My regular readers will know I’m not one for personal posts generally, but today calls for one, as I’m celebrating a year since rebranding Record Weekly. 

The site was born in 2015 as a passion project, while I was studying in my final year of uni. It was designed as a way to pen my ideas and reactions to my favourite new releases, without the vanity of it being a blog about me. It’s always been about the music rather than the spotlight, but I’m learning that progression can forge a truce between the two.

Historically, it was centred on one record, reviewed once a week — a Bob’s-your-uncle situation whereby Record Weekly became the obvious name choice. It isn’t exciting or effervescent, and it doesn’t have that sparkly, jazzy complexity to it. But when was doing what’s said on the tin a crime?

Since then, the website has undergone many cosmetic changes and focus iterations, with 2019 rerouting the direction to just gig reviews. Given that I regularly attend gigs but have a very busy workload (during usual times), writing about my experiences, rather than continuing to plug away at album reviews, seemed like the best balance. And, until the pandemic hit in March 2020, it was trundling along well.

To quash boredom and lacklustre feelings during the lockdown that began on 23rd March that year, I decided to throw every fibre into Record Weekly. With more spare time and energy on my hands than possibly ever before, it struck me as the smartest way to stay sharp, and it hasn’t done me wrong.

In fact, since rebranding, buying my domain name and enhancing my website’s functionality, Record Weekly is no longer just a fledgling hobby — it’s becoming a full site with authority and credibility. It’s known by artists, management and PR companies and the Instagram music community. I couldn’t have asked for more. And, the most incredible thing of all? It’s going from strength to strength; the interviews are getting bigger and bigger, and the different categories of content offers all you readers plenty to enjoy. 

To mark 365 days since my working life drastically altered to a home-based setup, I announced the launch of my secondary arm of the site, EPK writing and consultancy. This allows artists to get in touch to hire me as a writer and/or editor, to hone their press kit bios to strengthen their marketing proposition. 

There’s always room to expand and scale up, so watch this space! I plan to bring so much more to Record Weekly…