fellow reviewers, I chose
not to rely on the editor to make guest list arrangements, as I had been aware of his time
limitations and tendency to not always follow up on administrative matters. Whilst
reviewing a festival on-site, I have always aimed to exceed expectations by adding value

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to my editorial. I do this by arranging artist interviews post performance, taking
photographs and arranging to meet the festival organizers. My ability to make such
arrangements varied according to the approachability of festival staff and in some
instances, I found such communications particularly challenging and demotivating. I
found that artists were more willing to engage in conversations, as they were no doubt
acutely aware of their need to court press attention, particularly those reviewers from
online publications with a genre specialism, such as myself. Security staff were not
always so approachable however, which meant that I had to spend more time explaining
my intentions, providing references and personal identification. I believe that my
approachability and flexibility in this regard had been viewed as a particular strength, yet
on reflection I might have sought to make such arrangements and enquiries prior to the
weekend of the festival. I therefore amended my practice accordingly and now find the
process to be much more streamlined. My divergent learning style meant that I was able
to see the process from the perspective of security staff and this enabled me to be
imaginative in the way in which I would approach my request for artist access. Schon
(Schon, 1987) describes this process as being ‘reflective-in-action’.
After a few months of festival reviewing, I started to think about diversifying my writing in
order to include local theatre and comedy reviews. I wanted to challenge myself as a
writer and to step outside of my comfort zone. This task was made possible by utilizing
those industry contacts that I had made over the previous seven years. I needed a
platform on which to publish these new reviews, and in early 2010 I set about developing
a personal blog via WordPress.

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i. The critical understanding of my writing skills for the web
Prior to working for Guardian Series Newspapers, I had often felt constrained whilst
writing, particularly in an academic context with regards to prescribed assignment
structures and word counts. When I began writing live music reviews, I found it quite
challenging to submit a piece of work and have the copy edited, sometimes to the extent
where I no longer recognised my own voice in the article and felt that the flow of the piece
had suffered as a result. Paginations at the newspaper had been consistently cut due to
financial pressures and the entertainments section was regularly the first to take a hit due
to local news, jobs and editorial features taking priority, as these sections tended to yield
the most advertising revenue. I did not always agree with the way in which my reviews
had been edited and at times felt that the message or context of the piece had been
compromised. Working outside of the editorial function, I didn’t feel that it was my place to
take this matter up with colleagues. Had I not identified myself as a writer, perhaps I
would have taken these deletions more at face value, instead of taking them as a
personal – and rather defensive - slight on my writing skills. The idea of being free of such
constraints and essentially taking on the role of sub editor myself, are what appealed to
me most about writing for the web.
The mission of the eFestivals website is to provide reviews for the fans, by the fans. As
such, the editor performs a relatively perfunctory role of overseeing the uploading of
content. Reviews are not edited, which in my opinion isn’t a positive thing as quality and
accuracy tend to suffer as a result. I feel that this portrays the rest of the website and its
reviewers in a bad light, meaning that I have to work twice as hard to create a good first
impression with dealing with industry contacts, in order to counteract any initial

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reservations on their part about collaborating with the website and granting press passes.
Again, this is the main factor that I appreciate most about writing for my own blog; I
determine the value of a blog post, how best to write it and at what point it is good
enough to be published. Writing for the web is extremely freeing on the one hand, but the
traditional skills of good writing (Garrand, 2001) such as the need for grammatical
accuracy, simple sentence construction, the use of an active voice, the avoidance of
jargon or technical terms and knowledge of your subject and chosen audience are still
vital. To attract and retain a readership base and truly make a connection, bloggers must
have a distinctive voice; uploading republished print articles or ‘shovelware’ is
immediately recognisable and shows a distinct lack of creativity – the opposite of what I
believe a good writer should be. When I started writing my blog posts, I followed a very
similar set of guidelines to those listed by Bradshaw and Rohumaa (Bradshaw &
Rohumaa, 2011) (pg. 19), as the key to effective online journalism: ‘writing an
introduction-as-summary, including subheadings as entry points for the reader, using
indented quotes, hyperlinks and emboldened/highlighted words’. My blog posts differ in
one respect however; I tend to create and pride myself on my rather ambiguously
sounding headlines. Examples include: ‘Even Reg, his giant spectacles and BFG-sized
creative wisdom couldn’t hold them back; Empire of the Sun release new track ‘Alive’
(published April 17th, 2013) , ‘Lipstick, the male Lana, Little Boots and Lucy’ (published
February 26th, 2013), ‘A modern-day, musical Jackson Pollock – Charlene Soraia’s
medicinal vocals produce erratic and effulgent images’ (published January 11th, 2013)
and ‘A hospital for the stressed, a cathedral for the spiritual; review of Richard Hawley at
Manchester Academy’(published October 1st, 2012). When I started writing for the web, I
wasn’t aware of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or Google search rankings and I felt a
sense of security in the notion that if my headline sounded ambiguous, I in turn would

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appear more knowledgeable and academically relevant to both readers and fellow
bloggers. As my confidence and writing skills grew, I no longer placed such importance
on how I appeared and started to enjoy developing my own personalised writing style.
Jute (Jute, 1992) (pg. 17) refers to this stage of writing development as 'harlotry and
helotry', or the process of writing to please yourself and because you believe in your own
message. I try to write pieces which I would like to read and I define my 'ideal reader'
(Jute, ibid) (pg. 32) as someone just like myself. In essence, I am in fact writing for
myself, to myself. I agree with Jute's notion that writing with your own character in mind
prevents you from straying too far from what you would wish to say, yet affords you
enough of an 'alien influence and exaggeration...to provide an abrasive second opinion
and to act as a goad that forces you to extend your talent.' I have always been my own
fiercest critic, whilst those around me have showered my written work with praise and
support. Whilst I appreciate and cherish such comments, as a writer I am most inspired
by myself and my own experiences; my ability to work through challenges and personal
setbacks has always stemmed from my belief that I always have the right words inside
me and writing them down is a cathartic process.
The first decade of the 21st century saw a dramatic decline in revenue and circulation
amongst local and regional news operators across the UK; this had certainly been the
case at Guardian Series Newspapers. In ‘Ten Years that Shook the Media World’ and
referring to the US, Neilsen (Nielsen, 2012) (pg. 19) wrote that ‘As internet use grew from
43% to 75% of the population from 2000 to 2009, newspaper circulation per capita
declined 25%, total industry revenues fell by 36% in current terms, and newspaper
employment shrank by 17%’. Such developments were believed to be a direct
consequence of the advancement of the digital economy. Regan, in Friend and Singer

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(Friend & Singer, 2007) (pgs. 134-137), described bloggers as the ‘dam-busters of the
media world…so that all the voices that are being ignored or silenced can find ways to be
heard.’ Friend and Singer were in agreement, adding that bloggers give a ‘voice to the
voiceless.’ The voiceless in my case might be the unsigned artists and bands that I
feature, who might otherwise never be discovered as they are deemed to be
uneconomical or un-newsworthy by print press. The music industry appeared to lead the
way in identifying and harnessing the power of the internet and particularly the
blogosphere. By interacting and mutually promoting the free content which bloggers
provide, the music industry is able to save costs on print press advertising and readers
are not subjected to high music magazine and online subscription costs. The web offers
interactive possibilities; possibilities which readers expect and demand. Jones and Salter
(Jones & Salter, 2012) (pg. 49), reference data from a 2010 Ofcom survey which showed
‘an accelerated use in smartphone users accessing the internet with 13.5 million frequent
users, doubling from 2008 to 2010.’ Age is an important factor influencing people’s
chosen news medium. My readership of gig and festival-goers would primarily consist of
18 to 35 year olds; children of the digital era. These readers expect to be able to access
content via their smartphones, tablets and iPads and I have to be aware of this
expectation when writing content for my blog. Writing for the web offers certain benefits
which print press cannot. These include: unlimited word counts, the ability to be your own
editor and to self-publish, to be able to link and bookmark similar posts from across the
digital platform which might be of interest to the reader, the lack of expiration dates and
archiving constraints and the offer of an unlimited and international audience. Web writers
are free of formatting and language restrictions and are able to form interactive
relationships with their readers, whilst incorporating a multimedia focus which might
include traditional journalism, blog commentaries, direct video and audio links. When

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writing a new blog piece, I also aim to meet several of the recommendations set out by
Neilsen, in (Garrand, 2001) for writing for the web, which include using highlighted words,
typeface variations and hypertext links to catch the eye of the reader, using subheadings
and bulleted lists for ease of navigation and entry points throughout the piece, keeping to
one idea per paragraph in order to aid clarity of focus and message, using half the word
count of conventional writing and finally, writing in an inverted pyramid style; starting with
the conclusion. Just as a newly qualified journalist quickly becomes accustomed to writing
in the particular style of his or her chosen medium, I have learnt how to write in a style
and format suitable for the web and for an audience that are predominantly time rich and
attention poor.
Sharing content and hyperlinking is commonplace in the blogging community. With the
music industry using social networking sites to promote artists and to grow and
communicate with fan bases, it made absolute sense for me to have a personal online
presence, as well as that of reviewer on eFestivals, so that I would be able to signpost
and provide links between my online posts. In this respect I was able to drive traffic on a
mutually beneficial basis. I approach every blog post with fresh motivation and a creative
outlook, whilst writing to a semi-structured framework. I start with an attention-grabbing,
intriguing headline, followed by an eye-catching visual image of an artist or band. I write a
short summary as the introduction to the piece, followed by no more than four short
paragraphs with embedded YouTube videos positioned in-between the text. The videos
feature the artist or band concerned and either add background to their biography or
showcase future music releases. The videos also aid non-linear storytelling and allow the
reader to choose their own entry point in to the post. I include album and track titles in
bold text and sign off with my online persona shelleyhanveywriter. I also include

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hyperlinks to the artist or band’s official website and Twitter page. I have found that my
readers generally visit my page from links and search words on Twitter and this is
commonplace for most bloggers. Jones and Salter (Jones & Salter, 2012) (pg. 122), cite
Goldhaber in describing this cacophony of voices all competing for recognition, as the
‘attention economy’. It is therefore vital that I maintain an online presence in order to rise
above the parapet and be heard.
ii. The development of my communication skills, particularly when engaging with
music industry contacts such as promoters, PR and record label management
When I first started to write reviews, I liaised with an editorial contact at Guardian Series
Newspapers. This contact acted as the middle man in the sense that I didn’t have to
speak directly with music industry or PR contacts, in order to arrange guest list passes
and book interviews. After leaving the publication, this process would emerge to be the
biggest learning curve in my experience as a reviewer. Having worked for several years
in an administrative capacity in the office of senior private sector management, I had
developed my communication and networking skills to a high standard. A slow or total
lack of response to e-mail or telephone communications had not been something that I
had grown accustomed to in my professional career. It would be fair to say that I learnt
very quickly of the need to be patient and to grow a resilient, thick skin because I was
regularly subjected to a late or none response to my enquiries. I was given the
impression that communications were ranked in order of priority, according to the
broadcast or publication medium which the sender represented and the industry contact’s
perception of the likely associated coverage which you have to offer. National press
requests for example, would tend to be answered and granted much quicker than online
publications with smaller readership and page view statistics. Not content with such a

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principle and in accordance with Kolb’s experiential learning model (Kolb & Fry, 1975), I
decided to take this piece of learned knowledge and to attempt to change their
generalised theory. I did so by improving the template of my guest list requests to
incorporate a more professional looking e-mail, complete with links to my other published
works. My aim was to demonstrate my passion and dedication to quality writing, in the
hope that industry colleagues would show faith in me and trust me to return the best
review for their investment.
When requesting to review a show, I consult my contacts list to ascertain whether I have
a current working relationship with anyone at the record label or PR agency. If this is not
the case, then I research the label or agency in order to source the appropriate colleague.
Every organisation in the music industry has an official website, Facebook and Twitter
page, which generally makes sourcing these details quite straightforward. After making
an initial contact, I then introduce myself and express my interest in reviewing a particular
show, attaching copies of or links to previously published pieces of my work for a similar
artist/genre. It is most effective and timely to get requests in early, usually three to five
months before the event, in order to be placed higher up the guest list and lessen the
chances of being demoted in favour of national or broadcast media colleagues. I have
learnt that early requests are also greatly appreciated by industry contacts, as this makes
the process of drawing up the guest list and securing adequate promotional
representation flow a lot smoother. Music industry guest lists, like so many others, are
prioritised according to perceived importance, success and ultimately, return on
investment. I learnt at Guardian Series Newspapers that regional press tended to be
deemed less profitable in this regard, as opposed to national press and broadcast media.
Subsequently, a high proportion of my guest list requests had not been successful whilst

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working for the publication. With hindsight however, I now believe this not to have been
the case at all. My editorial contact had not been able to devote the required amount of
time or persistence in contacting music industry colleagues and as a result, the guest list
places had understandably and quite rightly been allocated elsewhere. As a reviewer
representing myself, I am able to devote the necessary time required in which to
advertise and promote my product; my writing. I am also undoubtedly more passionate
about this process, given that I am the sole beneficiary of my endeavours.
Having written a number of reviews for the eFestivals website, I began to cultivate a small
yet steady online following via Twitter. This following then increased dramatically once I
set up my WordPress blog. I currently have 231 online followers and 44,429 page views
(as of 20th January, 2014). I believe that it was these statistics, coupled with the
effectiveness of my previous communications with music industry contacts, which helped
to solidify and strengthen my working relationships with colleagues. In turn, I began to
find the process of being accepted on to guest list allocations a lot easier and less time
consuming. This was a mutually beneficial process of course; marketing and PR agencies
monitor what bloggers and in essence, the marketplace, are saying about their artist or
band, they work with influential bloggers who write about their industry or genre and
ultimately, they hope to shape these online conversations in their artist or band’s favour.
This is what is known in the industry as reputation management. Doorley and Garcia
(Doorley & Garcia, 2007) acknowledge reputation as a somewhat nebulous concept, yet
speak of its real and tangible value that can be measured. This measurement can take
the form of a reputation management plan, set out over a specified timeframe. When I
began writing for the web, I was acutely aware of the sheer number of other writers in the
blogosphere and therefore set about establishing my own goals and career aspirations. I

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was able to monitor and manage such goals as increasing the number of my page views,
promoting my blog within the local and regional music industry, making local contacts with
agencies and venues, networking and being perceived as a specialist in my chosen
genres, by accessing the dashboard section of WordPress. This facility allows the writer
to measure his or her reputation capital by viewing how many page impressions each
post has garnered, how readers have been directed to the blog and from which countries
and which posts have gained the most comments and referrals. I regret that I haven't
found the time to be able to dedicate a proportion of my working week to this monitoring
process, which might have proved fruitful in that I could have more effectively targeted
certain blog posts to particular readers, in carefully identified countries and with specific
tastes and interests. It is my aim to dedicate more time to such activities in the coming
year. In order to sustain the reputation capital which I have built to date in my writing
career, I concentrate on maintaining a level of innovation in my work by being creative
and dedicated to sourcing fresh musical talent. I pay attention to the quality of my written
output and I foster open and regular communications with my industry contacts. I
maintain a level of transparency, integrity and responsibility in my work and I strive to be
credible and reliable. These components are the hallmark of my commitment to my
reviewing duties and I expect the same level of service when dealing with agency
contacts. The degrees of variation in the industry in this regard are rather staggering.
International record labels can reply instantaneously to requests, provide further
information and source guest list places; all whilst interviewing the latest up and coming
band at a major festival on the other side of the Atlantic, whilst smaller, independent
labels with offices in the nearest city will cease to respond for weeks, if at all. In this
regard, there is clearly a disconnect between our priorities in respect of reputational
capital or goodwill.

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After reviewing a show, I forward a copy of or link to the piece to the relevant industry
contact. I have been told that this isn’t commonplace amongst bloggers or freelance
writers, but is appreciated as it lessens their time spent monitoring blogs, meaning that
they can concentrate on analysing online trends and cultivating online relationships with
people like myself. I have also learnt how to be more selective in filtering the
communications that I receive from marketing and PR companies. I receive several press
releases via e-mail each day, promoting new artists, tracks and upcoming tours. When I
first started to write for my blog, I found the sheer amount of these communications
particularly disconcerting, as I felt obliged to write a feature on each one. As I studied and
began to focus more on my chosen three genres of folk, pop and electronica, I started to
feel more comfortable and confident in my knowledge of these areas, which subsequently
made the writing process much less time consuming as I was able to more accurately
pinpoint the relevant technical music and historical artist and band references that I
wished to incorporate in to each post. Meerman Scott (Meerman Scott, 2010) (pg. 59),
put it most succinctly when he wrote: ‘…to be successful, company representatives need
to treat bloggers as individuals and to provide them with valuable information that
complements the work they’re already doing on their blogs.’ In acknowledging and
respecting the type of artists and genres that I choose to focus on, industry
representatives are able to send me relevant press releases which I then go on to
feature, promote and support. This is a mutually beneficial process, as their artists gain
increased online exposure and I am able to upload content much more regularly, as I
spend less time researching new talent.

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iii. The development of a personal online blog
After writing live music reviews for regional newspapers for several years, I started to look
for new ways to challenge myself as a writer. I wished to become more diverse in respect
of the genres of music which I studied and wrote about. I also had a desire to write about
other forms of live entertainment, specifically theatre and comedy. I wanted to set myself
a personal challenge; to test my adaptability as a writer and to see whether I could
receive the same level of praise in another reviewing field. It was suggested to me by a
print journalism contact, that I might find writing for a blogging website particularly
beneficial in this regard. I was informed that it had increasingly become the case that print
journalists were receiving extra demands on their time and coupled with decreasing
paginations, had not been as readily available to cover gigs and festivals in the local
area. Reviews were being outsourced to freelance contributors and the general public
was being invited to participate in such forms of journalistic writing. In the case of my local
newspaper, this was the beginnings of what we now refer to as participatory journalism. I
had made a considerable amount of contacts in the music industry throughout the
previous seven years through the process of requesting guest list passes for live music
shows, which formed a useful basis on which to start promoting myself as a freelance
writer and online music reviewer.
I would have described myself at this stage as being reasonably internet-savvy, but the
world of blogging was completely alien to me. Fortunately, WordPress: a free and open
source blogging tool and content management system and my chosen online platform,
uses a template processor which is straightforward and requires no previous technical
knowledge. Content management systems such as WordPress have made it possible for
bloggers to, in effect; own a modern and lightweight version of a press. In my opinion, the

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best and most accurate definition of a blog comes courtesy of Meerman Scott (ibid) (pg.
69); ‘a blog is just a web site. But it’s a special kind of site that is created and maintained
by a person who is passionate about a subject and wants to tell the world about his or her
area of expertise.’ This statement would describe my mind set perfectly when I embarked
on this writing challenge. Walker Rettberg (Walker Rettberg, 2009) (pg. 12), cited Walter
Ong in describing the transition from print to electronic media as a ‘secondary orality.’
This form of conservational, social language which is closer to everyday speech has
always been my preferred tone of voice as a writer. I like to be inclusive, open-minded
and completely subjective in my reviews of new music, as I view my writing as an
extension of myself and my personality. My aim is not to persuade or influence my
readers, but to share my views and provide a commentary on new artists and bands in
the international music industry. In this respect, I decided that an online topic-driven blog
would be the best platform for my work. I planned to write about new music, provide links
to artists’ YouTube videos, write features and live music reviews. I chose ‘The Journalist’
as the background theme for my blogging site. The layout of this theme is visually clean
and classic in colour and is designed to mirror a minimalist journalism style. I also chose
to link my blog to my online social profiles, including Facebook, Twitter and Linked In,
thus creating and maintaining my online persona of shelleyhanveywriter by sharing
content and providing links between these platforms.
Blogging and other forms of user-created media are causing us to redefine the nature of
journalism itself. Broadcast and print media now observe and rate music according to
online promotion. Blogging is viewed by the music industry as a whole, as a cool and
credible reference point for new music. David Greenwald (Greenwald & Galica, 2013)
Contributing editor for Billboard.com, contributed to an online debate about how the

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music blogging landscape has changed. Greenwald spoke of the ‘major labels’ embrace
of the Internet and music sharing via SoundCloud and YouTube, which makes blogs
more powerful (in terms of what can be shared).’ Greenwald concedes that he doesn’t
love every band which makes its way into ‘blog trendiness’, but is glad that bloggers are
there, ‘shovels in hand’ to uncover these otherwise commercially invisible artists. The
analogy of the shovel referring to the process of trawling MySpace, YouTube,
SoundCloud and other such music sharing websites, in order to discover new talent. The
key word is sharing; content sharing, media sharing and opinion sharing. I include links to
artists’ music videos on YouTube and my readership expect and demand that immediacy
of content. Artists and record label executives are acutely aware of this expectation and
the need to keep up with this online velocity as part of their strategy. Blog search engines
such as Technorati are used by the music industry to track which YouTube videos are
generating the most buzz at any given time due to the number of links to the video from
blogging websites. Radio and print press then use this information to predict future chart
successes and upcoming artists. Tunney and Monaghan (Tunney & Monaghan, 2010)
cite Surowiecki in referring to this phenomenon as ‘the wisdom of crowds’. Artists such as
Banks, Ellie Goulding and Jessie J were all originally discovered via blog reviews and
video uploads of their gigs. Bands are subsequently now increasingly previewing albums
on sites such as Pitchfork and The Line of Best Fit and bringing their release dates
forward, in order to satisfy the salacious demand of online music fans. The implication for
me as a writer being the sheer volume of potential album and single review material,
which I am required to sift through each day in order to decide which artist to feature. This
process is rather time consuming, which is why a music reviewer must be passionate
about their genre, otherwise there will be no motivation or incentive to continue to write
and upload fresh content.

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Essentially, my blog posts respond to something elsewhere on the internet (music video,
new release, piece of editorial), promote a gig or festival or review something. I write for
personal and professional reasons. Personally, I write out of interest of the subject, self-
motivation and satisfaction. Professionally, I write in order to make myself visible to future
employers, artists, record labels, PR contacts, for networking purposes and future
commissions. My editorial leadership skills have greatly improved since starting my blog.
During the first few weeks of uploading content, my writing didn't follow a set agenda or
tone. I would come across a new band or artist quite by accident whilst browsing the
internet and would decide to write about my findings after minimal research in to their
background, motivations and ambitions. As my readership figures began to grow, I
started to realise that people were paying particular attention to my recommendations
and commenting on my selections in a positive light. As my confidence increased in being
able to spot new talent that I think my audience would appreciate, I started to take the
process of researching new artists more seriously. As I learnt more about the history of
folk, pop and electronica, I naturally took on the role of sub-editor as I paid more attention
to how each piece should be treated and from which angle. The editorial skills which I
have developed on an experiential learning basis include being able to ascertain whether
a piece will be deemed newsworthy by my audience, and whether that news comes from
a credible source. After building up effective working relationships with my industry
contacts over the years, I have been able to reflect on past conversations and creative
collaborations. This process of reflective observation and active experimentation (Kolb &
Fry, 1975) has afforded me the opportunity to assess whether such communications
proved to be profitable; whether months of negotiations with PR agency representatives
led to my being granted an interview or guest list pass. In some cases, the information or

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contact that I had been given proved to be factually incorrect or unreliable. In this respect,
I have been able to more effectively conceptualize the reasons for such failings and adapt
my practice accordingly. If I have been given incorrect information by a particular agency
representative, I will make a note of this in my contacts book and set about sourcing an
alternative point of contact at the organisation. Similarly, I will also ensure that I make
contact with both the PR agency and the record label when making requests. This way, I
am able to proof-check both sets of responses and ascertain the correct information to
use. I have learnt to check for accuracy of content, grammar and statistics as a matter of
course throughout the writing process, as opposed to waiting till the final draft is
completed. I find this technique to be much more beneficial as it has trained my mind’s
eye to always be alert to potential errors, therefore increasing the quality of my written
work exponentially. Whilst doing so, I also check for any redundancies or non-sequiturs
that might appear throughout the piece. Foster (Foster, 2008) adds a final element to
effective editorial skills; the avoidance of clichés and tautology, or the overuse of
expressions which might be replaced in favour of a better form of expression. Clichés in
fiction and non-fictional writing are a particular point of disdain for me and I was taught at
university to avoid such statements wherever possible. Finally, I preview each piece
before publication, write headlines and introductions with SEO in mind, check hyperlinks
are fully functional, formatting is accurate and attribute links and sources for copyright
purposes. In carrying out such tasks, I am in effect occupying the roles of writer, sub-
editor and editor-in-chief. In order to stand out from the online crowd and to attract and
retain my readership, I endeavour to look beyond my inbox and the countless press
releases from music PRs and to discover new talent via alternative methods. I browse the
YouTube channels of unsigned bands, follow links and recommendations from other
bands and labels, and try to keep abreast of the local gigging scene around the North

20. 20
West of England. Whilst I am aware that I am writing for a global audience, I always focus
on gig dates and venues that are relevant to my local readership. I feature artists which I
have championed from the early days of their career such as Birdy, Miike Snow, Lissie
and Noah and the Whale. I reviewed these artists in the early days of my writing career
for eGigs and have greatly enjoyed observing their rise to prominence in the UK and
beyond. I like to think that my blog posts and reviews have contributed, even in some
small way, to their success. Blogs must be frequently updated in order to retain and
continually attract readers. I update my blog at least once per week with posts, images
and links to other sites which Lovink (Lovink, 2008) describes as desired affiliation. I wish
to affiliate myself as a writer with websites such as Digital Spy, The Line of Best Fit,
YouTube and Drowned in Sound, in order to encourage content sharing, cross promotion
and syndication. Including such links in my blog posts will also improve my position on
Google Search rankings via SEO, which will in turn increase my page views. My aim is to
offer my readership an alternative and personalized source of information related to
commercial and unsigned artists of various genres. I am not constrained by the word
counts of the print press medium or the genre-specific requirements of my freelance work
for eFestivals. I can write about different genres of music, appeal to different fan bases
and communities and encourage different ways of engaging with music such as festivals,
gigs and open mic nights.
Walker Rettberg (Walker Rettberg, 2009) (pg. 33), cite Serfaty in saying that online
diarists and bloggers ‘use their writing as a mirror that allows them to see themselves
more clearly....’ When I began creating my WordPress blog in 2010 such a purpose for
my work had never crossed my mind, yet surprisingly, this has come to serve as the
primary motivation for my subsequent uploads. Over the period of one year, I began to

21. 21
notice a correlation between events in my personal life and the frequency of my blog
posts. Whilst my blog is written in the first person, I wouldn't describe it as particularly
social; it doesn't actively encourage or facilitate interaction between readers and/or other
bloggers and I don't proactively source reader comments. I have an expectation of an
online readership, but self-promotion has never been the driving force behind my writing.
It is in the act of writing that I feel an intellectual and emotional release. In creating
shelleyhanveywriter, I have enabled myself to mix my public and private voice through the
medium of blogging. During challenging times in my personal life, I have been able to
define my own emotions through the art of writing. Lovink (Lovink, 2008) (pgs. 13, 25),
cites Ebrahimi's 2009 essay which focuses on 'The Emergence of the Iranian Cyberspace
and the Production of the Self in Weblogestan' in saying that the role of blogs in Iranian
society is to ‘define people's identity’. Similarly, I have found that in uploading and viewing
each blog post, I have felt reassured of my own identity and my 'real' or desired role in
both the virtual space and in my personal space. Writing reminds me who I am, what I
believe in, what matters to me and who I want to be. So whilst my own situation might be
significantly less oppressive than that being experienced in Iran; through the medium of
blogging and via a frequent contribution to Lovink's ‘plurality of voices’ in the blogosphere,
I have learnt the correct path to take in my quest for truth. In my case, the truth to which
Lovink refers, relates to my renewed sense of personal identity as opposed to a political,
social or cultural truth in the public domain. I would therefore concur with Lovink’s
description of blogging as, ‘appeals to a wide register of emotions and affects as it
mobilizes and legitimizes the personal’. I will expand on the perception of self in my
summary.

22. 22
Debate goes on as to whether blogging can be referred to as journalism. Hudson and
Temple in (Tunney & Monaghan, 2010) conclude that ‘anyone who commits to the
professional norms we outline has the right to call themselves a “journalist”, regardless of
their organizational status or the platform on which they deliver…the crude generalization
that all bloggers are “journalists” cannot and should not be supported. Journalism is too
important to cheapen in this way.’ The use of the word cheapen surely furthering such
generalizations in casting aspersions on the quality and integrity of bloggers as writers.
Walker Rettberg (Walker Rettberg, 2009) (pg. 33), states that ‘Blogs rely on personal
authenticity, whereas traditional journalism relies on institutional credibility.’ My desire has
always been to represent an online voice that is both authentic and credible. For this
reason, I have always struggled to categorize my writing as either blogging or journalism.
I am not a qualified journalist so have been reluctant to use the title of online music
journalist. Matthias Galica (Greenwald & Galica, 2013) founder of Beastmode.fm refers to
“music curators”: any person who forms some kind of opinion that’s related-enough to
music, then communicates that opinion to one or more other folk…whenever he/she
specifically uses a blog as a medium’. I like this reference and can see the relevance of
likening the process of writing and uploading blog posts which are then displayed
according to the blogger’s own creative preferences, as curation. Tunney and Monaghan
(Tunney & Monaghan, 2010) cite Weintraub in stating that ‘bloggers tend to value
immediacy and comment as opposed to accuracy’; I find this comment to be particularly
short-sighted and highly generalized. If I wish to continue to gain positive feedback from
my live music reviews and to build further links with industry contacts, the quality and
accuracy of my work must be of a consistently high standard. Otherwise, there are
countless other music bloggers that would be more than willing to take the guest list spot
and produce the review themselves.

23. 23
Summary
Websites such as eFestivals and eGigs are now fully accredited for gigs and festivals in
the UK and Europe. Reviewers writing for each website are widely considered by PR
contacts in the UK, as being on the same level as professional journalists and given
equal ranking in respect of guest list allocations. I believe that my enhanced written and
corporate communications skills, gained over the past seven years, have helped to
support this positive development. Whilst working to improve my own creative writing
skills, I have also been able to actively promote and showcase the musical talents of
others; for me, good writing should always benefit both the writer and the audience.
I have always found it much easier to express myself through the written word. Living in
what Crandall, in (Barton & Lee, 2013) (pg. 68) refers to as a ‘presentational’ culture; I am
less concerned with how others view me and my writing skills, than I am with reaffirming
my own sense of self and the process of establishing an online identity;
shelleyhanveywriter, has played a pivotal role in building my confidence in my chosen
craft. In choosing an online screen-name which mirrors my offline identity, I am
emphasizing my transparency and authenticity as a writer and as a person. I choose to
write in the first person narrative, to include personal pronouns, to write in an active voice
and an unaffected tone, as I wish my writing to come across as personal, emotive and as
an ‘extension of the self’ (Barton & Lee, 2013) (pg. 69). It is in these respects that I find
writing to be so emotionally freeing. I am however mindful of the warning imposed by
Foster (Foster, 2008) (pg. 207), that there is a danger of over-informality as it ‘kills
credence, even authenticity’. As a music reviewer, credibility and reputation are key in
order to be taken seriously by peers and industry contacts.

24. 24
I would conclude that my writing should not be referred to as journalism, for both ethical
and legal reasons. Journalism carries an expectation of truth, objectivity and reliability,
and as such is afforded certain protections. Whilst I pride my writing on its accuracy and
quality, I write subjectively and independently and therefore would not feel comfortable
being afforded the same rights as traditional media. In essence, what I write is
commentary; my opinions, using published, official facts (album, track release dates,
chart positions, artist biographies) as a starting point. Unless I slander someone, my
readers are unlikely to take umbrage with my posts as they are clearly subjective. I do
believe there to be an inherent distrust of broadcast and print media at the present time
by the general public, which perhaps accounts for 61.4% percent of respondents to a
2004 survey by Blogads in (Walker Rettberg, 2009) stating that they read blogs because
there was ‘more honesty’ than mainstream media. I think it is a sign of our times that
blogs are considered to be more transparent, credible and honest due to their perceived
distance from the traditional establishment. I do not envisage this position changing
anytime soon, at least not for as long as we have the Internet.
Shelley Marie Hanvey

25. 25
Reference List
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Schon, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco, US: Jossey-
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