‘The more real an interaction I can have with a PR, the better’ – Media interview with Patrick Clarke, deputy editor of The Quietus

Want to get the ear of music journalists? Here is insight on the ins and outs of the music media from Patrick Clarke, deputy editor of The Quietus. Having worked in music journalism for nearly ten years – freelancing for titles such as NME and Rolling Stone – here Patrick shares his day-to-day routine, AI’s effect on the media industry, and the best way for PRs to get coverage.

What does a typical working day/week look like for you at The Quietus?

Everyone at the Quietus freelances as well, meaning it can be quite an ad hoc, chaotic operation. Generally, my role is split between editing, commissioning, and writing. I edit between a third to a half of the site. I commission our regular columns, such as the baker’s dozen segment, which is one of our biggest ones, and then work with my editor on commissioning the more straightforward features. Every week or two, we have a staff meeting where we go through all the music that we like and dislike over the next month and decide what we think is worthy of coverage, what suits the ethos of the site, and what doesn’t.

The other half is writing. I write a few features a month, which vary wildly from in depth features to little news partnerships. I’ll obviously be out at gigs as well, usually two or three nights a week. It’s very full on dealing with all the pitches from writers and all the pitches from PRs. Trying to keep on top of it as much as we possibly can, which usually proves impossible, but we do our best. There’s no typical day, really, or typical week, but those are all features of it.

Is The Quietus team using any AI tools to help with content creation, and what are your thoughts on AI?

I’m pretty against the idea of letting AI write an article for you. I don’t think AI can listen to music and evaluate music. I think it can gather facts about music, but I don’t think that it can replace the very subjective and very personal experience of listening to music and transferring that personal, emotive experience to the page.

I wouldn’t say that AI has no place whatsoever. I use AI to help me transcribe and save me time. We recently launched a new website with The Quietus, and there was AI involved in the basic tech side of transferring one site to a new one. So I think it can be useful as a tool, but creatively I have a lot of doubt about whether or not it should be used to write anything for you. The best music journalism is work that really comes from a very personal place, from the writer.

What contributions do you find most useful from PRs and what are your pet peeves?

It’s good when PRs understand what our website is and what the music that we cover is. We don’t cover stuff just because it’s big or because it’s got a lot of streams. We cover stuff because we think it’s interesting. When we get PR emails that are very clearly a blanket mail out – an impersonal blanket mail out that doesn’t reflect anything at all that we do on the site, or maybe there’s been a cursory look at what our sections are called, without considering whether or not it will actually work, that can be quite frustrating. It’s probably a waste of the PR’s time as well.

When you get PRs who know what we’re about and know what we do, that’s always very enjoyable and satisfying. We don’t see ourselves as oppositional to PRs in any way or like we’re trying to frustrate them. We want to work together on things that work for us and work for them. I think we give a level of coverage that most music websites don’t, as long it’s the kind of stuff that actually fits with what we do.

Also, I get PRs that get my name wrong, or the name of the website, or I’ll get pitched stuff for a website that I haven’t written for for a decade. Therefore, I think the more personal, the better. The more real an interaction I can have with a PR, the better.

What is the relationship like for you when you are contacting PRs representing bands and musicians, and how can that be improved?

Some of the relationships are good, some of them are bad. I think the same way that some people understand what it is that we do, that’s always good. I’m never too fussed about a rejection or a no, it’s just as long as it’s polite and that it actually happens.

I find clarity is what I really crave a lot of the time. Sometimes you’ll get strung along, or you’ll be told an artist wants to do this, and then when it comes to actually asking them, they never wanted to do it. The key here is truthfulness and clarity. When that happens, it is always very rewarding, and I try to give that on the other side.

When is the best time for PRs to contact you and in what form?

I think just an email in office hours, as basic as it is, and then follow ups. I don’t mind if someone needs to follow up five or six times to get me to read something. I get hundreds of emails a day and I work other jobs at the same time, so it can be difficult to read everything. I can sympathise with all the PRS who I’ve never replied to!

I do find it quite frustrating though when PRs encroach on my personal life, or will message me on personal social media platforms, or have got my number from someone and will call me up without me having given them my number. I like to separate my work life from my real life as much as possible. Therefore, as annoying as it is, just an email to my official work email is the best way to get in touch with me.

Patrick’s first book ‘Bedsit Land: The Strange World of Soft Cell’ has been published by Manchester University Press.

Connect with Patrick, and other UK and international journalists, via the Vuelio Media Database.