MP3 Blog Tips - Elbows Music Blog Community

Quick Searching of Hype/Elbows in firefox

mike green lights — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:09:20 -0500

I like things that help me procrastinate quicker...

1. right click a search box that you use frequently (eg that in hype/elbows)

2. select "Add a keyword for this search"

3. Give it a name eg Hype Machine

4. Give it a keyword eg Hype

5. Click OK

6. now by simple typing "hype sudgefan stephens" into the address bar it automaticallymagically searches the search engine/ blog aggregator that you specified.

Other uses:

Goog Hassellhoff

Also - Alt + D / Ctrl + L is the shortcut to the address bar in firefox

Blogspot vs. own site: discuss

indiefolkforever — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 10:25:30 -0500

What are the basic pros/cons of the Blogspot/Typepad/etc. option vs. your own hosted domain?

What do you do with all these promo CDs?

paul.irish — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 15:05:48 -0500

Reduce, reuse, & recycle! wooooooooo!

Here's how I reuse: I have a holiday party every year where we have a bunch of presents and everybody gets one or more. Then I wrap up a bunch of promo cds and on the back scrawl a hint to what it is. Then at present time (!) I dole them out to people I'm think will enjoy them.

I'm also thinking about posting on craigslist if anyone wants an assload of used padded mailers.

What do ya'll do?

Movable Type spam

sean gramophone — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 06:14:22 -0500

There are a couple of threads for fighting off spam on WordPress blogs but I can't find anything about Movable Type. We recently upgraded MT and in so doing broke the captcha plugin we had been using. I've been struggling to get it working again and in the meantime the spam floodgates seem to have opened. Short of forcing TypeKey authentication, does anyone have any suggestions for keeping the Evil Ones out? Thanks in advance.

What Did I Do Wrong?

111 — Thu, 18 May 2006 15:11:36 -0400

I've gotten a couple of emails telling me that my site is loading sloooooooooww, esp. in Safari. I'm on Firefox, and it seems to work fine. Is there anyone out there willing to freelance/give some advice? It happened before, but because I had too many posts on the front page. What is it now? Who can it be now?

In exchange for any service, I'll let you call me a pretentious bastard without responding.

What's your policy on posting unauthorized mp3s, and why?

indiefolkforever — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 11:22:49 -0500

I've noticed many prominent blogs (Chrome Waves, Largehearted Boy, etc) seem to have an official policy of only linking to "official" mp3s and not posting any themselves, and therefore no "unauthorized" mp3s.

Yet other very prominent blogs, including those supported by major advertisers (Idolator, Gorilla Vs. Bear, etc) regularly post such mp3s (following the rules of thumb of posting an "evaluation purposes" disclaimer, leaving it up for a limited time and only posting one or two tracks from a release).

Of the latter category, some mp3s are certainly posted by permission, although it's generally unclear which or how many. If you ask permission, do you always do so? Any tips on how to do so successfully?

Does anyone post a mix, linking to an "official" mp3 if available but falling back on unauthorized if not?

Which of these categories do you fall into, and what is your rationale? I understand and respect all these positions, I'd just be curious to hear individual bloggers talk about why they do what they do on their blog.

Is Elbo.ws ignoring me?!

renaissancemen — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 20:08:00 -0400

I am a new blogger. (Obligatory Link: Renaissance Men Don't Surf ) I submitted my blog to the elbo.ws thing over three weeks ago and it has yet to show my blog on the site. If I try to re-sumbit the url, it says that they already have it, but doesn't list me under the directory or show my posts. Does it generally take this long to be approved? I have e-mailed them, but didn't get a response. Any clues what's going on? Thankya, Peter

Major Labels Approaching MP3 Bloggers

cousincreep — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 15:17:37 -0400

Just wondering if anyone else has received an email from Chris Bridgland of Parlophone (EMI) from the UK? He sent me this email (see below) about putting content on my site from EMI. I wrote him back saying I refuse to list any of his content as Iâ€™m sure the EMI Promotions Department view MP3 Bloggers differently to their Legal Department and that makes it more risky to MP3 Blogger to accept. He wrote back saying no itâ€™s wouldnâ€™t be Illegal as long as itâ€™s not exploited or something along those lines. I replied and never received a reply saying his motives were akin to entrapment but the whole thing reeks of the entire early 90â€™s Scam Indie mentality. Plus if you allow yourself to be subjected to the majors dictating your content there goes any independence you have on the MP3 Blogging concept a whole.

Cousin Creep

*******************
Hey guys
Howâ€™s it going? Iâ€™m just getting in contact to introduce myself and see if you would be interested in working with me in the near future and beyond. Basically, my name is Chris, and I am the digital marketing assistant at Parlophone (EMI) based in Hammersmith, London (UK). I came across your audio blogging site and it really impressed with me, seems a great way to spread the word of new music across the internet and reach a large number of people who are also into new up and coming music.
We have a number of emerging artists on our label, and also on Regal (the smaller label which deals with up and coming artists) and are looking at the best ways to expose them across the internet. I wondered if you would be interested in working with us in a small way, we would send out exclusive unreleased audio and press/shots from the new records which are coming out in the near future, and you just carry on with what you are already doing with posting it and making it available for download for a limited amount of time. As already said, although we are a major label and responsible for huge artists such as Kylie, Beastie Boys etc, we do have a very committed A&R department which works with a lot of small underground emerging talent, the lifeblood of the industry, from the UK and overseas. This is the reason why I personally love working here as the industry would not be able to survive if not for the continuous source of original emerging talent from the underground.
If you are interested, or alternatively if you are not, could you please message me back so I know. If you are interested would you be able to answer a few questions just so I can have a few details down about you and your blog site.
Name :
Email Contact :
Other Contacts (phone/other email) [optional] :
What kind of genre you prefer to work mainly with and post up on your site
[ Pop / rock / hip-hop / dance / jazz / anything! ] :
Where are you located : [ London / L.A. / New York etc ]
I will have to ask about site traffic, mailing lists, updates etc, just for me to know for my spreadsheets, but that can wait until I know whether you want to be involved or not!
Thanks a lot mate and hopefully hear back from you soon
Chris Bridgland
Digital Media Assistant

Parlophone
43 Brook Green
London
W6 7EF

"remove this track"

sean gramophone — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 06:44:09 -0400

This is the thread where you tell fellow bloggers that you've been asked by labels/artists/PRs etc to take a track offline, in order to spare others the headache. I'll start: tracks from Herman Dune's upcoming "Giant" (which were free on the band's website!)

Podsafe

Oh_Simone — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 09:43:24 -0400

I'm looking to make my podcast (here or here) a more regular feature of my blog, but really want to make it Podsafe. That is, I want to make it legitimate because podcasts are more usually permanent fixtures, unlike posted mp3s which tend to be taken down after a while.

My question is: how legitimate is legitimate? If I get the artist's written permission is that sufficient, or could a label still have a problem with that? Are tracks available for free, or streamable from Myspace (for instance) ok to use? It's a legal minefield and I'm nervous.

It's cold, and there are wolves after me...

Expanding the horizon ..

squashed — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 11:13:37 -0400

Sorry about the cheesy title. but this remix is cool (songs LTJ Bukem, Horizons, w/ Angelous speech/poem)

Each of you a bordered country,

Delicate and strangely made proud,

Yet thrusting perpetually under siege.

...

Do not be wedded forever

To fear, yoked eternally

To brutishness.

The horizon leans forward,

Offering you space to place new steps of change.

http://www.oneloudernyc.com/2006/10/personal-manifesto-part-one-blogger.html

1. Blogs talk about the same small set of bands.

....

Is it somehow wrong when music blogs parallel the "what's new, what's hot" mentality as for-profit media? What is the nature and point of music blogs then? Is it the stict realm of personal, unsolicited opinions only? Does crossing into service journalism and covering subjects that fall outside of individual preference somehow violate unwritten rules? I really don't know because there are no rules. There are larger questions here that are better suited for future topics. I do believe that it is only natural that most music blogs inevitably line up with popular trends. It's not wrong. It's an immortal "it is what it is".

So what about the question of worthiness. Are these hyped groups really that great? That is a question that cannot be answered, an argument that cannot be won or lost. It is a wholly subjective matter. I do have a solution for avoiding the blogs I don't like though and it's simple and liberating: I don't read them.

-----------

So, the questions ...

How to brings blog selection/editorial from rudimentary "I like what I hear just now" to a more driven "I am looking for what I like"

What strategy to bring new music into a blog content while maintaining coherency and not loosing focus. How to look for new music quickly without being bogged down into spending time searching instead of enjoying. How to balance what's popular with what's edgy without becoming pointless obscurantist.

what strategy to collect those information, organize and connect music/band with readers.

Podcast advice

Oh_Simone — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 05:53:17 -0400

Hi folks, just requesting some advice on creating a feed for my podcast...
Monsieur SAS Radio recommended me to OurMedia, which is all good, but I'm having trouble with the RSS feed - I've created an OurMedia blog for now as a temporary thing. In theory, it should automatically generate the feed for you based on what you upload, but it doesn't seem to have been operational for ages now.

Any advice/solutions/alternative hosting arrangement suggestions? Thank you kindly, you wonderful people.

How to help small band on the net?

squashed — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 18:58:34 -0400

okie, since I really want to organise a small how-to. I suppose I toss the question here. To get input.

- what is the general goal and process of promoting small/emerging band on the net?

- how can blog help smaller band/do it youself band promote themselves on the net.

- what easy thing should they do to make blogger work easier helping them.

- what advice can we give them when interacting with blogs

- what sort of thing mp3 blogs can provide. (space? advice, info compilation, who is who, etc... how to organise this)

----------

The way I see it, any band (provided their work is decent), can be viewed as a first time blogger entering the scene. All the challange of promoting, getting recognition, learning the tool, the contact, etc, etc... If we can accelerate and dispense the trial and error... we might help band get out on the net faster.

Tired Of Hotlinking? There's a Solution.

loudersoft — Sun, 07 May 2006 08:08:49 -0400

http://www.htmlbasix.com/disablehotlinking.shtml

this will only work if you host your mp3's on your own hosting that you can access with FTP. i recommend that you choose the url redirect and point it to your site address. that way if anyone hotlinks your mp3's, the .htaccess file will automatically redirect the person who clicks to your front page.

questions? ask away. i'm sure a lot of you do this already.

where can I find a good music blog to start my music blog??

theboors — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 19:16:27 -0400

I know this seems like a lame question.
But seriously, I have a slow pc and no dsl. So its a bitch to find the right site on such snail speeds. I am on blog.com and all that hype and they demand such "red tape" in all kinds of problems

I just want to upload my audio, (in a creative commons protection which I do) and photos, kinda like a web site.. because I wouldnt waste time trying to make a web site without dsl or pay for one..

so if anyone knows a hassle-free blog site to put music on.. please help. thanks so much..

Anyone Using The New Blogger Beta Version?

BillRocksCleveland — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 19:13:06 -0400

I don't want to be the first.

Blogger Beta

advice - how soon to plug an upcoming release?

Page300 — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 19:41:31 -0400

So one of my favorite bands new CD is FINALLY coming out in the US... Your Black Star's Sound From The Ground. It came out last year in Japan, Austrailia and the UK, and I've been wearing out my import copy of it for the last six months.

To get to the point, the street date is October 10. How soon should I post about it? I realize I can do it whenever I want, I was just trying to get some advice on what the optimal advance time would be.

help me with some html

Dave Rawkblog — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 00:50:49 -0400

my left sidebar is way off and i can't figure out how to fix it. i want the dotted line to line up with the dotted line in my content.

blog

layout problem

diyrockstar // jeff — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 02:01:02 -0400

for some reason my background and sidebar haven't been showing up lately... i don't know why, i haven't changed anything... ideas?

Blog size, evolution and whores

squashed — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 09:32:46 -0400

some numbers I observed so far. (very small sample, so margin of error is large. confirm yourself)

~ 150 visitors to generate 1 comment
~ 1000 ave to be able to start selling ad
~ 1000 visitors to click "purchase" item
~ 3000 is a massive brick wall. (anybody knows why?)

This seems to be common growth phases.

Post Designs ( Ideas, catalog, yayblog and notes)

squashed — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 10:18:21 -0400

Similar to yayblog, but primarily to discuss posting 'design'.
arrangement, looks, considerations.
various best of and practices of putting text, pictures, colors, etc.

wordpress comment/trackback spam

ryna — Thu, 25 May 2006 13:32:03 -0400

what's the best way to effectively combat this?

Understanding Feeds 101

x4a — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 18:01:37 -0400

I know Aurgasm posted a thread on rssfwd and not sure if we have already covered this in another thread. So, if we have please point me to the answer.

Can someone give a Feeds 101 summary. I understand the basic (I think) but not sure about some things.

1. Is there a way to map over folks who subscribe to your feed to your visitor stats and page view stats? I assume those stats are not being integrated into the stat program.

2. Do feed subscribers actually ever visit your blog pages or are they only looking at the feed contents with feed subscriber software? (dumb question?)
So, if everyone subscribed to your feed would that mean no one is actually visiting the blog pages themselves (instead the pages map to the feed)

As you can see from my dumbass questions, I be confused so helpie me out..please

HELP!! How to make the jump from Blog Host to Dot Com?

*Sixeyes — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 14:40:21 -0400

I've been at the blog thing for over 2 years now and for about the past year have thought about making the change to a dot com. The big thing that holds me back is 'How will people find me?'. I know there has got to be somebody out there who has gone through it and has some helpful and insightful tips... tips to make the transition less stressful. I'm also concerned that I will vanish and drop significantly from search results, I see sixeyes ranking extremely high at times and I don't want to lose that presence in google. Anyone have any advice with the change to a dot com?

rss problems

Invisible Limb — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 03:18:30 -0400

Every so often one of my new posts will cause my rss feed to give me errors. They are almost always "white space not allowed errors" and they are annoying. Anyone know what might be causing this? The errors seem random to me.

http://www.invisiblelimb.net/limb/rss

If the above link is working, then that means I probably solved the issue.

Starting New Blog

chris — Mon, 29 May 2006 00:54:56 -0400

Hi all - I've been trying to get into a groove with this blog stuff since i started in 2004...started a new one up in 2005, and i think its going ok. But, it's taken me a while to get to begin understand the ins & outs as well as some of the etiquette associated with doing this stuff. - I've been helped in a few directions from past mistakes and errors that I've made (unknowningly), just as hyperlinking files and emailing for link exchanges and such...

So now that I'd like to truly get this stuff going, I feel that I have somewhat of a negative connotation associated with my site. I'd like to change the name and address and am wondering if anyone has thought of going through something like this, or if anyone has any words of advice.

PS - I'm thinking of figuring a way of shortening "keep on bloggin' in the free world" (suggestions?) thanks for all the help!

-Chris

code refactoring (problems, considerations, advice?)

ryna — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 14:38:40 -0400

so i have a few things i want to do content-wise on good hodgkins that require me messing with a few display elements and the coding of the site in general. this has inspired me to do a full-fledged redo of the code. everything's pretty sloppy right now and to do a refactoring that didn't break the appearance of a few older posts would mean the code would continue to be sloppy. so my question is, do i:

1) start from scratch and forget about older posts
2) just allow older posts to look broken
3) go back and make sure 300 posts look ok (this will take a long time)

has anyone done an undertaking of this nature before? and if so, what did you do?

Blogger.com vs. search engine

squashed — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 12:50:53 -0400

I have a question for everybody who is using blogger.com. I am having difficulty creating post that stick on google. At least, compared to how easy it is in wordpress.com.

Has anybody explored this area using blogger.com ? If so, why the large difference between blogger.com vs. wordpress when it come to google indexing an entry?

Just used a new template and...

angela — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 02:51:30 -0400

I was wondering why the permalinks still make the old posts appear in the old template? And for the new posts, how can I make the page longer so that when you click the permalink the page extends down to fit the entire sidebar, instead of just the content of the post itself?

And as always, my page looks silly in IE but I'm not going to bother with that.

Adding a blog RSS feed on the sidebar of your website.

Taylor musicforants — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 03:06:53 -0400

I need to add a feed from a different blog to the sidebar of mine in a format where you'll be able to see the last few blog posts and click on one of them to go directly to their site. It should be able to update automatically without me having to update the site.

It'll be like "Last 5 posts from ______.com"
then have those posts with a clickable read more button underneath. Does anyone have the code to do this or know a site that implements this kindof feature?