MP3 blog
Encyclopedia
An MP3 blog is a type of blog
in which the creator makes music files, normally in the MP3
format, available for download. They are also known as "musicblogs" or "audioblogs". MP3 blogs have become increasingly popular since 2003. The music posted ranges from hard-to-find rarities that have not been issued in many years to more contemporary offerings, and selections are often restricted to a particular musical genre
or theme. Some MP3 blogs offer music in Advanced Audio Coding
(AAC) or Ogg
formats.
, Buzzgrinder
, Fluxblog
, and Stereogum
. Tonspion is the first MP3 blog in Germany and started in 1998 with reviews and downloads that international artists and labels gave out for free on the web. Buzzgrinder began in 2001 as a way for musician SethW to fill time on the road. Stereogum began as a music-related LiveJournal
in 2002, though its format was focused on indie/pop gossip rather than MP3s. Fluxblog (also founded in 2002) trumpeted LCD Soundsystem
's "Yeah (Stupid Version)" in early 2004 brought increased attention to MP3 blogs. A July, 2004 story by Reuters
and an August, 2004 story on National Public Radio further galvanized the trend, and today there are thousands of MP3 blogs covering a cornucopia of musical styles.
A significant number of indie music labels, promotional agencies and hundreds of artists regularly send promo CDs to MP3 blogs in the hopes of gaining free publicity. Major labels with small acts to promote have also attempted to use MP3 blogs. In 2004, Warner Bros.
gave permission for a song by their act The Secret Machines
to be posted by the MP3 blog Music (For Robots)
. This drew attention not only for the song and the label granting permissions, but also due to the fact that several comments praising the track came from IP addresses within the Warner Bros. network. The publicity generated by MP3 blogs crossed the line from the internet to TV in early 2005, when Music (For Robots)
was featured during MTV
's Total Request Live
program for bringing the Hysterics, a Brooklyn rock band composed of four 14 and 15 year-old high school students, to the network's attention.
In 2006, Rolling Stone
did an article tracking "blog buzz" called First Hype, Then Kill with the subtitle "How the geeks who control the music blogosphere
destroy the bands they love." It followed the hype of bands such as Tapes N' Tapes, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
, Arctic Monkeys
and Cold War Kids
. While the article brought exposure to mp3 blogs, it was blasted on blogs for misrepresenting what impact they have on a band's career. According to the chart, Gorilla vs. Bear
giving a good review of Cold War Kids was the highpoint of the band's career, and signing a record deal marked the beginning of their decline. It also assumed that music blogs have collective opinions instead of an array of many different musical leanings.
In 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio
began broadcasting "blog radio", a show on the College/Indie Rock channel Left of Center
. The show lets music bloggers talk about the latest in the indie-rock scene.
and Elbo.ws
track MP3 blog posts and display the most recently updated posts on its front page. The services are meant to provide a snapshot of what's going on in music blogging and make it easier to search through recently posted MP3s. The Hype Machine features a list of the most popular tracks of the last three days, as well as the most blogged bands and most popular searches. In June 2009, the popular songs list was altered so that it is only affected by user accounts that are several days old, after it was discovered that the "hearts scores" for dozens of songs were being artificially inflated by dummy accounts, often created in batches numbering in the hundreds. Elbo.ws has a similar feature listing which Bands, Tracks, and Videos are currently "hot." Music Blog Aggregators have caused a boom in MP3 blog readership and accessibility. Aggregators use RSS technology to collect data from MP3 blogs and link to the individual blog posts instead of directly to the MP3s.
The Hype Machine does not list blogs whose writers or editors are involved in the music public relations
industry.
and The National
have reported increases in sales as a result of attention from MP3 blogs, which often provide links to legal album downloads.
MP3 bloggers commonly post disclaimers stating that all files are intended only for sampling, and often remove posted files within a short period of time.
The economic significance of MP3 blogs is relatively small compared to peer-to-peer networks.
In addition to providing free music, many popular MP3 blogs have started their own DIY record labels, often providing publicizing services for free or little money.
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
in which the creator makes music files, normally in the MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format, available for download. They are also known as "musicblogs" or "audioblogs". MP3 blogs have become increasingly popular since 2003. The music posted ranges from hard-to-find rarities that have not been issued in many years to more contemporary offerings, and selections are often restricted to a particular musical genre
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
or theme. Some MP3 blogs offer music in Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates....
(AAC) or Ogg
Ogg
Ogg is a free, open container format maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The creators of the Ogg format state that it is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.The Ogg container format can multiplex...
formats.
History
Among the few first MP3 blogs were TonspionTonspion
Tonspion is the first german MP3 blog founded in 1998 in Cologne, Germany and moved to Berlin in 2001. The editorial team is reviewing the best free MP3 Downloads on the web, offering links to the source of the download, usually artists and labels...
, Buzzgrinder
Buzzgrinder
Buzzgrinder.com is one of the longest-running MP3 blogs online. It was started in July 2001 in eastern Pennsylvania and is now based in Louisville, KY.-Notable stories:...
, Fluxblog
Fluxblog
Fluxblog is an MP3 blog created and updated by Matthew Perpetua.The blog began in 2002 and began to host MP3s at the end of that year. Two MP3s are commonly posted every weekday along with descriptions and links to artist websites or places where an album or single can be purchased.Media sources...
, and Stereogum
Stereogum
Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender's...
. Tonspion is the first MP3 blog in Germany and started in 1998 with reviews and downloads that international artists and labels gave out for free on the web. Buzzgrinder began in 2001 as a way for musician SethW to fill time on the road. Stereogum began as a music-related LiveJournal
LiveJournal
LiveJournal is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary. LiveJournal is also the name of the free and open source server software that was designed to run the LiveJournal virtual community....
in 2002, though its format was focused on indie/pop gossip rather than MP3s. Fluxblog (also founded in 2002) trumpeted LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem was a prominent American dance-punk band from New York City. It was fronted by American singer-songwriter and producer James Murphy, co-founder of record label DFA Records...
's "Yeah (Stupid Version)" in early 2004 brought increased attention to MP3 blogs. A July, 2004 story by Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
and an August, 2004 story on National Public Radio further galvanized the trend, and today there are thousands of MP3 blogs covering a cornucopia of musical styles.
A significant number of indie music labels, promotional agencies and hundreds of artists regularly send promo CDs to MP3 blogs in the hopes of gaining free publicity. Major labels with small acts to promote have also attempted to use MP3 blogs. In 2004, Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
gave permission for a song by their act The Secret Machines
The Secret Machines
The Secret Machines are a three-piece American alternative rock band. Originally from Dallas, Texas before moving to New York City, they describe their band as space rock. The original lineup consisted of two brothers, Brandon and Benjamin Curtis, and Josh Garza...
to be posted by the MP3 blog Music (For Robots)
Music (For Robots)
Music For Robots is a mp3 blog written and curated by a collective of friends who originally met at Bates College, who founded the website in April 2004. The blog made history in 2004 when it hosted a song by the band The Secret Machines provided to them by Warner Bros...
. This drew attention not only for the song and the label granting permissions, but also due to the fact that several comments praising the track came from IP addresses within the Warner Bros. network. The publicity generated by MP3 blogs crossed the line from the internet to TV in early 2005, when Music (For Robots)
Music (For Robots)
Music For Robots is a mp3 blog written and curated by a collective of friends who originally met at Bates College, who founded the website in April 2004. The blog made history in 2004 when it hosted a song by the band The Secret Machines provided to them by Warner Bros...
was featured during MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
program for bringing the Hysterics, a Brooklyn rock band composed of four 14 and 15 year-old high school students, to the network's attention.
In 2006, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
did an article tracking "blog buzz" called First Hype, Then Kill with the subtitle "How the geeks who control the music blogosphere
Blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
destroy the bands they love." It followed the hype of bands such as Tapes N' Tapes, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is an American indie rock group based in Brooklyn, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, was self-released in 2005.-History:...
, Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...
and Cold War Kids
Cold War Kids
Cold War Kids are an American indie rock band from Long Beach, California. Band members are Nathan Willett , Jonnie Russell , Matt Maust , and Matt Aveiro .-History:...
. While the article brought exposure to mp3 blogs, it was blasted on blogs for misrepresenting what impact they have on a band's career. According to the chart, Gorilla vs. Bear
Gorilla vs. Bear
Gorilla vs. Bear is a leading mp3 blog for independent music MP3s, videos, news, and reviews from all genres. It was created by Chris Cantalini in March 2005, and David Bartholow joined as a contributor in 2006. Gorilla vs. Bear regularly features unknown, established, and independent unsigned...
giving a good review of Cold War Kids was the highpoint of the band's career, and signing a record deal marked the beginning of their decline. It also assumed that music blogs have collective opinions instead of an array of many different musical leanings.
In 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
began broadcasting "blog radio", a show on the College/Indie Rock channel Left of Center
Left of Center
Left of Center was a College rock/Indie rock radio station on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 26 and Dish Network channel 6026. It was replaced by Sirius XMU as part of the Sirius/XM merger of channels on November 12, 2008...
. The show lets music bloggers talk about the latest in the indie-rock scene.
Aggregators
Aggregators such as The Hype MachineThe Hype Machine
-History:The Hype Machine was created in 2005 by Anthony Volodkin, a sophomore computer science major at Hunter College. The site was born out of Volodkin's frustration with music magazines and radio stations. He said, "I discovered MP3 blogs like Stereogum and Music for Robots...
and Elbo.ws
Elbo.ws
elbo.ws is an online feed aggregator that aggregates music blogs exclusively. It detects links to mp3 files and then extracts the id3 tags from the mp3 files....
track MP3 blog posts and display the most recently updated posts on its front page. The services are meant to provide a snapshot of what's going on in music blogging and make it easier to search through recently posted MP3s. The Hype Machine features a list of the most popular tracks of the last three days, as well as the most blogged bands and most popular searches. In June 2009, the popular songs list was altered so that it is only affected by user accounts that are several days old, after it was discovered that the "hearts scores" for dozens of songs were being artificially inflated by dummy accounts, often created in batches numbering in the hundreds. Elbo.ws has a similar feature listing which Bands, Tracks, and Videos are currently "hot." Music Blog Aggregators have caused a boom in MP3 blog readership and accessibility. Aggregators use RSS technology to collect data from MP3 blogs and link to the individual blog posts instead of directly to the MP3s.
The Hype Machine does not list blogs whose writers or editors are involved in the music public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
industry.
Legal status
Many MP3 blogs post copyrighted material as a free download. While this is essentially illegal, record companies often turn a blind eye because of a belief that the blogs constitute free advertising. Bands such as Clap Your Hands Say YeahClap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is an American indie rock group based in Brooklyn, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, was self-released in 2005.-History:...
and The National
The National (band)
The National is an indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999 and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger, a baritone...
have reported increases in sales as a result of attention from MP3 blogs, which often provide links to legal album downloads.
MP3 bloggers commonly post disclaimers stating that all files are intended only for sampling, and often remove posted files within a short period of time.
The economic significance of MP3 blogs is relatively small compared to peer-to-peer networks.
In addition to providing free music, many popular MP3 blogs have started their own DIY record labels, often providing publicizing services for free or little money.
External links
- RIP CDs Consider the alternatives to compact discs, San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
- Listen. And Learn, The Boston GlobeThe Boston GlobeThe Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
- Warner's Tryst With Bloggers Hits Sour Note, New York Times