Elbows Music Blog Community

Merz, it also bothers me when people do this. It's the artist's work, it should be labeled as such, including the album you can find the song on and the art which they carefully chose / designed.

I'm not against bloggers putting something in the "notes" section for the song. Like from "[insert cool name here] mix/blog/etc."

I read GQAC and realize 90% if not all the tracks he posts are album-less. This is due to them being remixes or others of the sort. Do you guys think it's wrong to fill the album line when there is nothing there?

My practices are to never replace an album name, but if it's blank I'll throw in a URL.

I'm with the others - changing anything in the artist or album fields is pretty bad form, as is changing the artwork.
I add "Downloaded from The Blue Walrus - http://www.thebluewalrus.com" to the comments fields of most mp3s I post unless that field is already populated.

When I am putting together a mixtape/compilation though I will edit the album field to reflect the mixtape and ditto with the artwork - but that is for a specific purpose.

I'm a fan. I love music. If i find an artist i like, i'll research them, find out everything about them - albums, tracks etc. If someone checks my blog, the typical person will also have similar characteristics - they'll do more then just download a track and leave it at that. Otherwise why would they be on my blog!

A lot of people will probably look an artists up on youtube, spotify, last fm, myspace, soundcloud etc to see where they can get more. I don't think we're ruining artsts lives by replacing their artwork - i work hard at updating my blog, so if an album artwork jogs someones memory to think - yeah I'll pay that place a visit again... then cool!

First, music bloggers by nature are fans of music and put hard work into researching the music they love and want to share. So? The point you are missing is that artists/musicians are ALSO fans of music and put an enormous amount of time/effort/money into their craft. We are loving/sharing their hard work. The mp3 is a piece of Intellectual Property that is their own. Music bloggers want to help promote music they love and share it with others. So, then promote THEIR music by having the respect for their intellectual property and the hard work they put into it.

Replacing an artist's album artwork is, quite frankly, an insult to an artist. A good majority (if not all) of these new indie artists work normal jobs to support their passion for making music. And they put a lot of care and time in generating their album artwork. The artwork, like the music, is an expression of what they are trying to convey and put forth with emotion. It's THEIR work and should be respected as such. By replacing their artwork, you are basically shitting on the artist for the sake of bringing people back to your blog. I'm sorry but that's a very poor way to do things.

I'll always leave in ALL artist details and if it's from an album I'll leave that in but like ben said - most my stuff is just random remix's (not albums) and "Album artist" is 99% of the time same as "Artist" so whats wrong in replacing that.

I love you guys - but we're not killing anyone here by replacing the artwork / album name. I don't a Moral issue with this - i don't think it even comes under that. We all work hard at our own blogs - we will ALWAYS credit the artist in the MP3 ID3 tag, but what's wrong in crediting your own work in putting up the post and putting the time in researching that artists and then writing your post about them?

You just wrote "I'll always leave in ALL artist details" but in your opening thread post you wrote "I always add my Give Quiche A Chance artwork and also add my url in the album artist / comments / lyrics." So, which is it?

I'm not very versed on "remixes" but "remixes" are made from various pieces of an artists music, right? So, why can't you fill the "Album Artist" field with the names of the artists that are in the remix? Or put it in the notes/comments section, at least? In the "old days", like Tsuru, I use to make cassette tape and CD compilations. And I always tried to include a list (most times just hand written) of the artists and track titles that were in that compilation. Hell, it's their music and I want people to know who they are listening to. That is only common sense.

And, no we're YOU'RE "not killing anyone here by replacing the artwork / album name" but you are seriously FUCKING over an artist's hard earned work with ZERO respect to their intellectual property.

"we will ALWAYS credit the artist in the MP3 ID3 tag". ?? You are contradicting yourself again - "I always add my Give Quiche A Chance artwork and also add my url in the album artist / comments / lyrics"??

I don't see where anyone specifically used the word "Moral". Perhaps, you have used it because you are feeling somewhat guilty?

Ultimately though, to each his own. But remember, if you want to promote music you love and share it with others then you may want to consider the sweat and blood that an artist puts into his craft. They own the rights to their music and artwork NOT you.

And why can't the post that you researched and wrote be credit enough for you? Why do you need to credit the mp3 (which isn't your work) to yourself?

Finally, I would love to see and hear what an artist would say about this. Even if it's a "remix", I can imagine an artist saying "hey that's my music in that remix" where's the credit? If I was the artist, I would be SEVERELY pissed and EXTREMELY offended, at the very least.

"To skip over an angry Merz a little"

Thanks Tim, that's rather insulting especially the "skip over" part. You may interpret it as anger; however it was my feelings/thoughts on the subject which I thought I was free to express on this forum.

I was trying to state my opinion from experience and what I feel is right regarding artist's intellectual property. Once again, the fact is bloggers are dealing with an artists financial stake, as well as, hard earned work. To blatantly ignore that with "crediting your own (blogging) work" by modifying an artist's mp3 ID3 tags is not right.

Furthermore, I did state that I'm not very versed on "remixes" so perhaps your point is valid. But, the topic was initially started as "I always add my Give Quiche A Chance artwork and also add my url in the album artist / comments / lyrics" and then was furthered by another post that "tried" to apply some half-assed logic (imo) to support doing that.

I have no problem with a blogger using the "notes" section (as Lee pointed out) or even comments section for whatever self rewarding words they desire to use. And even if the separate "album artist" field is rarely populated that is a "lame excuse" for adding your blog name or link there. It's called "album artist" just for that reason regardless of whether it is rarely populated or not. In the past, if that field was empty, I would replace it with the album artist because that's what it is. The "album artist" is NOT the blogger.

I usually backdown when I get in these type of discussions especially when comments like "skip over" are made. That's a main reason I don't like to engage here or anywhere else. However; in this case, I am going to exert all I have to try to not fall into that. It won't be easy. But, I stand by everything I said. And I really don't give a Fuck if it's viewed as angry. I tend to communicate with passion and emotion. It's a serious weakness. I accept your logical, knowledgable, emotionless comments and view your input as valuable. I would certainly hope that you could afford me the same. But maybe that's asking too much?

"Skip over" everything I write, if you like. You will just join the ranks of people who have been doing that to me my whole life.

Really? I didn't know that replacing album names was considered so gauche. I'm guilty as charged, but with reason: I actually generally like when blogs replace album names with the name of their blog. At least, when it's a blog I like.

The two best examples I can give are Et Musique Pour Tous (look at me again...I should probably just start a fan club), and redthreat. Both replace album names with the name of their blog (actually, not sure if redthreat does so often anymore). I don't find it obnoxious or insulting, rather, I find it a handy categorization tool.

Both of the aforementioned blogs are written by people who's music tastes I respect greatly. Both--with the occasional exception, of course--have a pretty marked aesthetic and tendencies towards the type of music they post. So, when I'm feeling in the mood for some 'Et Musique Pour Tous type music', or 'redthreat-type music', I can easily go to my iTunes, type in the name of the blog, and have an entire 'playlist' (of sorts) at my disposal because the name of the blog in the album titles automatically generates a list of songs of 'that type'.

When I first started LOOSE L!PS, I had a really distinct aesthetic I wanted to adhere to (though as time has passed I've let up a lot and just posted whatever the hell I feel like), and I wanted people to be able to also easily identify 'LOOSE L!PS-type music'. Hence, I replaced the album names with my own; the reason being that I was trying to create a cohesive music-sharing experience with my viewers. If I merely posted LOOSE L!PS in the comments, it wouldn't be pulled up in the iTunes search.

I know you might argue that I should just make 'blog playlists' of the songs I get from each of my respective favorites, sparing this argument of album title replacement. You're right, I could, but with the volume of music I download per day, trying to immediately stick it all into playlists (which I have tried) is both annoying and impractical. And if I, the OCD music-organizing freak, am too lazy to make 'blog playlists' in my iTunes, I can hardly expect the layman reader to do the same. But, should they feel that they identify with my blog and the music I post, they can easily and succinctly access the 'LOOSE L!PS sound' simply by typing my name into their iTunes.

I'm not trying to disrespect the artists. If anyone has read my blog I think you would realize that every artist I post I am crazy about, and want nothing more than for my readers to further explore their work, go to their shows, and most importantly, buy their [complete] albums. Rather, I'm seeking to somehow tie the music that I love together (which in some crazy way I think somehow relates to each other) in a musical library. Hell, I type in LOOSE L!PS to my own iTunes library to access my favorite songs.


And in terms of artwork, I never replace album artwork, but I will add my logo in addition. But it terms of songs who's album art fields are left blank, I always add my logo. I HATE that default iTunes sign that appears when a song is missing artwork. I'd rather have an obnoxious blog logo in place of that null space.

I am personally uncomfortable altering artist info beyond adding something in the comments field, as that's what it's there for. The way I organize my music has nothing to do with what blog I found it on, so I can't really speak to the usefulness of that angle. If anything, I tend to get annoyed with that because if I'm trying to sort by album title or the like a blog name or url isn't helpful.

Saw this in my music collection just now

I'd say a mixtape is a different animal.

@ Tsuru - How would you feel if someone made tons of copies of "TSURUFOTO NUDIEZINE issue no. 3 - SPECIAL EDITION: We Could Be Heroes..." , slapped a totally different cover on it, changed it to "SPECIAL EDITION: We Could Be Zeroes..." , changed "All photography, illustrations, & words by Aaron Driggers" to "by Joe Blow" and put it up for free on their own etsy page????

*shrug*

@Caleb - lol... Thats awful - the extreme of what we're talking about

@merz - Genuinely appreciate you taking time to make your point... I don't see it as an angry comment at all but exactly that of your view on the subject. First off - My literate skills are awful so you'll be able to see flaws all over not only the above post but all over my blog too... i'm working on it. Someone however who is WAY more literate is @LOOSELIPS who seems to have worded properly similar thoughts i had too on the use of artwork and blog credentials. I'm not gonna answer each of your points - but a broad brush stroke is that if the details are there in an ID3 my usual practice is to leave it in and put references in another field. The pic from @caleb is an extreme,... i don't think anyone would ever go that far.

A side point - a lot of my music comes from other blogs who allready have their artwork/credentials in place... anywho - I'm done.

Appreciate the discussion - I know I'm not the best at getting my point across and I think it comes down to straight difference of opinion. Thats allowed ... :)

original post deleted. sorry for the waste of thread space.

i said i don't replace original artwork, i don't. those mp3 didn't have any artwork attached to them when i got them.

that's a whole lot of screenshots there though.


i get what you're getting at david. i do. but the fact is, the majority of mp3s i receive don't have album art attached to begin with. i supposed i could go dredge up the album art and illegally pull it from someone's site, but in terms of time and ease of categorization, it's easier just to stick my own pre-saved logos on there. if an artist ever contacted me saying, "hey, you know what, i find it really offensive that you've changed/added to my album artwork," i'd probably stop altogether. but to date, they haven't.

It sounds to me like you weren't wrong at all, Merz. If they were able to change it, they would. They just don't have the time or resources. This only furthers your thoughts.

They both don't like it:

1. "It is an absolute bummer"

2. "I don't love the idea of people tweaking what I present to the world for their own purposes"

The reason why I continue to make the point here is that I am passionate about this topic as well. No one is going to like people replacing their original work. It's just not true.

Tsuru, if Merz's example happened to your work all the time I don't think you'd actually find it hilarious. Then again, you are usually different about your bloggerin' lifestyle ways, so you actually might. I don't know ;)

Yeah, as I've learned again and again and even again today - http://bit.ly/emU6VS - I'm not very good at music bloggerin'. But I think I'm good at mixtapin', so I'm stickin' with the method to my madness.

For plain mp3s, I clean up the mp3s as best I can, usually add tsururadio to the genre because I think it's funny, give it 5 stars on iTunes (or is it 4? can't remember off the top of my head), and clean out any mess I find from god knows what source it came from and upload it.

Remember the way people go learn about an artist that we talked about in the my_____ thread. It's hear about artist >> google >> click When "I.D.W.2.F" comes on by Black Swans on their iPhone while playing my mixtape, and they like it, they will find it. Is it shitty to add MYBLOGROCKS.com on every ID tag in an mp3? Sure... There's a line to everything. But, if you think I crossed it, I'm sorry and I disagree.

As for my own work, I really think it would be awesome. Actually, someone did swipe a few of my images and plug in text in areas of the images. We talked online and started collaborating on a calendar. She ended up getting a full time graphics job and my zine took off, so it fell through, but she had free range to do what she wanted to my photos. I give full res images to the models I work with, a few of done some pretty ugly shit to them and posted them online. I find it super interesting, the effort someone took to a completed project to make it "better" in their eyes...

My philosophy is pretty open. If people see it, isn't that point since I'm putting it out there? To get the image out of my head and into yours? If then someone is inspired by it to make something of their own, even at the expense of your work, isn't that just the continuation of art & creativity?

Ugh.. there I go rambling again, not even sure what I'm talking about anymore. C'est la vie....

bump

ego defending excuses are the rage but truth/reality always wins.