PROWLING THE E-STREETS

Being a music journalist in 2011 is an incredible experience. No longer are you travelling across the nation just to see a single band - download their album, check out their live stuff on YouTube, get in touch with the more communicative ones via Twitter - you're more empowered than you ever were before. But when we talk about e-streets on RTF, what do we mean?

Simply put, the e-streets means the online community - those who love to talk about, try out and promote new music, and even the artists themselves, as any smart and famous individual from a rap megastar to a Party Casino pro knows that to connect with your fans is a wise idea. We love prowling them simply because you'll always hear the best buzz from the community themselves.

Any journalist or music blogger (what's the difference, these days?) knows that PR is usually a load of hot air until proven by the tunes themselves, and you'll never find a better acid test for a new album than the people likely to be buying and listening to it. A lot of fans are very vocal, and with a strong community in terms of tweeting, forum-posting, blogging and vlogging fans, your sources are huge. No more waiting outside the VIP door in the cold, right?

Wrong You still need to do the footwork, but it does mean that you can tap into the minds of fans at shows and signings you can't attend due to time or laws-of-physics-related constraints (see what we did there?). It's still an amazing gig, and we love you guys! Not only do your tips and comments help us do our jobs better, but your feedback does as well. So with that definition out there, we're gonna head back onto the e-streets to hunt down some new stuff to write about. See you there.