Today we’d like to introduce you to Bianca Brown.
Hi Bianca, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My name is Bianca Brown and I am a music journalist, music enthusiast, and really a jack of all trades when it comes to media and journalism. I dedicate myself to uplifting talented, marginalized artists on a pedestal via written work and digital media. Currently, I have written for Live Nation’s Ones to Watch, Lyrical Lemonade, Frontrunner Magazine and I currently write for World Wide Waves and The Wild Honey Pie. In addition to that, I have my own business, BB Editorial, in addition to working with an impactful startup record label, World Wide Native.
My love for both written work and musical ones stems from the love of the two that my father had, in addition to my mother’s fruitful support in my endeavours. From a young age, my father introduced me to poetry and music and I quickly took both of those crafts on as a means of self-expression. My free time consisted of locking myself away into my own world, listening to music and writing something that took me away from myself and the reality around me. I was so dedicated to writing and improving my own writing abilities that I would aimlessly ruffle through dictionaries teaching myself new words to use in my day-to-day writing projects.
After attending college, I found myself drawn to more artistic crowds and spaces, quickly embedding myself in my school’s spoken word scene, as well as joining the commissions that were in charge of putting together concerts and live events. I was always heavily attracted to spaces and events where live music was at play, leading me to discovering many underground LA artists, venues, musicians, producers, etc. From there, I had joined my school’s radio station, UCLAradio.com and hosted my own radio show where I paired artists with various alcoholic beverages. I would do live interviews, introduce a variety of different songs/artists, and make it as entertaining as an 11AM radio show on rising artists and alcohol could be! UCLAradio was probably my first semi-formal experience with music journalism.
It wasn’t until my senior year of college that I had fully emerged myself into music journalism. Live events were still very much my forté–I was the director and host of the spoken word lounge that I had been attending for three years and I was working as an A&R and Publishing intern for Tiffany Kumar’s label, Beathouse; both experiences that required me to attend and plan live events. However, I began to crave something more, which led me to landing a gig with Live Nation’s Ones to Watch division.
Ones to Watch gave me the opportunity to do everything that I loved in one go–I was able to attend shows, interview artists, write articles on these artists and digitally distribute them so that the world could learn their names and appreciate their artistry. I was even able to cover my own large project, which was the 2019 Adult Swim Festival. From Live Nation, I moved to writing for Lyrical Lemonade as one of their first (if not the actual first) Black queer womxn writers.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
From my experience in the live events and music industry, I noticed a large diversity gap in a lot of the artists whom were given platforms and spotlights. So from the get-go, I had made it a point to pitch those marginalized artists that were largely disregarded, aiming to change the culture of media conglomerates and connect fans with artists to whom they could relate to. However, as the only Black queer womxn in a lot of these spaces, I’ve experienced a lot of pushback in a variety of forms such as, (but not limited to) not being paid for my work, my work and words being disregarded or overlooked, and unequal distribution of opportunities. Despite these factors, I continue my own plight for increasing diversity in the music and artists that are being covered and create my own spaces and platforms to give each of these individuals their own flowers.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Remember how I said i was a jack of all trades? Although my elevator-speech title jumps often from music writer to music journalist—with the work being relatively the same—these titles tend to encompass more than just writing a few articles. I am a brand voice specialist with a lot of brand management experience, I am a copywriter, a PR whizz, an artist manager, social media mogul, a creative director, a poet, a Twitch affiliate streamer, a budget analyst, a community organizer, and I am continuing to teach myself graphic design work so I can earn that title as well. Despite personally specializing in writing colorfully worded articles on upcoming artists and their releases, I am quite literally a Swiss army knife of media-related knowledge and experience.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
COVID-19 has taught me a lot about the world and about myself. I’ve learned to prioritize my happiness, to take breaks, to release self-imposed pressures to be X, Y, or Z, to protect my energy, and to get out of my own way.
Pricing:
- Artist interviews ~ $75/base
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.bianca-brown.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brokebackbianca/
