The best thing I read this week: The trials and tribulations of obtaining a visa as a DJ

The best thing I read this week was one of the more engaging pieces of journalism I've read all year, an article from Dubstep FBI called "Oh, the places you'll go (with an O-1 visa): What it takes to play in the USA"

I was particularly interested in this article because of its subject matter. First and foremost it's about a topic I am deeply passionate about; EDM. But secondary to that I was interested in what it takes for international DJs to get a visa to play in the US.

Over the summer I attended a music festival which had a couple incidents involving DJs struggling with visas. One DJ, subfiltronik, was completely unable to play the festival like he was scheduled to, and the DJ trio VULLLGUR filled his spot.

Another DJ had only been accepted for his visa extremely close to the date of the festival, and flew in for his US debut a day before.

This is clearly an important issue, and one which I had never considered covering as a journalist and didn't expect to see covered. It's not often you see GOOD journalism in the EDM scene. It's often regurgitated tour dates, pandering interviews, etc.

This is the kind of journalism the scene needs more of.

The article itself was also super well written. It featured interviews with multiple different DJs, accompanying pictures, highly relevant background info and statistics, etc.

It also included ways to support your favorite DJs who may be struggling to get visas or make a profit in the US.

Another interesting contrast was the difference between foreign artists playing in the US and US artists playing overseas, which is comparatively extremely easy.

There were several good hyperlinked articles and pull quotes which kept it interesting. The embedded podcast clip also added a lot to the article.