This semester I’ll be looking into and discovering a lot about the music scene in Boulder, and I will be writing about my findings on the subject. A big part of writing is having an audience, so I took to the internet to try and uncover exactly what people in the area want to hear about when it comes to music.
I went online and found music groups and places where people post about music in the area, such as a Boulder music Reddit site, a group for musicians in Boulder, as well as a Boulder music discussion group on Facebook. I posted in each one, asking people in the groups what they thought was lacking in coverage, and what they enjoyed most about the subject.
Since I wasn’t able to go out into the community due to my work schedule, I was worried that I wouldn’t get many responses from my internet posts and wouldn’t be able to get the answers I was looking for. While I wish I had gotten more responses, I was happy with what I did get.
The feedback I got from the community was great. I heard from both musicians and audience members in my survey. Most everyone who responded was happy about one thing in the Boulder music scene – both national and local acts play, and Boulder brings a variety of different things when it comes to music. I learned that people were unhappy about how local media covered music here. Local acts and organizations seem to be ignored by the media, while larger ones are talked about a lot. I heard this from different types of people. For example, one was a 48-year-old unemployed male from Broomfield, another was a 20-year-old female CU student who also plays orchestra music.
The opinions I received showed that the community wants to see more local, community happenings. They want more about what’s going on to improve music programs in schools, which was one of my story ideas initially. I’m also looking into trying to find a local musician to talk to about their experience in the Boulder scene.
Music is a topic which any type of person finds themselves interested in, regardless of age, ethnicity, occupation, or any other of those things that make you who you are. I’m excited to bring people together and to produce work that the community is looking to read.
- Originally posted on the blog Under the Flatirons
