An Open Letter to The Hype Machine - V
DEAR ANTHONY VOLODKIN,
Your site has changed the way music is communicated in the digital sphere. You have forged a community from bloggers of disparate tastes, ages and nationalities. Behind the curtain of your green tinted pages and embedded players we have become more than a link on your homepage, we have become a network of friends. We’ve taken on projects together, attended shows from artists we discovered on your site and talked, laughed and slept on each others’ couches all in the name of our common passion, music.
Your recent decision to feature only content from the Top 100 Blogs on the site’s homepage is a slap in the face to the very music community you connected. A ranking determined by del.icio.us and technorati scores is hardly a fair system of measurement. You have taken “people excited about music, thinking, drawing, experimenting, creating” and ranked the worth of their voice in web stats.
A selection model based on hard data is an ineffective direction for community building. What was once camaraderie will turn to competition as we see an increase in sites building large blog rolls to gain popularity versus choosing an edited selection of like-minded writers for link exchanges. Indexed blogs not featured in the Top 100 will be swayed to post artists based on popularity to increase the chances of having their content seen via site search. When popularity replaces originality not only is journalistic morality tested, but up and coming talent is pushed off the grid.
It’s said that a picture is worth more than words and in a medium where we are so often anonymous, it feels like an appropriate occasion to meet face to face.
My name is Veronica Murtagh. I’m from Chicago. I run the CreamTeam blog and I am one of the many faces of the NOT 100.
And here is a track from your currently most blogged artist, Royksopp, because I want to make sure this post is indexed:
Röyksopp – The Girl and The Robot (192 kbps)
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Hi Veronica,
Just posted your open letter on Espionage.
http://espionage-blog.com/2/?p=1002
adding it to cubikmusik now also.
great letter and on the button.
i was very disappointed to see the changes at hype machine also.
btw: noticed how the search function on hype machine won’t really let you search by blog name?
have brought it to anthony’s attention but they don’t seem to deem that important.
cheers for all the great posts, music, insights, etc.
colin
adding it to cubikmusik now also.
http://tinyurl.com/cfaxqj
great letter and on the button.
i was very disappointed to see the changes at hype machine also.
btw: noticed how the search function on hype machine won’t really let you search by blog name?
have brought it to anthony’s attention but they don’t seem to deem that important.
cheers for all the great posts, music, insights, etc.
colin
Cheers. Well put and to the point. Dead on.
Very true.
Also, thanks for the great song.
Thank you for that articulate letter. I noticed a change in their site, but did not understand the depth of the changes.It’s very sad really, because with the corporate spin of most radio anymore, blogs are where I find new music that I would not otherwise hear. (It’s a sickness, really.)I’m not sure I would have purchased music by Vampire Weekend, Blitzen Trapper, LEGO, and others if I had not heard more than the "approved single" by them.This move by Hype Machine will enable artificial popularity of corporate shilled music to increase. Much like payola did to radio a while back.The good news is that where Hype Machine and Elbo.ws were once considered musical anarchy, new sites will take over to fill the void. I just hope someone tells me about them!Keep up the good work!
I should add a comment here that Hype Machine has already made moves to re-level the playing field by giving users three viewing/sorting options for the site. It’s definitely a happy medium myself and many other bloggers appreciate.
I’m not sure I consider it the ideal scenario, but hey I’ll take what I’m given and its refreshing that Hype Machine DOES listen to its community and considers their feedback of relevance.
You can find out more about the sorting options and take part in the discussion here:
http://blog.hypem.com/2009/03/3-ways-to-view-the-front-page/
We are always listening, and it’s nice to hear your honest feedback without the need to be rude. Thanks for making The Hype Machine great!
from one chicago blogger to another… I applaud your voice.
haha… wanna do a link exhange x_X
This is why the blog community loves you.
<3
I concur, excellent writing and message.
wow…wasn’t even up on this. thanks for ur words.
i agree,
thanks for this!
I totally agree also. Well written. Thank you…
Mike
@ therecommender.net