Miscellany, Salmagundi, Hodgepodge: My First True Newsletter
Brief updates on some recent writing, the complexities of comp tickets and Substack sponsorships, and a piece of mine in an upcoming book
Hello again, subscribers. Happy March. Coming to Call & Response next week are an illuminating interview and the next post in my Hard Truths for Poor Artists series. Today’s post is a true newsletter, for once, with brief updates on a recent writing project, a fascinating article on money and the arts, the announcement of a book that will include work of mine, and my decision to accept comp tickets in connection with Call & Response.
Hey, I’m in this book
NPR recently announced HarperOne’s October 1 publication of HOW WOMEN MADE MUSIC: A Revolutionary History from NPR. I have a piece in the book. As Ann Powers noted on Facebook, NPR’s description is slightly off. Alison Fensterstock edited the book with Ann as executive editor. It anthologizes selected work from NPR’s Turning the Tables project alongside excerpts from many other amazing interviews and essays from NPR or NPR Music. While we wait for the book’s cover reveal, here’s the cover of a woman’s revolutionary 1975 album. “Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine,” sang Patti.
Celebrating the Symphonic Legacy of Wayne Shorter
This week I put most of my writing energy into some program notes for Celebrating the Symphonic Legacy of Wayne Shorter, two Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts on March 21 and 23.
I’ll share the notes with you as soon as the Boston Symphony Orchestra publishes them. My interviews once again generated far more material than I was able to use in a single piece of writing. Here’s a brief quote from Esperanza Spalding about her experience of performing Wayne’s music with an orchestra:
“It's funny how when everybody in the orchestra has their instruments down, they have individual personalities. As soon as they bring their instruments up to play, it's like everybody’s focus makes them into one being. There’s always this state of shock and wonder at hearing so many single instruments fold into this incredibly intricate whole.”
The money is in all the wrong places
My Hard Truths for Poor Artists series has turned into a beat with you good readers as my most valued sources. Call & Response subscriber Andrea La Rose alerted me to this thoughtful piece on how even a successful actress like Sydney Sweeney can’t afford to take six months off to have a baby. The August 2022 article hits even harder a year and a half later. The writer argues that while Sweeney is not poor, her situation is a “reminder that the wealth divide, which has for so long seemed like an old-people problem, is rapidly honing in on young people—even those that have worked hard and succeeded beyond all reason, and who are still unable to enjoy the comfort afforded by their peers' hidden family money.”
Comps and sponsorships
As many of you know, arts writers often receive free books, albums, and performance tickets, or comps. We sometimes attend previews before official openings. Some of us even go on junkets or sponsored reporting trips. Though certain legacy media institutions have a firm no-junkets policy, support can be a gray area. After my first New York Times article, my editor made a casual reference to a festival subsidizing my reporting.
“They didn’t!” I assured him. “We’re not supposed to accept junkets for Times articles, right?”
“Well, yes and no,” he said. “It’s delicate.”
Navigating that yes and no can be a tricky business for a freelance writer. Some publications forbid an article about anything for which a writer expressly received hospitality but are fine with a writer taking a junket and then extending their trip a couple of days, reporting for the publication on the side. Editors know that a writer’s character can influence objectivity far more than complimentary access or hospitality. Most publications don’t have the budgets to support all the coverage they want or need.
This is all a prelude to disclosing that I’ve accepted my first comp tickets in connection with this Substack. I wanted to establish the editorial direction and spirit of Call & Response before I even thought about comps. The publication is now nearly a year old (special anniversary posts coming later this month). This afternoon my son and I will drive over snowy Hoosier Pass to Breckenridge for the Blue Note Anniversary tour’s final date. The label will provide our tickets.
This is no pay-to-play situation. Whether and how I cover this event on Call & Response will depend on the show. To be clear, I’d rather buy tickets myself. Seeing enough performances to remain conversant with the contemporary scene is prohibitively expensive. What convinced me to accept comps were friends pointing out that my arts writing has usually transcended release schedules and the conventions of profiles and reviews, anyway. If I’m ambivalent about the comps (can you tell?), I’m nothing but pumped for the live music itself.
Some Substackers are taking support to the next level. Here in Colorado Springs, food writer Matt Schniper announced twelve sponsors for his Side Dish newsletter. Matt: “Thanks to a supportive collection of restaurateurs, chefs and brewers I will be able to pay myself a real salary this year instead of working full-time-plus hours for barely part-time pay.”
I’m loathe to accept sponsorships myself. If Blue Note or HarperOne were sponsors of Call & Response, I’d feel obligated to shill on the regular for their albums and books. No shade, though. Matt provides unique, meaningful coverage of the local food scene; I admire enterprising approaches to financing a writing career. Social media influencers normalized brand deals and sponsorships. Top independent podcasters have had sponsors for years. As publications shutter, writers are hustling to create new opportunities and income. It’s the Wild West out there—and not just in Colorado. In a year, any resistance to sponsorships may seem hopelessly naive.
See you in a few days with the interview I’m billing as fresh and compelling. Thanks as always for reading.