Editorial Guidelines

Company Overview

Okayplayer is the original progressive music site and maintains its position as the premier digital destination for music and culture connoisseurs worldwide.
Okayplayer was first created and launched by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Angela“Stress” Nissel in 1998 out of their respective bedrooms in West Philadelphia. The website’s official launch anniversary is February 23, 1999, the same day The Roots released their fourth studio album Things Fall Apart.

Mission and audience

Our mission

Okayplayer delivers a full spectrum of groundbreaking coverage that serves as a gateway to multi-faceted cultures and communities. Okayplayer utilizes its influential voice to define and create cutting edge content that chronicles sound, culture, film, arts, politics, and more.

Our audience

Okayplayer has a robust and engaged national + global audience, with our top US cities beingNew York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Philadelphia.

For Age demographics, our audience is broken into:
18-24 yrs: 24%, 25-34 yrs: 37%, 35-44 yrs: 24%, 45-54 yrs: 15%
For Gender Breakdown: Our audience is: 68% Male and 32% Female

Editorial roadmap

Editorial qualities

We value being credible and factual, and always strive for this, even if it means being slower to publish a story. We’re tireless with high standards.

We were originally founded as a music and culture discovery destination. We consistently honor the icons and legends of our culture, but we will always strive to spotlight new, left-of-center artists and creators pushing boundaries and breaking barriers.

We’re outspoken about social justice issues. We speak out against corruption, injustice, and greed, and we amplify the stories of those fighting for freedom and equality.

We know people have a lot going on and attention spans are short, so we construct our storiesin a way that recognizes this: we get to the meat of the story as swiftly as we can, while aimingto give people a satisfying read, too.

We look for ways to stand out, to do something in a different way, even if it doesn’t always work.We’re here to push the envelope/needle/mark.

We’re curious about everything music and culture related. Most times, the best stories can befound in the nuances and gray areas, and we are not afraid to dig deeper and explore.

When we make a mistake, we’re quick to acknowledge, correct and make a note to do bettergoing forward.

Editorial direction

Okayplayer strives to be the innovative, artistic and progressive voice of Black culture, and weaccomplish this through the amplification of authentic music, art, film, and culture. As one of ourpopular taglines states: “We are low-key cool and high-key cultured.”

Okayplayer’s global community is equipped with a deep knowledge in music and culture. Ourcombined audience represents a loyal following of passionate, socially-aware individuals whoengage with impactful cultural moments, innovative creativity and healthy debates — all thewhile keeping a pulse on current events.

We pride ourselves on being the premier destination for music and culture discovery.

Voice

We strive to write stories we would want to read and share with others.

We use clear language, even when talking about art and music, to make sure that we’re not just using words to fill space. We really think about what the artist is trying to say and capture that in as thorough a way as we can.

We are audience-driven; we want to help make it easier to understand the biggest issues of the day, so if we ourselves don’t understand something, we ask more questions and seek greater clarity.

We try to balance keeping stories simple while still having some personality/spark in them.

Notes for Writers:

• Keep stories to an accessible length, around 300-500 for news briefs, and 800-1000words for features. If there’s a case for any longer than that, we’ll discuss it, but we know that it’s on us to keep our audience interested in the stories we’re sharing.
• Think about the visuals that can accompany a story – photos and video are just as important as words.
• Details are key. Specificity paints the picture. Nail it down as much as you can to be vivid and vibrant.
• Always attribute quotes that weren’t told to us with in-text attribution as well as hyperlinks when applicable.
• Following on from that, always cite the source of info, especially if we haven’t reported the news ourselves, and it’s something we have not directly seen or been told. Wikipedia is not a reliable source of attribution.
• Write in active voice. She says, he says.
• When a piece is submitted for edits, reply to the comments and don’t resolve them until the editor is happy with the response. The editor will resolve them.
• Avoid using industry-specific words that others won’t easily understand.
• Use press releases as a jumping off point but elaborate with additional information that is specific to our audience’s interest in the story. Always think about what we can add.
• If you haven’t seen the film, read the book, or heard the album yet, it’s best to avoids uperlatives (i.e. that it was stunning or impressive) in favor of description.
• We don’t use AI to write any of our stories.
• We generally don’t send our stories to the subjects or their PR for approval before they are published. Regarding interview questions, we can send over the general direction the questions will go/areas to cover, if need be, but we don’t send specific questions.
• When doing interviews, add in the line This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Guidelines for Writing

We generally follow AP guidelines, with a few exceptions (for example, AP style doesn’t use italics for titles, but we do). When in doubt about anything, ask the Director of Content or Managing Editor.

Spelling

We use American spellings for articles, regardless of where the author is from.

Numbers

• Spell out numbers below 10. Numerals should be used for numbers 10 and above, but numbers nine and below should be spelled out.
• Spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence. A number that begins a sentence should be spelled out rather than noted as a numeral, even if the number is below 10. If that number is a year, it can appear at the beginning of the sentence in numeral form: “2020 was a tumultuous time.”
• Spell out common fractions or phrases with numbers. Spell out numbers when they are part of common phrases or fractions. For example, you spell out the number in The Twelve Days of Christmas rather than using the numeral. If you’re using a common fraction or percentage like “one in fifteen people,” you also should spell out your numbers.
• Use numerals for measurements. If a number precedes a measurement (5 cm, 7g), use the numeral form rather than spelling it out. Use local metrics but include the American equivalent in parentheses.
• Use numerals for fractions, ratios, and percentages. Any number used for statistics should use the word spelling, e.g. 75 percent.
• Use numerals for sums of money (unless over one-million) - $3. Use local currency but include the American equivalent in parentheses.
• Numbers in a series. When you’re referring to a number in a series – like Grade 7, or District 4 – you use the numeral and capitalize the noun that precedes it.

Time and date

• Time of day is expressed as a single number. Rather than typing out “10:00 p.m.,” time of day should be expressed as an abbreviated numeral (“10 p.m.”).
• Abbreviate month in full date - Sunday, Aug. 15, 2023 / Aug. 15, 2023
• Don’t abbreviate when it’s not a full date - August 15
• Only use three letter abbreviations (no period) of days and months in serialized lists of numbers like tour dates:
  Sun, Jun 13
  Sun, Jun 20
  Sun, Jun 27

Dashes and hyphens

Use em dashes ( – ) with a space before and after when using in a sentence to add drama or to separate info.

Use hyphens when two or more connected words precede a noun, e.g. “how-to guide,” and for prefixes & suffixes, e.g. “ex-minister” or “dye-free.”

Abbreviations

• U.K. - except when used in headlines (UK)
• U.S. - except when used in headlines (US)
• EU - no periods always acceptable
• UN - no period always acceptable

Titles

• Italicize movies, TV shows, albums, tour titles, publications, art shows, podcast names.
• Use quotations for song titles with punctuation inside the song title (My favorite Ludacris song is “Made You Look” but I also love “Rollout.”)
• Award Titles - Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist - capitalized, but no quotations.
• “Quotes from an interview or press release,” she says. “Interview quotes.” - punctuation inside quotes.
• “Lyrics from a song / lyrics from a song with two bars” - in italics. Punctuation inside quotes. Space on either side of /
• hip-hop - hyphenated, genre names are not proper nouns unless they refer to a place that is a proper noun (Afrobeats, amapiano)
• Sentence (parenthesis). - Parenthesis go inside the sentence, punctuation after parenthesis. When possible, use “—” instead of parenthesis.
• LGBTQ+ - Acceptable on all references. LGBTQ, LGBT, LGBTQIA and more are acceptable when used in quotes or in the titles of organizations.

Corrections policy

If there is a spelling or grammar mistake, the sub editor will fix it. If there is a factual error, it will be corrected with an editor’s note at the bottom of the story stating the correction.

Updates to stories

When a story is developing, we add a note to the bottom of it to say as much: “This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.” Any updates will be marked at the end of the story, with a note to say, “This piece has been updated to reflect the latest developments...” with the date included.

Anonymous sources

If someone doesn’t want their name to be used, we should say so in the article, and also, if possible, elaborate as to why they don’t want this (fear of retaliation, for example). Also, we need to be clear about checking information given to us anonymously, making sure to find other ways to verify it where possible.

Social media sources

How do we decide which social media posts to quote and which ones to leave alone? We should always be asking ourselves what this adds to the conversation? Who is the person speaking - do they hold some sort of position of influence? Do they know anything about the subject at hand? Are they just spreading vitriol?

Format

Hed = headline

Dek = short, enticing explainer sentence about what’s to come, doesn’t get repeated in the intro graf

Photos

Original photos - Always request photos to be shot in landscape rather than vertical. Minimum size of photos submitted by photographer should be 1500 x 1000. For editorial photos, ask photographers to write captions for the photos that contain at least the information listed in the caption section below (who, where, when).

Photo credits

If image is from the team with no photographer credit - Promotional image for [song/album] by [artist].
If image is a screenshot from a video, do not use screenshots for editorial photos - Screenshot from [name of video] by [artist or publisher] on [Youtube/Vimeo/website], [rights holder to original source of the screenshot].
If the image is editorial - Needs location, name of subject, date of photo, name of photographer.

At each place a photo appears in the story, please include:

Image URL: [link to the specific image, not the folder of images]
Credit: Photo by [photographer/getty images/stock photo]
Alt: [Physical description of what is in the image, use keywords that would turn up the photo in a search relating to the story, such as name of subject or name of film associated with the photo]
Caption: [see above]

Social media embeds

If an image is used from IG/X, please make sure to tick the box on Rebelmouse that hides the caption. This keeps the article more streamlined, and less cluttered, especially when there are long captions for the image.
Use “photo essay” for a series of original photos and captions, and just “photos” when they have been supplied.

Section Descriptions

Okayplayer 25 - A micro-site created by the Okayplayer editorial staff to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Okayplayer. It launched in February, 2024.

Hip-Hop 50 - A micro-site created by the Okayplayer editorial staff to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. It launched in 2023.

Music - New songs, lists, analysis, news stories where an artist says something about their music, concert/tour coverage.

Culture - New and classic, evergreen stories in the topics of Film, TV, and Wellness.

Arts and Culture - art, literature, comics and gaming, tech, food; a bucket for a wide range of stories that are culturally specific, trends, and stories where tradition meets the future.'

Originals - Original features, interviews, thought essays, op-eds and culture/music discovery pieces.

Cities - Local stories and event and “What To Do” listings focused on New York City

Video - Original Okayplayer video features and interviews.'

Notes on the story sheet

Photos

If there are multiple photos for a story, make sure each photo is correctly sized (1500 x 1000) before uploading to the story folder (if it’s only a single lead photo, like for a news story, a simple link to Getty is fine).
Make sure each photo has the full information listed in the photos section above, for each time a photo appears in the story.

Screenshots need to list the name of the music video or episode of the television show that the screenshot is taken from, as well as the rights holder (netflix, UMG, etc).

Hed, dek & url

Don’t forget to write the hed & dek.
Don’t forget to write the url, url should be short, eliminate unnecessary words and always contain the main keyword.
Between the hed, dek and lede, there should be three different pieces of information that explain the bulk of the story at a glance.

Keywords

Always include the names of subjects interviewed, songs, albums, places that are key to the story.