Selector is an independent journal dedicated to electronic music news and information resources. Since June 2017, we have made it our mission to examine the ever-moving point at which art, technology and culture intersect.
Our belief that dance music deserves uncompromising journalism leads us to hold truth, transparency and creative merit as our guiding principles. Our community has voiced its desire for such a dialogue loudly and clearly. We adhere to strict editorial policies in the hopes of setting a new standard for our peers in the media, striving to continually improve our own mode of delivery as well.
Truly Independent
As a matter of policy, Selector will not sell ads or accept payment, goods or services in exchange for granting advertisers editorial review of any content. We consider transactional coverage detrimental enough to the credibility of a publication that we have opted to pursue alternative methods of funding.
With that in mind, Selector is registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the U.S. state of Colorado. This means that our primary revenue source is donations from readers who share our mission, each of which is tax deductible to the extent allowed by U.S. law. Our Federal Tax ID is 85-1116402.
All electronic music institutions must understand up front that what limited partnerships we may enter into with them (such as event coverage, public speaking, etc.) do not preclude those entities from negative coverage. We similarly avoid assigning our writers stories when their associations may create even the appearance of impropriety in reporting.
We communicate up front that what limited partnerships we may enter with other electronic music institutions (such as event coverage, public speaking, etc.) do not preclude those entities from negative coverage. We similarly avoid assigning our writers stories when their associations may create even the appearance of impropriety in reporting.
Writer Development
The only way to make sure a skilled writer takes ownership of a publication’s mission is to compensate them for their time. Media outlets whose contributors work for free sacrifice credibility. This is because those team members must often leverage content as favors to outside parties in order for writing to be worth their time.
With this in mind, Selector commits to compensating 100% of our writers for their work. We only bring on new contributors when there are paid roles to be filled, even at the cost of free content.
Our commitment doesn’t stop there. As part of their onboarding, each contributor is required to attend a training session we call Introduction to Electronic Music Journalism. This comprehensive seminar covers the basics of effective writing before moving on to more advanced content strategies and editorial philosophy. We aim to give each contributor resources to succeed as a writer, whether they continue writing for us or move on to another publication.
About the Music
Story selection has long posed a dilemma for media coverage of the arts. It’s seldom based on the quality of a given work, but rather on how famous or well-connected the creator is. Especially in the digital age, editors feel pressure to prioritize stories based on how much traffic they drive to a site as higher clicks translate into more lucrative ad deals.
The majority of music coverage published by Selector belongs to a series we call Sounds. Each of these releases is chosen based on ratings given by a blind panel of industry professionals in a custom-designed online dashboard. No names or associations are visible when they rate each song, only the audio. It is our hope that this system is adopted by other arts publications as a means of eliminating bias from their own selection processes.
Outside of Sounds, a smaller selection of music is covered through our Heritage Artists series. These are releases from established artists with careers of 20 years or longer, especially innovators or pioneers, whom we honor for their steadfast commitment to artistic integrity.
As electronic music continues to evolve, so too will Selector forever be a work in progress. Contact us if you feel there are ways we can better serve the electronic music community.
