A lot’s changed since 2004. Back then, you were probably mates with MySpace Tom, still buying CD singles, listening to your iPod Nano, and wearing double denim to a gig at The Hopetoun (RIP).
You were probably setting up camp at the Big Day Out mainstage to see Metallica, The Strokes and A Perfect Circle. Or spending all day in the Boiler Room cutting shapes to Felix Da Housecat or Basement Jaxx. If you were in that tiny cross-section that frantically flitted between both stages, you were an outlier – not the norm.
And if you just so happened to like Usher, Ashlee Simpson and Britney, you’d do that in the privacy of your own home thankyouverymuch, or face the ridicule of your mates that loved “real music, not “vacuous pop pap”.
FasterLouder was born into this world of genres and tribes. We built our brand around some huge festivals that don’t exist anymore. We reported daily on Soundwave promoter AJ Maddah’s Twitter feed. And we published some features we’re super proud like our Headliners longform series, which kicked off with a profile on then-unknown New Zealand singer Lorde that’s been viewed nearly 350,000 times.
For a long time we delivered content that was proudly fast and/or loud, before shifting gears to keep up with an ever-changing and more inclusive zeitgeist. But how inclusive can you really be with a guitar pick logo and a name that conjured heaving D-barrier mosh pits and singers with wallet chains?
Which is why, after 13 years of agenda-setting music coverage, we are retiring FasterLouder and re-branding as something fresh and more reflective of the times we live in.
The latest addition to the Junkee Media family, Music Junkee is the culmination of everything we’ve learned creating amazing music content for over a decade.
From Kanye West to Justin Bieber and LCD Soundsystem, Music Junkee covers all genres of music and all the artists you care about most. But we’re not about rehashing the same old stories, Music Junkee is your source for fun, clever and fresh original content, including longform features, videos starring your favourite bands and the breaking news that matters to young Australian music fans.
While fun will be at the core of what we do, we’re not afraid of tackling the tough topics. Today’s launch piece, for example, asked 10 diverse and high-profile Australian musicians to share their thoughts about the Australian music industry – and they spoked candidly about everything from how much money they make to the death of the mega festival and the importance of triple j. Click here to read it.
Headed up by editor Katie Cunningham, the Music Junkee mission is to write about artists you’re interested in. We don’t care about genres, we care about what’s good. And for those diehards lamenting the death of an old friend? Don’t think of it as the end, but a much-needed rebirth.
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We’d like to say a special thanks to all our amazing contributors, photographers, former editors and readers; some of whom have been with us since the very beginning. While the FasterLouder domain will still be active for an indefinite period of time, we urge all former contributors to save copies of their work as we cannot guarantee that all content will be migrated across to the Music Junkee platform.
The post Why FasterLouder Is Becoming Music Junkee appeared first on FasterLouder.
