Music In Africa: Call for researchers/music journalists

26 Aug 2015 - 15:30

Published under the Creative Commons Licence

Pan-African music portal, Music In Africa (www.musicinafrica.net), seeks experienced researchers and music journalists to write overviews of the music scenes of the following African countries: Togo, Benin, Gabon, Chad, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Zambia and Swaziland.

Successful candidates will be required to research and write no more than three overview articles ranging between 900 and 1200 words. The overview texts should provide factual insight into various aspects of the local music industries. Authors are expected to use clear, simple language and to frame topics in a way that anyone can be able to understand, while avoiding their own personal opinions. A detailed style guide will be provided and texts are expected to conform to these guidelines. All overview texts need to be original and properly referenced – any content copied verbatim from Wikipedia or any other source will not be accepted.

Participants at Music In Africa's content meeting in Kenya in 2013.

Topic examples

Topics are not fixed but they generally aim to provide one of the following:

An overview of a country’s music life
An overview of specific music genres in a country (eg. local genres, popular, classical, gospel, traditional)
An overview of opportunities available for music operators in a country (eg. funding, training, performing opportunities, etc)
An overview of indigenous instruments in a country
An overview of the recording scenes (recording labels, how royalties are collected, publishers, etc)
An overview of music education and available structures in a country
An overview of the live music scenes

Applicants must be well-versed in these areas, ideally having written on similar topics in the past. Successful candidates will be given a topic and will be required to submit a short proposal on how they would treat the topic.

Requirements

At least 5 years’ writing experience
Flawless writing skills (English or French)
Ability to meet deadlines
Exceptional music knowledge
Desire to contribute to the local music industry

Remuneration

Writers will be remunerated at an agreed rate once the text has been submitted to the editors’ satisfaction and according to the specifications provided.

Contact

If you are interested, send your CV to David Durbach at dave@musicinafrica.net before or on 6 November 2015. Your application must include the following: