The Hype Machine is a music service website that aggregates blogs that post MP3s, then make it easy to search for MP3s, 'legally' download the MP3 at the blog, then u NEVER have to visit the crappy blog again because you already 'blew ur load' so there is no reason to build a relationship with some random ass blog that has no editorial voice but just posts obvious mp3s and remixes to get hits from Hype Machine. It's a krazie cycle, but the Hype Machine made itself more relevant than any MP3 blog when MP3 blogs 'mattered', aggregating the long tail.

Anyways, the Hype Machine reached 1 million users. I guess that's a massive accomplishment for any website, because then you can sell your site to some one who wants to eff it up by trying too hard to monetize it. Sorta like when Rupert Murdoch bought Myspace so that he could hack in2 people's accounts.

The Hype Machine tracks a variety of MP3 blogs. If a post contains MP3 links, it adds those links to its database and displays them on the front page. Users can then search through The Hype Machine for latest tunes in the blogosphere, most popular artists, songs posted on Twitter, songs other people are listening to on the site, or they can tune into a monthly radio show. The Hype Machine’s founder Anthony Volodkin, a Russian entrepreneur living in Brooklyn, “wakes up in the morning to get people excited about music.”

The Hype Machine tries to be all like 'WE ARE WHAT IS RIGHT WITH EVERYTHING IN MUSIC SHARING!', riding evangelical waves. However, I am not sure if ppl vibe to it that hard any more. Most people can just use 'google' as a Hype Machine, except u can just download the entire album illegally. Other ppl vibe to services like Spotify that make Hype Machine 'completely retarded' because no1 even cares abt tracking blog buzz any more.

I don't even know what kind of music is on there any more. I will go once every few months and see 'random ass shit' in the popular section, like remixes + mashups involving the 'hot artist' of the month and/or a recent mindie mainstream release that 'just leaked.' At the end of the day, u gotta give them props for exploiting the long tail of bloggers who dream that 1 day they will 'become as big as Pitchfork' and slave away trying to make enough ad revenue to get them to 1 music festival per year.

Remember the old HypeMachine, back when there were only like 1,000 blogs that all posted the same MP3s, not 1,000,000,000,000 blogs that all posted the same MP3s?

It's hard 4 me to 'honor' the 'history' of any blog or blog-related service, since every1 is just a slave to hits, then you just get to a point where u let obnoxious ads take over ur site and it is all about making $$$$. Congrats to HypeMachine on 'mad users', and hopefully they can make 'mad bank' off an upcoming sale of the site instead of trying to act like 'getting ppl pumped abt sharing & discovering music' is something worth pursuing forever.

Did the Hype Machine change ur life?
Is it still 'innovative', or is it like a washed up buzzband of yesteryear that we still have fond vibes 4 bc of its place in the evolution of our relationship with indie music?
Is Hype Machine still a valuable alt service?
Do buzzbands still care abt 'being popular on hypemachine'?
Did Hype Machine 'ruin' music blogging?
Remember 'remixes' before Hype Machine made them lamestream?
Did it end the era of 'great music writing', or did it 'spare us' from bitter d-bags writing abt music?
Are music blogs/Hype Machines 'dying' or 'more important to the open discourse abt music than evr'?
Does the blogosphere 'have its head up its own ass' [via self-importance]?
Did Hype Machine 'ruin' electro music by encouraging remixing 4 the sake of SEO?
Do you h8 Hype Machine because Foster the People openly credits it for their success?

Did God really only create Hype Machine 2 create Foster the People?

Hype Machine

Company

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Anthony Volodkin

Alternative Entrepreneur

Anthony Volloddy is the creator of the Hype Machine.

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