6. Lists and Roundups
Love them or hate them, list posts work.
They provide a predictable formula based around a compelling premise.
This winning formula works just as well for music blogging as for any other subject.
Lists of best bands of a particular decade, best new albums of the year, or top guitars for newbies all translate into clickable headlines for articles that people will read.
Here are some list post ideas to consider for music blogging:
Tips from music industry professionals
Best (or worst) albums/songs/artists
Best (or worst) instruments/gear
You can create endless variations on the above by adding a few choice adjectives specifying the genre of music or type of artist.
For instance, here’s a list post we like from “Paste” that explores 10 albums that turn 10 this year:
Posts like this work well because they play on the reader’s sense of nostalgia. It takes them back to what they were doing and where they lived when they listened to these albums for the first time. The author heightens this feeling by adding some broader musical context for each album, such as these notes about how the album “Fleet Foxes” signaled a new era of indie folk:
You’ll also note the numerous internal links, which raises another key point about list posts:
They’re a great way to direct readers to other content on your site.