HIPSTER RUNOFF

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
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Part 2
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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."

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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?"

[Photo by StyleScout]
It's important to always remember that the people you hang out with are sometimes a better representation of 'YOU' than you are. Whether you are in a herd of altBros, or in a situation where you are only seen in public with your long-term-Alt-significant-other, being with people who look as interesting & deliberate as u is very important.

When people say 'u look like ur in a band', it means that you are some one who is on the cutting edge of culture from the perception of some1 who doesn't know much about modern culture, but would like to learn more abt it from u (since u l00k pretty interesting and creative). "Looking like you're in a band" isn't a look for every one. The people who will admire you are usually entry-level alts or mainstreamers-who-are-infatuated-with-alternative culture (and listen to a lot of mainstream indie rock circa 2k4.5)

True alts definitely don't want to look like they are in a band or hang out with people who look like they are in a band. SRSLY...do u want to look like the Strokes? Interpol? Kings of Leon? The Black Kids? Blink 182? Puddle of Mudd? Miscellaneous zany band? Miscellaneous British rock band? Miscellaneous mixed gender band? Miscellaneous art-rock band? Miscellaneous lo-fi conceptual band?

True Alts would rather look:

• homeless
• parentless
• tragic mctragtrag
• genderless
• fashionsenseless
• starved
• like they are in a cult
• like they are from the past/future/post-future

Girls can only look like 'they are in a band' when they are in a group of guys-who are dressed like they are in a band, which you can tell by looking at the photo above.
A group of girls who would theoretically be 'dressed like they are in a band' probably just look like a herd of girls who are eager to be in LongTermRelationships with altBros. (a.k.a. they just look like a gaggle of altSkanks). This is mainly because it's hard to view a girl who 'dresses trendily' as being some1 who is genuinely creative/interesting. (unless ur Miranda July)

'Looking like you're in a band' will come back and haunt you eventually. If you look like you are in a band beyond 30, your personal brand will automatically be converted into 'trying-too-hard cool dad' or 'out-of-touch-with-reality free-spirited mom.'

XX BONUS BAND WHO IS DRESSED LIKE THEY ARE PRETENDING THEY ARE IN A BAND XX

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I love when members of bands wear the t-shirt of another band. That's something that 6th graders see, and subconsciously post-identify with the band even more.
<3 aligning ur personal brand with other bands [via tshirts] <3
<3 BLOG GROUP THINK created bands <3