Resident Advisor was founded out of a passion for electronic music. Their platform, which started in 2001, helps people discover music, artists and events. They are open to pitches on album reviews, single reviews and written features. They especially want to use their platform to give a voice to more Black writers, as well as other minority groups that have historically been underrepresented. According to their pitch guide, review pay rates are agreed with writers before work is commissioned. Fees are based on a number of factors, including word count and deadline. The base rate for an album review is £100 / $120. They also pay any associated travel costs or expenses. To learn more, refer to this page.
Cover Me began in 2006 as a cover songs radio show that went largely unheard in backwoods New Hampshire. In fall ’07, Cover Me took on blog form. They post news articles and features all week, focusing on cover songs, tribute albums, and the like. They are interested in music news, reviews, interviews, opinion pieces, among others, and divide their staff into Features and News. Pay rates are not mentioned. To learn more, refer to this page.
Symphony Magazine is the League of American Orchestras' signature publication, reports on the critical issues, trends, personalities, and developments of the orchestra world. Every issue includes news, provocative essays, in-depth articles, and cutting-edge research relevant to the entire orchestra field. Symphony accepts articles from freelance writers, and topics of interest include classical music trends; orchestra repertoire; new American orchestral music; equity, diversity, and inclusion, and business models. Payments to writers are made upon manuscript acceptance, but rates are unclear. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines page.
Antics is a quarterly, print-only music magazine. According to their editor-in-chief on Bluesky, their rates are $50 for capsule reviews, $150 for Q&As, $200 for essays, $250 for profiles, and $250 for reported features. To pitch them, refer to this page.
GRAMMYs / Recording Academy is a society of music professionals. They’re seeking pitches about “diverse artists, genres, and musical communities with national relevance.” They’re mainly seeking “larger culture features and lists highlighting the intersection of music with broader issues such as politics, history, health and technology.” They’re also looking for artist interviews, artist “discoveries”, and evergreen features/lists. According to their pitch guide, rates are $250 to $500 per piece. To read their pitch guide, click here.
Catalog is a curated music marketplace that has generated over $3 million in revenue for independent artists. They welcome pitches for articles that tie into at least one Catalog record or address topics such as thoughtful essays and debates on music/web3, profiles highlighting under-appreciated artists and music communities, and oral histories of influential and beloved musical works. According to their pitch guide, their rate is $200 per piece, with articles ranging from 1,200 to 3,000 words. For more information, refer to this page. Visit their website here.
DJ Mag is a British monthly magazine and website about electronic dance music and DJs. They welcome pitches for news stories, exclusive mixes, live streams, competitions, long and short form features, and track premieres. According to an old call for pitches, rates were £180 for music columns, £240–£360 for live event reviews, £30 for short "Bubblers" pieces, £120 for "Get To Know" articles, £480 for "At Home With" features, £360–£440 for "Game Changer" articles, and 20p a word for longform features. To pitch, refer to their current pitch guide.
Classic Pop is a British music magazine that publishes features, interviews, reviews, and news. Our previous research indicated they paid 15p per word for a feature, but current pay rates are not clear. To contact them, refer to this page.
No Depression is a print magazine and an online publication about roots music. They accept pitches both for their quarterly journal, available in print and through a digital subscription, and for NoDepression.com. According to a now deleted tweet by their managing editor, they pay 20 cents per word. To pitch them, refer to this page.
I Care If You Listen is an award-winning website for composers. They previously mentioned offering an honorarium of $250 per article (less than 1,500 words), but current pay rates are not clear. Contact them here.