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Writing Tips

8 Tips on How to Write a Music Review

3-minute read

16th May 2020

When you write a music review, you’re aiming to share your impression of the music with the reader. And when you’re reviewing an album, these tips will help you to write something that is readable and engaging.

Before you start writing a review, listen to the music from start to finish at least twice. As you listen, note down your initial thoughts and feelings.

Next, think about how you will introduce and summarize the music. As well as sitting down to listen critically to the music, it might help to listen through speakers or headphones as you go about your day.

2. Research Is Key

Once you’ve listened to the music, do your research. Read articles and interviews with the artist to gather facts about them and the music you’re reviewing. It can also help to read other people’s reviews so you become familiar with the language used in music writing.

3. Think About Context

Think about the music in the context of its genre and the artist’s history. How does it compare with the rest of its genre? Is it a classic example of bubblegum pop, or does it bend the boundary between heavy metal and hardcore punk? And how does it compare to the artist’s previous work?

4. Consider Different Angles

Think about all aspects of the album: how it works as a whole, the individual songs, the lyrics, the artwork , the instrumentation, and its production. Set out your overall impression and go into detail on anything you find interesting (e.g., a theme running through the lyrics or a repeating melody).

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5. Avoid Bias

If you write for as wide an audience as possible, try to be objective. Whether it’s music by your favorite artist or a band and genre you hate, try not to let this cloud your judgement. If you don’t like an artist or a genre, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality of the music is bad.

6. Be Honest

It might be tempting to copy what everyone else is writing about the music, but your review should give your honest opinion. If you loved an album that the rest of the world seems to despise, let everyone know!

You can acknowledge other people’s opinions and general attitudes to the music, but it is your review and therefore your own opinion matters most.

7. Write Clearly

Your review should be clear and readable. For longer reviews, use subheadings and cover different aspects of the album in separate sections to make it easy to follow. You can also include images of the artist or the album artwork to break up the text and illustrate your writing.

8. Edit Your Review

Once you’ve written a first draft of your review, think about how to edit it. Look for ways to make it clear and memorable. It may help to read it aloud or ask others to give you feedback. Make revisions where necessary, and remember to check your spelling, grammar and punctuation .

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10 Examples: How to Write a Song Review in 2024

1. Introduction: The Importance of Writing a Song Review

A song review is a critical analysis of a musical composition that provides insights into its artistic and technical aspects. In 2024, writing a song review has become increasingly important as the music industry continues to evolve. With the rise of streaming platforms and social media , song reviews play a crucial role in helping listeners discover new music and artists.

Example where I'm using AtOnce's AI review response generator to make customers happier:

Why are song reviews important in 2024?

Song reviews are essential in 2024 because they help music enthusiasts make informed decisions about what to listen to. With the vast amount of music available online, song reviews act as a filter, guiding listeners towards high-quality and relevant songs. Additionally, song reviews can also influence the success and popularity of artists, as positive reviews can generate buzz and attract new fans.

2. Understanding the Elements of a Song Review

Before diving into writing a song review, it is crucial to understand the key elements that make up a comprehensive review. These elements include:

What are the key elements of a song review?

A song review typically includes an introduction, a description of the song's overall sound and style, an analysis of the lyrics and themes, an evaluation of the vocal performance and instrumentation, and a conclusion that summarizes the reviewer's overall impression of the song.

3. Choosing the Right Song to Review

When selecting a song to review, it is important to consider various factors such as the song's popularity, relevance, and the target audience . By choosing a song that resonates with the intended readers, the review will have a higher chance of being engaging and impactful.

How to choose the right song to review?

When choosing a song to review, consider the following factors:

Popularity: Select a song that is currently trending or has gained significant attention.
Relevance: Choose a song that aligns with the interests and preferences of the target audience.
Uniqueness: Look for songs that offer a fresh and innovative approach to music.
Artist's reputation: Consider reviewing songs by established artists or emerging talents.

4. Listening and Analyzing the Song

Before writing a song review, it is essential to listen to the song multiple times to gain a comprehensive understanding of its various elements. Pay attention to the lyrics, melody, instrumentation, vocal performance, and overall production quality.

How to listen and analyze a song for review?

When listening and analyzing a song for review, follow these steps:

Listen to the song multiple times to familiarize yourself with its structure and overall sound.
Analyze the lyrics and themes to gain insights into the song's message and artistic intent.
Pay attention to the melody, chord progressions, and instrumentation to evaluate the song's musicality.
Assess the vocal performance, considering factors such as tone, technique, and emotional delivery.
Consider the production quality, including the mixing, mastering, and overall sound engineering.

5. Writing the Introduction

The introduction of a song review sets the tone for the entire article and should capture the reader's attention from the start. It should provide a brief overview of the song and its context, creating intrigue and generating interest.

How to write an engaging introduction for a song review?

To write an engaging introduction for a song review, consider the following tips:

Start with a captivating hook or an intriguing question to grab the reader's attention.
Provide some background information about the song, such as the artist's name, genre, or any notable collaborations.
Offer a brief overview of the song's overall sound and style to set the reader's expectations.
Include any relevant context or inspiration behind the song that may enhance the reader's understanding.

6. Describing the Song's Sound and Style

In this section of the song review, it is essential to provide a detailed description of the song's sound and style. This includes analyzing the genre, instrumentation, production techniques, and any notable musical elements that contribute to the overall sonic experience.

How to describe the sound and style of a song in a review?

When describing the sound and style of a song in a review, consider the following:

Identify the genre or genres that the song falls into, highlighting any unique subgenres or fusion elements.
Describe the instrumentation used in the song, including any standout instruments or production techniques.
Discuss the overall mood and atmosphere created by the song's sound, highlighting any notable sonic characteristics.
Compare the song to other artists or songs within the same genre to provide a frame of reference for the reader.

7. Analyzing the Lyrics and Themes

The lyrics and themes of a song play a significant role in its overall impact and meaning. In this section of the review, it is important to analyze the song's lyrics, decipher its underlying themes, and explore the storytelling or emotional aspects conveyed through the words.

How to analyze the lyrics and themes of a song in a review?

When analyzing the lyrics and themes of a song in a review, consider the following:

Examine the lyrical content, paying attention to the storytelling, metaphors, and wordplay.
Decipher the underlying themes or messages conveyed through the lyrics, exploring any social or personal commentary.
Discuss the emotional impact of the lyrics and how they contribute to the overall mood or narrative of the song.
Highlight any standout lines or memorable phrases that showcase the song's lyrical prowess.

8. Evaluating the Vocal Performance and Instrumentation

The vocal performance and instrumentation are crucial aspects of a song that can greatly influence its overall quality. In this section of the review, it is important to evaluate the vocal delivery, technique, and the synergy between the vocals and the accompanying instruments.

How to evaluate the vocal performance and instrumentation in a song review?

When evaluating the vocal performance and instrumentation in a song review, consider the following:

Assess the vocalist's technical abilities, including their range, control, and dynamics.
Evaluate the emotional delivery and the ability to convey the intended mood or message of the song.
Analyze the synergy between the vocals and the accompanying instruments, considering factors such as balance and cohesion.
Discuss any standout instrumental solos or sections that showcase the musicianship and creativity of the performers.

9. Writing the Conclusion

The conclusion of a song review provides a summary of the reviewer's overall impression of the song and offers a final verdict. It should be concise, impactful, and leave the reader with a clear understanding of the reviewer's opinion.

How to write an effective conclusion for a song review?

To write an effective conclusion for a song review, consider the following tips:

Summarize the main points discussed in the review, highlighting the song's strengths and weaknesses.
Offer a final verdict or rating that reflects the reviewer's overall impression of the song.
Provide a closing thought or recommendation, such as suggesting similar songs or albums for the reader to explore.
Encourage the reader to share their thoughts or engage in a discussion about the song in the comments section.

Writing a song review in 2024 requires a comprehensive understanding of the song's elements and the ability to convey one's thoughts and opinions effectively. By following the examples and guidelines provided in this article, you can craft compelling and informative song reviews that resonate with readers and contribute to the vibrant music community.

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What are the key elements to include in a song review?

When writing a song review, it is important to include the following key elements: 1. Introduction: Provide a brief overview of the song and its artist. 2. Analysis: Break down the song's structure, lyrics, melody, and instrumentation. 3. Evaluation: Share your personal opinion on the song's strengths and weaknesses. 4. Conclusion: Summarize your overall thoughts and recommend the song to your readers, or not, based on your review.

Can you provide an example of a song review?

Certainly! Here's an example of a song review: Title: 'Breaking Free' by High School Musical Introduction: 'Breaking Free' is a catchy pop song performed by the cast of High School Musical. It was released in 2006 and quickly became a hit. Analysis: The song starts with a soft piano intro, followed by a strong vocal performance by the lead singers. The lyrics are uplifting and relatable, capturing the feeling of breaking free from societal expectations. The melody is memorable, and the instrumentation includes a mix of guitars, drums, and keyboards. Evaluation: Overall, 'Breaking Free' is a well-crafted pop song that showcases the talents of the cast. The vocals are impressive, and the lyrics resonate with listeners. However, some may find the song formulaic and predictable. Conclusion: If you enjoy catchy pop songs with positive messages, 'Breaking Free' is worth a listen. It's a great addition to any High School Musical fan's playlist, but it may not appeal to those seeking more experimental or unique music.

What should I consider when writing a song review?

When writing a song review, consider the following: 1. Objective vs. subjective: Balance your personal opinion with objective analysis of the song's technical aspects. 2. Context: Consider the artist's previous work, genre, and target audience. 3. Tone: Maintain a professional and respectful tone throughout your review. 4. Comparisons: Compare the song to similar works or the artist's previous releases. 5. Impact: Discuss the song's emotional impact, cultural relevance, or potential for commercial success. 6. Length: Keep your review concise and focused, highlighting the most important aspects of the song.

Asim Akhtar

Asim is the CEO & founder of AtOnce. After 5 years of marketing & customer service experience, he's now using Artificial Intelligence to save people time.

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How To Write A Music Review: An Ultimate Guide

Everyone loves music. Whether you’re a fan of hip hop or country, classical or rock-n-roll, music is the soundtrack of our lives. But not all music is created equal. Some of it hits us harder than others. Some can take us to the heights of emotion, and some lulls us to sleep in an elevator. Whatever type of music you listen to, chances are that you’d like to know what’s good or what’s bad before you waste your time downloading a new album or purchasing a vinyl collector’s edition. That’s where music reviews come in. A music review will tell you what a critic thought of a piece of music so you can make an informed decision about whether you will enjoy that music. However, writing a music review isn’t as simple as saying whether you liked it. Instead, you need to offer specific and clear reasons for your reaction. In this article, we’ll take a look at the steps to writing a music review.

Define Fundamentals

First, however, we need to say a word about the role of music reviews in today’s streaming environment. In years past, most listeners would learn about new bands and new music from reviews, whether written in music magazines or delivered orally by friends or influencers. However, today, listeners are more likely to encounter new music as part of the automatic recommendations and tailored playlists delivered by music streaming services like Spotify. As a result, the role of the music review is less about exposing readers to new music and is now more about ratifying opinions about which albums are important, essential, or must-listens.

It is important not to get too personal when writing about music. Reviews are normally not about your likes and dislikes, they are more about analysis. In some cases, you can add some personal touch, but in most, it is better to avoid it. You should show an understanding of music in general, not your taste.

Delegate If You Don’t Have Time

One of the most important areas for music reviews is actually in academic writing, where instructors assign music reviews in a variety of courses to help students think about understanding a variety of musical genres and their connection to subjects outside and beyond music. However, most students are not professional music critics and don’t always know how to write an effective music review. Reputable academic writing services like Write My Paper Hub can help students to do their essays and papers. These online services allow students to pay experts for the academic writing they need. Is it a good idea for an essay about music or a music review? It all depends on how you feel about the assignment and how much time you have. If the deadline is too close, and you know that it is difficult for you to concentrate on such a broad topic rather fast — it is better to delegate it. If you are not a big fan of music in general, you may like some songs, but you don’t understand fundamentals — again, it is better to delegate. If you feel like it can be nice to dig into this topic and get more information, express your option — write a review yourself.

Write a Music in Six Steps

If you are going to write your own music review, either for a class or for publication, you need to follow a few simple rules to make sure you give your audience the best music review experience.

Listen to the music. This might seem obvious, but the first step in any music review is to listen to the music you plan to review. Ideally, you will listen to the album at least twice so you can form an initial impression and also consider how it hits you on a repeat listen, when some of the novelty has worn off. Keep track of your feelings and write notes about your reactions as you listen through the album.
Research the album and the artist. When you have formed your own view and opinion, begin researching the album and the artist. Find out the background and the inspiration for the music, as well as any unusual songwriting or technical production information that might cast light on the purpose of the album so you can judge how well the album achieved the artist’s goals.
Compare the music to its broader context. Where does the album fit in the broader context of its genre, or in the history of music? Is there something new and innovative? Does it carry on time-honored traditions? Such questions can help to evaluate the overall importance and meaning of the album under review.
Consider your own biases. We all have particular music or artists we like or don’t like, but just because we don’t like someone doesn’t mean the quality of their music is bad, nor does our favorite artist always produce top-shelf material. As you work on your review, consider your perspective and preferences and try to adjust for them so you can provide an objective analysis of whether the album is good or bad.
Always be honest. It can be tempting to follow the crowd and write what you think they want to hear. But if you love an album that other critics don’t like, or hate one they do, your readers will rather know your honest opinion than a fake opinion you think will gather the most likes on social media. Audiences can recognize when a writer isn’t shooting straight, and they are less likely to keep reading if they don’t trust you are being square with them.
Follow good writing practices. It goes without saying that it’s important to follow good writing practices, including clarity and conciseness. Be sure to revise and edit your work carefully to make sure it is readable and easily understood by your target audience.

While it is not a good idea to let someone write your music for you, it is a good idea to delegate writing about it when you are not exactly in the mood. However, if you are, just follow the tips above and be ready in a matter of hours to write a music review from scratch.

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How To Write A Successful Music Review

You love music. You love writing. So, why not try writing a music review? Here’s how:

Listen and evaluate

“Before you decide to take up music review writing pick – or be assigned to – an album. You can check out other’s opinions on it. There is no harm in that if their opinions can’t sway you in their direction. Just go through them to get a clue at what you have in front of you.”, says Emma Stephen, a writer at Draftbeyond and Writinity .

Next, play the music. Play it as many times as you can, with breaks. If you have chores or long rides, take the album with you and play it in the car or on your phone. This is a good way to develop an opinion.

Just imagine this – you play a song and you hate the sound immediately because you don’t like that type of music. But, what readers are looking for is an opinion of someone who might not like all music – that’s perfectly normal – but will at least take all kinds of music into consideration. You need to play the album at least five times to get a good grasp at the theme, the use of instruments, and so on.

Then you should evaluate – sometimes while you are listening, sometimes after. Make a journal and create a page for each song. You can rate your first opinion and make remarks on how your opinion is changing, what new things you are hearing and so on. This will help you in writing your review as you will have all the details that you otherwise might forget in one place. Just remember to do your research and check if you spelled the names of authors, contributors, musical terms and songs correctly.

Be descriptive

Once you are done listening and evaluating, you should start writing. Take your journal and start. The worst mistake you can make is writing in strict musical terms – while it’s okay to include some. Describing a violin sound, for instance, in strict terms is not strong writing.

Violin has that unique, beautiful sound – you should describe your feelings about it. How did the music make you feel? What did you think when you were listening? Any memories? Associations? It all matters and you should put it in your writing. Just make sure you are not making it too personal. As long as there’s some professionalism there, you are fine.

Write in an outstanding manner

One of the main things you should keep in mind is your grammar and spelling. Those can discredit your opinion like nothing else in this world – poor grammar and spelling looks unprofessional and ignorant. Pay attention to them during writing and always check thoroughly after.

Next, make sure that your sentences make sense after you finish writing. You should employ the best style practices you can in your writing. Use an active voice and express your thoughts and feelings in a unique matter.

Write in a persuasive way – if you like it, they should like it. If you hate it, they should too. Don’t forget to make a point as well.

Show no bias

“When you write reviews, you should never show any bias. Review the album as if you have never heard it even if it’s your favorite one. Bias is noticeable from a mile away and you should avoid it as much as possible.”, says Thomas Blankenship, a reviewer at Last Minute Writing and Researchpapersuk . For instance, never approach or write about an album with an “Oh, this is my favorite artist, everything he does is great!” attitude but with studious and dedicated reviewing of the music.

Be accessible

Your reviews need to be accessible as well. For one, this means that you need to format the review so it’s easily readable. Use headings, subheadings, bullet points and leave enough white space so that the reader can rest. Use album images to break up your text and add a visual effect. Videos and infographics are also a great option.

You should also be sure to use simple words. The review needs to be easy to understand even to someone without a college or high school education. It’s made for wider audiences and not just a select number of people, so avoid jargon as well. Make it so that everyone can easily get what you are trying to say. Be funny, entertaining and interesting – it’s music after all, a light, happy topic.

If you want to write music reviews that matter, you should always be honest and state your true and informed opinion based on several hearings of said music. Follow these tips and make your writing shine.

Martina Sanchez

Martina Sanchez is an entrepreneur who also works as a marketing specialist with Lucky Assignments and Gum Essays . She loves writing and one of her main interests includes writing for her blog where she talks about digital marketing, music marketing, SEO and so on.

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Very helpful. I find myself reading a lot of reviews some of them good some that leave a lot to be desired. I work as a music programmer for Latin Jazz. Occasionally I have to write myself some reviews at the request of the artists.

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Mentor Texts

Making an Argument Via Descriptive Detail: Music Reviews

A Times look at one of many remixes of “Old Town Road,” and a student review of Greta Van Fleet’s debut album, demonstrate how cultural reviews can make a case.

By Katherine Schulten and Michael Gonchar

Our new Mentor Text series spotlights writing from The Times that students can learn from and emulate.

This entry, like several others we are publishing, aims to help support students participating in our Fifth Annual Student Review Contest . Each spotlights both a Times review and a review written by a teenager winner of one of our previous review contests.

For even more on teaching with reviews, please see our unit overview .

Writing a review is making an argument. When you experience a creative work, whether a video game, an art exhibit, a dance performance or a TV sit-com, you naturally have an opinion (“This show is hilarious!”), and, when describing your reaction, you naturally provide details to back it up. (“I laughed out loud the entire time. The relationship between the father and son is so real.”)

In other words, you make a claim and support it with evidence. Sound familiar?

Though forming opinions — we loved the movie, we hated the app update, we liked the new album — is easy, articulating the reasoning behind our reactions can be challenging. And learning how to express those ideas in writing isn’t just an English-class skill, it’s also a good exercise for developing important critical thinking, self-reflection and social skills.

We’ve selected two mentor texts — one by a Times critic, and one by a student — to show how using relevant and specific details can help. Both review music, because describing it can be such a difficult task. You may have heard the famous line “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” How do you express why you like a song? The catchy rhythm? The sultry voice? The “ecstatic and raucous, at times melancholy, lonely and oddly retrospective” quality, as Maya Charlton, one of our 2016 Student Review Contest winners, puts it in her piece about “Listening to The (Not So) Modern Lovers Forty Years Later”?

It’s not easy, but we hope the activities below can help.

Note to teachers: We’ve chosen the longest-running No. 1 single in the 61-year history of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for our Times mentor text, both because your students will know it and because the video is safe for school viewing, but you can easily choose any music video from The Times’s The Playlist column and do this same exercise.

Before You Read

Yes, yes, we know you may be sick of “Old Town Road,” but, for the sake of this exercise, you’re going to take a step back and look at it not just as a consumer, but as a critic.

First, though, consider: What is your relationship with this song? When do you first remember hearing it? What was your reaction then? How do you feel about it now? Which of the many, many remixes have you heard? Which have you liked best? As a critic, your own history with a work, artist or genre will affect what you hear and how you appraise it, so it is helpful to think about that before you write.

Now, take 2 minutes and 52 seconds and watch. Write down as many words and phrases as you can think of to describe the music, the lyrics, the video, the role of the individual artists, and the package as a whole. Push yourself to catalog as many details, and as many of your own reactions, as possible. Ask yourself: Compared to the other versions of this song I know, how successful is this one? Why?

Then, debrief with a partner, and, finally, the whole class. What are some of the best and most apt words and phrases you came up with to describe the music video?

Finally, discuss: How easy or hard was this task? What aspects were trickiest?

Times Mentor Text: “ Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus featuring Young Thug and Mason Ramsey, ‘Old Town Road (Remix)’ ” by Jon Caramanica

The review of this song comes from The Times’s weekly pop music column, “ The Playlist, ” in which critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new songs and videos. These are especially useful as mentor texts since they are very short — most a paragraph each — and because there’s usually something for everyone in any edition.

Here is this critic’s review of this song in its entirety:

As of now there is no American award — not the Grammy, not the Pulitzer, not the Oscar or the Tony — that could adequately reward the miracle that is the never-ending rollout of “Old Town Road.” Each time it courts death, it pivots. This latest version is the one you’d ask for in a fantasy but never think was possible. Billy Ray Cyrus is still here, crooning. And then there’s Young Thug, less nonsensical than usual, game to be in on the joke. But the crowning moment is at the end, with the arrival of the viral yodeling preteen Mason Ramsey, who shows up to sing about his Razor scooter, cows and his giddy-up. It’s the perfect twist ending to this internet-born-and-enabled saga: meme recognize meme.

How does your description from the Before Reading activity compare to the words and phrases that this reviewer uses? Did you make similar observations? Use related words? If not, how does yours differ?

Now, take a close look at how, even in a review as short as this one, a good critic supplies evidence for his claims.

How does the first sentence acknowledge what “Old Town Road” has come to mean culturally? Why does the reviewer call it a “miracle”?

Now look at the claim, “Each time it courts death, it pivots.” What does that mean? How does Mr. Caramanica provide evidence to support both that opinion and his next line, “This latest version is the one you’d ask for in a fantasy but never think was possible”? What specific words or details does he use that seem to you especially apt or vivid? Do you agree that this version is a “perfect twist ending to this internet-born-and-enabled saga”? If not, does his review sway your own opinion somehow?

Though only a paragraph long, the careful language choices in this review work as a kind of shorthand for music fans, conveying a great deal in a word or two. In our Mentor Text edition on audience , we discuss how much a writer can take for granted that his or her audience will know. In this case the critic is writing for a general Times audience, of course, but he also knows that “The Playlist” is read chiefly by pop music fans. What does he assume his readers will already know? For instance, what is packed into a line like “Billy Ray Cyrus is still here, crooning” for those who know Billy Ray Cyrus’s work?

But even if you had somehow never heard of “Old Town Road,” or of any of these artists, do you think you would still be able to get something from this review? What would you come away understanding about the song and this iteration of it?

What else do you notice or admire about this short review? What lessons might it have for your writing?

To go further, you might take a look at the short descriptions of other songs in this or any edition of “The Playlist.” What other good examples of description-as-evidence can you find?

For instance, in his review of Beyoncé’s song, how does Jon Pareles support the statement that “Beyoncé’s exhortation is not just for this lion king — it’s for every righteous striver facing doubts”? How does Jon Caramanica show us evidence that “Justin Bieber is nimble enough to keep up” in his review of Billie Eilish’s new version of “Bad Guy”?

Student-Written Mentor Text: “Dazed and Confused: Millennial Fetishization of Flower Power Forgets the Meaning of Freedom” by Isabella Levine

Now read something written by a student. In her 2018 winning entry, Isabella Levine reviews “Anthem of the Peaceful Army,” the debut album by the rock band Greta Van Fleet. Here’s the sentence at the end of the first paragraph that best captures her opinion of the album:

The seeds of a potential rock revival are chewed up and spit out in an overproduced bastardization of rock that romanticizes the hippie era without any of its relevance or defiance.

To support her claim, this writer piles on the evidence about why “they don’t lack talent, just authenticity.”

Packaged in vagueness, themes about love or peace simply lack resonance for a modern audience. Climate change is touched upon in “Watching Over” when Kiazka sings, “And it’s our demise/With the water rising,” but the overtness found here is the exception rather than the rule. A more typical lyric borders on the ridiculous, like, “March to the anthem of the heart,” found on the album’s opener, “Age of Man.” Or try, “And every glow in the twilight knows/That the world is only what the world is made of,” the fluff of the acoustic tune “Anthem,” a song that might have been their “Dust in the Wind” or “Tangerine” but instead, devoid of nuance, falls flat. The track titles alone make Greta Van Fleet’s Achilles’ heel painfully clear: They are too unqualified to address these themes comprehensively yet not self-aware enough to realize it.

Now read the full review, then answer these questions:

What evidence does the writer use to support her opinion of the album?

Much of this review examines lyrics. How does Ms. Levine use those lyrics to prove her point?

The review isn’t a complete pan of the album. What redeeming qualities does she notice?

How does Ms. Levine organize the evidence into different paragraphs? What choices did she make about organization? How does each body paragraph build on the previous one to support her overall claim about the album?

What else do you notice or admire about this review? What lessons might it have for your writing?

Now Try This:

With a friend or a small group, or even a whole class, listen to a new song or watch a music video for the first time. As you listen, repeat the “Before Reading” exercise and generate as many adjectives, descriptive words and phrases as you can to describe what you hear (and see). Listen or watch a few more times, adding to your list.

Push yourself to come up with interesting, fresh words and precise descriptions.

Then, see if you can make a claim — state an opinion — about the music. This can be a simple statement (“this album gets you dancing”) or something more vivid, like Ms. Charlton did in her review (“‘The Modern Lovers’ is an album for being young and driving to nowhere in particular at 2 a.m.”) But whatever opinion you assert, now pull from your list of descriptions to write a paragraph full of supporting details.

Then, exchange your work with others, or take turns reading them aloud. What commonalities are there? Whose work defends a claim best, and how does t hat paragraph do it? What ideas can you borrow from others for your own writing?

More Review Mentor Texts for Supporting a Claim

We have suggested a range of texts here, but we also hope students will find their own by searching The Times or other media sources for reviews of the art and culture that matters most to them.

Times Review: “ Standing Up for Humanity in a World of Screens ,” a 2019 art review by Jason Ferago

One of Europe’s leading museums has devoted its biggest show of the season to someone who saw the future more clearly than any artist of his century. He was a restless traveler and a keen student of anatomy who danced across the boundaries of art and science. He blended ancient religion with new forms of representation, and sketched strange new machines that would be realized long after his death. You thought I meant that lefty at the Louvre? Forget Leonardo: I’m talking about the Korean-American conjurer Nam June Paik (1932-2006), who appears as pioneering as ever in a broad retrospective at Tate Modern in London, and more urgent than ever as a defender of human life in a world dominated by technology.

Student Review: “ Listening to The (Not So) Modern Lovers Forty Years Later ,” by Maya Charlton

With mainly irreverent, but at the same time strangely relatable, lyrics and consistently good beats (shout out to drummer David Robinson, who went on to join The Cars!), “The Modern Lovers” is an album for being young and driving to nowhere in particular at 2 a.m. It’s the rare album that is an ode to every aspect of life. It has songs like “Roadrunner” that make you sing along at the top of your lungs and do awkward Hillary shoulder shimmies while try to keep your hands on the steering wheel (“Roadrunner, roadrunner/going faster miles an hour”).

Times Review: “ Stephen King Visits an ‘Institute,’ Where the Kids Who Enter Can’t Escape ,” a 2019 book review by Dwight Garner

King’s new novel — it is roughly, depending on how you count, his 61st — is titled “The Institute.” It’s a big shank of a book that reminded me instantly of many of the reasons I loved (love?) him. His characters are the kind of people who hear the trains in the night. The music is always good. He swings low to the ground. He gets closer to the realities and attitudes of working-class life in America than any living writer I can think of. In “The Institute” people worry about taking their Prilosec. They’re happy to notice that the Denny’s and the bowling alley are right next to each other.

Student Review: “ ‘The Good Place’: Astute, Heartwarming and Relevant All at Once ,” a winning TV review from our 2018 Student Review Contest, By Helen Deng

Through existential crises and unexpected revelations, viewers are increasingly shown that nothing is black-and-white — this world even features a literal Middle Place. The plot may be unpredictable, but its overarching theme of ethics becomes consistently more important and insightful in this age. As our current nation confirms a man onto the Supreme Court because he sexually assaulted a woman while only being “a boy in college” and school shootings continue due to contentious beliefs around our “right to bear arms,” the ethical battle between the overall good versus personal values rages on.

Times Review: “ A Brave Graphic Memoir of a Childhood Shadowed by a Parent’s Addiction ,” a 2018 book review by Patricia McCormick

… “Hey, Kiddo” is a testament to the power of art and creativity — and a chain-smoking grandfather — to save your life. Rendered in shades of gray with touches of burnt orange, the drawings are not lovely, but they are perfect. Their hectic lines convey the chaos and complexity of a life where addiction is a backdrop. The crowded panels portray the constant drama. And the characters’ facial expressions communicate a world of confusion, anger, shame and, ultimately, resignation. They are eloquent in a way that mere words are not.

How to write a music review

March 29, 2021

Having a problem coming up with a top review? Here are some top tips on music review writing.

Listen to the Song

This goes without saying. Before you begin writing the music review , you need to sit down and listen to the music from beginning to end. Understand that you need to listen to the song at least three times. As you are doing this, make sure to jot any initial thoughts or feelings you will have. This is an important tip as it will give you a basis on what your music review article will entail in the end.

While the review will be about the particular song you were listening to, understand that the song’s artist will still feature in your paper. This is why you need to do a lot of research before getting down to writing the music review article. Please make sure you gather details about the song and the artist who wrote/ sang it.

Another important thing you need to do in the research phase is to go through other well-written music reviews. This is important as it will show you the structure of an excellent paper. Secondly, going through these reviews will also help you understand the kind of language you need to write your music review in.

Finding music review examples is very easy nowadays. All one needs to do is visit the essay writing websites and get well-written music review samples to go through. On the other hand, understand that these services can always avail you the administrations of a qualified essay helper who will assist you come up with an award-winning music review article.

Hiring the services of top-notch essay writing platforms can ensure that your college lifestyle is less stressful. These companies understand the kind of pressures that college students face concerning their studies. This is why they are readily available to assist you with your assignments to ease the tension with college studies.

Conceptualize the Background of Your Music Review

Remember the initial thoughts and feelings you had written down when listening to the music. This is where this data comes into play. Even though you will have to analyze the song regarding the artist’s history and its genre, you also have to relate it to how it resonates with you . Your thoughts about the music are what will help set apart your music review paper.

Remember, you will also need to analyze how the song relates to the rest of its genre as a whole. Furthermore, it would be best to show how the particular song compares to the artist’s other pieces. You should also remember to show if the song pushes its genre boundary or just another bubblegum tune. Showing how the song ties in with other songs in its album is also another top aspect that you need to consider when writing your music review article.

Do Not Be Biased

It is essential to understand that you need to write your music review paper for a broad audience. This means that you need to try your best to avoid being biased. This means that the readers should not ascertain whether you are writing a review of your favorite song or one that you hate. Do not let this issue cloud your judgment. Keep in mind that even though you might dislike a particular genre, it does not mean that all songs under the genre are bad.

Honesty Is Key

While you need to be original, understand that your review should reflect your honest feelings about the said song. Do not attempt to copy some other person’s work. It would be best if you did not show that you liked a song that you hate simply because everyone is saying. What you can do is acknowledge their opinions while giving your honest one.

Ensure the Paper Is Concise and Free Flowing

Understand that your paper has to be clear, easy to read and free-flowing. Ensure that all the points you include in the paper follow each other logically, are free-flowing and can be easily understood. Make sure that each section of the paper brings out a single point. Mixing points around will lead to confusion resulting in a low-quality music review article.

Making mistakes when writing is something prevalent. This is why you have to go through your paper a couple of times immediately after you finish writing it. This is the best way to ensure that the review is free of all mistakes.

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4 Tips on How to Write a Music Review Essay

There is hardly even one person on the planet who can’t stand music. We all have playlists for different moods or songs which associate with memorable events. However, when it comes to writing a music review essay, we seem to be stuck and don’t know what to begin with. Some students even tend to reach out for essay help , not to cope with an assignment on their own. We have prepared a simple guide for you to follow to write an excellent music review essay.

What is a Music Review Essay?

A review of a song is your opinion or feedback on a musical composition. You have to make this essay less subjective and contain as much reliable information as possible. Just like any other type of academic writing, it consists of the introduction, the main body devoted to various aspects of the music analysis, and a conclusion.

1. Get ready

Before you start writing your essay, you should, of course, listen to a piece of music and study some information about the artist and the song itself. First of all, listen to the composition for the first time and write down your thoughts. Try not to think about the lyrics and concentrate on the feelings. The second time, pay attention precisely to the lyrics of the song (if there are any) and again describe your emotions. It would help if you didn’t read other people’s reviews and the story behind the song until you’ve formed your very own opinion of it.

It is best to begin by analyzing the melody, its sound, the music, and the setting. First of all, the music and the melody create the impression of the song. Only by listening to a piece several times in a row can you form a correct opinion of it and understand its meaning.

Describe the tone of the song, the quality of the arrangement, the sound of some of the musical instruments. For example, the bass guitar creates the main tone or there would be no drums and the song would not succeed. In the case of writing a review for a specialized publication or on request, you need to describe everything in professional terms, trace the composition of the song, analyze all its parts.

It is necessary to note the musical style in which the song was written, the quality of the recording, and it is better not to compare it with the previous repertoire of the performer unless, of course, this song will be radically better or worse than previous ones. Note what emotions the song evoked in you, what impressed you most, and what upset you most.

The second component of the song is the lyrics. You should briefly describe the content and meaning of the song. Emphasize the beauty of the lyric, its meaningfulness, the beauty of the verse, and convey its meaning and content. If the author used some striking comparisons or metaphors, it would not be superfluous to tell about them. Try to imagine what the author wanted to convey to the audience and how he succeeded or failed.

4. Background

Tell more details about the song, the story of its creation. Don’t forget to trace the connection to events that were happening in the world or in the life of the musician at the time. All the facts obtained about it will help to make a deeper analysis and understand the hidden meaning. Just do not go into the smallest details because it will not make sense, and it can spoil the impression. However, it often happens that without knowing the history of creation and the events that prompted the creation of the musical composition, listeners underestimate the art or even consider the song to be outright nonsense. For example, if you don’t know the history of the Taro song by Alt-J, you would probably not get a thing. But if you dig deeper, you will understand that this is a beautiful love song about two protographs — Robert Capa and Gerda Taro — who died during the war and reunited in their afterlives.

It would help if you analyzed the work as objectively as possible. Your attitude toward the author or performer should not affect the quality of the review in any way. You must be as honest as possible with the reader and write a review, which should include neither solid praise nor only negative reviews.

You should describe both the strengths and weaknesses of the song. You can express your personal opinion, however, not to be biased. Your readers might not be familiar with the song and the art of a performer. You have to keep this in mind and not miss any essential details in your essay.

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4. Pay due attention to the lyrics. The second component of the songs is poems, so briefly describe their content and meaning. Emphasize the beauty of the lyrics, its semantic content, the beauty of the syllable, convey its meaning and content.

Tell more details about the songs, the story of its creation. Probably, their writing was inspired by some events in the life of the author, all the facts obtained about this will be fascinating to the reader. Just do not go into the smallest details, because it does not add meaning, and the impression can spoil.

5. Analyze the album as objectively as possible. Your attitude towards the author or performer should not affect the quality of the review. Be as honest with the reader as possible and write a review, which should not include any continuous reviews or negative ones. Describe both the strengths and weaknesses of the album, its beautiful moments and what you didn’t like, appreciate the talent of the musicians and the performer. In general, give out all the positive impressions and discontent. Just remember that you analyze the song and write a review of it.

6. Describe how you feel about the album in the last sentence. Your final sentence will imprint in the reader’s memory and will help to decide whether to buy the album or not.

These are basic tips about best music review that we can share with you. If you still have questions and challenges, hire someone to write my paper is always a good idea. On the Internet, you will find a large number of specialists who can help you.

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Tips on How to Write an Awesome Music Review

Knowledge To Get Known
Music Review

To make it clear, a music review is an assessment of a song or an album. One of the important points is the brevity of the review, do not forget about this. At school, most often, they ask for an essay-review, One way to complete it is to use paperwriter to get help with starting ideas or editing your work. But don’t forget, teachers/editors have certain requirements for them, namely::

it should be creative work (understand as you want)
the considered (reviewed) work is often an occasion for reflection on the problems raised in the song or album
disclosure of the content of the work, with a simultaneous assessment of it.

If you want to find out how to include all these three points in one review, you need to get acquainted with some samples. You can order them on a writing service like GPA Labs . You will see how to write your music review creatively, analyze the problem raised, and evaluate a song or album properly.

Now, let’s proceed to tips for writing a music review.

Stick to the review plan
Brief information about the song or album (title, singer or band, other basic information). For example, Waiting For The Sun is the third album by the California band The Doors . After its first great recordings, The Doors and Strange Days , this release has not escaped the fate of the notorious “third album syndrome”. However, in spite of everything, it is this album that is the unconditional must-have of the listening audience of that time.
Your response to the song/album. In other words, your impression.
Song or album analysis

– lyrics analysis

– melody analysis

– musical composition (not necessary)

Evaluation of the song or album (important to include your own evaluation)
The relevance of the issues raised in the song or album. Even if it seems that the album is not very relevant – think more. Most songwriters try to raise some problem and/or answers in their songs. But if you still did not find the interesting relevance for today, write about that too. Perhaps you will enter into an argument with the reader. That can be even more interesting.

It is important to include all points! But the main thing is that the review should be interesting.

Do not retell the lyrics
There is no need to get carried away with retelling the lyrics. The editor can, absolutely, rightly by the way, consider the substitution of the analysis of the song or album by a simple retelling.
Pay attention to the title of a song or album
Usually, it contains a lot of secret meaning, which becomes clear after singing a song or album. But “usually” does not mean “always.”
Break down a song into parts
Is it possible to break a song into its component parts? Why? Why did the songwriter do this?
Highlight what differs the work from others

It is worth mentioning the style once again. Try to highlight what makes this song or album different.

Write as if your reader has never heard this song or album. Consider what questions a person might have asked who has never heard this song. And do not forget about the five points of the review plan, which you must complete.

Good luck and if you are looking for more analysis or potential publishing of your review writing, reach out to us at IndieBandGuru. We are always here to connect with other passionate music lovers like ourselves.

We love music and love to write about it even more. Come join the adventure at IndieBandGuru.com

JAMES WILSON’S Year End REVIEW OF 2023

James Wilson

James Wilson’s Music Review of 2022

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IBG Guest Post

How to write an indie music review essay

Posted on December 28, 2020 by Joseph Timmons in editorial , editorially driven , Op / Editorial // 1 Comment

Writing a review of a music genre you are not familiar with is not easy, especially when it comes to a style like indie. Together with WritingCheap essay writing service, we’ve prepared a guide for you on how to work on an indie music review essay. We will explore what indie music is, how it differs from other genres, and how it affects the essay writing process.

What is indie music?

Indie music is not a genre, it’s a phenomenon. The name came from independent music. Since at the time when this term was introduced, most of the amateur bands played either derivatives of post-punk — gothic rock, neo-psychedelia, dark folk, etc. — or varieties of alternative rock — noise-rock, shoegaze, and the like, a certain image of indie music was formed.

Indie musicians do not sign contracts with labels. They do not use the services of producers (those who promote musicians). They do everything themselves.

Thus, indie music is a variety of genres, and it can be rock and electronics, and folk. Anything. Today, indie means a certain sound, which has its roots in post-punk, but it is much lighter and more positive.

How to write an indie music review essay?

The main purpose of a music review essay is to share your impressions of a piece of music or album. This includes not only your personal feelings and emotions about the song but also the creation history, genre, information about the artist, and a variety of facts about the creation of the piece. It is common to refer to indie as experimental, non-commercial, and non-pop music, most often not intended for the mass ear and MTV. Therein lies the small complexity of the analysis. But with the help of our step-by-step guide, you can easily write an essay.

A step-by-step guide on writing an indie music review

Listen to the piece.

The first thing you need to do is listen to the song you have decided to analyze. You should do this at least twice and at different times. While listening for the first time, try to write down your emotions and general impressions of the music. What kind of atmosphere does it create? How does it affect your mood?

As you listen a second time, try to do a more in-depth analysis. Describe the tempo, rhythm, melody, and how harmonious the sound is. Try to guess which musical instruments were involved in composing the music. It is also worth paying attention to the lyrics of the song. What does it tell you? Is there any hidden meaning in it? Write down all your observations in a draft, and we’ll come back to them later.

This assignment is not without research, either. Look for information about the artist and the song. Interviews in which the artist may share the writing process or the idea they put into a piece of music may also be helpful. The creation story is very important for overall understanding. You will agree that you will listen to the Bohemian Rapsody by Queen in a completely different way if you know how it was created. The same goes for the lyrics of the song. It often seems like a set of words if you don’t know the background and the imagery that the author puts into it.

This stage is especially relevant for working on indie music reviews because they do not cooperate with labels and often write the music and lyrics themselves.

Make an outline and a draft

The outline will help you structure your thoughts. Like any essay, a music review consists of an introduction, main body, and conclusion. Clearly, it also can’t go without a thesis.

In the first paragraph (introduction), you have to introduce your reader to the singer or group and their song or album that you analyze. You also have to state the genre (indie music, in our case) and type of music. In the last sentence, you have to present the thesis statement. It can be the relation of the song to the time period or history, etc.

The main body is devoted to the analysis of the song or album. First, you give a brief history of the group or singer and the background of the song creation. The next step is to give the analysis of the song and explain its meaning with quotes. It’s time to get back to your notes and write about the musical instruments, tempo, rhythm, and the whole harmony of a song. Here you can mention the parts and sounds that you liked or disliked. However, you should not be biased. You can also compare the song with other creations of a singer or group. And finally, you have to answer your thesis statement.

In the last paragraph, you write your general opinion and impressions. You can mention if the song or singer has influenced the music industry or people’s lives. Make sure that you justify your statements.

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A Step by Step Guideline on Reviewing a Music Album

By Film Threat Staff | January 5, 2020

Most students experience a lot of challenges writing a review for a music album. However, this exercise can be an exciting process considering that almost everyone likes music, especially young people. Nonetheless, reviewing a music album involves a lot and not only listening to a song. You have to understand the song’s type of genre, the writer’s background, and what inspired the writer to write the song. Also, you should give your honest opinion regarding the song without being biased by emotions.

Also, you will need to familiarize with different terminologies on music production through research and listening to the song. This is to allow you to write factual information on the opinion.

Tips on Reviewing a Song Album

The following are well researched and practical tips on how you will write a music album review. Follow the guide provided below to complete the review writing process expertly. It’s especially helpful to use a tool like unison.audio .

Listening to the Song

When listening to the song several times, you are likely to observe different insights. You will also get the pattern of the song that will guide into understanding the rhythm of the song. For instance, if you listen to a song for the first time and put your focus on the lyrics and then to other aspects of a song. It becomes easier to comprehend both the storyline of the song and the usage of instruments.

It is also possible to learn the melody of the song. Try to make an effort and stretch to figuring out different aspects of the reviewed album. You should know that some songs can be complex to evaluate.

Familiarize Yourself with the Music Terminologies

A high standard review paper has well-researched content and strategically utilized terminologies. There are too many terminologies that you will need to know during the review writing. Know this that if you want to apply a term in a review, make sure it well fits. Avoid using a word wrongly; it can deter the message you want to pass across.

If possible, research online for the meaning of most terms used in reviewing a song and understand how to use them. Some of the essay help services have uploaded samples of reviews you can check. Learn the different styles applied in review samples you get. You may find terminologies like tempo, beats, harmony, tone etc.

Develop an Outline for the Review

Before you can start the actual writing of the music review paper, create an outline. You have to know the structure you will use in writing the review. So, get to understand the right format to use. If you have no clue about it, do a research online for samples on different outlines used in writing a music review. The following is an example of how a standard review outline looks like;

An introduction section

The introduction is an essential part because it invites the reader into what you have written. You must ensure that you grasp their attention and interest to continue reading your review.

This part provides all the strong points and ideas you have discovered about the album and the writer. Explain in detail by giving evidence to back up every point you make.

The conclusion

The conclusion wraps everything that has been written in the body part. Just put a summary of every point. Do not mention anything new. Once that is done, give the reader your opinion about the album. Did you like it?

Structure of the Review Paper

Once you have an outline, it is easier to structure the essay the way you wish. First, introduce the artist. Then write about the artist background story. When did the artist start the music, what has been achieved, how many years in the industry and the genre of music done by the artist? Also, include the number of albums that have been done. All this information can easily be

Describe Your Music Album

Describe the collection. Talk about the melody, the lyrics and the themes around it. Describe emotive instances by using the lyrics. You can even quote parts of the lyrics to make the review more objective. How did the instruments use to make up the melody? Such a question should be of help. If you are having a hard time describing the album because you do not know how you can learn online. Search how to write a music album review , and you will get numerous recommendations.

Conclude the Review

Make your conclusion brief. Offer your opinion, and it should be more honest. Did you like the song? Yes or no and provide a reason for your answer. Then go through the review to check for mistakes such as spellings, grammar or sentence errors. No one would like to read a poorly edited paper.

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Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — Song — Song Review: “I Lived” by Onerepublic

Song Review: "I Lived" by Onerepublic

Categories: Concert Review Song

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Published: Sep 19, 2019

Words: 1082 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

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How Beyoncé Fits Into the Storied Legacy of Black Country

Randall is an award-winning professor, songwriter, and author of My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future

O n March 16, 1983, the Country Music Association (CMA) celebrated its 25th anniversary, and I was invited. Buddy Killen, the song publisher who pitched “Heartbreak Hotel” to Elvis Presley, thought “the Black girl from Harvard” might just be the second coming of that hit’s songwriter, Mae Boren Axton. He put me on the guest list and paid for the tickets.

It was a complicated night. The event was held at the DAR Constitution Hall, built by the Daughters of the American Revolution, an infamous venue whose management had refused to allow Black opera star Marian Anderson to perform on its stage in 1939. I took special pleasure in seeing guitarist and singer Charley Pride stride onto that stage—in a building named to honor the U.S. Constitution, but run to exclude Black artists—and stake his claim as part of that “We the People” that document claims to represent.

At one point in the ceremony, singer Roy Acuff announced that “country music is a family.” Then he proclaimed Jimmie Rodgers “the father” of that family. But he did not mention Lil Hardin Armstrong, the pianist who played on Rodgers’ hit “Blue Yodel No. 9.” Acuff nodded to Will Rogers, the comedian, but shamelessly omitted DeFord Bailey , the Grand Ole Opry’s first superstar.

My idea to name and spotlight the First Family of Black Country was conceived in that moment. It was nurtured in the silence of missing names. Quiet as it was being kept, country had Black founders. I knew it; Buddy Killen, who arrived in Nashville playing bass for a blackface comedy act on the Grand Ole Opry, knew it; Roy Acuff, who had played on stages with Bailey, Ray Charles, and Pride, knew it. And more than four decades later, Beyoncé knew it when she broke the internet on Super Bowl Sunday by surprise—releasing two country songs and announcing an album, Cowboy Carter , which has her devoted fans in the Beyhive buzzing about line-dancing into the summer of country.

Read More: Beyoncé Has Always Been Country

That evening back in 1983 was constructed to be country’s coming-out party as a musical genre worthy of exceptional respect because it was a reflection and celebration of America at its best. And that best was being defined as a family having only white founders—and not a single Black woman in sight. It was a fallacy that could only last so long.

The way I see it, modern Black country was born on Dec. 10, 1927, when Bailey, descended from enslaved Tennesseans, lifted his harmonica to play “Pan American Blues” on the Nashville radio show Barn Dance. Fast forward to July 16, 1930, in Los Angeles, where Armstrong made country music history as the first Black woman to play on a hillbilly record that sold a million copies. And Lil didn’t just play on the session—her piano drove the session.

Country is not as many have posited: a genre with Black influence but without Black presence. Black women have been present since the earliest days of country’s existence as a recorded and commercially marketed music form. But a custom of cultural redlining has not only kept Black women out of country writing rooms, off country airwaves, off rodeo stages, off the country charts; it has also worked to keep the few Black women who managed to evade the gatekeepers off the entertainment pages, and out of the history books.

This would change. Nobody sitting in the room that night knew it, but there was a little girl toddling around a two-story house in Houston who would bring the long era of -erasing Black country sounds and stories to an abrupt end. The calculated erasure that began at one large public party with expensive tickets in 1983 ended during another, Super Bowl LVIII, when Beyoncé released “Texas Hold ’Em” and “16 Carriages.”

Along with “Daddy Lessons” off of 2016’s Lemonade, these songs have established Beyoncé as heir to a Black country musical tradition that dates back to the 17th century, when the first banjo was strummed by Black hands on American soil. Like DeFord Bailey’s, Beyoncé’s country songs are grounded in aural rural realities: the screech of the passing train, the sound from the local bar where folk are dancing. Like Lil, she understands the power of a costume and a trumpet. Like Ray Charles she brings a whiff of the Black cosmopolitan. Like Charley Pride she exudes a radiant Old Testament Song of Songs sexuality that is at once hot and holy. Like Herb Jeffries she embodies the cowboy who stays close to nature and guns.

The erasure did not end just because Beyoncé Knowles Carter became the first Black female artist to top the country charts, though she did that, on Feb. 24. And there are many others who have laid the groundwork for this catalytic moment: Linda Martell, the Pointer Sisters, Rissi Palmer, Rhiannon Giddens, Mickey Guyton, Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, and O.N.E the Duo, to name just a few.

The erasure ended when she started a sustained national conversation, getting America to talk about and celebrate neglected Black country legacy. The question of “Who can be in country music?” often masks a deeper query about “Who can be a real American?” Beyoncé’s was a loud announcement of a reality long denied, that she was “We the People.” And so were people who looked like her.

I’ve often said that country music is three chords and four truths: life is hard, God is real, whiskey and roads and family provide worthy compensations, and the past is better than the present. That last truth is one of the places where country often experiences a racial split. In much of white country, the past that is better than the present exists in a longed-for and lost mythical Dixie. In Black country, the past that is better than the present exists in a longed-for and lost Africa before colonization.

Country music is commonly defined as American folk music with Celtic, African, and evangelical Christian influences. My ancestors come from Cameroon, Nigeria, and Mali, from Scotland, England, and Ireland. I am country music, embodied. I started songwriting sitting under a Motown cherry tree, about the age of 5, in 1964. I would eat candied cherries, watching a sea of cars flow by on the John C. Lodge Freeway, and let country songs—from my grandmother’s lips, my mother’s radio, my aunt’s -stereo—roll ’round my head. I started off singing other people’s words then one day I started singing my own, the auspicious beginnings of a career that would land me in the top spot on the country charts.

Read More: Black Artists Helped Build Country Music—And Then It Left Them Behind

My daddy hipped me to the fact that it was Lil Hardin on Jimmie Rodgers’ biggest hit, and that there were probably a lot more Black folks passing for white on country records. He would look at some sheet music or hymnal, then ask, “What you bet Traditional was a colored girl?”

I write country music because it is a way to make what is too hard to bear somehow bearable. Beyoncé in “Texas Hold ’Em” does this same work, squaring off against tornadoes, heat waves, and lovers losing courage, as DeFord had squared off against a sense of being relentlessly pursued in “Fox Chase.” Both songs transform hardship into a particular flavor of playful and hopeful joy I recognize as country.

To close out the CMA anniversary show, Ray Charles sang “America the Beautiful.” Listening to the man behind what has been called the greatest country album, 1962’s Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, it struck me how entwined he was in the legacy of Black country. This was Armstrong and Bailey’s genius child. Next to him was country-as-corn-bread Pride, a spiritual love child to Bailey. On the other side of the family tree, Herb Jeffries, who wasn’t present in the auditorium but should have been, was Armstrong’s stepchild.

Among a sea of white people, including the President and Vice President of the U.S. and the presidents of every major country-music label, I had an inkling I was the only person in that room worried about singing Black cowboys, worried about Jeffries, wondering why he wasn’t there.

Now Beyoncé has changed that room entirely. Cowboy Carter is poised to be a brilliant new beginning and a culmination. As I see it, Beyoncé is the genius child of Ray Charles. The daughter who eclipses the father. The reflected light of her triumph makes visible both the lineage from which she aesthetically descends and the reality that Black country is a big tent with many entry points: from banjos, harmonicas, and cowboy songs to movies and Motown cherry trees. Beyoncé raises this question: If country owes a significant debt to Black culture, what in America doesn’t?

Adapted from My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music’s Black Past, Present, and Future . Copyright © 2024 by Alice Randall. Reprinted by permission of Black Privilege Publishing, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, LLC.

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March 28, 2024

Song Lyrics Really Are Getting Simpler and More Repetitive, Study Finds

An assessment of hundreds of thousands of songs confirms that choruses and hooks have taken over—but simpler isn’t necessarily worse

By Lauren Leffer

Pop art style comic book panel with woman singing carefree melody

Drante/Getty Images

When comparing today’s hit tunes with the top 40 of past decades, strong opinions are never in short supply. Every generation seems to lament its successor’s musical tastes and listening habits. Though science can’t necessarily account for such subjective preferences or generational divides, new research suggests popular music has indeed undergone some measurable and significant shifts over the past 50 years—with popular song lyrics becoming simpler and more repetitive , according to a study published on Thursday in Scientific Reports .

“There’s more rhyming lines and also more chorus,” says the study’s senior author Eva Zangerle , a computer scientist at Austria’s University of Innsbruck, who has developed music recommendation algorithms. “We basically found that lyrics [have gotten] easier to comprehend.” This trend, observed across five of the most popular English-language music genres (pop, rock, rap, R&B and country) since 1970, hints at how shifts in music listening habits, platforms and production may be shaping pop culture.

Zangerle and her co-authors compiled lyrics from 353,320 well-known songs released between 1970 and 2020. They used machine learning to single out these songs’ key linguistic features, such as the ratio of repeated words, the types of emotional cues, a readability score and the richness of vocabulary. Then they developed and trained additional models to sort and analyze those features across years in a representative subset of 12,000 songs.

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The researchers discovered that the ratio of repeated to nonrepeated lines has ticked up across genres over the years, nearly doubling for pop songs and rising even more rapidly for rap music. The ratio of choruses to other song sections rose as well. The study also found that contemporary music lyrics convey more negative emotions and fewer positive ones than in the past and that songs have become more personal, with a higher frequency of pronouns such as “I” and “me”—echoing past research findings about shifts in lyrical content .

“I thought this study was really cool,” says Michael Varnum, a cultural psychologist at Arizona State University, who was not involved in the new research. Varnum has previously studied popular music and detected similar declines in lyrical complexity over time. This new work replicates those findings with a more inclusive sample, he says, by surveying an order of magnitude more songs, comparing across genres and looking beyond the biggest chart-toppers to assess the larger landscape of what people listen to.

Yet even this study’s expansive dataset isn’t completely comprehensive. Its focus on English-language songs—compiled from the online platform Genius—means it is inherently biased toward the Western cultural canon, Zangerle says.

Emotional intention and meaning, too, are hard to parse from lyrics alone, says Robin James , an independent popular music and philosophy scholar. James points out that slang terms such as “slay” might appear angry or violent in an automated assessment but actually convey a positive emotional meaning. Even complexity is challenging to quantify, she adds. Lyrics that seem like simple gibberish at first can actually be clever wordplay, James points out, noting Missy Elliot’s backward lines in the 2002 hit song “Work It.”

And lyrics are just one small part of what makes up a song, says Kaleb Goldschmitt, an ethnomusicologist at Wellesley College and co-editor of the Journal of Popular Music Studies . Even if lyrics are getting simpler, musical factors such as texture and rhythm seem to be getting more complex, Goldschmitt says.

Still, shifts in lyrical structure—particularly a boom in choruses—are apparent enough that music scholars have already been noting the trend for a few years, James says. It isn’t clear why these repeated sections are taking up more time in songs. But based on his past research, Varnum hypothesizes that the sheer amount of new music being produced could partially explain the phenomenon. “When people are faced with lots and lots of choices, they tend to prefer things that are easier to process and more straightforward,” he says.

The way people interact with songs has also shifted, Varnum adds, with more and more listeners tuning in to music while multitasking. “It would make sense that if it’s in the background, you don’t necessarily want things that are going to be challenging or attention-grabbing,” he says.

Today’s prevalence of streaming, Zangerle suggests, may also play a role by changing the ways artists compose for their market. Instead of investing in a whole album based on a single familiar song, listeners can now easily—and freely—preview every song an artist makes. This could ramp up pressure on artists to ensure all their songs are as catchy as possible.

But catchiness isn’t inherently negative, and music fans shouldn’t overthink what they like to hear. “Whether [the trend is] good or bad—that’s something I try to stay out of when thinking about science,” Varnum says.

“Complex music isn’t necessarily better music,” Goldschmitt notes. “If that were the case, we’d all be listening to prog rock.”

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My Favourite Song – Essay about my Favourite Song, Favourite Musics, and Favourite Lyrics

June 16, 2021 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

The song “TUM HI HO’’ sung by Arijit Singh who is a versatile singer and composer is a song I have loved always and would hear often for the rest of my life. Arijit Singh is famous for his romantic and sensational songs and beautiful captivating lyrics.

He has one of the best voices of the modern music world and “Tum hi ho” is a great example of that. With a voice that is both vulnerable and powerful, he glides over the lyrics and the rhythm of the song in eternally expressive, soulful, and soul-searching manners.

This song falls under the most romantic music types. It’s just difficult to explain the feelings of this song in words. The song which was sung by heart directly appeals to listener’s heart and carries him or her away.

When listening to this song, I get transported to some other world, a world full of romance, a world full of love, a world full of sensation, a world overwhelmed with emotional feelings, a world full of fantasy where there is fantasizing, fantasizing and fantasizing.

Table of Contents

Love & Musics

This song reminds me of my love, my life because life without love would be boring, dull and drab. With love, you get a reason to live, you get a reason to smile. Love is everything. And this beautifully sung song adds spark in my love life.

The attractive lyrics of this song helps me overcome my mental agony and the mesmerizing music of this song overwhelms me with romantic feelings. It provides me extreme level of mental peace and I started getting love vibes everywhere. While listening to this song,

I started dreaming of a candle light dinner date with my love or a romantic long drive. All this gets butterflies in my stomach and that feeling is the most wonderful feeling ever. This song is best for the people who believes in love and mostly listened by these people.

Romantic Music

I’ve always had an infatuation with romantic and slow music since I was a kid because loud music gives me irritation, anxiety, frustration and headache. Loud music takes away my mental peace. Romantic music is full of serenity and positivity. It even makes a warm-blooded person and calm.

It leaves soothing effects on the listeners. I usually listen to this song on my computer and sometimes in my MP3 player with the headphone. In fact, I am a great fan of romantic music but this is my favorite. This song is specifically attractive for the slow and romantic music lovers

Lyrics & Music

This song reminds me of my love and makes me realize how greener and full of romantic vibes our relationship is. The enthralling lyrics make an out of the world illusion that only people who are true lovers would realize.

Every time I hear this song the sweet memories of my love and the time I spend with him comes to my mind. This is the song that opens the doors of love for me. This song is a key to my beloved’s heart. I love this song from the core of my heart.

Sometimes this music puts me in a charming mood. But sometimes I also feel sad that I cannot be with my love all the time.

On the other hand, this song gives me a genuine pleasure of the memories we used to spend together. That memories are unforgettable and I just wish that I would experience them again and again.

Music Love Since Ages

This song sometimes distracts me from my studies because I always live in a state of romance due to this song. But sometimes it helps me to stay myself up at night.

Without looking up scientific facts why the human species is drawn to music I can muse that music has been a part of humans since the existence of man. Music evokes a feeling in people & I think this is the reason humans appreciate music so much.

This song plays an important role in my life. Whatever emotion I am feeling or mood I am in, I pair it with this song and instantly it provides me a great sense of relief. Music is the soundtrack to my life. This song teleport me back to a moment full of my sweet memories, a happier time for me

That’s the beauty of music; I can almost always listen to this song. Some people feel that the best time to have music is in social gatherings like when you are with close friends and you create a soundtrack for that occasion but I strongly feel that this type of mesmerizing songs should be listened in peace, where there is nobody, or with your love life for taking the feel of lyrics and music.

At the same time, a meeting where you are trying to work is not an appropriate time to listen to any kind of music.

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Beyoncé: Cowboy Carter review – from hoedown to full-blown genre throwdown

(Parkwood/Columbia) Straying far beyond its original country concept, the musician’s eighth album straddles the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the blues – and Becky with the Good Hair via Dolly Parton’s Jolene

A merican Requiem, the opening track of Beyoncé’s eighth studio album, is many things. It offers a touch of state-of-the-nation address – “Can we stand for something? Now is the time to face the wind” – and a sprinkling of the kind of vague but apparently personal lyrics that send social media into a frenzy of decoding: what are her “father’s sins” that Beyoncé has apparently “cleansed” herself of? Who are the “fairweather friends” for whom she claims to be planning “a funeral”?

It’s also a loud statement of what you might call Beyoncé’s bona fides. She is, she avers, “the grandbaby of a moonshine man [from] Gadsden, Alabama” who furthermore has roots in Louisiana. “They used to say I spoke too country,” she protests, adding: “What could be more country than that?”

In a sense, this all feels quite surprising. For years, Beyoncé has been in an unassailable critical position: everything she’s released has been greeted with huge sales, ecstatic reviews and lengthy reflections on her peerless artistry, thus affording her the ability to do whatever she wants. Equally, you can see why she might want to shore up her position when launching a venture into country and western – which is very much what Cowboy Carter has been trailed as – and not merely because her performance with the Dixie Chicks (now the Chicks) at the 2016 Country Music Association awards, while garnering the usual critical acclaim, attracted adverse online comment from viewers, some of it flatly racist.

Country isn’t so much a genre as a law unto itself. It’s traditionally very wary of musical outsiders – be they the Byrds or Ray Charles – and presided over by a notoriously reactionary Nashville establishment. Moreover, it’s traditionally a musical voice of the rural poor and working class: you don’t want to be perceived as a superstar dilettante who’s decided to dabble just because you can.

Cowboy Carter duly presents itself as a major statement – 27 tracks and 80 minutes long – and arrives complete with co-signs from Nashville elders. There are spoken word interludes by Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton, the latter drawing comparison between perfidious old Jolene and Becky with the Good Hair, the love rival in Beyoncé’s celebrated 2016 track Sorry. The latter’s favour is repaid with a cover of Jolene itself, which Parton has been publicly petitioning Beyoncé to record for years, albeit with a new middle eight and coda alongside fresh lyrics that substitute swaggering menace and threats for the original’s desperate pleading – desperate pleading not really being on-brand where Beyoncé is concerned.

Elsewhere, the singer circumvents the issue of what you sing a country song about if you’re worth an estimated $800m (£634m) by indulging in murder ballad-esque storytelling on Daughter – which underlines the drama with a burst of 18th-century opera, and recasting her early years in Destiny’s Child in Nashville-friendly terms on 16 Carriages: “At 15 the innocence was gone astray / Had to leave my home at an early age,” she sings, making herself sound more like an outcast unmarried mother than someone who went on tour supporting Dru Hill and SWV.

You can say that amounts to laying it on a bit thick, but both Daughter and 16 Carriages are fantastic songs: acoustic guitars playing host to strong melodies and, on the latter, a vocal delivery that carries the distinctive patterns of rap. In fact, there are a lot of fantastic songs in the first part of Cowboy Carter, although its sheer length starts proving a problem. Her cover of the Beatles’ Blackbird is astute – Paul McCartney wrote it in tribute to the Little Rock Nine, a group of nine Black students who faced discrimination after enrolling in the all-white Little Rock high school in 1957 – if inessential, and there’s a distinct qualitative sag in the middle. It’s remedied by the simple expedient of going wildly off-piste: if the lambent soft-rock of Bodyguard gets you wondering whether the “departure into country” tag strictly fits Cowboy Carter, the sudden appearance of a straightforward hip-hop track, Spaghetti, confirms that it isn’t.

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Thereafter the album goes nuts. Ya Ya offers a fantastic early psychedelic soul-influenced stomp that throws in a sample of Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made for Walking, an interpolation from the Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations and what sounds like a lyrical reference to Mickey and Sylvia’s 1958 hit Love Is Strange. Riverdance and II Hands II Heaven return to the house music influence of Beyoncé’s last album Renaissance. Oh Louisiana is 52 seconds of bluesy funk with a vocal sped up to helium pitch. It’s all incredibly well done and hugely entertaining, but the sense that the album is clinging on to its original concept by its fingernails – throwing in the odd lyric about rhinestones or whisky and the occasional intimation of pedal steel guitar – is hard to avoid.

You wonder if Cowboy Carter might have worked better split into two separate albums, with one concentrating purely on the country-influenced/acoustic material: there are moments when it starts to feel less like a coherent statement than one of those long 21st-century albums that offers listeners a selection box of tracks to pick and choose playlist additions from. Or perhaps its wild lurches into eclecticism are the point. Unwieldy as it is, it displays its author’s ability to bend musical styles to her will, be they country, hip-hop or the baroque post-psychedelic easy listening that seems to lurk beneath the vocal gymnastics of My Rose. If the results don’t quite hold together, Cowboy Carter still proves Beyoncé is impressively capable of doing whatever she wants.

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A music review
The first paragraph should be a general introduction to what you're reviewing. Include the title, artist, and an interesting fact about its success or how it was made. The main body of the review needs detailed observations. Use specific vocabulary (e.g. lyrics, fast-paced, catchy melodies) to comment on particular songs and parts of the music.
8 Tips on How to Write a Music Review
7. Write Clearly. Your review should be clear and readable. For longer reviews, use subheadings and cover different aspects of the album in separate sections to make it easy to follow. You can also include images of the artist or the album artwork to break up the text and illustrate your writing. 8.
Song Analysis Essay Examples and Topics
You can come up with a song review essay if nothing seems to work by focusing on the musical side of things and the lyrics. Talk about the rhythm, the performance, and many other aspects like lyrics, the history, and the importance for the society. There can be analytical, reflective, argumentative, comparative, and critical writing types of ...
10 Examples: How to Write a Song Review in 2024
Provide some background information about the song, such as the artist's name, genre, or any notable collaborations. Offer a brief overview of the song's overall sound and style to set the reader's expectations. Include any relevant context or inspiration behind the song that may enhance the reader's understanding. 6.
How to Write a Music Review Essay
Listen to the Music. Conduct a Background Research. Formulate an Outline. Write the Draft. Proofread the Draft and Modify it Where Possible. Hardly anyone on the earth dislikes music. We all have music collections for certain emotions or songs connected to special occasions. But when it comes to composing a music review essay, most seem to be ...
How To Write A Music Review: An Ultimate Guide
Listen to the music. This might seem obvious, but the first step in any music review is to listen to the music you plan to review. Ideally, you will listen to the album at least twice so you can form an initial impression and also consider how it hits you on a repeat listen, when some of the novelty has worn off.
5 Tips on How to Write a Good Music Review
Consider the melody and music of the song. First, the music and melody create the impression of the song. You can make an educated opinion about the song and understand its meaning after listening several times in a row. 2. Analyze the key of the song. Describe the key of the song, the quality of the arrangement, and the sound of some musical ...
PDF A music review
Definitions. moving quickly. easy to like and remember. a song or tune. the feeling of being angry at the world. to feel inspired by something, making you act or behave like it. a basic part of life. strongly or fanatically devoted. selling the most copies of a song or album in a particular week.
How To Write A Successful Music Review
For one, this means that you need to format the review so it's easily readable. Use headings, subheadings, bullet points and leave enough white space so that the reader can rest. Use album images to break up your text and add a visual effect. Videos and infographics are also a great option.
Making an Argument Via Descriptive Detail: Music Reviews
The review of this song comes from The Times's weekly pop music column, "The Playlist," in which critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week's most notable new songs and videos ...
How to Write a Music Review
When beginning the writing of your review, include some background information: name of the group, genre they play in, the album's tracklist, date of release, and so on. After writing the background information, write an evaluation of the music, usually a paragraph for each category. The categories are usually the lyrics (for example, whether ...
How to write a music review
Listen to the Song. This goes without saying. Before you begin writing the music review, you need to sit down and listen to the music from beginning to end. Understand that you need to listen to the song at least three times. As you are doing this, make sure to jot any initial thoughts or feelings you will have.
4 Tips on How to Write a Music Review Essay
1. Get ready. Before you start writing your essay, you should, of course, listen to a piece of music and study some information about the artist and the song itself. First of all, listen to the composition for the first time and write down your thoughts. Try not to think about the lyrics and concentrate on the feelings.
How to Write an Album Review
Writing about music can take quite a few forms: the album review, the personal essay, musical and cultural analysis, literary critique and interpretation of the lyrics, artist interviews, or the ...
The Ultimate Guide on How to Write Perfect Music Review
If you need some professional advice you can always ask for help essay writing service . We suggest you take advantage of this ultimate guide on how to write a great review about music. 1. Listen to the album several times. Try to understand what the songs say. Do not write a review based on the first impression.
Song&Music Review Examples and Samples
See how to write music review samples for yourself. Write better with AI! Automatically find sources, add MLA or APA style formats and download ready-to-use files = better than ChatGPT.Free AI Tool A Comprehensive Guide to Song and Music Reviews In the world of music, song reviews play a significant role in shaping public opinion and promoting talent.
Tips on How to Write an Awesome Music Review
Now, let's proceed to tips for writing a music review. Stick to the review plan. Brief information about the song or album (title, singer or band, other basic information). For example, Waiting For The Sun is the third album by the California band The Doors. After its first great recordings, The Doors and Strange Days, this release has not ...
How to Sociologically review a Song: Explained with Examples
Step 1: Choose a Song to review. You can choose any song. A song you might love, a song you may hate, a popular song, a hidden gem, etc., really any song would do. To understand better, we will make use of an example. The song we will review in this article will be "The Man" by Taylor Swift.
How to Write a Music Review Like a Pro
Most music reviews contain this basic structure: Introduction: aside from general information about the work (title, artist, date, etc.), this first paragraph should include a hook. This key sentence (or two) is how you pull your readers into the review and make them want to keep reading.
How to write an indie music review essay
Make an outline and a draft. The outline will help you structure your thoughts. Like any essay, a music review consists of an introduction, main body, and conclusion. Clearly, it also can't go without a thesis. In the first paragraph (introduction), you have to introduce your reader to the singer or group and their song or album that you ...
Song Analysis Essay Examples
A song analysis essay examples is a form of literary analysis that delves into the meaning, symbolism, and artistic elements of a song's lyrics and composition. The purpose of such an essay is to explore the deeper layers of a song's message, uncover its thematic implications, and provide insights into the emotions and ideas it conveys.
How to Write a Song Analysis
3. RESEARCH. One of the biggest mistakes a person can make when analyzing a song is failing to conduct adequate research. Even if the song is by an artist you know like the back of your hand, not taking the time to research it is a big mistake. Research!
A Meaningful Song in My Life: Free Essay Example, 788 words
Views: 11439. Grade: 5. Download. Music is an important part of our life. We relax or, on the contrary, recharge by listening to music, remembering pleasant moments, meditate. In this paper "My Life: A Meaningful Songs Essay" I want to share a song that how I think has a lot of meaning. The first song I ever remember buying was "Lonely" by ...
A Step by Step Guideline on Reviewing a Music Album
Know this that if you want to apply a term in a review, make sure it well fits. Avoid using a word wrongly; it can deter the message you want to pass across. If possible, research online for the meaning of most terms used in reviewing a song and understand how to use them. Some of the essay help services have uploaded samples of reviews you can ...
Song Review: "I Lived" by Onerepublic
The "I Lived" video by OneRepublic communicates a theme of living life to the fullest through the use of colors, objects, and location within the video. Through the use of dark and warm colors, OneRepublic communicates when there is a happy or sad moment within the song. OneRepublic, who wrote "I Lived" sang, "The only way you can ...
How Beyoncé Fits Into the Storied Legacy of Black Country
O n March 16, 1983, the Country Music Association (CMA) celebrated its 25th anniversary, and I was invited. Buddy Killen, the song publisher who pitched "Heartbreak Hotel" to Elvis Presley ...
Song Lyrics Really Are Getting Simpler and More Repetitive, Study Finds
And lyrics are just one small part of what makes up a song, says Kaleb Goldschmitt, an ethnomusicologist at Wellesley College and co-editor of the Journal of Popular Music Studies.
Essay on my Favourite Song, Music and Lyrics
My Favourite Song - Essay about my Favourite Song, Favourite Musics, and Favourite Lyrics. The song "TUM HI HO'' sung by Arijit Singh who is a versatile singer and composer is a song I have loved always and would hear often for the rest of my life. Arijit Singh is famous for his romantic and sensational songs and beautiful captivating ...
Song Artist Movie Review (All in One) A+ and Galus version
It's easy to remember the song because it's so catchy, melodic, and powerful. I can hear every word so clearly, and the words mean so much to me. This wonderful song was written by Lady Gaga herself. She is truly the best female artist I look up to. The song is played three times in the movie, and the scene where
Beyoncé: Cowboy Carter review
Elsewhere, the singer circumvents the issue of what you sing a country song about if you're worth an estimated $800m (£634m) by indulging in murder ballad-esque storytelling on Daughter ...