Bye Bye to the Printed Word:

Back when I was a young musician, the only place you could ever really get in-depth information about your favourite bands or singers were magazines or weekly papers like the NME or Sounds.

It’s difficult for younger readers to appreciate just how influential these papers were, sometimes in control of a bands destiny just by a review  or an editorial.

Last month the news came out, that NME, (which was one of the largest music Magazines in the UK), reported that their sales had dipped below 20,000 copies a month during the second half of 2013, whilst their website on the other hand, consistently receives around 1,4 million users a week.

I don’t ever tire of seeing the world change around me, but when this sort of news comes out, it really hits home, is it really bye bye to the printed word? and yet, the truth is, that if its done well, people will happily still sit and read an article or a blog, albeit on a tablet or smartphone instead.

So what of the journalists of the future?

My guess, it will be a very different skill set. Sure, they’ll still need to know how to write, but they’re also going to need to know how to write to picture, to compliment the addition of video or dynamic photos. They’ll need to know how to shy away from description and let the pictures do the talking. whilst still retaining a level of interest in the written piece itself. They’ll need to know how to incorporate sound effects into their writing, as retina tracking facilities become part of the future of tablets (they follow your eyes, so they can see where you’re up to, and play a sound effect accordingly…)

All in all, it’s a long way from this….