To what end
The argument of whether or not to offer free mp3s on my blog is one that’s raged on inside me ever since I began to take this blog more seriously last year. With how effortless it is to host files online for free with sites like Yousendit, and the newness of treating mp3s as legitimate products you purchase and own, it’s easy to forget what the files represent: hours and hours of creative effort and a good deal of money spent making the product available. The internal debate intensified as Ewan Pearson, Ronan and JBH spoke their mind on the issue, providing convincing arguments for and against the practice. So I guess here’s my two cents on the issue as well.
I have to give mp3 blogs credit for helping me grab on to the genres of house and techno. Because they are rather underground genres, especially in America, there’s little out there to point an inquiring mind toward the best new music. Acquiring it physically isn’t much easier, as only a handful of specialty shops carry techno CDs, let alone the hot new 12. Under the tutelage of a handful of blogs, many of which provided me with the actual tunes I was reading about, I found the gate to electronic music and was able to let myself inside. I even found shops online to buy the music I came to love. As a blogger might, I started posting mp3s myself in hopes of making the journey easier for other inquiring minds. And based on comments both on this blog and in real life, I know it’s made a difference and sparked an interest in quite a few people.
While I’ve set rules for what I’ll post on Little White Earbuds (no unreleased tracks, no more than one track by an artist per post, no promo copies I’ve received for review from RA, lowered bit rates for newer singles, and accompanying links for buying a copy), others have not been as scrupulous. Today I was looking at a del.ic.ious page on which I was linked and clicked on some of the other blogs included. To my dismay, many were handing out full albums for free, oftentimes with no review or original text at all. Not only did it lack any sort of creativity, it stank of disregard for the artists the blogs (actually, let’s just call them file-sharers) claimed to support. I’m not going to pretend that I buy every album I “own,” but I would never consider just handing them out for anyone who happened to stumble across my site. It made me truly upset and concerned at my own mp3 handouts.
I know I’ve stepped on a few toes with my posts as well, perhaps most notably the folks at DFA, Samim and a few labels, all of which I’ve obliged swiftly. But for every request to remove a track I’ve received four or five times as many promos and from labels and artists who like the exposure my blog provides. So it’s like even when I feel I’m harming artists with my practices, I’m asked to continue on — to promote releases and provide exposure to a vast audience which might otherwise never hear a tune. With the frantic pace at which electronic music is released, it’s almost like bloggers are necessary tastemakers. Does that make it right? Are artists/labels getting the same monetary mileage from a download as simple word of mouth?
So that brings me to where I’m at now. I’m fairly sure my blog sees the traffic it does because of the music I offer daily, and at least partially because of the descriptions and endorsements I offer as well. Would people still read if they couldn’t come away with their hard drives a little bit fuller? In the coming months I’m looking to move to streaming media, so that tunes can still be heard but without any negative consequences to the artists, so that’s the question I’ve been asking myself. I will still offer mp3s which labels have given me the OK on, but it will not be the daily occurrence it is now. Half of the reason I wanted to explore this issue is to provide another place to sound off about the matter, which Ewan and Ronan’s posts provided as well. Is that something you will still be interested in? What are your feelings on the lawless environment encouraged by easy publishing software and hosting sites? What exactly do you get from the mp3 blogs you frequent?
And because what good argument doesn’t have a bit of contradiction, here’s your loot:
Neu!, “Isi” [Astralwerks] (buy)
Little White Earbuds 
Well, this is the first time I comment on this blog, it’s not something I do very often, but I felt obliged.
Like you said, there is a huge difference between blogs like yours, Random Circuits, etc and others whose name I’m not going to mention. You guys never put a complete release for download on your sites so most of your downloads are kinda like teasers to me. If I really like the tracks, I’ll order them at my local record store…but I’m not gonna be a hypocrite, I download just as much from the second kind of sites you mention that have complete albums for download. (Hell, that Supermayer album “save the world” it kicks ass :p).
Yet I wouldn’t really give a damn if all those “blogs” were shut down by the labels, because daaamn, you have to make your way through a LOT of crap until you find that one tune you were looking for.
On the other hand of the spectrum, I winced when I read the post on RC a while ago about them shutting down because they got into trouble with a few major labels.
I think it’s because you guys make your own selection, you write about the songs you post. If the words pelvis, booty, deep, jackin’ etc are mentioned alot. Me download. Me likey. It’s a kind of quality control.
OF course the whole rapidshare shit and stuff hasn’t improved this. But it’s not going to improve, and this is something M_nus and all the bigshots should really get into their thick heads.
Anyway, I think you already ended the argument with this sentence:
“So it’s like even when I feel I’m harming artists with my practices, I’m asked to continue on — to promote releases and provide exposure to a vast audience which might otherwise never hear a tune.”
ps:I don’t Samim wasn’t complaining about the illegal downloading
samim on August 7th, 2007
and please upload the mountain people 3!!!
:p
I think the argument is going to continue, we cant win even though blogs like this where the writing is excellent and the mp3’s are hot of the press its helping the labels a great deal no doubt what they say the amount of people that make daily visits to sites is a very healthy number and there only interested in one thing the music that is reviwed which is a certain niche (house or techno) its not as if were posting anything and everything like a few i know.
I have now read a number of posts saying that they hear music on our blogs and go out and buy it which is the whole point anyway, like steve says i dont agree with people posting full ep’s or albums i know a few sites which got closed down as they were doing that back in 2006 one had the cheek to call the site full techno ep’s blogspot.com another was batteria or something on them lines which some of you will be familiar with.
Another reason labels disagree to certain blogs is if they dont see any feed back ie comments if i personally post a mp3 and it gets over 1000 hits with no comments it makes me feel bad and the labels pick up on this, as they told me in a email
People cant comment everything i grant that but if people did the labels would recognise and stop all the heat,on my blog there going straight to zshare to shut down the mp3s without coming to me first so i get to know when someone says this links not working ….Anyway im rambling on long live the blog if it helps a few people find music they wouldnt have heard of or would have missed out on were doing our job.
well…i think at the end you will see less traffic; but see it as a positive filtering.
i just saw how ronan does it with that streaming media.
excellent.
the people that do it for your taste and the way you direct em will be left over and the ones that go for the quickie will be movin on.
let them.
quality over quantity always
I think for someone like me I only got into this blog because I’m friends with Steve and told him I was getting more into this music. This blog gives such a wide variety of music that it has shown me what I like and don’t like in a series of genres I otherwise would not be able to cope with.
These songs in their cd format are not all that easy to find and I don’t buy vinyl cause I’m not a DJ. I’ve bought about 15 songs from iTunes(what little they have) and one Kompackt sampler from Amoeba. Other than that its pretty hard to make guranteed purchases of a lot of this music in bulk or from a mainsteam store. I’ll be sad to see the mp3s go but I don’t think its unreasonable.
I agree with a lot that’s been said already. Truth is, the question is not easily answered, if that’s possible at all. So this should be a personal call. If you switch to streaming only, which I would understand, I will still visit the site, because of the music selection and your reviews of the selected tracks. And if I like something I’ll buy it. I have done this with artists like The Field and Superpitcher. And because of the so called Russian Bloodsuckers I know I don’t have to run to the stores to buy the SuperMayer album. I used it as a preview and I thought it sucked (sorry). My personal view of the people who pull all the albums from blogs is that they would never have bought the album anyway if downloading wasn’t an option. But maybe some will go to a concert, just because they liked what they downloaded. I personally am buying more music than ever before, just because of blogs like this.
My personal story is similar to those laid out here: It is difficult to find the outlets for this type of music, especially when you are in a city that does not focus on techno stuff (not many in the US do). Blogs such as littlewhiteearbuds have increased my knowledge and my interest, which in turn has pushed me to purchase more music, as others have said, than I ever have before. And as many of us posting here probably are, I am an influence on my friends as well, who look to me for artists. So there is multiple levels of influence and excitement happening on down the line.
Keep up the good writing; I will read.
I think downloaders are mainly divided into two categories:
1. The ones who only download and will never buy.
2. The ones who download for preview purpose.
So I think posting free tracks have more benefit than loss. If you stop posting free tracks, the first category won’t buy anyway. And the second will have doubt to buy because they haven’t heard any preview.
Adit, Indonesia.
I went to both ewans & ronans blogs, but since the discussion there is weeks old at the time, i decided to make my first post here.
Filesharing has been going on for a decade by now whereas musicblogging is a pretty new phenomenon. I honestly therefore find it hard to blame bloggers for the decay in sales… Record shops began closing down long before blogging became popular, and i believe bloggers are only responsible for a diminutive part of the file sharing that goes on all over the web.
Even so, i think that some sort of codex/ethics should be applied before making other peoples work available at a bit-rate similar to what can be found at legal mp3-suppliers.. so bloggers, if you post new things, why not:
1) write the artist or label when (or maybe even before?) you post their work.
2) Don’t post tracks at bitrates higher than, say 128-192 kbps
(this does not apply to the odd rare old tracks, long-out-of-print or otherwise unavailable stuff)
I also find that artists and people in the music industry would benefit from realising that:
1) hometaping did not kill music
2) get used to the new conditions and:
3) be happy that they are able to reach a wider audience and recognize that it isn’t a question of filesharing but a question of music quality if they can sell a track or not
4) concentrate on maiking better music.. the growing number of artists makes it a lot more difficult to pick the cool stuff from the shit. If a track is cool it will sell.
I have spent money on vinyl literally since i was a kid. Got my first record player age 7/8ish in the mid 80’s and bought plastic rather than candy or toys. My vinyl consumption peaked in the late 90’s where i worked next door to a top notch record store and spent at least three lunch breaks a week down there. Even after listening carefully to stuff before purchasing, i would often come home with stuff that would end op on my shelves rather than the decks. Which kind of sucks.
Today i still buy loads of vinyl, despite the shops having closed down.. thanks to varius internet broadcasters like cbs.nu and thanks to bloggers providing me with knowledge of unknown artists and their work, i know whitch tracks to get and whitch to avoid.
So keep posting tracks plz
Electronic music blogs are provide me with a filter that helps me sort through the insane amount of music that is released every week. From the “major” labels to the smaller netlabels, a lot of really quality music is being put out all the time, but it’s getting harder and harder to find.
Blogs that review and provide an avenue to sample the track are an essential service that I take advantage everytime I am preparing for a gig. That’s not to say I don’t do my own treasure diving, but it helps to have someone with a good ear telling everyone else where a good place to look is.
Blogs that just spit out track after track with no context are really just an extension of soulseek and serve no purpose other than to be a constant temptation to music lovers.
One important aspect of blogs, are that they are one way for “lesser known” acts to get some exposure on an international level that they would be unable to get in any other way. I’m certain that the only reason I was able to have Kissy Sell Out play a track of mine on BBC radio and at EXIT Festival in front of thousands is because of exposure I was able to get on blogs. That “little” exposure I recieved was more valuable than the hundreds of demos I’ve sent out to labels for more than ten years. (I’ve still got my fingers crossed that Steve will post the track that I sent him.)
The point is, these sort of blogs are valuable and essential when they serve the purpose of pointing people in the direction of quality music. This not only provides the artist with free publicity, international exposure, and, hopefully, increased sales, but also provides the audience with the tools to strenghten their own search for the unearthed gem that we are all looking for.
I personally would prefer lower bit rate. some of these songs are 10 minutes+ and my hard drive is already full!
lowering bitrates really only matters to DJs, but then again who else is downloading this stuff. I think that is a good semi-solution.
But I also personally think Beatport just needs to lower its prices. I think a major contributor is the fact that people dont want to pay near-vinyl prices for a digital file. if an artist has 3 tracks on his release and you want to get it as soon as its released on beatport your looking at 7.50, which is about the price of the vinyl. For some reason I feel it should be cheaper since you get nothing but the track and you need to make it into a usable medium yourself.
And all that promotion of music talk, I think that is a joke if its your real excuse. If you want to know what is good, you can read a magazine or download the thousands of DJ sets available and look at the tracklisting. The real thing is no one wants to pay 2.50 a song. Especially because, like many have said, you might not like it. But lets all admit here, if you download it in 320 for free, your probably going to buy something else and not what you already have, when you actually go shopping.
Hello. I will try to tell you my Point of view in a short way. I am very sad about your desiscion. The reason is, that your taste of music was the best [one of] in this ocean of thousands of Music-Blogs. Reading your Reviews and hearing the music you post makes me know a lot of new artists from what i had never heard before. Through this i was able to evolve my personal taste of music alot, away from this stupid and boring “Minus” Sounds. Now you want to stop, and in some way i can understand your Reasons. But lets be onest: If someone is searching new releases, promos, older music summarised Electronic Music and is not completly dump there are several easyer ways to get it [and here i mean the whole Release not only an Exerpt]. So by knowing this, for me your Arguments are simulated. I think theres nothing wicked about it to post the appetizers as before. If the music is good – people will buy, if its not, people wont, but then i press “delete” anyway.
i wonder if anyone has the stones to post sherburne’s new tracks ?
hi Steve –
my take is, I don’t think there’s a right answer to this that would apply to everyone, as everyone (fans stuck where there’s no clubs/shops … professional DJs … bedroom DJs … label owners … bloggers) will have a different set of interests. I think you should work out what your interests are – for example, you might decide your journalism needs you to have good relations with artists and labels. or you might decide your journalism needs you to have a credible or friendly reputation with readers of blogs and magazines.
I like the way Music (For Robots) (music.for-robots.com/) do things – unless I’ve misunderstood, they seem to only post stuff that they’ve been given permission to post, and they balance journalism and DJing (especially Blair) and it all seems to work.
producers and labels have to understand that they have been in trouble since CD writers and DJ CD players became available! they want to make some money from what they do, who doesn’t, but they need to think of the artist as the product, not this or that track the artist has done, for example as a DJ/live act, which is a shame, because there aren’t enough clubs in the whole world to give everyone a gig … I should know 😉
cheers
a>
Just a short note, if I like a track I download from a blog, I go out and buy the whole release, not just about supporting the artist, but it’s also about finding more tracks by the same artist (invariably I’ll like the other tracks and b-sides too)
And regards filesharing/blogging comparisons, it’s not a valid one to make. I find I tend to download more from those blogs that wax lyrical about the tracks, the ones that give me some idea of what to expect from the tracks, than the ones that only do links and nothing else (which is for me the more obvious equivalent of filesharing, although in far less bulk than those using Soulseek). For me, it adds a sense of value to the track, and gives me the impetus to go look for more of the artist’s material, or to check them out whenever they play live.
And I run a (albeit small) label too, but I’d rather put one track out on blogs from a release and drum up interest than sit on top of the tracks and refuse to give them to anyone without payment.
Liam, Ireland
A great post – first off, your blog is one of the best techno sites going right now and has introduced me to a ton of music that I surely would have overlooked. I admire the bit of soulsearching that’s happening here – it’s quickly become such a vital part of how I understand my music now, that it’s good to pause and catch one’s breath. As I’ve picked up the practice of posting tracks over the past year or so on my site, it’s certainly a question that’s been needling me…
In an attempt to contribute to the ‘moral calculus’ of mp3-distribution, here are a few scattered thoughts on the matter. I’m just tossing all this on table as a scattered mess, as I try to think through it myself.
1. As the entry cost of making techno decreases (which is great!) there’s so much damned music out there (also great) and it’s invaluable to have trustworthy sources out there who are winnowing through it, holding up the rare (or daily) prize and saying, “this one is good.” Yes, magazines provide this service (although is there a decent techno publication?) but we’re portable now & want to download and go.
2. I did the math: in the past few months since I’ve found your site and a handful of other decent techno blogs, my spending on tracks (via vinyl and Beatport) has steadily escalated to somewhat problematic amounts. E.g. when you posted one of Bodzin’s Rekorder tracks, I listened to it on repeat all afternoon and then bought every single Rekorder track the next day.
2.5 Unlike other genres, techno is all about chasing the perfect sound (rather than content) and chances are if you’re introduced to one great new sound, you’ll buy the rest of that artist/label. But it’s nice to have the chance to take it home and play around with it first.
3. More math: I run a small label & we pressed a few records that sold 500-1000 copies. You don’t make any money with vinyl until you crack 5000 mark (and how many nerdy tecno labels accomplish that? See target=”_blank”>this) – and even still it’s almost a wash given all the effort of finding packing tape, and a box, and nagging your distributors every few months (shooting sideways looks at Forced Exposure). As we gear up to put out another batch of tracks, we’re debating vinyl (aren’t we just fetishizing the format?) vs. simply giving the mp3s away and focusing on live shows and licensing. This is not to suggest that buying music is pointless – but running a small techno imprint in an increasingly atomized market means looking for different business models. All that handwringing over large (and medium) labels losing money to mp3 blogs does not apply to small labels.
4. I’d love to know if that god-awful Samim ‘Heater’ track made any decent money on Beatport.
4.5 If you can make nerdy techno and support yourself via Beatport or iTunes, then techno mp3 blogs are problematic.
5. Rules: I initially started off posting only out-of-print techno tracks (and I plan to kick up the effort up a notch in September) but there’s just so much great new stuff that deserves some attention…so I keep it a lower bit-rate & only post one track from a new release…
6. Yet sometimes I get nervous when I receive emails from labels/artists with the subject “your blog” or something similar. I half-expect to get yelled at. So clearly there’s something ‘wrong’ about distributing mp3s on your own. Nonetheless, all feedback has been surprisingly happy for the exposure (to all of 90 visitors per day).
7. I never sit around and stream tracks from blogs. Unless you’re on a Beatport bender, who has the time? I want the mp3s. Why actively select a more restrictive or inconvenient format of delivering music?
8. The idea of any techno artist clinging to vinyl sales and resisting increased distribution via technology is sort of funny, isn’t it?
9. Here’s what drives me nuts: those sites that just post tracks without any original content or context. No photograph or review or personal effort of any sort – why would you bother?
I’ve actually made it up to point #15 but I’m going to cut the babble here because I’m filling far too much space . . . . clearly, there is a ton of contradiction. Simply put: sharing tracks is fun and, as the dust settles from the recent crush of technology, it’s clear that sharing looks more and more like support. But to rationalize it this way sounds cheap because we’re still under the influence of traditional business models.
So the nagging question is: how do we feed our techno artists?
Artists won’t get paid if everyone pirates their music, but they won’t get paid either if no one gives a shit about what they are making. These questionable copyright cases have always been vital to fringe markets. Think of where hip hop and punk would have been without the the advent of the audio cassette.
Do what you got to do to sleep easier at night, thanks for all the work you have done on this site.
hey.. i’m pretty new to your site, found it through the hype machine (a couple weeks ago) which no one seems to have a problem with.
i listen to so many artists every day off of the hype machine and occasionally i’ll get hooked on a site like this one. i’ll save the songs i like (lately i’ve been streaming and just downloading the ones i thought were worth keeping).. for the idea of buying the album once i have the means.
i suspect that lot of the downloaders who would “never buy” are younger, 15-25, and would eventually buy as they got older. however, this is also a generation that is hooked on getting files for free. i see myself buying albums with my first rent-paying job.. well i better be cause it starts tuesday. so i dont know. im pretty sure file sharing really hurts the top40 artists whose albums sales really rely on strong singles.. and when you can download that one drop of sugar you wanted, why buy? for things more underground (and that includes anything electronic in America as people have asserted and should know by now) quality blogs are saviors and can do no wrong.
i also can’t say enough about remixes as they expose you to two different artists at once in a way that often no one legally gives a shit about.
keep up the excellent work.
So many excellent comments, I feel like I’d be wasting space or re-treading the same ground if I throw in any more than $.02. James, if you check back here, a hearty “Cheers” in your direction.
Like Foucre, I know Steve as a friend first and a blogger second, and between all the work he does related to music (writing writing writing — I’m pretty sure you all see just a glimpse of it here) he’s had a pretty lengthy discussion with me on exactly this topic, in which said discussion it was quite evident that the issue’s been nagging him for some time. I suggested — like someone else has in these comments — he go the route of Dilated Choonz, easily my favorite blog aside from this one here; that is, putting as much weight on the words (of which Steve has many) and offering files to stream before downloading. Cutting back on the bitrate (I think DC runs @ 192, but I’m not sure) + quantity / selection (or limiting to superunknowns and others who give permission) shouldn’t be too bad of an idea, a healthy compromise between Steve’s conscience, the interests of middle-weight labels, and our thirsty ears.
Like James, my Beatport spending is at a point I, too, would describe as problematic — I spend as much there as I do on groceries per week, and I’m currently on a very fixed income. This is due in large part to Steve and his blog rekindling my interest in techno after a relatively long hiatus. My only point in this regard is that I honestly do spend as much on groceries as I do on Beatport. What the fuck…
I wrote a ton more but I’ll keep it tite and end here for now.
More like $2.00,
James Cardis
I’ve always enjoyed deep house, and your site has taught me new things not only about that, but encouraged me to new directions. Most of this was pulled from your site and pasted together with audacity. I’m a real person, so check this hodgepodge out if you have the time:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/33776780b2805a/
It’s like one big crash, but there are moments that feel ok.
I love your site.
P.S. I just bought a Four Tet album from a record store.
you might be interested in checking my blog and the link to dj history for more on this debate… hope you’re well sir – please keep up the good work and be sure even i the disco head have bought tracks you have promoted…
People that just blog links are just an alternate file-sharing network. If somebody mentions a new tune then I’ll check the hype machine first to see if I can sample it on a blog. I’d never bother one of those sites otherwise. I like to read about the music, hear somebody talk about why they are posting that track as a recommendation. I don’t follow blogs as much as I used to, there is just too much music floating about these days to keep track of, but I like blogs that post fresh new artists I’ve not heard of or those that celebrate older artists I may have missed before.
I write for the fairly popular 24:Hours blog. They’re 100% legal so all music we post is either provided by the artists/labels or posted with their permission. It’s a bit of a fuss sometimes getting permission to post the tracks you love – sometimes you can’t – but if a track is that great, you can always post a link to myspace. The benefit is that you get the respect from the label/artists and we now get sent a lot of stuff without even asking for it.
I really don’t see the problem with low bitrate downloads. Most of the tracks we post are between 112 and 192, which I think is good enough to decide if you like the track or not. You can then buy a high quality version (or a vinyl/cd) to play out. I can’t ever remember downloading a good track @ 320 and then buying the same file afterwards. I don’t have the time to sit and stream everything at the computer though so downloads are always favourable.
So to sum up, blogs are the new radio as far as I’m concerned. Files need to be downloadable so people can take them away and listen to them in their own time. Bitrates should be kept low to encourage purchases and some words on each release are essential.
[…] collected beards at DJ History (who’s name might prove a bit too apt for some) by linking to this article on little white earbuds which takes a look at the arguments surrounding the rights and wrongs of […]
Just came across this post via Horse Latitudes and have tried to read all the comments.
Back in Feb. I got into an interesting discussion with some heads over at BeyondJazz. Basically it was about posting mp3s versus streaming and whether blogs were the same as p2p networks and the value of mp3 blogs to artists. It was a healthy discussion that unfortunately stopped after my last (lengthy) post.
The end result for CubikMusik was two-fold.
-We introduced a policy of emailing artists and/or labels at the time of posting to notify them we had an mp3 posted on the site. The reaction so far has been predominantly positive with a few artists and/or labels requesting files be removed or a lower to be bitrate posted.
It can be time consuming but I am glad that I started it as I think it helps artists and labels see that not all blogs are about posting albums and taking the hits. It is also good to build relationships with them. One such relationship is resulting in an upcoming remix competition that we are holding in conjunction with a band.
-We also started a poll of readers which asked:
“When you hear/ download a track from CubikMusik does that encourage you to go and buy music by that artist?
With the following results:
No: 7%
Yes, most of the time: 41%
Some of the time: 38%
Always: 14%
Other: 10%
Although the number of readers answering the poll question is a tiny portion of my readership I find the results interesting and somewhat indicative of the readers of a more niche blog (which I would consider myself to be).
Re: labels seeing comments on blogs as being of value.
I have seen this mentioned before and I just don’t understand the rationale. I get very few comments left on my blog and while I would like more I understand that we are all busy and it takes time to do so. There are so many more posts out there that I would like to comment on but am strapped for time.
Just my two cents on that.
Cheers,
Cubik
[…] 3 favorite posts you’ve ever done? I am really proud of my interview with Mark August, my “throwing down the gauntlet” post decrying the state of mp3-posting blogs, and my review of one of Matthew Dear’s first live […]
Interesting discussion. We run a blog called sleazybeats.blogspot.com. We do not offer downloads but streams tracks we like/get sent and link to outlets where the music can be bought. This way, discerning DJs get a full preview of tracks but it won’t hurt the small labels that are trying to push good music with miserable budgets.
[…] discussion arguing both sides of said issue. After reading both sides (and a lot more at Little White Earbuds) I just found myself confused. The one thing that stuck in my head most was Pearson saying […]