In Strict Tempo, vol. 54: Music on Substack
Everyone's saying it's the future of music journalism, but it's not without it's own issues.
I’ve written about music journalism plenty in the past, and the sorry-ish state it finds itself in. A few weeks ago I was drawn to a statistic posted by Shawn Reynaldo about the number of reviews of electronic music compared to the sheer number of releases each week. Shawn did the research so all credit to him for this, but he found that Pitchfork only reviewed 15 electronic and experimental albums in October, whilst RA managed only 14, and seems to have given up on single reviews altogether. The Quietus managed 33 reviews, a decent number although their remit isn’t quite as wide-ranging as that of RA.
So where does that leave us? Of course there’s still sales platforms doing reviews. Boomkat’s are legendary, and Bandcamp will also focus on albums or labels, but they exist to sell records rather than act as any real critical mouthpiece. The one place that does seem to be thriving is Substack, as newsletters like this are popping up all the time, talking about new music.
Shawn’s Substack First Floor is one of the bigger ones, and he reviews a number of records each week, as well as tackling a hot subject in a larger essay each week.
Philip Sherburne, formerly of Pitchfork writes his own Futurism Restated Substack each week, whilst journalist Joe Muggs has his own infrequent newsletter too, although it typically doesn’t go too heavy on reviews. These are all professional journalists, and Shawn & Philip’s newsletters both have paid subscriptions, a perk on the Substack platforms for writers who earn a living from writing. This is just a handful of ones I read at the moment, but there’s plenty more out there including Line Noise, Flow State, Anois, Os Ard, and The Dancing Architect.
I think a lot of the best music writing is currently happening on Substack (and I don’t really count In Strict Tempo amongst that). From the authors mentioned above, to Sam Valenti’s peerless Herb Sundays and a tonne more besides there seems to be something for everyone on the platform. And therein lies the problem for me.
If you subscribe to every Substack you find interesting the cost can soon add up. A fiver a month here and there doesn’t sound like much, but if you’re subscribing to five or ten different Substack that soon adds up, especially if you’re subscribing to other media too. Magazines were perfect in that they’d collect the best writing from the best writers and put it all together for a few pounds per issue. I’ve linked to seven alone in this article, and that’s just for music. There’s probably a Substack to suit any other interests you have too.
I don’t know what the answer is and I’m sure people will try, but there just doesn’t seem to be enough money in music journalism any more. RA make their money from ad partnerships and ticket sales, The Quietus rely on regular subscriptions, Disco Pogo can only publish two editions per year, so it’s pointless to aim for a review in something that will come out six months after your album release. It’s really far from perfect.
I’ve had a few people tell me I should charge for In Strict Tempo but I don’t want to do that for a number of reasons. Firstly I don’t want to take money away from actual writers who rely on Substack income to supplement their commissions and secondly it’s a hobby for me. Secondly, I’m lucky in that I earn my keep from music in a different way, and writing about music is a hobby of mine, a way to keep engaged with it and just to muse on issues I find interesting. I’m honoured that you guys find it interesting enough to read and engage with. I spend an hour or two each week going through new tracks and writing about the handful I feel are worth commenting on - good or bad. It’s still a drop in the ocean compared to what’s released each week though, and as much as I try to have a wide-ish range of what I cover, I’m not going to write about stuff I’ve no interest in. Charging people to read it would change my relationship with In Strict Tempo and so it’s not something I’m going to do.
The whole music industry seems to be on a race to the bottom, and journalism is no different. Artists and labels are seeing ever-diminishing returns and as a result aren’t able to advertise enough to support print or even online media with a decent staff level. The cost of living is going up and up with no end in sight, and it’s the arts that suffers. I don’t mean to be defeatist, but that’s the reality of the situation.
Maybe someday someone will find a way to combine multiple Substacks into one subscription or something but until then it’s down to all of us to help share good music in any way we can. We don’t have to all start writing about it (not everyone is confident in their writing, and that’s fine) but tell your friends when you hear it. Buy it on Bandcamp, buy it from a record shop, buy it from an online store. Go to a gig, buy merch if you can. Tweet about it - better yet post about it on Bluesky because it’s not run by a colossal dickhead like Elon Musk. Share tunes on Instagram, there’s loads we can do to try and push good stuff if we don’t have the media to do it for us. After all, we’re the best judges of our own taste.
New Musical Express
On to this weeks new music then, last few bits getting out there in the lead up to Christmas.
Various Artists - Pop Ambient 2025 [Kompakt]
Kompakt’s two annual compiliations Pop Ambient & Total are still flying the flag for the dying compilation format on streaming services. Typical Pop Ambient fare is the name of the game here, dreamy, lo-fi electronic pop gems all the way. Here’s three that caught my ear.
Industrial Sponge - Industrial Sponge [Concentric Circles]
About as DIY as it comes. These tracks were originally recorded to tape and left around their local town in Washington State. I guess most of them were ignored or lost, but Concentric Circles have managed to uncover a copy and brought them to light 40 years later. Post-punk heads will be all over this.
DJ Koze, Damon Albarn - Pure Love [Pampa]
Not for me this. It’s inoffensive enough but you know both artists can do much better.
Sunroof - Electronic Music Improvisations vol. 3 [Mute]
A third volume of modular noodlings from Sunroof aka Mute founder Daniel Miller and Depeche Mode / Erasure producer & engineer Gareth Jones. This does what it says on the tin, electronic music, improvised and recorded. If you’re in to seeing the boundaries of what modular synths can do pushed and played with then I recommend it to you.
Ratkiller - Reaching Intestinal Scenery [Possible Motive]
Two long-form pieces here from Estonia’s Ratkiller, evolving and decomposing over their near-twenty minute runtime. Meditative and meandering, it’s like an entire Caretaker album compressed onto one side of a tape.
That’s it for this week - next week I’ll be looking back at some of my favourite reissues of the year as I begin to wind down for Christmas. Thanks as ever for subscribing and sharing In Strict Tempo - it wouldn’t be what it is without your feedback.