Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Radio or Jukebox?

Sorry for the extended hiatus--other finals and dad turned 60! Blogging, like anything else one tries to do every day, requires a strong commitment and discipline--whoops! Two things I apparently don't have. No, but this does point out a major difference between "professional" blogs like Stereogum and "amateur's" personal hobby sites, like my other blog, I'm With the Band. Bloggers that make a living doing this and employ a staff of writers are able to devote their entire day to tracking and breaking stories. Amateurs or individuals blogging more casually are at a greater liberty to pick and choose what they post about. They also don't have as much time or incentive to post as frequently--though that point is arguable because generally the more one posts, the more "hits" they get. The distinction between "pro" and "amateur" blogger is important, however, because the pro can make enough money and amass a seriously large audience (and compete or supplement mainstream media sources), while amateurs are more likely to blog frequently for a couple of months and then eventually get bored and abandon the practice (though anyone can make a little $ with google ads). There's lots of fun facts about bloggers in this Pew report--I'll go more in depth in another post.
Since I just finished gushing about The Hype Machine, I figured I would continue down that path and talk about my other favorite site in the world, Stereogum. Stereogum is one of the most reliable and fun blogs about music on the web. Started by Scott Lapatine in 2002, this gossipy blog updates very frequently--one of the marks of a successful blog--posts lots of *great* audio clips, and is an excellent hit picker/maker. Many of the items that get featured on Stereogum eventually make it into Rolling Stone's Breaking section or other mainstream mag's "Band to Watch."

Stereogum also recently added a detachable audio player called "Gum Mix" which plays the last 12 or so tracks that have been posted to the site. This is one of the reasons I'm including blogs in looking at new avenues for music radio. Blogs now have the technology to make "mix-tapes" or their own DJed accompaniment to their written posts.

In a blog post about a presentation by a Pandora director, James Cridland writes "Says that his service is all about ‘Discovery’. Irritatingly calls it radio. It’s not. It’s a music jukebox. Grr." In a previous post, he writes that to get young people to listen to radio, one strategy would be to "- ensure broadcasters invest in content and talent so we have a clear differentiation between ‘radio’ and jukebox services like last.fm." So, what is distinctive about internet radio or podcasts with DJs is the content in between the music and the personalities connecting the music together. I agree with the importance of this distinction and I see a value in both versions. So far, blogs are offering a "jukebox" version like last.fm or Pandora, but with their own personal selections and music from recent posts. I think this is a particularly cool combo because it enables a listener to use the jukebox to jump around to tracks they like and then read about them as they wish. They can also detach the player to listen while they surf other sides--bonus!

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