Rising East Music Reporter Warren Dela Cruz talks with the chief editor of East London-based web magazine Line of Best Fit to find out more about the publication and the workings of an online magazine.
Line of Best Fit is one of my go-to resources for the latest releases. I browse through the review section every Friday to discover a new artist or release.
The online magazine has been covering new music for 15 years. They describe themselves as ‘ahead of the curve in new music discovery’. I contacted Paul Bridgewater, chief editorto talk about what exactly makes the webzine so unique.
Paul and I met on Zoom. After fixing audio issues, I asked Paul how the magazine operated.
Paul explains the magazine gradually made the move online working even before the pandemic – previously they had worked from an office. Every journalist, he says, is a freelancer. Paul belives this benefits the magazine by allowing them to keep writing higher-quality articles like features and editorials. Unlike many publications, they ‘never rely on traffic’, and so avoid quick, traffic friendly but lightweight pieces such as listicles.
I then asked the crucial question: what music does the web magazine cover?
Paul says 80% of the website is dedicated to new music. He thinks that “the concept of new music has changed”. All too oftem he complains new music coverage is limited are the latest releases by mainstream artists and musicians who already have a huge following. But the site also covers music from artists that have yet to gain a sizeable audience.
Were there difficulties covering only new music? ‘Covering new, unheard bands is a gamble,’ as there are almost no returns most of the time’. However, Paul recall an instance where an article on Billie Eilish when she started out. This got a lot of fan attention as an archive detailing the beginnings of Billie Eilish’s rise to pop stardom. Following the success of the article, Darkroom records, the label Eilish is under, asked Line of Best Fit to conduct an interview piece with the artist D4VD, who had recently signed with the label.
I then asked Paul what the magazine’s audience was. He said the readers are anyone interested in new music. He also noted that the magazine’s audience included people in the music industry. The link with the music industry has led to partnerships where the magazine produces paid content for music industry companies on the site. Aware that there could be a conflict of interest, Paul assured me they do not do a lot of paid content. His view is that they must strike a balance in making partnered content by ensuring they can both benefit from the partnership by ensuring the quality of the journalism.
You can check out Line of Best Fit at HTTPS ://www.thelineofbestfit.com/
Editor Maxi Pfeifer
