16. Music Journalism & Audio Storytelling w/J'na Jefferson

In this episode of 'The Music Executive,' host Cinnamon Denise welcomes guest J'na Jefferson, a New York-based content creator and producer with extensive experience in both print and digital editorial work. J'na shares insights from her journey in journalism, detailing her transition into audio production. 

She describes her work with Universal Music Group on creating talk playlists that bring historical music narratives to life. Jayna also offers advice for aspiring writers, emphasizes the importance of protecting one's mental health, and navigating the challenges within the journalism industry. 

The episode concludes with a sneak peek into J'na's latest project, an introduction to Glam Rock, produced for Discovery Music.

Transcript

This is The Music Executive, a show where we talk about gig tips, music, business strategies, songwriting experiences, collabs, and even more with industry professionals. Let's get into it. Hey, music Executive Cinnamon, Denise here. The Cinnamon, like the spice. And Denise, like Denise. And today we have an amazing guest on the show, J'na Jefferson, who is based out of New York and is a content creator and producer who has experience and editorial both print and digital as well, and so many other things.

But J'na, what was the highlight of your day? The highlight of my day was definitely just being able to go outside. I feel like I'm starting to just take in any little moments of joy that I have or that I can gather up in these, you know, these trying times. So. Even doing something as simple as going on a walk is like a pretty big win for me.

So that was definitely the highlight of my day. Yes, we love walks. I love walks. So J'na, thank you for being on the show. Thank you for having me. Yes, you're welcome. Could you tell us a little bit about your background? So I've always wanted to be a writer. It's always been my thing. You know how little kids have like a thing that they gravitate to?

Mine was always just writing, writing and reading. So I got my journalism degree from a school in New Jersey called Rider University. I. And then from there I basically hit the ground running. I've done basically any type of writing you could think of, and my editorial experience really kicked off though.

In 2015 I got an internship with Vibe Magazine, and then from there I've just been writing all over the place for Vibe, for Billboard, B, B, C, everything for NPR, Harper's Bazaar, just so many awesome places. I've gotten a chance to just show, you know, my, my thinking, my way of thinking, my, my interests. Also gotten the chance to do a couple things on television and radio, which has been really awesome.

And now I'm kind of trying to take what I've done in the editorial space and you know, elevate it in a way. So I've been doing a lot of audio production. I've been doing a lot of, you know, different projects and I think that. You know, I'm excited to see where this is going. I don't wanna just be, you know, just a writer, just a one trick pony.

I wanna keep, you know, elevating myself and pushing my pen further than I ever anticipated it to go. So you said you did a little bit of audio production or audio storytelling. So can you tell us more about your process with that and what that even means? So the editorial side of audio production is what I thought.

It was going to, you know, initially just be, I was approached to do this really awesome project where we're doing a bunch of talk playlists and I'm working with Universal Music Groups editorial division. And what we're doing is going through old archives, old catalogs, old articles that they have about certain genres, certain artists that are under their.

Umbrella, which is like Def Jam Island music, all sorts of great, amazing artists, uh, from all different types of, you know, every walk of life it seems. So we're going through their catalogs. We're researching, we're coming up with all these different ideas and coming up with these pretty expansive talk playlists.

And the playlists give a, a bunch of insight into songs. The artist was at in their particular, uh, this particular time in their artistic journey, and that's been really fun because my minor in school was. Radio and television production, which is now called digital media at the school, but it's, it was really just radio and TV production.

I haven't really been able to tap into those as often as I would've liked. So being able to kind of tell stories, taking that journalism love of telling stories and bringing it to a completely different medium, that's more than just reading and writing. It's, you know, listening, it's audible. It's something that everyone is really starting to take hold of, especially in the digital age.

So that's been really. Like exciting that I'm actually able to do what I'm interested in, what I went to school to do, but haven't really been able to, you know, touch upon as intensely as, uh, as my editorial skills. But it's been fun so far. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of research and a lot of time that is taken up of my day and my life.

But I'm really excited about, you know, what we've gotten through so far. We've done one of the, one of the main ones just came out, um, in Midap, what, I don't even know what day It's in mid-April. Definitely mid. It feels like I don't even know what day, what it's girl I. Is it March? Is it April? I dunno. But it came out in April, very early April, and it was a really, you know, just to have it actually be out, I was like, thank gosh.

Because it was a culmination of all that work, all that effort and all that time that I put into. What would you say takes so long? What would you say makes the process take so long? I think what makes the process. Take so long, it's just getting through the edits, to be honest. Edits in any of the capacities.

So I'm working obviously with my editorial editor who approached me for the project in the first place. So going through him trying to make sure that we're getting it like tight, making sure that the talking part of it is not long-winded because obviously people don't wanna just hear me speak, they wanna hear the music as well.

And then of course, after we get through that hurdle. It's the actual me recording myself, me editing my stuff, me making tons of mistakes because when you're reading a script, you are gonna get dripped up. No one's perfect. It just, that's just how the cookie crumbles. So I think the editing process is probably the most difficult to part of the entire thing, because you're editing so many different things and it takes a long time.

Do you script everything beforehand and then. Read it down and then mix up, like change up the order where things are from an editorial standpoint, from a journalistic standpoint, or what are you doing there? So when I am reading the script, I usually, even when I'm just writing just a regular story or a regular feature article, what have you.

I always read things aloud because you don't know how it sounds or reads unless you do so. So I usually just read it aloud afterwards, see if I can take things out, maybe put something somewhere else. It really helps me with. My process as a whole, that is definitely one of the more, gosh, you don't know, like what something sounds like until you actually read it back and hear it yourself.

And you can also catch a lot more mistakes that way too. So when you're reading it aloud, when you're recording, if you hadn't read it before, you're like, oh. And you just like ca catch yourself in the middle of, um, of your recording and then you're like, okay, I should have read this aloud. So definitely reading things aloud is a big, a big important part of that process.

Gotcha. Gotcha. What, what would you say that you've learned along the way through your journalism career? Like something that other journalists should start or stop doing when it comes to starting to do something to enhance what you bring to the table? I believe everyone should read, if you wanna be a writer, I really think it's important to read as often as you possibly can.

Read anything you can get your hands on, try to find something you're interested in, so you actually wanna read it. Because sometimes, you know, when you are writing all day, reading all day, the last thing you wanna do is read something that kind of connects you to something that you're already doing. At least that's for me.

Like I like to read things that take me out of just the music writing space. So I'll read like self-help books, I'll read just regular nonfiction, sometimes fiction. I'm not as big as a fiction fan as I used to be, but something that takes you out of it and something that I think that writers. Should stop doing, inserting themselves into a feature piece, writing in first person, because when you are reading a feature.

You as a reader would want to feel like, fly on the wall or feel like you're actually in the scene or in the room with the artist or the, the talent or someone who, whoever the feature is about. So when the writer is talking about I, me, they told me, he told, I like it just, it's too much and it takes the reader out of it.

It doesn't make them feel like they're really a part of the experience. So, you know, focus on the actual subject. Just make, so what's an alternative to that, to that text? Like the i, me? Yeah. Yeah. So instead of that, sometimes second person works, uh, like if they did say, they told me, mm, sometimes I feel like it, you have to use it sparingly and you have to use it with enough discretion.

But if you're writing for a feature for a publication, you can even write, get away with, uh, so and so told. And then insert publication name here. So say I'm running for Billboard, they tell Billboard. I think that also just, you know, it keeps it broad. It doesn't insert you into it. And then after you know, the person reads it and they enjoy it, then they'll actually look at the byline, see if they like you enough to tell you that you did a good job.

That's good. That's, that's good advice. I, I'm not much of a writer, so I'm always really interested in seeing kind of the process of everything. Yeah, definitely a big fan of, you know, keeping it, you know, focused on the actual subject and not the, not the person you're se like, no one's coming to read a Janna Jefferson story to hear about Janna Jefferson, unless it specifies that Janna Jefferson is the subject of the story.

Like if I'm writing something, I'm, I know people are not gonna go and try to find what I thought in the piece. Right. Just not the point. Right. And the, one of the biggest takeaways that you've gotten thus far, what do you think? One of the biggest takeaways I feel is to, hmm, there's a couple. One of them is definitely to protect your peace.

Um, journalism is a really tricky game. Whether you're staffed, whether you're freelance, you are gonna be exhausted mentally, physically, emotionally. So if you need a break, definitely honor your body, honor your spirit, and take that break. I'm finally getting to the point I. I think it started sometime last year.

I was at a, a publication that really no longer served me. Um, I'm just burnt out, like not even burnt, like I was crispy, toasted, so exhausted. So I made the conscious decision. I'm like, you know, why would I chase this money if I'm not. Happy and I'm exhausted and I'm just, I don't feel like myself. So I made the conscious decision to just step away and focus on my mental health.

So that is a, a major one. It's a, it's a tricky game and all that glitters is not gold. You might be, you know, reading something and you're like, wow, this person did an amazing job. Oh, this artist was so, like, they were so lucky to speak to this artist, but it's. Those bylines. It comes with a lot of, they come with a lot of heartaches sometimes, so definitely protect your peace and also go where you're wanted.

If you feel like you're not elevating yourself or your brand or whoever you're working with is not really helping you get to where you want to go, try to find. Like-minded people who are gonna support you in what you want to do and those who just support you wanting to grow and your wishes and your goals and your aspirations.

Because there are a lot of places that do not do that. And it, it's an unfortunate part of really any occupation that you're, you're working in. So go where you're wanted. Go where you felt. Well go where you feel fulfilled, go where you feel like you're being watered and nurtured and just protect your energy.

I think that's a good place to wrap us up. Where can the audience follow you? You can follow me on my Instagram and my Twitter. They're the same handle at Jna Jefferson. I have a Facebook, but like I don't use it, so forget it. And then I also have my website, jna jefferson.com. It's most, mostly just my portfolio and it's, there's some keeps.

Stuff in there if you wanna, you know, see what I have to offer. And yeah, I had so much fun on this. This is fun. Thank you. This was a good episode. I liked this one. It's, you're definitely the first journalist or audio storyteller on the show, so I'm glad to have popped this cherry. Yes. Well, to the, to the music executives listening, what you're about to hear is a snippet from one of Janna's latest works.

It's an introduction to glam rock by you. Discover music and music executives. I'll catch you on the next episode. Janna, thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you for having me, cinnamon. You're welcome. Hey, you're listening to Discover Music's introduction to Glam Rock Playlist. We're going to take a tour of the glam rock genre detailing how the style sparked a musical revolution in just a few short years.

I'm J'na Jefferson, and I'll be guiding you through your listening session. So what is glam rock? Anyway, in 1970s Britain, the psychedelic era known as the summer of love had faded away, and economic and political tensions were escalating throughout the country. For many, England was becoming a pretty drab place to live.

Yet something magical and revolutionary was brewing underground. It was a style of music called Glam Rock, which was all about theatricality and raw sexuality. In a 2001 interview, former glam rocker, Brian Eno notes that the genre erodes the easy distinction between masculinity and femininity by becoming something else.

Something in between. Due to adult reaction, to glam rock's, sensual nature, teenyboppers, were going to listen to it more as an act rebellion, and because teens loved it, naturally, the music market pushed the genre further during this time. According to critic Robert Palmer, glam rock was rebelling against the rebellion.

Now the glam rock look was a bit hippie inspired, but more performance art ready. Think of long hair, leather jackets, spandex outfits, platform boots, and glitter. Lots and lots of glitter. Glam rockers set themselves apart from the more mature, serious look of your typical rockers at the time with these spectacularly stunning costumes.

And of course, that crucial ingredient sexuality, glam rock's, aesthetical influence can be found in several artists associated with other forms of rock music today, from Kiss to Harry Styles. Take a listen to a glam rock staple T Rex's Banga Go, which captures the genres over the top nature from all angles.

From the title in lyrics to the cheeky saxophones and the way the group's front man Mark Bolin coups and moans. Bolin is one of the styles true superstars. Don't forget to leave a rating of the show. Helps to make us better. Thanks so much, y'all. Take care.