How to Create an Indie Music Blog

From blogs about specific groups to festival blogs covering SXSW or Coachella, you can find indie music blogs all over the Internet, but there's always room for one more. Here's how to create an indie music blog and demonstrate your knowledge of indie rock bands, past and present.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Become an indie music geek. Scour iTunes, Rhapsody and other sites to download the latest releases, or look for CDs and vinyl at the local indie music store. Listen to college or Internet radio shows and podcasts that highlight the latest indie releases.

2. Choose your forum. Post an indie blog using LiveJournal, MySpace, Blogspot or your own website. A few indie music websites let regular visitors post blogs. Add a RSS feed to your blog so visitors can subscribe and receive an alert when you post a new blog. Allow users to post comments and interact with them.

3. Read other blogs and indie music sites. Read reviews and articles on indie groups and study the writing style, then create your own slant and blog personality.

4. Report on live indie music shows. Fans love to hear about club shows and concerts as well as gossip about bands fighting, partying and even debuting new material. Bring a camera or video recorder and upload photos and videos of the show with your blog.

5. Think of a catchy title. It can have something as simple as your name or a lyric from a song, or a variation on something a musician said in an interview. Make it esoteric enough to be interesting but familiar enough so that indie music fans can recognize it.

Tips & Warnings

• Add links to band websites or online music stores.
• Don't veer off into lengthy personal anecdotes. Concentrate on the music.