She combined her long-standing passion for writing and music and gained experience in the field. 

By Sarah Tomlinson

Five years into her career in music journalism, Rebecca Mattina has seen many successes.

While working for various organizations like Canadian Beats and AndPop, which was bought out by Channel Zero in 2013, she’s been able to interview major artists such as — Alex & Sierra, winners of The X Factor USA third season, Leigh-Anne of Little Mix, Rachel Platten and Meghan Nicole. She’s also interviewed many Canadian independent artists like Via Barcelonia, Christee Palace, Virginia to Vegas and Delaney Jane, to name a few. 

Aside from her work with music publications, she’s also worked with Really Records, an independent record label in Toronto, by running PR campaigns for the label’s artists. 

Mattina was introduced to Really Records through a friend of a friend, who had decided to start a label with some independent Toronto artists. 

“Getting a chance to work with them, doing like their bios, promoting their social media accounts, getting people to come to the shows, that was a very cool learning experience as well,” she said. 

Her job has fortunately allowed her to interview many great artists. Recently, she interviewed the bassist for Marianas Trench for a Christmas song he is releasing with his wife. 

“I love just connecting with artists, and hearing their story and hearing about why they are doing what they’re doing,” she said. “When you start interviewing people, it just opens up your music library, and you get to hear all of this different talent. Especially when you’re writing about Canadian artists, you realize how much music there is in your country and it just really expands your whole music world.” 

Growing up, Mattina said music was always part of her life. She would listen to various genres of music and would consistently attend concerts and buy old cassettes. However, in high school, she realized her strongest suit was writing, which led her to pursue journalism. 

“So I kind of started that in school and have just really tried to find as many opportunities as possible to write about music. I figure it’s something that I’m so passionate about and I have the talent for writing, so why not try and combine the two?” she said. 

In the journalism program At Ryerson University, she said she started writing for AndPop after being referred to by a friend. 

“I was just so inspired by [my friend]. She was the catalyst for me having the courage to reach out and say ‘okay, I think I can do that too.’” she said. 

After completing an international exchange in England, she completed an internship at Entertainment Canada, where she tried a variety of positions in the broadcasting industry, like being a teleprompter operator, camera assistant, and working with the production team. 

As soon as she graduated in 2015, she reached out to the editor at Canadian Beats and has been writing ever since. Her career has since allowed her to have a deeper understanding of artists and their musical identity through more intimate conversations that most people wouldn’t necessarily get to have. 

“Getting a chance to connect with musicians, especially ones that you admire, getting a chance to kind of hear their story and why they are the artists that they are. The stronger you become as a writer, the more you learn what questions you want to ask, what you want to uncover about that person,” she said. 

In addition, she said she finds it rewarding when artist managers and other music representatives reach out to her personally, especially when it allows her to pitch her own artists to her editor. 

Due to the pandemic, she said artists have been relying more than ever on press coverage because they aren’t able to reach fans by touring. 

“They’ve been really grateful for the writing that we do because it really gets their music out there,” she said. 

Growing up, Mattina said music was always part of her life. She would listen to various genres of music and would consistently attend concerts and buy old cassettes. However, in high school, she realized her strongest suit was writing, which led her to pursue journalism. 

“So I kind of started that in school and have just really tried to find as many opportunities as possible to write about music. I figure it’s something that I’m so passionate about and I have the talent for writing so why not try and combine the two?” she said. 

At Ryerson University, she said she started writing for AndPop after being referred to by a friend. In 2014, after completing an international exchange in England, she completed an internship at Entertainment Canada, where she tried a variety of positions in the broadcasting industry, like being a teleprompter operator, camera assistant, and working with the production team. 

As soon as she graduated in 2015, she reached out to the editor at Canadian Beats and has been writing ever since. 

On the side, Mattina also works in social media marketing. After completing a six-week course at George Brown, she started working for agencies like Sterling Content, TOP Agency, and Eden Advertising & Interactive. 

“It’s really just about expanding my skill set and being the most well-rounded writer that I can be, which I think is a pretty important thing,” she said. “Even if you have a niche, I think it’s important to really have an overall dynamic kind of skill set because it’s only going to make you better as a writer.”

In the next five years, Mattina said she is looking to put herself out there as a writer and to let opportunities come her way. 

“I didn’t necessarily expect to do some of the jobs that I’ve been doing, but I’ve been really enjoying them, so I want to continue to learn as much as I can and to continue to write about music as much as I possibly can. I just want to be a good writer,” she said. 

When asked to give advice to aspiring music writers, she said to not shy away from reaching out to publications. Many publications like Canadian Beats are always on the lookout for volunteer writers.

“Music journalism is not one of the most obvious avenues to go towards, so it can be a little bit trickier to get into. But if music is something that you’re passionate about, do your research, look at publications in your area in your country. Just start reaching out to people.”