BY SAM HOUGHTON

What a good blog is is a respected opinion. When an opinion is respected, a lot can come from it. We all have a friend or relative that we know that has a stellar taste of music. It might be your brother or the blog that you read, but when they suggest something, or play something for you, when their presence has something to do with the music you’re listening to, you automatically fall for it. There’s an added power to it. It’s like looking into the history of music.

When you hear a song line for line, straight off the airwaves with no connotations or foresight into the music, it’s one thing and you might pay it no mind, but with the added history, when you know that say, for example, Jimi Hendrix played that song in front of 300,000 people in the midst of a tragic war and Vietnam vets still weep at the sounds of the guitar, when you look at a picture of the Ramones and know about disco and the 80s, you can’t help but understand and feel the music more.

And that is where blogs can really make something happen: not just tell the story of the music, but to add a flavor to it—to make it bigger than just a song off the radio, the Pandoras included. Like Rolling Stone in the 1960s and MTV in the 1980's and 1990s, the independent music blogs today are informing, entertaining, and taste-making. They have the ability to shape a decade, so to speak. The blogosphere of influence seems to have exceeded most people's expectations, including that of its producers—inversely related to the logistical size of their operation.

If you've followed this series of articles, and have read any of the blogs we've featured here, it's clear that a keen sensibility, education (formal or informal), and personal passion combine to produce voices that are resonating.

On that note, we present you with the final installment of in this series below, but it's definitely not the end of our discussion with the music blogs.



CATCH UP ON THE SERIES:
Read “Listening to Blogs,” part one
Read “Listening to Blogs,” part two






JASON MOREHEAD of Opus.fm: I don't offer a lot of music for streaming/download, but when I do, my policy is simple; I always get permission from artists and/or labels before I post their music on Opus. I figure it's the neighborly thing to do.


JOSH LOVSETH, Publishing Editor of Sound on the Sound: I do firmly believe that providing a piece of media (photo or video or mp3 or stream) for a reader to chomp on with each post is essential, if possible, in a situation it makes sense.

We endeavor to post only downloadable tracks that are provided by the labels or that have been okay-ed by an artist ahead of time. Since we're mostly posting about artists in anticipation of them rolling through town and not posting a piece of media the immediate moment it becomes available, often times a big single has a video as well, so we might embed that in a post instead, if no download is available. Sometimes we'll post both.

When posting mp3's, when the band has a label, we'll use the label provided mp3 link and say "Courtesy of XX Records" when we provide the mp3. That way, if the label wants to collect data about who is downloading this mp3, they can do that. And if they want to revoke access to the mp3, they can do that when they wish. Since nothing is hosted on my server and the label is able to collect the data they need (or at least they should be collecting that data), it feels like it's a win-win situation for everyone. If a band is without a label, usually a small local band, they will almost always be excited about any attention you're giving them, and so will usually unconditionally say yes to your requests about posting a track of theirs. 

I'm very sensitive to copyright considerations, yet I think in the case of digital music, I think it is a problem best solved through accommodation, not lock-down. Providing people what they want when they want it via legal means removes the impetus for obtaining it via illegal or unregulated means. The people who care about this most are the larger labels. Because the record is their product. For the bands on the other hand, since they are likely to see minimal royalties from the record, to them it is really an advertisement for their live performance (where they will make money). They are intrinsically invested in their music reaching more people, any people, while the labels are invested in the records being only sold to paying consumers. This tension can't be ignored.

In my view, most musicians would rather exist in a world their music be easily available and share-able, rather than a world where only those with a "license" to share can do so. Instead of thinking about how to maintain control over something you can't feasibly control (the incredible multiplying power of the internet), labels should be helping their artists to harness that power for their benefit. If they do that, the record sales will come naturally I think.


MICHAEL FELDMAN of the Walrus: I offer streams and free downloads to my readers whenever possible. I think labels that don’t offer these things to bloggers, at this point, better start doing so or just throw in the towel. I don’t post anything without permission, but there is no doubt that copyright laws in this country need to be re-written to better serve the current state of media. The tables have turned. Music and other media is no longer in their control (major labels, corporations), it’s in ours. It belongs to the community. It’s an amazing time to be a music fan and a media junkie in general. I am screaming “Viva Revolution” right now! (kidding)

I think bands like Radiohead and Girl Talk obviously understand this, but the majority of the music industry and other corporations still don’t get it. They need to work for us instead of working against us. Right now they are playing a game of “Whack-a-Mole” and its doing nothing besides creating more animosity for their industry. I’m a big fan of Chris Anderson’s and Lawrence Lessig’s takes on the subject. Their books are kind of like blueprints for the future of media, in my opinion. I also recommend watching the free documentary RIP: A Remix Manifesto. It’s an eye-opening film.


ALLAN CHANG of AW Music: My policy involves not allowing something to be posted before the actual release date. I figure if it isn't officially released, the artist should have the right to decide the right time for it. After that, it's fair game as anyone else could conceivable find X album on the internet without a problem. I do however listen to any requests to take down mp3s and/or files. Generally labels allow certain stuff to be downloaded for free and a nice line of communication is always good. It's also better for us to have a good working relationship with labels if we want review copies and the like. With copyright law, I know in other countries it may be a problem but not in Canada. If anything, complying to a C&D order would be wise if I ever received one. There was an issue before with RoadRunner Records but that was just a label being completely unprofessional.


BECKY FIRESHEETS of Knocks from the Underground
: We just released our first New York compilation for free download, featuring tracks from 12 different bands. We also stream playlists featuring tracks from local musicians. We just want to get good music out there to our readers, and all the bands involved with us have the same idea. But to cover our bases, we received written permission from every band included on the comp and only take songs from sites like YouTube or MySpace where they are already being streamed for free. The point of this site is to promote local, underground music and one of the best ways to do that is to offer free music to our readers. But ultimately, the decision is up to the people who created the music—we would never offer a free download without permission from the band.


RAY MILLAN of Off the Radar: I try to post stuff that labels/artists give me permission to post, videos and remixes but sometimes I'll post a track or two from an album that I like if I can't get in touch with the label/artist. In that case I try not to post more than a track or two. I figure it's promotions/exposure for the artist and hopefully getting people to go to their shows/buy their merch, etc. I'm not making money from it, so it's mostly just about introducing people to cool new music/artists that I dig. If I ever get a request to bring down a track from an artist it's usually very cordial and I do it right away. In about 2 1/2 years that I've been blogging it's only happened a handful of times. Most of the times the artists write me to thank me for the post.


ALEX PELLERANO of Quiet Color: We attempt to contact every P.R. firm for tracks we post from signed bands. For unsigned acts, we just get the ok from the band directly. But it's still a gray area sometimes because you don't always know if a band is looking for mp3 blog hits. So we just try to be really open about the songs we post, so if an artist or label ever wants them removed, we can take them down post haste.


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JASON MOREHEAD of Opus.fm: I suppose there are a couple of things. First, I've been doing this a long time, and my readership has just grown organically as a result of that. Second, I do my best to be completely honest and transparent with my reviews. As I mentioned before, I try to avoid the snarkiness and cynicism and just be honest with my opinions and excitement. Similarly, I try and avoid any gimmicks or tricks; I just focus on writing good, solid content. And I don't know how much this has impacted my readership, but I've always had a pretty strict "no ads" policy on Opus. Aside from affiliate links here and there, there's nothing really commercial on Opus. Opus is a labor of love, first and foremost, not something I intend to be profitable.


JOSH LOVSETH, Publishing Editor of Sound on the Sound: Time. Consistency of effort over time. Some weeks we'll put up only five posts, others we'll post twenty plus. I can't really predict how interesting a week is going to be, but as a rule if we find something interesting, or that we think is part of the Seattle popular music community narrative, that is what we're going to post about. If we think it holds relevancy, others probably will as well. It's about providing a window into what we think are the exciting things and people that are happening in our community.


MICHAEL FELDMAN of the Walrus: I contribute it to length of time, consistency and my oh so charming personality!


ALLAN CHANG of AW Music: Bad writing to bait people in? Haha. Blogging is about baiting perhaps, but I guess the feedback I've received is by having an easy to understand and honest style. I can't sugarcoat things by sounding smart. I've never been a great writer by any means and I try not to. As for the success, it was really surprising. It was my third blog that I started on my own and it was really thrilling to having so much people read my pointless thoughts. While we had some good initial success, I'm not the type that posts about everything so we just slowly expanded by adding writers who had different tastes (namely my friends who liked different styles of music). We first went with 4 writers and we were able to expand to around 20 last year and 30 this year. I think hard work has something to do with it but also having a good foundation was paramount to expanding.


BECKY FIRESHEETS of Knocks from the Underground
: I think our showcases really reach people who haven't yet read the site.  We also do a ton of promotion, with stickers, fliers, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, emails, etc. I think the thing that increases our readership the most though is contacting the bands we review. Once they're aware of the article, they almost always share it with their fans and bring those people to our site who otherwise didn't know it existed.


RAY MILLAN of Off the Radar: Quality and content mainly. If you post crap no one will wanna read your blog. You gotta post the best stuff you can. Keep your standards high.  


CHRIS ATTO of dailybeatz: Lots of word of mouth, but the biggest jumps in readership came after I was accepted by HYPERLINK "http://elbo.ws/"elbo.ws and the hype machine.  both are great avenues for any music blog to gain exposure. Well, they have a form on the site that you can fill out to be considered to be added to the list of blogs that they crawl, but I applied after only a few weeks of launching my site (I get a little anxious sometimes) and was rejected. So I emailed someone on the team a few months later asking how I could reapply because it wouldn’t let me do so online, and she replied saying I was added.


ALEX PELLERANO of Quiet Color: I think the design has a great aesthetic.  I also consider my head writer Kevin Diamond to be a music genius, which helps QC rep some of the most talented indie bands in Brooklyn. I also think we've always carried an extremely honest and straightforward tone with our readership. We'll tell you if we're hungover, while we're providing you with your next musical love affair.



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JASON MOREHEAD of Opus.fm: Honestly, I don't see it changing very much even in ten years. At the end of the day, I simply hope that Opus has introduced people to great music that they wouldn't have heard otherwise.


JOSH LOVSETH, Publishing Editor of Sound on the Sound: Ideally, we'd be an editor run community, where anyone can submit content that could be promoted to the front page, not unlike Daily Kos or Kuro5hin. We've been slowly taking on writers hoping to maintain some continuity and quality, instead of just throwing the gates open to a free-for-all group blog mentality where the narrative is lost. Creating such a music centered community would require a major redesign and I've got a lot of ideas about how that might work. But that is far down the line.

Also ideally the site would financially support a group of editors and writers who would manage the day-to-day operations. Right now I'm focused on thinking about monetizing what we have while maintaining our independence editorially. How we are going to do that is unknown at this point, but I think the opportunity is there.


MICHAEL FELDMAN of the Walrus: I don’t know if it will be around in 10 years. If it is, I would hope it maintains it’s current simplicity and accessibility. Ultimately, people just want to go to a place where they can quickly and easily discover music based on their peers recommendations. In 10 years we may be sharing music with our friends through wearables and mind implants. “Hey! Download the new Radiohead album now—directly into your brain!”


ALLAN CHANG of AW Music: In 10 years, I hope I'm done music blogging. 10 years is a really long time from now... will blogging be popular in 10 years? All I know is that I wouldn't have the time I do now so I hope I'm on to better things. Blogging is fun but it can take it's toll with the amount of work involved. The truth is that I think I'm probably going to have to call it quits sooner than later. I don't think I'd be missed anyway as there are some great blogs out there.


BECKY FIRESHEETS of Knocks from the Underground: We've expanded into Boston and L.A. already and in ten years, I hope we've expanded into all the major music cities in the country (Austin, Seattle, Louisville, San Fran, Nashville, etc).  We're also looking into starting a site in London. I would ideally like to be more of an oversight manager than dealing with all the day-to-day stuff.  And currently we can only afford to pay our writers with CDs and shows and that sucks. I really want to give them monetary compensation as soon as possible—this site functions because of the dedication our writers give it and they deserve all the compensation we can give them! So, a few of our long-term goals are to expand into other cities, bring on more people to help manage the site and pay our writers a good wage. We also want to develop a site from the ground up rather than using Squarespace (the blog software we currently use). I'm sure there's more I'm leaving off - Will and I are always bouncing ideas off each other!


RAY MILLAN of Off the Radar: I would love for Off the Radar to become a big music site like Pitchfork. Influential and a place were artists/readers could get the low down on the best music out there. We're on our way I think ;)


CHRIS ATTO of dailybeatz: Its tough to match up to a lot of the biggest music blogs just because of my one post a day format, so I’m currently trying to find ways to expand my content. Of course the goal is to turn doing something you love into a profession but I’m definitely not quitting my day job any time in the near future. The whole blog actually came about as a result of another website idea I had, so hopefully ill be able to combine the two in the near future.


ALEX PELLERANO of Quiet Color: I would like to continue in the direction we're headed but on a grander scale. Our monthly concerts would become festivals, our office space will have added a television and recording studio, and QuietColor will be known as a global brand that promotes artistic integrity and does its part to push creativity forward.


Read “Listening to Blogs,” part one

Read “Listening to Blogs,” part two