–    Between 50 and 100 words (Including the title)

–    It goes without saying that the news MUST be new. When you receive an email or find online something interesting always make a quick but deep enough research. If the news is older than one months, it’s not appealing and many people could have already read it somewhere else.

–    We don’t ask for a news a day. But At least three news a week. You can write them every two days or you can also write all of them on one day, schedule and postpone them. But, as said, don’t let them wait for too long.

–    We are mainly looking for world music news about new albums, video, singles or tour dates. But they can also be about what’s going on in the music world. And well, even if no one’d admit it, everybody loves gossip too.

–    Answer to the 5 W’s (Who, What, Where, When, Why) + How. You can decide the order, but try to include all of them every time you write a news.

–    Outline the essential details. Then write and rewrite them until you find the perfect version.

–    Keep it simple. Use a straightforward and easy language. Your aim is to report a fact.

–    Not enough space for imagination. 50 words will give you room to report the fact and nothing more.

–    Be specific. Go straight to the point and don’t loose time and space with descriptions.

–    Think about tags and keywords; using them is the easiest way to catch the readers’ attention and stand out.

–    Always look for links and include them in your feature. Even if you are writing about something not even released or just announced, there’s already some official material published online. So look for the artist/label/venue’s official channels (from the website to youtube and soundcloud) and try to enrich your feature with photos, audio or videos.

–    Call to action. Try to close your feature in an engaging way. Try to save 10 words to suggest, invite or push the readers to do something. (E.g. ‘Watch the video’, ‘Listen to the song’, ‘Enjoy him/her live’).