Music (blogging) for money

Nick Lowe – “Music for Money”
(from Jesus of Cool)

Surely I’m not the only one who’s noticed popular “indie” blogs busking advertisements for ringtones and NBC’s Lipstick Jungle. Blogs are big business. Or, they can be. (Not this one, obviously, because we average fewer hits per day than your typical Geocities-hosted Mad About You tribute site that hasn’t been updated since 1995.) Build up a loyal readership, inflate your Technorati ranking, boost your hit count with some “exclusive” digg-able content, and before you know it advertisers are chomping at the bit to pay you fractions of pennies for every pair of eyes that alights on your page (or so the story goes).

And what’s wrong with making a little extra scratch on the side? After the costs of cassettes, CDs, downloads, concerts, and band T-shirts, being a music fan is an expensive hobby, and it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to get a little financial kickback for a lifetime of devotion. But as Eric Harvey of Marathonpacks pointed out in a recent column for Pitchfork, the line between enthusiastic fan and (un)paid promoter is becoming increasingly blurred. “The focus group becomes indistinguishable from the public sphere,” Harvey writes, “and labors of love are increasingly being repurposed as free labor channeled into promotion and distribution networks under the rubric of artistic patronage.”

It all starts out innocuously enough. In the legally murky waters of mp3 blogging, the blogger posts an mp3 (possibly illegally), and then follows up with a “buy” link so that interested listeners have an easy opportunity to (legally) purchase the album. Karma, right? One criminal act counterbalanced by a commercial endorsement. It’s like stealing from the rich to encourage the poor to give their money back to the rich. And despite threats from the 300-pound gorilla in the three-piece Armani suit (the RIAA), it seems to be a fairly effective model. According to a study reported on in Computer World, blog coverage does have a significant impact on album sales. Among the findings:

Of course, this raises any number of questions. For example, what counts as a “legitimate” blog post, and where on earth can you find 250 of them? Just by virtue of hosting a music blog, I’ve been unwittingly signed up for a number of promotional mailing lists, informing me of all the single releases and tour dates of countless exciting and supposedly awesome bands, most of which I’ve never heard of before and will never hear of again. Apparently, these spambots never took the time to read our “About” page to figure out that we prefer to discuss music we care about, while helping to prematurely hype potentially trendy bands is not so much our forté.

One recent bit of spam started thusly: “Dear Todd, Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve already heard of The Weepies.” Really? Ouch dude. I thought we were friends.

Sadly, though, it’s not uncommon to see these press releases slightly altered and reconfigured to make for a quick blog post. (Ever wonder why Hype Machine seems to have several suspiciously similar entries come up around the same time? That’s because Fanatic Media Promotions just struck gold!) I guess I can’t understand what would impel some individuals to include this stuff in their personal blogs, or worse still, to pass this stuff off as their own content. Or, my least favorite, aggregate sites that just blatantly steal another blog’s content and then slap on advertisements so they can make a few bucks. Seriously, boogie4.us, what the fuck is up with that? Cut that shit out!

In the end, though, it’s all about bringing in extra eyes to your page. Must be a popularity contest, or something.

It’s not entirely surprising to read that Buzznet, a social media venture backed by Anthem Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, and Universal Music Group’s Interscope Records, has acquired popular music weblogs Stereogum and Idolator with the help of a $25 million checkbook. These sites have grown so huge in scope and appeal that advertisers are finally starting to realize that successful blogs can generate more dough than just Google AdSense. While both sites are fairly inane as things currently stand, it remains to be seen what sort of impact this acquisition will have on either site (more Kaki King and Feist coverage?). It is a strange move to make, especially considering the groundswell of torrent sites and off-shore file-sharing message boards that seem to take great pride in the declining profits of traditional record companies.

One day you’re against ‘em, and the next you’re right there with ‘em. It’s a confusing time; I don’t think anyone knows what the music industry will look like in ten years’ time.

I dunno, I know that the highly personal nature of a blog is usually cited as a detriment (it’s all fan-boy hoo-ha with no editorial filter or unbiased journalistic standards), but isn’t that what makes you come back? When done well, such as sites like Moistworks or Said the Gramophone, it can be the site’s strongest feature. You start to feel like you know the writer and can appreciate the quirks of their individual tastes and preferences. A blog is supposed to be personal and a little unprofessional, and not just a venue for tarted-up press releases filled with Diablo Cody-isms.

Ugh. Sorry for the rant, dear reader(s) and spambots, as you know this isn’t my typical style. MP3 blogging is just a murky territory, (and I can’t really say much more than that as the Post-Rockist is currently working on an endorsement deal with Fanta), and this aimless diatribe needed to be aired out, lest it fester some more. Next time we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming of music and sunshine and emoticons. Promise.

-Todd