The Music Explorer is pleased to publish an interview with John P. Olsen, who is the host of a popular music blog he named New Age Music World. The questions include some information about John, his music site, and his input about some of today’s popular new age artists.
TME (The Music Explorer): Thanks for agreeing to my interview. Although you live in the United States I have enjoyed our friendship over the years. How long have you been the host of NewAgeMusicWorld.com?
John P. Olsen: Hi Alvaro (TME), and thank you for your interview request! I admit your request for an interview really did surprise me, but by our interview maybe you and I can provide a little insight for the artists who want to promote their music in the process. I too have enjoyed the overseas friendship we have together, and I want to take a minute to publically express my appreciation for the help you have provided me, and the artists I represent by your articles, links, and RSS feed.
I had wanted to have my own music blog for quite a while so I began designing the different aspects of my site in October of 2009. I began adding content to New Age Music World and became an official site host in November 2009. Like any brand new site it took some time to get organized and firmly established.
TME: What gave you the idea for beginning New Age Music World?
John P. Olsen: In 2009 I began writing album reviews and interviewed several artists at the invitation of my friend B.T. Fasmer, who hosts NewAgeMusic.nu. Since B.T. and I worked closely together assisting international artists with their promotions, I could see how much he enjoyed being a site host, so I naturally became more interested in a site of my own.
One day the thought occurred to me that having the second affiliate site of NewAgeMusicWorld.com would immediately double the internet publicity for the artists I regularly wrote review and interview publications about at NewAgeMusic.nu. Plus, it would be an opportunity to start my own music blog. I realized site hosting was going to be a real challenge, but felt confident I was prepared to take on the responsibilities and commit to hosting my site long term. B.T. Fasmer was very supportive and helpful during our transition of having an affiliate site.
TME: Since you are partners with B.T. Fasmer at his site NewAgeMusic.nu. What is the affiliation you have with B.T. Fasmer?
John P. Olsen: B.T. Fasmer and I are of course good friends but our partnership has recently changed simply because of our individual time restrictions. I mean we host our sites in our “spare time” and it has become increasingly more difficult to work together as closely as we have in past years. He and I have our individual obligations to our families first and operate our sites when we can. Most importantly however, B.T. and I remain dedicated to the artists, and I don’t see our long term assistance of helping artists ever changing.
TME: You have published many interesting reviews and interviews about many different New Age Music artists. Some are well known and some are not. How do you decide which artist to write about by a review or interview?
John P. Olsen: Excellent question Alvaro! Although I am free to choose who I write about, and operate my site independently and at no cost to the artist, I do work closely with numerous music promoters and public relations people who send me new CD releases for my consideration. Of course I get many email requests from independent artists too. Actually, I think many people would be surprised by the amount of email requests I do receive! In fact, I spend around one third of my time on email correspondence alone. And there is much more involved than spending thirty minutes writing a review or interview and publishing on the internet. There is a lot happening “behind the scenes” you could say. It is similar to your operations at The Music Explorer. Deciding who to write reviews for or interview is my main dilemma. Even though I write about or interview popular international artists like Yanni, Jon Anderson, and Secret Garden for example, I also try to write articles about debuting artists, and the majority of artists who are in-between. There are many things to consider but I naturally try to write about music I like personally. Everyone has their own tastes in music so I try to keep this in mind too.
Another aspect I have to consider too is the popularity of the artist. For example, if I write about widely popular artists the number of visitors to my site can reach into the thousands. Assisting a lesser known artist is more rewarding to me personally, and chances are greater the artist will install a link to my site, which is helpful to me, but there will be fewer overall visitors to my site to read their articles. I try to find a proper balance, but I am sure you can see the dilemma.
TME: Do you charge money for your services, and how can an amateur or professional music composer get established at New Age Music World?
John P. Olsen: I suppose I could charge a small fee to help cover site maintenance, but I don’t ever see myself charging artists money for my services. To me, I personally would feel obligated to an artist by charging a fee, and I feel it may raise their expectations of me too. Some review publicists do charge a nominal fee for their services, and I see nothing wrong with charging a small fee. I am just saying I personally prefer not to charge a fee is all. I guess I enjoy my freedom of writing about whoever I want to without added obligations.
I honestly don’t intend to be condescending by this answer, but it is not easy for an artist to get established at my site. The reason is simply time. I am just one person managing every aspect at my site, plus the number or ratio of review publicists to number of artists is too great. I try to manage my time wisely, and think of new ways to assist more artists with the time I do have, but it comes down to the simple fact that I don’t have time to assist everyone. I honestly wish I could assist everyone who writes me, but it just isn’t possible. This is the downside to what I do.
TME: You write positive reviews about music artists from all around the world. What are some of the differences and similarities of international music composers from Europe and American?
John P. Olsen: When I write a review about an artist’s new album, I try to keep in mind that everyone has their individual preferences in music. In other words, when I review an album that is not my favorite type of music, I keep in mind that many people may absolutely love the album. In this case I remain neutral by describing what a musician has produced, and list what I feel are the strong points and positive attributes of their work. I like the majority of the music I write about, but I refuse to trash an artist’s work, or write a negative review simply because I don’t prefer their variety of music.
As for the differences and similarities of international composers, I believe everyone is pretty much universal in their music productions. I would like to say that after meeting composers from many countries, it has been a humbling experience for me. Essentially every artist I have met on a personal level is a true friend. Everyone is genuine and sincere. I respect them deeply. It is truly an honor to represent these artists from around the globe. If international politicians from every country were as genuine and sincere as their respective musicians, the world conflicts we have now would cease. The artists are our true ambassadors.
TME: At my The Music Explorer site I publish music videos about many types of genres besides New Age Music, like World Music, Electronic, Chill Out, etc. What are some of the categories of music genre you write about besides New Age Music?
John P. Olsen: I tend to stay within the New Age Genre, but I do have the freedom to “explore” various genres. I have reviewed and interviewed artists who regularly produce popular music, progressive rock, and world music influences. If the music is great, I am less concerned of what genre the music is labeled, so I am comfortable writing about genres other than New Age. I have found the artists are less concerned about labels too.
TME: There are many famous musicians in New Age music like Enya, Yanni, Vangelis, Mike Oldfield, and others. Can you recommend several less famous new age composers that could possibly be the super star celebrities of tomorrow’s music scene?
John P. Olsen: Well, I think many artists I have assisted have the potential to be much more popular than they are presently. Rather than speculating by naming specific artists, let me put it this way. I feel the artists that progress, and consistently produce new material, and actively promote themselves by the internet and social media have the best chance to gain more popularity. I am not an expert of course, but I can tell you that I work with many exceptional musicians producing music today who deserve much more recognition. There is just so much competition in the music business it’s hard to get the recognition they deserve. I do feel their frustration, but like everyone knows, achieve one goal at a time, be innovative, and do your best!
TME: What is the immediate futurefor your New Age Music World site?
John P. Olsen: Currently I have two interview publications planned. One with popular artist David Arkenstone, and one with Suzanne Doucet, who happens to be one of, if not the most experienced and respected persons in the New Age Music industry today. I promise the interviews with David Arkenstone and Suzanne Doucet will be interesting reading! At present I am behind on doing some new release album reviews, but with the holidays getting closer, I also hope to review or write a “Best Christmas Albums” about some several new Christmas CDs that were sent to me. I too have to take one day at a time and do my best.
TME: Do you have any new projects for your music blog in mind?
John P. Olsen: This year for the first time I plan to publish a “Best New Age Albums Award in 2011” at New Age Music World. Compiling all of the information, text, photos, and editing will be very time consuming, but the goal with the “Best Album Award” is consistent with every article I write, which is to provide more publicity for the many great artists I represent through New Age Music World.
TME: Thanks John for letting me publish our interview at The Music Explorer.
Here are NewAgeMusicWorld.com pages to find out more: Profile page for John Olsen - Interview pages - Review pages – Press Review pages.
http://www.newagemusicworld.com/
Profile Page -
Interviews -
Reviews -
Press Reviews.
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