Yall, I just watched this series on IFC.com about ‘the future of the music industry.’ They talked about a lot about the future, and answered a lot of important questions that keep me awake at night.
Will we ever find out what ‘indie’ means?
Are blogs bad 4 music?
Are bloggers dummies?
Are traditional music journalists going to be executed in public?
Will Pitchfork purchase the Hype Machine?
Is the Hype Machine the only authentic ‘music service’ on the internet?
Did the Hype Machine create a terrible place for artists to lose money, and crappy bloggers to get more hits than they deserve per day?
Do artists deserve 2 make money?
Are bands just memes?
Is the guy who made Pitchfork more of an altBro, a cool dad, an AuthenticAlt (altPro), or a mainstreamer capitalizing off alts, or just ‘a guy who likes music a lot’?
Do people want a music service like ‘muxtapey’ or are they satisfied with myspace music?
Should the government deregulate the music industry kinda like the airline industry?
When will we get tired of remixes and take artists seriously if they ‘think remixes are bad for their product’?
I know all of yall read a lot of music blogs, so u like feeling important when people talk about u being on the cutting edge of culture.
/////THE FUTURE OF MUSIC JOURNALISM//////
Part 1
Part 2
Music blogs are okay, but at this point, they aren’t terribly important on their own. The Hype Machine is important. However, each individual crappy blog isn’t THAT important, unless they have been blogging for 2+ years, then you can make a case. I think the point of ‘ur personal mp3 blog’ is to create an authentic content stream without any sort of outside influence.
All bloggers get the same emails from the same marketing companies who are getting paid to let me know about krappy new indie bands. I think the difficult part about ‘creating a good blog’ is a blogger being able to ask himself ‘Do I REALLY care about this band/newsbit/mp3 or do I feel pressure to blog about it because I think it’s what people want to hear about?’
You can call this theory the ‘Popular Artists on HypeMachine’ theory. When entry level bloggers see that ‘a lot of people are downloading radiohead’, they think that their blog becomes a more valuable resource if they reBlog a popular song to increase their traffic. At the same time, entry level alts see that Radiohead is #1 and feel like ‘I am supposed to appreciate this band/music because a lot of other people are appreciating it.’ Is Radiohead GENUINELY buzzworthy, or is it just too many content sources caught in a cycle of ‘letting people know about news that they thought they were supposed to know about but didn’t know why.’
While I think blogging about ‘what you think uninteresting people need to hear about’ is good for news source type blogs, I think the best blogs for ‘pure tastemaking’ are just ‘authentic content streams’ that people can cultivate their personality from [via MP3s]. There is a traffic ceiling for these types of blogs ‘but at least u get 2 b respected/perceived as authentic.’
Another issue is that ‘mp3 blogs’ turn into mp3 blogs because they derive their value from ‘posting mp3s.’ This doesn’t always make your blog more valuable. It usually just makes the hypemachine more valuable. If u really ‘care about music’, I think more bloggers should focus on creating ‘music blogs’ instead of ‘mp3 blogs.’ Does n e 1 else hate those crappy blogs that post a video/picture and only an mp3? I guess I’m just a [HIGHLY SKILLED] blurber, so maybe I should try 2 b a little bit more compassionate.
I also wonder what my blogging goals should be? How authentic can HRO be? Should I just try to drive traffic and report news even if ‘it’s not that interesting’/capitalizing on the demographic of ‘people who feel like they are supposed to know about stuff like Kanye being arrested.’
Yall! Blogs are gonna die after they invent _________.
I read on a tech blog that Hypemachine is gonna start aggregating MP3s from my local radio station, since they started playing indie music like “Paper Planes.”
*****************
Watch more panels with important people in the altMusic Industry (various cool Dads)
http://www.ifc.com/video/music/music-panels/1791637224
Topics include “Entrepreneurial Sites” (like the hypemachine & muxtapey), “The Music Video bein’ killed by websites/TV”, and answering the question “What is Indie Music?”
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IAmCarles.com
38 Comments
I have 4 failed music blogs
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post moar toronto bluejayz
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carles you are one very smart blogger
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Schreibner (who is smart and wears an awesome T-shirt) would be the Alpha Alt in this room if Azzerrad (who is smarter, funnier, and doesn’t care about looking cool) wasn’t in the same room with him. Maura looks like she hopes IFC’s check clears. Other dude is probably friends with 2 many guidos. Guy leading the panel probably reads Stereogum and uses network TV to find out about nu “indie” bands.
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geez, I was just describing this site to someone as David Foster Wallace if he was younger and had a lot more time on his hands.
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no fat chix.
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Indie is a corporate moniker.
Indie had a history and a meaning, but now to most is merely a branding. Like “New!” or “Now with less fat!”. Indie use to mean independent.
Independent as in, from a major record label. Self-marketed. But, as it usually goes, when major record labels began seeing a market in “indie” they decided to just take it and use the word as they please. Big definitely-not-indie bands like Feist and Death Cab For Cutie could claim it as their “sound”. Now it’s meaningless.
This has happened before. Alternative/New-Wave, Indie, Emocore (which is now emotional rock).
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Can I just say that the physical setup of this panel interview is awful, who in their right mind sets up a studio for profile shots!? I would of thought IFC had a better sense for aesthetics, does IFC need a PA to take on a more directorial line of work if so give me a call.
J
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I really like Radiohead. But maybe its b/c i’m not alt, i’m old.
Hype Machine aggregating radio sucks. IMO, defeats the purpose of HM, unless they can figure out a way to differentiate what they are tracking. Ironically, Thom Yorke said one of the music industry’s next big hurdles is radio, and I agree. Although the “payola” methods have been regulated (to some degree), there are still middle men/”pluggers”, calling stations, and promoting, its “the good old boys gang”. And i’m not lying, the people in radio I know are all “my dad’s age”.
I heard one of them recently making calls calling Santogold “the black Gwen Stefani”.
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SrsLy crls…you jus need to vent. I wish u wld apply yer satire and sarcasm to sum ‘indie music reviews’…baybe like do a review on a new/up-and-cumming band or sumthing…. I dunno.
But wht do I knw I jst read blgs/comment I’m 2 lazy 2 write them.
PS- u snd prtty auth…I’d probably tug u if I ran into you at a random house party and started up a ‘deep’ convo and got all vulnerable/buzzd on Sparks™
PPS- ‘Indie’ radio stations can kiss my sxswAzz
VIVA LA RUNOFF!
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Was Woodstock the first SXSW?
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keep blogging
write more
publish a book called THE BEST AND ALT-EST OF HRO
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I never read anything on music blogs. I just download the song. if I like it, i’ll do the research myself. FYOF is my fav (music)blog because of my short attention span, the consistant quality of the songs posted, and the entertaining pics above the mp3s.
Sometimes you just gotta let the songs speak for themselves. –music journalisty guy
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I’ve always thought Carles was quite intelligent but of course I read this site for the humor.
This post is really spot on though and insightful.
It definitely makes me sad when I take the time to write up a group I really think is great that is off the radar of the top hypemachine searches and get virtually no traffic from it. Then we write one sentence with “Girl Talk” mentioned and our traffic is spiked 200%.
I don’t let it be discouraging though and post what I feel is worthy of attention. Sometimes it is something very popular and the traffic reflects this, and sometimes it’s a little band no one has heard of.
At the end of the day the best blogs/bloggers are the ones who stay true to their interests. It makes me proud when someone mails me to let me know how much they love a band they’d never heard of that they found on my site.
Traffic numbers will pad your ego and impress your friends, but sincerity and pride will persevere.
Sorry for the somewhat long and serious comment, I just felt this post was a very refreshing perspective.
ANYHOW BACK TO THE ELECTRO WAR!
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blogs except U and hyperbole are tools. TOOLS to artists, record labels, and own inflated egos
why are they inflated? ur just a blog. sorry
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CRLS – You were wrong about hype tracking radio : /
I got it straight from the source.
“Everybody Makes Mistakes” – LCD Soundsystem
Eat some FROYO, you’ll feel better.
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i love, love, love the SRSLY masturbatory tone of this whole panel.
every word they said out of their stupid mouths made my head hurt. watching it was kind of like walking into a recitation for an honors art history/philosophy/media studies course where everyone takes critical theory WAY too seriously, but the funny part is that they’re not curing cancer, they’re just fucking talking about FOOO-koh.
keep blogging crls. the academy may not catch on, but fuck them. we go to the college of INTERNET!
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Crls best post in 77 million blog yrs!
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@ 9:06 carles is clearly familiar with theory. if you don’t like people how people in honors classes tend to take their work seriously, maybe find dumber/easier classes/schools
schreibner is an altrepreneur. such people are far too comfortable with the business lexicon, marketing, and being rich to be trusted.
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@ 9:30 FYI, carles was home schooled
and clearly, you want a job at a gawker media blog. fggt.
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nice to see your face mr. carles
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i wonder why indie just kind of meshed into alt. remember when we didnt care about the next electro banger and it was all about those singer-song writers?
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future of the internet/music
1) wireless internet everywhere
2) super fast downloads
3) all information will be stored online (no personal hardrive, just personal space on a server)
4) highly mobile computers -> become accessory -> become integral part of personal brand i.e. people's will be their computer/avatar i.e. a composite of their playlists/web feeds/blog rolls/ etc
b/c this information will be accessible through of last.fm/facebook/hypem/twitter/wiki/google etc which will be combined into a mega aggregater of personal brand information that anybody will have access to (when people meet/walk down the street they will be able to learn about the others that surround them will their phone/computer thing)
5) various meta web programs (like pmog, diigo etc) will add layers to existing internet making new internets -> will lead to conflicts over which meta web is the best/ most alternative
6) many conflicting ideas over what is the proper way to use the internets will arise (i.e. whether it should be organized, centralized, democratized)
7) Mass media corps will try to instate centralized media/brand outlets to appeal to very personalized niches -> lead to backlash and decentralization of information and a yearning for the old days when the internet was just a bunch of mp3 blogs and titties)
8) Laws governing behavior on internet will be instated and people will lose the distinction between 'real life' and the internet
9) You will be able to major in internet politics and become internet presidents/congress people/tyrants etc.
10) 1 day will be an net year
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When I read your blog I picture you like Carey Bradshaw in the sexy city. You start by being very self reflective (but do not use real names) and then you end your blog a question mark (?)
Dear Mr. Runoff,
I like your blog. Keep it up. Dream big in 2K9.
Yours Truly,
A fan. (singular)
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Over at http://www.TheMusicBlogs.com.au — we’ve pulled together a bunch of Australian bloggers who occasionally blog about their passion and want to centralise the content to a wider audience. That’s our take. Would love to hear your thoughts.
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blogs have mistakenly made me think that the whole world loves [bloggedband] as much as I do. And then I go to shows to see [bloggedband] and find out that MAYBE a handful of people really loved [bloggedband] as much as I do. A whole crowd and just a FEW PEOPLE are there for an authentic and real experience? As an alt this should make me happy but I’m depressed because [bloggedband] is really good and they deserve the respect and admiration of the larger alt community. Which brings me to the next point: alt bands don’t make enough money compared to how much they enrich the lives of fellow alts. no alt band would ever make music for a living unless they are truly alt. it’s just too much work and it scares me that alt bands might one day stop trying and go get office jobs like every other douchebag and then I would have to go kill myself. support your favorite alt bands….. if only to show up at their shows and tell them that you LOVE them and to NEVER STOP MAKING MUSIC! they need to hear this, they need to know that what they do makes a difference in the lives of real alts everywhere. and for gods sake would it KILL you to buy a t-shirt or a CD?
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fyi i didn’t get paid, unless you count ‘having an excuse to leave the house during the day’ as compensation. oh and there was free coffee, too.
xoxo
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<>. and to anon from 9/18/08: alt bloggers have got to love the fact that alt bands come in waves. that spells longevity for the alt blogger. there will always be new underappreciated alt bands to blog about thus securing alt blogger longevity. it’s like the music industry without the $
zing
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Cheers!
I made on photoshop animated myspace pics.
have a look at them:
http://tinyurl.com/62×3b5
Thanks a lot for your site :) xoxo
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the guy in those videos has a meaningful myspace vlog about the pittsburgh penguins.
and he’s in a meaningful/ironic hiphop band that raps about zamboni’s and the wrestler ‘rowdy’ roddy piper
http://www.myspace.com/yinzluvdaguins
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[...] every once in a while we get some intellectual content. Most recently, “Carles” tackles the future of music journalism (make sure to watch the IFC panel [...]