SUGGESTED GUIDELINES FOR CD REVIEWS
Thank you for your interest in doing reviews for Blues On Stage. Here are some guidelines to help you in writing the reviews.
In return for the CD that I am sending, you agree to submit a review of that CD within 2 weeks after receiving it. The review will be published on the web at Blues On Stage (www.mnblues.com) and also may be published in the Twin Cities Blues News and other publications. There is no compensation for the review other than you keeping the CD. You do get some great exposure however.
LENGTH
Please keep the length of the review fairly brief -- between 250 to 500 words. This is not a hard and fast rule, just a guideline to give you an idea of length. There may be some CD's that I will request an even shorter review.
FORMAT
Don't use ALL capitalized words in the title or body, unless you are doing so for emphasis. Enclose the song titles inside quotation marks and put the punctuation marks inside the ending quotation mark. For example: "The Blues," or "The Blues."
Begin each review with the following format for the heading (artist name, CD title, Record Label name, release date and CD number, your name, your email address).
Luther Allison
Reckless
(Alligator Records, © 1997 #4849)
Ray Stiles
mnblues@aol.com
Don't use all capital letters. Align text to the left-not centered. In the content part, don't indent your paragraphs-separate them with 2 lines.
End each CD review with any ordering or contact information for the CD including phone number, address, e-mail and website address.
Take a look at some of the CD reviews for examples of length, layout, formatting and content found on the CD Review pages at Blues On Stage (www.mnblues.com). Be sure to proof your reviews for spelling, punctuation, usage, accuracy and readability.
CONTENT
Try to be as descriptive of the CD and its content as you can. For example, what is the general type of music - blues, swing, R&B, roots rock, soul, etc. What is the style of music in that particular type - Chicago blues, acoustic delta blues, southern soul, etc. Who might this CD appeal to. Is it a re-issue from another label? If it is a re-issue with a different title, you might want to consider listing the song titles and the previous album name if different. If it is a live recording, how was the sound quality? Did it include covers or original songs by the artist? How was the musicianship? Does one instrument dominate the recording? How were the vocals? How about the song writing skill? What particular qualities of the CD or its production did you like or dislike? Is there anything special about the cover art, liner notes or booklet? If appropriate, you might want to consider including some background or biographical information on the artist or recording session.
If I didn't send you enough background information on the CD or artist, please try a search of the web or check out their website or the record label's website. Another place that has good biographical information is: (www.allmusic.com).
The above comments are just suggestions to help you think about what to include in the review, please use them as guidelines only and write in your own style.
If you just don't like the CD I sent you, please let me know. We can exchange it with another one that may be more to your liking. I would rather you didn't write a negative review just to write a review. There are enough good CD's that we can review without wasting ink on the bad ones. This does not mean you cannot be critical or true to your feelings, it just means don't bother writing a review of a CD you absolutely did not like, unless you can be fairly objective about it.
SUBMITTING YOUR REVIEW
When you have finished the review please send it to me via e-mail. Cut and paste the review right into the message part of your e-mail without any formatting or HTML codes, please do not send it as an attached file unless we have discussed this beforehand. Please send it to this e-mail address: mnblues@aol.com
MISC.
I may have to do some minor editing for readability or to make corrections. When I have the review posted on the web be sure to take a look at it and let me know of any corrections or changes that need to be made. I will publish new reviews at the beginning of each month and throughout the month as they come in on the New Reviews Page at Blues On Stage (www.mnblues.com). About once a month I will then move the older reviews to the archive pages at Blues On Stage (CD Reviews, Live Reviews, etc.).
If you would like to use this review any place else, please let me know first, include the copyright information, and be sure that you include a link to Blues On Stage with the website address (www.mnblues.com) and a statement that the review first appeared there and is used with permission.
If you have any questions please ask via e-mail: mnblues@aol.com
Thanks again for your interest in helping to promote the blues -- have some fun with these reviews.
E-mail: mnblues@aol.com
Address:
Blues On Stage
% Ray Stiles
P.O. Box 582983
Minneapolis, MN 55458
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