Shirley Halperin, Variety’s executive music editor, knows the in’s and out’s of the music business. In her decades-long career, she has been a major force in relaunching music coverage for some of the biggest publications in the world, such as The Hollywood Reporter and now Variety, an American entertainment magazine — all while writing three books.
Born in Israel and immigrating to the United States, Halperin said she faced a steep learning curve, but overcame it to forge the career she has today. The Charlatan spoke with her in March to discuss her career path and music insight.
The Charlatan (TC): How did you come about music and what were some of the musical influences that helped shape you today?
Shirley Halperin (SH): I grew up on MTV, back when they played music videos I was kind of obsessed with [MTV]. I didn’t really speak a lot of English when I came [to America], so I learned a lot of English and how to speak through the television, and the music really stood out to me. I loved the bands coming from England at the time like Duran Duran, Depeche Mode and Def Leppard and I got really really into [music]. Because I was in Israel for the summers, the music scene was very European-focused. It reinforced all of that music that I loved because people in Israel were jamming into it, too.
I then started to become a voracious reader of magazines when I was young, because there were also a ton of great music magazines at the time. That’s how I got interested in the combination of music and journalism.
TC: When you started getting opportunities was there a moment when you felt you finally made a breakthrough into the industry?
SH: Every time I thought that [I had made a breakthrough], the magazine would end up going out of business. […] That happened a lot. […] After 9/11, there weren’t a lot of jobs available, so I was open to anything. I wasn’t up on celebrities or gossip. I became really good at it, but it’s not something that I aspired to do. My dream was to work at Rolling Stone at the time.
I don’t know that I’ve actually truly made it quite yet. One theme in my career is that there’s been a lot of relaunches and trying to make it big. I’ve gotten really good at doing a relaunch. I’ve relaunched Us, relaunched Teen People, The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, all of these magazines are relaunches.
TC: Why the decision to leave Billboard for Variety? You mentioned at times in the past you were reluctant to do so. What intrigued you about going there?
SH: I love launching something new, and in a way when you do something new, there’s nowhere to go but up.
That’s what intrigued me. I thought about how this magazine — that’s over 100 years old — has never had a dedicated music beat. They’ve tried, over the years, but it’s never given it the sort of weight that [it has to] the television and film industry. And that was very exciting to come in and be able to show people that the music industry is as much a part of content creation as the visual industry.
Music is way more visual than people give it credit for. […] That factored into my decision to leave, but it did break my heart to leave Billboard because that was kind of a dream job.
TC: When you look at the entirety of your career, what is a highlight or a moment you can always flashback to?
SH: I did have a sort of almost-famous moment that was a little bit surreal because I love the Foo Fighters — they’re one of my favourite bands. When I was at Entertainment Weekly, they let me go on tour with them for seven days in Europe. It was one of these dream assignments, you could have a lot of space in the magazine, in print.
I was able to ride on the tour bus and sit on the side of the stage when they played to 70,000 people, and Dave Grohl gave me a shout out. It was one of those pinch-me moments. But, also a good reminder of [the fact that] no matter how sexy the situation, most of these situations aren’t all that glamorous. It’s really about how much you love music.
As a freelancer, I did have really interesting interviews for Cosmopolitan with Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj at the start of [their careers], so those interviews are amazing. It’s surreal to get to spend that much time with these huge pop global superstars talking about really personal stuff.
TC: How do you manage to keep a good trusting relationship with artists, yet having to write a really detailed story about them?
SH: I never ask for selfies, or pictures or autographs. I’m not there to be anyone’s friend, I’m there to get them to open up and have a real conversation, but I’m not approaching it like a fan. I’m trying to approach it as a fellow artist. Maybe because I’ve interviewed so many people, I have a lot of perspective, I know how musicians think, what they like to answer, what they’re a little less comfortable answering. I get how to go around some of that stuff and it’s all just experience and practice.
The best practice came from Us Weekly from doing red carpets, because on a red carpet you only have a couple of minutes to get something really good out of the person, and it means making a connection quickly. I got good at it so people would trust me and I’d end up getting these really good red carpet interviews, which then expanded into really good sit-down interviews, and we went from there.
I have actually found it [has become] harder over the years, and don’t do many interviews because I’m not as comfortable as I used to be. […] There’s so much out there that it’s hard to try and capture what hasn’t been [put] out there yet.
TC: The music business is often thought of as the toughest industry to make it in. How can an artist differentiate their personality or music to actually break into the industry? Is it chance, luck or hard work?
SH: It’s a mix of all three, but I think the thing that is most important is persistence. You have to be there 100 per cent of the time. And those are the only ones that make it, if there’s any doubt or if there’s a little bit of laziness about it, you’re not going to make it.
You have to want it so much, be so persistent, up in people’s faces, and so completely immersed in the music world to be able to do it. There’s a little bit of the right place at the right time, those things are very important but more important than anything you have to ask yourself: “How bad do you want it?”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Featured image provided by Shirley Halperin.
