Tomorrow, DiS launches a brand new section of the site, Drownloads. This new and lawyer-approved feature is, essentially, what is known as an mp3 blog. Hardly something revolutionary, then, but it’s a little different than most: content will be hand-picked by the DiS editorial team and the people behind Drowned in Sound Recordings, the label that has helped to put the likes of Bat for Lashes, Blood Red Shoes, Emmy the Great, Metric, Martha Wainwright, Jeniferever, Kaiser Chiefs and Youthmovies on the map. Unlike many em-pee-free blogs you may have come across before, the Drownloads will be totally legal, with tracks acquired from labels and artists we’re very excited about. Some of it will be exclusive. Some of it will be so brand new that the bands in question will barely have played a gig. There will be remixes and live tracks and other things we’ve not even thought of yet. Excited? We sure hope so.
In an age where local specialty record shops are biting the dust, a network of blogs has sprung up online, which maintains a vibrant and well-rounded range of new music. Blogs have managed to succeed where no-one deranged enough to invest in a print publication has; subsequently, fanzines and established titles alike have breathed new life into their online presences. mp3 blogs like 20 Jazz Funk Greats, detailing LA noise-merchants Barrabarracuda alongside a recent interest in 1970s Euro-pop compilations with much vigour, have reinvigorated the notion of the fanzine, relocated online, away from being sat rotting in the corner of some sodden venue floor; these new-breeds cast their nets wide, roping in obscure and really fucking weird pop music.
This got us thinking: how many of you use such things, and is all the media furore about blogging just a lot of hot pixels? To help our argument to procure stuff which you can download - rather than just stream - from record labels, how much has using mp3 blogs led to you buying music, either on record or from download stores. Or, at least, have you grabbed yourself some tickets to a gig by an act you previously wouldn’t have heard of?
Like a parent attempting to cover their eyes and ears with one arm as they inadvertently walk in on their darling daughter’s sexual exploits, the music industry, for all the occasional gusto, has largely turned its back and shrugged its shoulders to the mp3 blog. Not only in acceptance that there is little to stop the ravenous bandits from running amok, but that a healthy scene also exists where all want in on material that would have previously gone unloved.
DiScuss: Which mp3 blogs do you find yourself coming back to? Do you even use blogs? Do you buy music because of them? Do you trust them? What do you hope our Drownloads will provide? Is blogging killing the accepted industry or simply just adding even more choice to a world full of new music looking for direction?
I don't visit any
So DiS will be the first regular one :)
20jfg
FTW, as it were
...
"In an age where local specialty record shops are biting the dust, a network of blogs has sprung up online, which maintains a vibrant and well-rounded range of new music."
Sad. :(
i wouldnt say
majors or indeed indie labels have ignored blogs at all, in fact they seem to be have been completely aware of them for a few years, now first wanting rid of them (asking for stuff to be taken down), but now sending out promos regularly to bloggers (myself included, EMI keep sending me KT Tunstall promos for some reason).
soo.... yeah. blogs = old news really.
it's weird
because the instant reaction we had from a lot of labels was "we'll give you a stream..." and they seemed much more backward than we anticipated.
also quite a few very muso people i know have never used an mp3 blog. one of whom is still in the office!
shush it, you...
I am aware of such things... ish. I just do not USE them, for they do not work with my record deck ;o)
that means your karma
level is rebalanced. good man.
dis mp3 blogs
I'm one of the few vinyl only dj's left in my city Leeds.
The dj and his kit gave birth to an entire culture spanning nearly three decades and having many children along the way that ultimately created new sounds and movements.
Long live the independant record shops and sites still shifting the one and only true DJ's format, VINYL.
DJ Martin Reynolds, Leeds
i think they're known about
more than they're used on a wide scale. but then most people have heard of a lot of band names but are satisfied to just listen to what their radio delivers. its a matter of commitment thing.
i know
that lots of majors feed new stuff directly to the bigger american blogs.
so this is just a JAG?
hang your head in shame
And no, blogging isn't killing the industry. Greedy, irresponsible listeners are
I use 20jazz funk greats and it's led me to huy maybe 5 albums in the past 2 years
and those are albums I'd never have heard of otherwise.
So basically mp3 blogs are a good way to persuade people to buy records.
http://blogsearch.google.com/
is my way to find music I am interested in, I also use mp3blogs' RSS Feeds to get me into bands I didn't know before. then if they get round to playing somewhere around my hometown I'll go to the concert and buy the music if I want to [if if've got the money^^]
it would be of help if the DiS mp3 blog was able to put up a RSS feed
I don't really understand this
can someone explain to me how and MP3 blog works? It is just a blog of streams?
.
I never used to use blogs, just kinda avoided them, but have started looking at them a bit more now- have had to bookmark a few, as otherwise I'd just forget.
http://www.getecho.blogspot.com/
is a good one which has led to me finding a fair few unknown bands (although the last two posts are about 'biggies' Beirut and Efterklang). He seems to have stopped posting as much over this last month or two though, which is a shame.
http://www.swedesplease.net/
Is a good place for lots of Scandinavian greatness. Which is handy, as the Scandinavians are pretty cool. Ooh, actually, quite liking their latest post also. Japan + Sweden = 2 greatnesses together.
and I think I may like this blog also:
http://shakeyourfist.blogspot.com/
but only been looking at it recently, so will have to pay more attention.
& a few other blogs which I check just on the offchance they have something good amongst their 'meh' stuff. Would be great to have more blogs that I know I'd be able to generally trust and like their recommendations though. (sorry to say, I'm not expecting drownloads to be a favourite, but will happily give it a chance and see).
blogs are a good way of finding good stuff
so I'm curious to see what will be on Drownloads...
mine might be good
http://fieldrecords.blogspot.com
one day.
but i'm well lazy, and thus, it might not.
My Faves
http://fluokids.blogspot.com/
http://www.discobelle.net/
http://www.goodweatherforairstrikes.com/
http://palmsout.blogspot.com/
http://therichgirlsareweeping.blogspot.com/
^ good blogs
I use all of them too
don't use blogs
much. i scour every available resource (net, magazines, word-of-mouth) etc to find new music. occasionally i come across a blog that helps though.
i use them
but i have to say, i think i've been to at least 3 or 4 gigs off the back of hearing something amazing on good weather for airstrikes etc.
i would never download whole albums like this though, just odd remixes and tracks that i might not have ever heard had it not been for blogs
Visiting this website will change your life.
http://hypem.com/
Lets you search hundreds of blogs for the music you want to hear. Also picks out the most popular searches and introduces you to music you may never of heard of. You can stream or download (illegally) from the blogs and find wonderful new, rare and live tracks from artists you love or artists you don't know about.
Vivé le Hype Machine!
Oh yes and please read my blog that I hardly ever update.
http://thisonegoesuptoeleven.blogspot.com/
:D
it's true actually.
i used to scour different blogs when in actual fact just from scrolling through the most recently updated and from searching names that are mentioned on DiS it's possible to hear and often download (or Audacity') the tracks.
excellent resource.
I was surprised
that it took me a lot of scrolling to reach someone else who used Hype Machine.
I really haven't found a need to use anything else since finding it.
Serives like Pandora, Last.fm, and iLike could also become much more applicable to new artists.
Giving their own music metatags comparing them to particular styles or other artists will allow people who like faeces, for example, to find Mika.
It's 2004!!!
i think the old download section on dis
disappeared just before that.
Good times.
Good times.
I...
love a good MP3 blog.
Some labels
are just trying to make the Internet illegal.
Is there a media furore
about blogs? One guy on the Guardian website sounding off about them does not a media storm make. Generally the mainstream media ignore blogs, probably deliberately. There's a lot of good writing on many of the blogs I visit, so it's not just about the free music either.
Basically mp3 blogs are the ideal way to find out about music. You can read about it and then listen right away. There's only so much people can write about about music...
I have a couple of mp3 blogs in my rss
but they are far from a primary source of music for me
Drownloads should concentrate on unique content - not stuff that is freely available on myspace/elsewhere
I read a few on and off
but don't really have any regular haunts.
Looking at it as a label rather than a consumer, however, I think they're brilliant! I've sent a few new tracks out to a bunch of blogs in the past and had some really nice responses. The writers are generally really passionate and enthusiastic, which is always a pleasant discovery
It's not strictly an MP3 blog but I do post them from time to time on http://blogscarymonsters.blogspot.com
blogs
I work in online PR and regularly send tracks to blogs for free in the hope that they'll host the track. it's a good way of getting an artist initial exposure and also a secondary route into club play if it's a dance track. It is definitely a good thing that these blogs exist, for artists and labels.
My favourite Blogs
are the ones that don't
1.) Post tracks constantly as if they've a quota to reach. I'd much prefer just a few songs that the writers/curators are honestly enthusiastic about rather than a large string of mediocre ones.
2.) Offer a well-written accompaniment, or have a unique and/or funny point of view. If the article merely sounds like a rewritten press release or empty mindless praise, sod it.
Favourites: Saidthegramophone.com, Fluxblog.Org, Catbirdseat.Org (which is also an ace record label)
these three are worth the time:
www.songbytoad.com
www.cutandpasteandtwist.com
www.goodweatherforairstrikes.com
but there's such a mixed bag around.
www.elbo.ws
is also good. in a "hype machine" kindof way.
hm...
finding new music...i think DIS is one of the best places for that. because there are editors who wrote about new bands. most MP3 weblogs only feature music who are liked by them. so all bands get positive review. so i only download the track and don´t read the post.
it´s better to know what you wan´t before, search via hypemachine if it´s available and then, listen or download.
but i´m looking forward to this "d(r)ownload" thing. sounds good...also because there are legal mp3s.
I actually write
that Good Weather For Airstrikes blog that some people have mentioned in the comments above, glad to see it's appreciated around these parts.
As for Drownloads, couldn't anyone else see this coming? Especially given the success of Pitchfork's Forkcast section (though, let me make myself clear, I've always VASTLY preferred DiS to the 'Fork even in spite of my American residency). Either way I'm still well excited for it.
I don't agree that blogs are killing the music industry, and I know that a lot of the recent next big thing-type bands were discovered directly from blogs. For instance, XL told me they discovered Vampire Weekend (their big summer signing) from a post I made on the band back in February, and Simon White (Bloc's manager) was the first industry person to discover Black Kids, and that was also from a blog. Blogs do however tend to overhype (something I'm guilty of as well), and I feel like that can sometimes be harmful for a band. Take Black Kids, for instance. As of September 1st of this year they had never spoken to anyone in the music industry. By September 4th, word had gotten out and A&R folks were already shitting themselves. Within a week after that they had signed on to be represented by Arcade Fire and Bjork's manager, and within three weeks after that they received Best New Music honors from Pitchfork.
Ten years ago that process might have taken two years, now it took barely thirty days, which is absurd. Dangerous too, as Black Kids now have COLOSSAL expectations to face despite still having not even released a single song.
In conclusion, hype can be dangerous, but the mere principle of MP3 blogs themselves is not. Cheers to Drownloads.
one band were
'signed' to Tigertrap after me hearing them them via 20 Jazz Funk Greats, and them just happening to have a gig that very same night. TIMING.
Even if you're only doing what a lot of people already do
it's got to be a good thing, I think.
"Drowned in Sound Recordings
the label that has helped to put the likes of... Kaiser Chiefs... on the map"
Drowned in Sound is responsible for Kaiser Chiefs prevalence?
I don't know what to feel any more.
Haha I noticed that too.
Were DiS responsible for Parva too?
dis released
the first kaisers single. i thought that was common knowledge?
mind, claiming they "put them on the map" is a bit rich
Putting them anywhere
except Guantamo Bay is unacceptable.
missingtoof.com
is my favourite but i do visit a lot of them... i reckon the Dis one will be good though. I've gone out and bought stuff after hearing it on a blog, so where's the bad in that?
king of these is this
www.betterpropaganda.com
tons of new stuff
then click on the band
and see the
if you like this, try these links
the catalogue is Huuuuuuge
Um
'tomorrow'? Where are they!