Graeme Thomson, writing for The Guardian, deemed him as an "influential journalist" of the 1970s.
Sweeting started writing in 1979 for publications such as Beat Instrumental,[2][3] Trouser Press,[2] Australian magazine RAM[4] and NME.
[2] In 1980, he became a feature editor for Melody Maker[5] and briefly collaborated with Sounds.
[2] Sweeting has interviewed musicians such as Kate Bush, Neil Young, Tom Waits and Joni Mitchell[2] and has written over 800 articles for The Guardian, including hundreds of obituaries.
[11] Sweeting signed as a partner for VTVC, a TV production company that developed programmes broadcast on Channel 4.