Beyond the Sound

Style Guide:

All style guidelines are rather loose, as we encourage experimentation in writing. Our only three non-negotiable rules are:

• That no generative A.I. output should be passed off as genuine.
• All works must provide transformative commentary or critique that has not been stated elsewhere.
• Must relate at least to some extent to our mission of being an artist-first publication exploring music in dialogue with other media, philosophy, and history.

Medium:

We accept written, video, and audio (or any combination) works to be published on Beyond the Sound. For written work, send in a PDF draft, then we can work on formatting it to fit the website. For audio/video work, upload the piece yourself to youtube.com and then we can embed the video link into this website.

It is tradition within Beyond the Sound to use public domain or fair use visual art (sculptures, paintings, architecture, etc.) as the cover photo for the publication. Although, if desired, a different type of image can be used for the cover art if provided by the author.

Style:

As stated previously, our guidelines are intentionally kept minimal to encourage experimentation. While this publication focuses on music, we focus on music in a multi media context, thus discussion of non-audio mediums are highly encouraged. Personal opinion and experience are valid points of discussion, keeping in mind that no opinion or experience is solely and completely representative of a larger group or phenomenon. No topics are off limit, as long as any work treats that topic with respect and nuance. Individuals can be critiqued, but no insults or hate will be tolerated towards anyone.

Categorization:

All works should fall into one or more of our four broad categories of publication:

• Opinion: Any work including the author’s opinion(s)
• Critique: Any work including critique or commentary on a specific work(s)
• Songs of Last Week: Any work featuring a number of musical pieces with the intention of providing listening suggestions, must be titled “Songs of Last Week #x”
• Interview: Any work including direct quotations from an exclusive interview of a third party related to the topic of the work.

Accreditation:

All authors will gain credit for their work. Video publications should be published on the author’s channel such that they can receive credit for their work. All authors will be credited on the people page of this website as either “guest authors” (1-2 published works) or “authors” (3+ published works), each with the ability to display social media and contact information. Guest authors can provide a single line bio to be featured, while authors can provide a longer bio. We are a non commercial publication, so unfortunately we cannot provide any monetary compensation to authors.

Feel free to ask any questions and work together with us to get your ideas published; note that any stylistic or thematic risk is more likely to be accepted than not.