SF Weekly Seeks Experienced, Dedicated Freelance Music Journalists

SF Weekly needs talented, musically literate San Francisco-based freelance writers to help cover the city's incredibly diverse music scene for both our print section and our music blog, All Shook Down. We will pay you money -- more like beer money than rent money, but still -- to go to shows, interview artists, and tell our readers what's worth knowing about in San Francisco music and what's not.

Before you get too excited, here's what we don't want: We don't want fawning fanboys and girls who will gush at every show they see, or who are afraid to come out and say when something sucks. We want informed critics -- writers who explain why something is good and/or bad. You should have an opinion, be able to support it with evidence, and be confident enough to remain calm when anonymous commenters inevitably say you don't know anything about music, life, or anything else.

We also want you to have experience writing for a publication -- professional experience, ideally, although talented college paper alumni and music bloggers are encouraged to apply. At SF Weekly, you will be expected to turn in clean, well-written copy on time and without fuss. If staying up until 3 a.m. finishing a piece on deadline sounds like your idea of hell, this probably isn't the gig for you. That won't happen all the time, but if you're the kind of writer we're looking for, you'll do what it takes to do the job as well as you can.

Now, what we are looking for: writers who have experience with a variety of genres and ideas about how to cover them locally. We're especially looking for writers who are knowledgeable about local electronic/dance music, hip-hop, and rock. Who have new ideas about how to write about them. Who go to shows a lot. Who live in San Francisco or, if they live in the larger Bay Area, come to events in San Francisco regularly. (Writers outside of the Bay Area should not apply.)

If this is you, send an email with a brief cover note, a resume, a list of three shows you've seen lately, or three recent records you're loving, and three published clips to Ian.Port@SFWeekly.com.