I don't know, I think it takes all the fun out of it. If I were an mp3 blogger*, I'd bristle at the notion that people just want to scrape the songs, and not read what I'm spending my time writing. Sometimes I'll even download something and not listen to it right away, and then wish I could remember where I got the song from so that I could read what they'd said to make me want to download it (often this happens when I listen and think "ick, where the hell did I get this?").
*So yeah, I don't think I'm going to jump on the mp3-blogging bandwagon, because really, the mp3-blogs-come-lately have sorta been subpar. I still enjoy the ones I read (StG, TtIKTDA, LHB, MoeRex, FluxBlog, lacunae, MFR), but some of the new ones just seem like mediocre attempts to be a scenester/net luminary. The best ones are still great though--StG has a really well-written paragraph today about a Weakerthans song, and he nails it, describing exactly what's great about that song in just a few sentences. Seems like it'd be a shame to just get the song and not read the eloquent description. And yeah I gotta be honest, it's not just taking the fun out of it, it's just taking it, and that's kinda shitty to the artist and blogger both.
*So yeah, I don't think I'm going to jump on the mp3-blogging bandwagon, because really, the mp3-blogs-come-lately have sorta been subpar. I still enjoy the ones I read (StG, TtIKTDA, LHB, MoeRex, FluxBlog, lacunae, MFR), but some of the new ones just seem like mediocre attempts to be a scenester/net luminary. The best ones are still great though--StG has a really well-written paragraph today about a Weakerthans song, and he nails it, describing exactly what's great about that song in just a few sentences. Seems like it'd be a shame to just get the song and not read the eloquent description. And yeah I gotta be honest, it's not just taking the fun out of it, it's just taking it, and that's kinda shitty to the artist and blogger both.
5 Comments:
hey tracey here (sweetney/migrainegirl) -- i didn't know you had ANOTHER blog! cool! now i get to read you even more!
adding a link to you on sweetney.com if that's cool.
By
Anonymous, at 9:04 AM
Of course that's cool w/ me. :) I don't write here as often as LJ, but I try to keep it going.
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lal:tree, at 10:21 AM
Aw, thanks la1itree.
I think you're right about the mp3-grabbing software. I'm really not interested in cutting the blog out of musicblogging: my favourite part of reading an mp3blog is getting insight into how other people hear music, how they enjoy it. even when they're bands i don't normally like, reading someone's explanation of a song's merits becomes a doorway into appreciation. without the text, it's just random mp3-stealing.
and "sub par" mp3blog-come-latelys should by no means prevent you from diving in yourself! smash some trends. :)
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sean, at 12:51 PM
Hey there. Just sort of realizing you've got another blog running here....
I have been bristling at the notion of all these wget gadgets and audioscraper things popping up lately. It wouldn't matter to me much if all I did was post links, a line or two, and nothing more, but that's not the case. I put several hours into researching the music, writing my commentaries, and adding links to useful information--and these things pretty much scrap all of that effort, render it inconsequential. It almost makes me want to post a number of hidden links to loud files filled with noisy static just to give the scrapers a few surprises.
Glad you're still enjoying my stuff now that you've been reading it awhile. Perhaps my secret is that I don't really think of myself as either a scenester or a luminary--I know I'd look like a joke if I tried. I'm just a humble music fan like anyone else, who likes finding the odd/interesting/obscure song and evangelizing it as best I can.
Cheers, MoeRex
By
Anonymous, at 9:04 PM
I agree that the wget utility sucks all the air out of the pretty mp3 blog balloons. I've edited my .htaccess file to foil the music robbers and make them read my drivel, drop me a line if anyone wants the snippet of code.
By
largehearted boy, at 6:50 PM
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