WTF Is It With The Music Blogs' Exclusivity?!?

[illandnatti]

Ok, so I've had my own music blog (http://sweetlilbleeps.blogspot.com/) since September 2009, and I've followed about 30 music blogs since 2007 (about 50 today). I'm a big supporter of new music, I like finding new artists, and I get excited when I receive emails that have songs attached to them from people I don't recognize. It means that I may have new music to educate, and give away to, the masses.

To me this is what blogging is all about; sharing amazing new music because you love it. Many a producer these days have had their career launched thanks to the countless hours put in by the "stay at home music elite" aka bloggers. However, recently I've seen a different trend.

A lot of blogs are no longer about promoting new music, but shamelessly mooching off of the hype that is created around older large names; posting their songs for free, and essentially becoming the html based Napster. Then when a new artist drops them a line, they don't even give him/her a chance, since they don't recognize the name.

My experience has been that with the rapid increase in the popularity of music blogs, it has become increasingly difficult to get your music posted on a blog if you don't have a recognizable name, and that's BULLSH*T!

I personally listen to every single track that is sent my way. If I don't post it, then there is a very legitimate reason why, like it doesn't fit with the theme of my blog. You can't expect to get your trance demo up on http://www.rub-a-dub-dubbb.com/, it's just not going to happen, and it's silly to hope that it will. But new talented artists that have passion in their music deserve to get up on the blogs that post music that matches their production style. I mean, why else are we (the blogs) really here if not to post that shit?

[hedmuk]

Ignoring the (not so cleverly) disguised self promotion, I would suggest you ignore the filesharing, youtube video posting blogs that are all to common. There are plenty of blogs that are all about promoting talented/up and coming artists and good journalism as well.

[fractal]

spot on sam!

[illandnatti]

Ignoring the (not so cleverly) disguised self promotion, I would suggest you ignore the filesharing, youtube video posting blogs that are all to common. There are plenty of blogs that are all about promoting talented/up and coming artists and good journalism as well.

You'll notice that http://hedmuk.blogspot.com/ is in my blogroll, massive respect for you guys, and you are excluded from this statement.

[hedmuk]

Cheers man, I do agree with you totally. It's just that I think its best just to ignore poor blogs, or poor producers, etc then publicise them any further. Gets on my nerves sometimes.

Big up!

[pkay]

It's a mutual thing. As an artist you help blow a website up, they help blow you up. Once you're both nice and notable you maintain.

It's a logical progression that as a site gets more popular more known artists will use them as a form of exposure, and the site itself will become more selective as their service is somewhat made a premium.

[hedmuk]

It's a mutual thing. As an artist you help blow a website up, they help blow you up. Once you're both nice and notable you maintain.

It's a logical progression that as a site gets more popular more known artists will use them as a form of exposure, and the site itself will become more selective as their service is somewhat made a premium.

Completely agree. I would add that strict quality control on the behalf of the bloggers is necessary to achieve this end.

[cimmyk]

"I get excited when I receive emails that have songs attached to them from people I don't recognize."

How excited are you all of the time, then? Eighty percent of the promos I receive (and I get a lot) are basic templates the artists send out to every blog and more than 85% is Skrillex posterity - listening to all the tracks is impossible too unless you have 30 hours in your day. That's why I often just skip to the mails of producers whose names l recognize.. I don't think you should rely on your inbox at all; just search for new artists yourself on other platforms to maintain quality. It's fun.

Good blogs tho here! Bigups. Will do some more reading tomorrow.

[deadly_habit]

"I get excited when I receive emails that have songs attached to them from people I don't recognize."

How excited are you all of the time, then? Eighty percent of the promos I receive (and I get a lot) are basic templates the artists send out to every blog and more than 85% is Skrillex posterity - listening to all the tracks is impossible too unless you have 30 hours in your day. That's why I often just skip to the mails of producers whose names l recognize.. I don't think you should rely on your inbox at all; just search for new artists yourself on other platforms to maintain quality. It's fun.

Good blogs tho here! Bigups. Will do some more reading tomorrow.

just like soundcloud spam
"this track has been privately shared to you and 5639 other people"
FUCK OFF
generally if you've shared a track with over say... we'll go high numbers here 30 people it's not private or exclusive

[Basic A]

Ive recently started one up ( http://thoroughthought.wordpress.com ), and I gotta say we're not demanding anything exclusive aside from our podcasts, which should be a given... I dont understnad what all the fuss is about, and I dont really see people like myself who are working with my production colleagues and friends to distribute their stuff... It takes a bit of the hassle out of promoting a free track for the artist, becuase people like me and my team have mailing lists, steady readers, ect. I dont see it as mooching at all, sort of symbiotic if you think about it.

Maybe youve had an experience with someone demanding exclusive material in exchange for a writeup, and yeah, I totally aggree, thats wrong. But legit sites publishing legit exclusive material to help promote the artist are fine, and shouldnt get lumped inw it pirate sites either, because they arent.

[deadly_habit]

Ive recently started one up ( http://thoroughthought.wordpress.com ), and I gotta say we're not demanding anything exclusive aside from our podcasts, which should be a given... I dont understnad what all the fuss is about, and I dont really see people like myself who are working with my production colleagues and friends to distribute their stuff... It takes a bit of the hassle out of promoting a free track for the artist, becuase people like me and my team have mailing lists, steady readers, ect. I dont see it as mooching at all, sort of symbiotic if you think about it.

Maybe youve had an experience with someone demanding exclusive material in exchange for a writeup, and yeah, I totally aggree, thats wrong. But legit sites publishing legit exclusive material to help promote the artist are fine, and shouldnt get lumped inw it pirate sites either, because they arent.

see some of the bigger blogs on say the bro/filthier side. they will only do a feature/writeup on an artist if they give a free 320 for just that blog etc

[codeStep]

really pisses me off when blogs leak tunes before they've come out. im all for promoting the artist but dont leak it if u dont have permission

[newman808]

really pisses me off when blogs leak tunes before they've come out. im all for promoting the artist but dont leak it if u dont have permission

+1

[Basic A]

Ive recently started one up ( http://thoroughthought.wordpress.com ), and I gotta say we're not demanding anything exclusive aside from our podcasts, which should be a given... I dont understnad what all the fuss is about, and I dont really see people like myself who are working with my production colleagues and friends to distribute their stuff... It takes a bit of the hassle out of promoting a free track for the artist, becuase people like me and my team have mailing lists, steady readers, ect. I dont see it as mooching at all, sort of symbiotic if you think about it.

Maybe youve had an experience with someone demanding exclusive material in exchange for a writeup, and yeah, I totally aggree, thats wrong. But legit sites publishing legit exclusive material to help promote the artist are fine, and shouldnt get lumped inw it pirate sites either, because they arent.

see some of the bigger blogs on say the bro/filthier side. they will only do a feature/writeup on an artist if they give a free 320 for just that blog etc

Yeah, thats fucked, I dont badge people for them, but Ill promote them if given...

[rub-a-dub-dub]

Is our blog being attacked here for this ? Or just an example?...

Anyway, The music we post isn't at all based on exclusivity, and we often recommend a number of artists to hit up other sites (that we talk with often and in some cases actually know quite well). If you send us music that we feel you've put a lot of effort into and that our viewers will appreciate then we will be more than happy to post about it!

In terms of listening to every track, I'm afraid with the amount that is sent its hard and almost impossible to keep on top of things, we recieve easily 50+ emails a day aswell as stuff sent over AIM, Soundcloud and Facebook. Im at university in 2nd year and am putting time into my degree, I'm also spending time to produce music myself and also helping our own club night out (which is now in 4 cities in the North of England), Im also not at home a lot so it's impossible for me to sit down and listen to every track as soon as i get them.

In regards to waiting for music from well known producers to post, thats bullshit. I like to think we are good at helping unknown producers out, it's basically why i started the site in the first place and I can put money down that a lot of artists and labels will agree with me, and also appreciate our support!

Im also going to say that we do recieve a LOT of badly produced music that doesn't sound at all like the producer has put time and passion into it, we don't post music just because it's new, there has to be a bit of quality control otherwise we'd more likely get cussed for dropping standards (It's never win win i'm afraid).

Does this help clear anything up at all? I'm sorry but I fealt like this article was based at us...

Big ups.

Hosta

[hedmuk]

Is our blog being attacked here for this ? Or just an example?...

Anyway, The music we post isn't at all based on exclusivity, and we often recommend a number of artists to hit up other sites (that we talk with often and in some cases actually know quite well). If you send us music that we feel you've put a lot of effort into and that our viewers will appreciate then we will be more than happy to post about it!

In terms of listening to every track, I'm afraid with the amount that is sent its hard and almost impossible to keep on top of things, we recieve easily 50+ emails a day aswell as stuff sent over AIM, Soundcloud and Facebook. Im at university in 2nd year and am putting time into my degree, I'm also spending time to produce music myself and also helping our own club night out (which is now in 4 cities in the North of England), Im also not at home a lot so it's impossible for me to sit down and listen to every track as soon as i get them.

In regards to waiting for music from well known producers to post, thats bullshit. I like to think we are good at helping unknown producers out, it's basically why i started the site in the first place and I can put money down that a lot of artists and labels will agree with me, and also appreciate our support!

Im also going to say that we do recieve a LOT of badly produced music that doesn't sound at all like the producer has put time and passion into it, we don't post music just because it's new, there has to be a bit of quality control otherwise we'd more likely get cussed for dropping standards (It's never win win i'm afraid).

Does this help clear anything up at all? I'm sorry but I fealt like this article was based at us...

Big ups.

Hosta

I'm pretty sure that this article wasn't directed at you at all, in fact I got the impression that it championed your work as a decent blog.

Was the point being made not about the way in which unknown producers and PR companies will send their tracks out to each and every music blog out there, expecting some sort of feedback regardless of the sort of music actually represented by the blog in question? The amount of stuff we get sent which we are quite clearly not going to post about (unless you keep post-rock bands in a bracket with bass music producers and grime artists) is unreal.

[TM45]

I wouldn't suppose you've heard of half of the people I've blogged about so far. I'm actually looking for the people I'm writing up, and of course the occasional guy who sends me stuff and I think it's suitable.

http://dubsteporigins.wordpress.com/

I've turned down two 'press releases' from artists/labels with big names because I was sent a generic "post this on your site" copypasta thing.

Still reppin the unheard.
TM.

[rub-a-dub-dub]

I wouldn't suppose you've heard of half of the people I've blogged about so far. I'm actually looking for the people I'm writing up, and of course the occasional guy who sends me stuff and I think it's suitable.

http://dubsteporigins.wordpress.com/

I've turned down two 'press releases' from artists/labels with big names because I was sent a generic "post this on your site" copypasta thing.

Still reppin the unheard.
TM.

Exactly

I think whoever wrote this article should look at sites like this. I think ours is the same, personally I enjoy posting music from producers nobody has heard of! Exclusive or not I don't really care.

Im willing to say that if you haven't had your tune posted on the blogs you want, it is probably down to the reasons we talked about, you're either over killing it and spamming like crazy, or the tune itself isn't meeting the standards we have set ourselves on our sites!

[illandnatti]

Is our blog being attacked here for this ? Or just an example?...

Anyway, The music we post isn't at all based on exclusivity, and we often recommend a number of artists to hit up other sites (that we talk with often and in some cases actually know quite well). If you send us music that we feel you've put a lot of effort into and that our viewers will appreciate then we will be more than happy to post about it!

In terms of listening to every track, I'm afraid with the amount that is sent its hard and almost impossible to keep on top of things, we recieve easily 50+ emails a day aswell as stuff sent over AIM, Soundcloud and Facebook. Im at university in 2nd year and am putting time into my degree, I'm also spending time to produce music myself and also helping our own club night out (which is now in 4 cities in the North of England), Im also not at home a lot so it's impossible for me to sit down and listen to every track as soon as i get them.

In regards to waiting for music from well known producers to post, thats bullshit. I like to think we are good at helping unknown producers out, it's basically why i started the site in the first place and I can put money down that a lot of artists and labels will agree with me, and also appreciate our support!

Im also going to say that we do recieve a LOT of badly produced music that doesn't sound at all like the producer has put time and passion into it, we don't post music just because it's new, there has to be a bit of quality control otherwise we'd more likely get cussed for dropping standards (It's never win win i'm afraid).

Does this help clear anything up at all? I'm sorry but I fealt like this article was based at us...

Big ups.

Hosta

I'm pretty sure that this article wasn't directed at you at all, in fact I got the impression that it championed your work as a decent blog.

Was the point being made not about the way in which unknown producers and PR companies will send their tracks out to each and every music blog out there, expecting some sort of feedback regardless of the sort of music actually represented by the blog in question? The amount of stuff we get sent which we are quite clearly not going to post about (unless you keep post-rock bands in a bracket with bass music producers and grime artists) is unreal.

Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression Hosta. Sam is right, I consider your blog to be among the best on the internet in terms of providing music from new artists (there's what, like 20-30 people that you've "introduced?" ), and I am all for promoting older artists that are popular, especially when they are giving their music away for free.

In fact I believe that if you run a blog, and an artist you like gives away quality music for free, it is almost your duty to do a write up and post on it. Not hating on that at all.

To be clear, I wrote this post as a rant against some blogs, that I will not name outright, who were once amazing resources to new producers, old producers, and readers/listeners alike, who have now gone off the deep end and refuse to post quality music because it "doesn't have the support of anyone we recognize."

I am not saying that blogs should have no quality control. A lot of the music I get is crap as well. But I do feel it is very important to pay attention and find the gems that are hidden in all the crap. They are there, and should be given a chance. I'd say the crap to gem ratio for me is about 100:1, but I am always stoked to find that one. I understand this becomes harder the more popular you become. A possible solution is to blog with another person whose instincts and musical discrimination you trust. That way your blog could go through the material that is sent in faster. At least that is my plan if my blog keeps getting bigger.

Thanks for your feedback guys, I guess I needed a little reassurance that there are still plenty of great blogs out there, and not to despair!

[hedmuk]

A possible solution is to blog with another person whose instincts and musical discrimination you trust. That way your blog could go through the material that is sent in faster. At least that is my plan if my blog keeps getting bigger.

There's two of us running HEDMUK, and doing it as a duo certainly has its benefits when it comes to listening to and sourcing new stuff.