The website I have decided to analyze and model after my own work this time around is the website Allmusic, the link of which can be found here. I will also be analyzing an article written for the platform by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, a review of Nine Inch Nails’ 2005 album, With Teeth.
I highly doubt that the author is making money each time the page is visited, even though the Allmusic website does feature ads. The author is acknowledged on the page by the text that says “Allmusic Review by ________,” in bold, clear text. I’m almost positive Erlewine was the only author involved with creating this review. I like how much knowledge the author has of the artist and their history; it’s incredibly helpful for those who don’t exactly know Nine Inch Nails, as well as others of their ilk.
As far as the actual platform goes, there’s plenty of sweet tricks that normal users can do to get their name out there. Allmusic has a feature that allows users to write their own reviews underneath the editor’s article, which is something they only added within the past few years. Even though you can’t interact with the author themselves, there are bios of each editor/journalist associated with Allmusic. As far as I can tell, the authors can’t interact with one another on the platform, but they do seem to interact and follow each other on social media sites such as Twitter. And the chief web designer is the one who makes the decisions as to the layout of the site, not the author(s).
The author of the review I analyzed, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, has his own Twitter account, which I follow, and he often posts links to his work on his account. He serves as Allmusic’s senior editor, but he is also a freelancer, writing for several publications, including Pitchfork.
Comparing my website to the Allmusic site, it’s nowhere near as full-featured. I’m mostly using my site, Nezzy’s Nest, as a way to get my work out in the open by any means possible, but there’s still plenty of work to be done. In the meantime, you can find a review of one of my favorite albums of all time, Sheer Hellish Miasma by Kevin Drumm, on the site that is currently.
