I'm old here, so what is... 'Oh, Wrinklepaws'?

Anywho, they came to me because they know I read a lot of mp3 blogs like ILM and Stereogum. I suggested that they send out music samples to all the major tastemakers, which they did -- but no response as of yet.

Then I found another intriguing option, for $25 they can be the band of the week on Scenestars, a fave mp3 blog of mine:
http://scenestars.net/bandspot/index.php

What do you think, is the exposure worth $25? I mean, they could just post their music on the YSI thread here for free.. Does anyone know how much traffic Scenestars gets or how many downloads they can expect in a week?

I think they should do it as Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, and CYHSY are all prominently featured and they are looking to do a similar grassroots viral DIY thing to get label attention.

These Scenestar folks have a pretty high profile so some industry people must listen to what their flogging. Do you think journos will take us less seriously if it's a paid promotion? I have mixed feelings, free would be ideal, but they are not in a position to hire a PR person.

thx in advance,
W

-- Wrinklepaws (wrinklepaw...), April 5th, 2006. (1 trackback)
Answers
ILM IS NOT AN MP3 BLOG

-- Special Agent Gene Krupa (dr.carl.saga...), April 5th, 2006.
oh, wrinklepaws

-- cutty (holle...), April 5th, 2006.
oh god.

-- sean gramophone (sea...), April 5th, 2006.
I read a lot of mp3 blogs like [INSERT NAME OF SITE I AM SPAMMING] and Stereogum

-- musically (emxbe...), April 5th, 2006.
there are several different possible pronunciations "oh, wrinklepaws," and all of them are hilarious

-- ZR (teenagequie...), April 5th, 2006.
Holy shit.

-- Eppy (epp...), April 5th, 2006.
wrinklepaws is my favorite

-- +++++ (...), April 5th, 2006.
okay here is how you become big on "the mp3blogs".

1) email the "big" mp3blogs personalised emails, and tell them you are giving them an "exclusive" song to post. send link to myspace/website/whatever. tell them who you sound like - bonus points if it's Sufjan/Jenny Watson/Rilo Kiley/Nick Drake. offer to send them CD.

2) email the smaller mp3blogs personalised emails, with a link to where they can download the album. send link to myspace/website/whatever. tell them who you sound like - bonus points if it's Sufjan/Jenny Watson/Rilo Kiley/Nick Drake.

3) profit

mp3blogs in general have TERRIBLE quality control, and many basically post anything that sounds like a good/popular band. they are trying to post stuff their readers will like more than anything that is excellent per se. also they prefer to post something no one has posted before, rather than something that is particularly awesome.

paying for coverage on mp3blog sidebars seems retarded to me, but what do i know.

-- sean gramophone (sea...), April 5th, 2006.
I checked to see if this is was an April Fool's. It wasn't.

-- Eppy (epp...), April 5th, 2006.
is lancing an option for an external hemorrhoid? I asked my ex-girlfirend to ask her dad (who's a doctor) but I'm still waiting on a reply.

ex-gf says no, as one might "hit a subcutaenous river of unpleasantness" (her words). I am inclined to think "maybe", as it would reduce swelling -- but as I don't have health insurance right now i'll proabably just chicken out.

-- Wrinklepaws (wrinklepaw...), April 4th, 2006.

-- ++++++ (...), April 5th, 2006.
xxxxpost

I'm hearing it in my head like Mr. Burns reading the comix and saying, "Oh, Ziggy. Will he never win."

-- Renard (drenard...), April 5th, 2006.
what did starvin' indie bands ever do before paypal?

-- caspar (caspa...), April 5th, 2006.
Hot female lead singer showin' a little thigh, I hear.

-- Eppy (epp...), April 5th, 2006.
many thx sean! the rest of you go die.

-- Wrinklepaws (wrinklepaw...), April 5th, 2006.
i mean, they might go and do it anyway, can't hurt, naw'mean?
but thx

-- Wrinklepaws (wrinklepaw...), April 5th, 2006.
oh, wrinklepaws

-- ZR (teenagequie...), April 5th, 2006.
Scenestars charging money is bullshit .... your idea that blog payola = "diy grassroots" is nearly equally misguided

-- Renard (drenard...), April 5th, 2006.
Two thoughts:

1) I've never heard of Scenestars, and I'm no stranger to MP3 blogs,

and

2) This sounds like the latest version of the "put your crappy indie band on our crappy CD compilation that we're gonna, like, shop to, like, The Music Industry (tm)". (Translation: the CD gets placed on consignment in a bunch of shops where no one buys it, and sent to record labels who immediately chuck the package in the recycle bin reserved for unsolicited material.)

-- Tantrum The Cat (tantrumtheca...), April 5th, 2006.
ILM meme of the day = oh, wrinklepaws

-- Edward III (ehonaue...), April 5th, 2006.
There was all this.

-- Eppy (epp...), April 5th, 2006.
Doesn't *cough* PFM still have a pay-for-placement mp3 download page? I'm not sure what the numbers are for people actually looking at that page but I know at least one local band that's done it.

-- mike h. (m...), April 5th, 2006.
MP3BLOG PAYOLA $CANDAL ALERT ELIOT SPITZER

-- hstencil (hstenc!...), April 5th, 2006.
Ah yes, the old "grassroots viral DIY thing".

-- nancyboy (40milliondagger...), April 5th, 2006.
ILM IS NOT AN MP3 BLOG...ILM IS THE MP3 BLOG

-- Alex in Baltimore (shipley.a...), April 5th, 2006.
Oh lord. Have the Scenestars lost their minds altogether?

-- Matthew C Perpetua (perpetu...), April 5th, 2006.
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!

(cue organ)

-- hstencil (hstenc!...), April 5th, 2006.
the drudge siren joke never gets old

-- Renard (drenard...), April 5th, 2006.
shipley is that from your chuck norris inspired "ilm facts" list?

-- +++++ (...), April 5th, 2006.
CYHSY

This always makes me think of Crosby, Young, Henning (Doug), Stills & Youngman (Henny)

-- Huk-L (handsomishbo...), April 5th, 2006.
I don't even know what that's supposed to mean, dude. just give up, you're firing blanks today.

-- Alex in Baltimore (shipley.a...), April 5th, 2006.
Doesn't *cough* PFM still have a pay-for-placement mp3 download page? I'm not sure what the numbers are for people actually looking at that page but I know at least one local band that's done it.

wait, how much does this cost?

-- Wrinklepaws (wrinklepaw...), April 5th, 2006.
Just send 200 grams of pure uncut heroin to Ryan Schreiber.

-- Eppy (epp...), April 5th, 2006.
and some preperation-H

-- hstencil (hstenc!...), April 5th, 2006.
Oh man, I love when the police lights show up in a thread.

-- BlastsOfStatic (breitlin...), April 5th, 2006.
"Guaranteed to Break Your Hip"

anyone want to tell me what this means?

http://scenestars.net/mail/mail_patrik/

"Please use the form below to contact Mark"

:(

-- banana squad (...), April 5th, 2006.
what what a-ship, your bro didnt ever send you chuck norris facts?? that wasnt a dis, i was trying to make you post shit like THERE IS NO THEORY OF EVOLUTION, JUST A LIST OF RAPPERS ILM ALLOWS TO CONTINUE RECORDING.

-- +++++ (...), April 5th, 2006.
haha ok dude, sorry, i must be behind on my internet memes, i forgot about that chuck norris thing

-- Alex in Baltimore (shipley.a...), April 5th, 2006.
i want to be a scenestar

-- cutty (holle...), April 5th, 2006.
THERE IS NO HTML CODE UNDER THE MAIN PAGE OF GOVT NAMES - ONLY ANOTHER FIST.

-- +++++ (...), April 5th, 2006.
take it to the DJ Shadow thread, man.

-- Alex in Baltimore (shipley.a...), April 5th, 2006.
Fess up Perpetua, you may have your pride and integrity but don't you wish you had TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS? I mean, that's some serious taco money.

-- mike h. (m...), April 5th, 2006.
oh man

-- cutty (holle...), April 5th, 2006.
"grassroots viral thing" sounds like hippie herpes

-- pssst - badass revolutionary art! (plsmit...), April 5th, 2006.
If your friends are male:
1. let them lose weight + wear makeup
2. send pictures to ultr4grrrl
3.
4. profit

-- StanM (Stan10...), April 5th, 2006.
Now picture Bowling for Soup doing that.

-- Eppy (epp...), April 5th, 2006.
ok i am looking at scenestars for the first time in a while, and right now, in april of 2006, its front page has: love is all, clap your ass say woo, and a bunch of 'look, i get to go to a conference' life-drops. and the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS. oh and some press releasey things about sufjan stevens and beck.

so wrinklepaws, i guess if your friend's band wants to be at the zeitgeist of six months ago, this $25 thing sounds like the perfect opportunity.

ps plz don't give me the 'aw they're in memphis' excuse, hello you're all on the internet

-- maura (maur...), April 5th, 2006.
Fess up Perpetua, you may have your pride and integrity but don't you wish you had TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS? I mean, that's some serious taco money.
-- mike h. (m...), April 5th, 2006.

^^^ pwn

-- +++++ (+...), April 5th, 2006.
hi maura! :D

-- ++++ (...), April 5th, 2006.
Matthew wouldn't take $25 to post an MP3 unless two blogs that get signifantly less readers than him had already done it. Then he could "discover" payola and tell all his fans about it.

-- Dom Passantino (juror...), April 5th, 2006.
It's my blog, so I guess I'll explain the deal -

You may have noticed the blogads banners on most reputable mp3 sites...

This is where the big 5 record companies buy space to advertise new records from their artists. Elefant, Flaming Lips, Beth Orton, I can;t remmeber all of the ones that have been featured in the last few months...

I get about 30 emails a week from independent bands asking me to listen to their music. I also get about 10 CD's in the mail from labels and PR companies. I can't listen to it all. The $25 basically gives you premium space on a blog that gets up to 4000 hits a day and since we host the music, it covers bandwidth costs.

All in all, it's a pretty good deal.

-- Rachel Hurley (rache...), April 5th, 2006.
A good deal, huh? Maura said it best up above: "if your friend's band wants to be at the zeitgeist of six months ago."

I'm sure the day will come when sounding "six months ago" will be all the rage, but the cycle hasn't sped up that much yet. The primary flaw that Scenestars has always had (above many, many others) is that it's a hanger-on blog.

Giving $25 to Scenestars could be better sent mailing 25 cdr's to 25 other mp3 blogs.

-- Johnny Fever (sidewaysou...), April 5th, 2006.
i for one will automatically hex any band that pays to be on scenestars. shudder

-- sovietpanda (sovietpand...), April 5th, 2006.
NYPOST: SPITZER FIGHTS BLOG PAYOLA WITH VOODOO

-- yuengling participle (pton_mwaa...), April 5th, 2006.
What kind of bandwidth costs do you have, Rachel? It costs me $200 a YEAR to pay for my domain/webspace and file hosting. Either you've signed up for a chump deal, or you're pocketing a LOT of that money.

-- Matthew C Perpetua (perpetu...), April 5th, 2006.
Well, maybe not a LOT of it if you're splitting it with your contributors.

-- Matthew C Perpetua (perpetu...), April 5th, 2006.
reputable mp3 sites...

XPOST

hey fatass, it is because your WMA files are tiny

-- Fight the Real Enemy -- Tasti D-Lite (dr_...), April 5th, 2006.
Rachel, perhaps you could more effectively supplement your expenses by going into business with these kind people.

-- Johnny Fever (sidewaysou...), April 5th, 2006.
5 featured artists that I notice * $25 * 52 weeks is $6500. Just food for thought.

Do music bloggers that play this particular game actually pay more attention to physical releases? I'd imagine email would cut costs significantly.

-- mike h. (m...), April 5th, 2006.
looks like we're missing out, you can post tracks for free to http://gabba.cc , not that we really need any more..

-- jk_ (j...), April 5th, 2006.
Record labels don't take you seriously unless you're charging people money. Believe you me.

-- Eppy (epp...), April 5th, 2006.
"We think we know what we're doing
But we don't pull the strings
it's all in the past now
money changes everything"

-- M@tt He1geson (mat...), April 5th, 2006.
Scenestars is a rubbish website.

-- James Mitchell (jxmitchel...), April 5th, 2006.
hey everyone, let's all get into a slap-fight about blogs and zeitgeist!

-- Matos-Webster Dictionary (michaelangelomato...), April 5th, 2006.
Several of us already did that about a year ago... with Scenestars.

-- Johnny Fever (sidewaysou...), April 5th, 2006. (tracklink)
To be serious for a second: if you want to spend some money promoting your music online, spend a little bit (a very little bit) more and buy an ad banner somewhere. I guess I don't know how this'll end up being presented, but in concept, it reeks of desperation--"We weren't good enough to get an MP3blog to actually post our music of their own free will (!!!) so we have paid them to do so." Now, if you can work them in seamlessly like radio stations do (uh, in the sense that it's all paid for, I guess), that's one thing. But if there's a separate "paid for" section, no one in their right mind would check it out. Maybe it's designed to trick people who are just using Mp3 aggregators, in which case good, but otherwise it's just a cordoned-off "bad and lame" area. Play a few more gigs and buy an ad banner instead. You can get one at a site of similar size for $350 a month and can doubtless work out a weekly rate if you want to.

-- Eppy (epp...), April 5th, 2006.
Great point, Eppy. A paid mp3 section is like the day-old bread shelf at the bakery.

-- Johnny Fever (sidewaysou...), April 5th, 2006.
Nick Slyvester biopic to premiere on Youtube this Fall. DEVELOPING...

-- Steve Shasta (steveshast...), April 5th, 2006.
Howard Johnson is right.

-- van igloo (non...), April 5th, 2006.
Bwahaha.

-- Eppy (epp...), April 5th, 2006.
NAW'MEAN

-- gbx (in....), April 5th, 2006.
i think wrinklepaws is secretly STEVE SHASTA tricking us

-- mookieproof (mookieproo...), April 5th, 2006.
I think you're onto something!

-- Tynan DeLong (steveshast...), April 5th, 2006.
real or not, this dude is sub-tynan at BEST.

-- jinx hijinks (nutramentmik...), April 5th, 2006.
am i the only one here mildly fascinated by this concept? at least the lure of money would keep me writing.

4 reviews @ 25$ = 100$ per week! 8 reviews = 200$!

but eh, declaring taxes. and id probably hate all the stuff that came in, so i would refund the money, putting me back at 0$.

OK, maybe this is a dumb idea. oh wrinklepaws!

-- mts (keepitonth...), April 5th, 2006.
am i the only one here mildly fascinated by this concept? at least the lure of money would keep me writing.

4 reviews @ 25$ = 100$ per week! 8 reviews = 200$!

Yeah, but this is where you cross the line between blogger and publicist.

-- Johnny Fever (sidewaysou...), April 5th, 2006.
how much is a spot on darla's 'little darla has a treat for you', it's pretty steep isn't it?

-- keyth (keythkeyt...), April 6th, 2006.
It sounds very professional even if it was mixed on ProTools and recorded in a home studio.

Off-topic, but I see little red dots and want to kill when i read stuff like this.

-- joseph cotten (josephcotte...), April 6th, 2006.
Why the ire, Joseph?

-- I like ProTools (protoolsrul...), April 6th, 2006.
Yeah, but this is where you cross the line between blogger and publicist.

how so?

-- mts (keepitonth...), April 6th, 2006.
xpost: Maybe because the phrase "it sounds very professional" (w/r/t audio recording) has been rendered utterly meaningless?

-- Tantrum The Cat (tantrumtheca...), April 6th, 2006.
Yeah, but this is where you cross the line between blogger and publicist.

how so?

I mean, you may as well just be writing those awful promo/bio sheets labels send out with advance cds. They obviously pay people to create those things, right?

I'm not going to get all soapboxy about the "inherent purity" of weblogging (it's an argument that's full of holes), but I think there's a Grand Canyon-sized chasm of difference between gushing about a band on a blog and shilling for that band after pocketing their $25.

-- Johnny Fever (sidewaysou...), April 6th, 2006.
i just want an extra 25$ in my pocket

-- mts (keepitonth...), April 6th, 2006.
"Do you think journos will take us less seriously if it's a paid promotion?"

No, I cover everything that appears for pay on Scenestars! Gimme $25 and I'll write about you in my 'zine! It's very well regarded at Kinkos.

-- js (roc...), April 6th, 2006.
If scenestars was only a "hot" mp3 blog, I'd say no. But it's a "hott" mp3 blog.

-- js (roc...), April 6th, 2006.

-- Wrinklepaws (wrinklepaw...), April 4th, 2006.

: 0

holy hail

-- cutty (holle...) (webmail), April 25th, 2006 6:43 PM. (mcutt) (later) (link)

;)

-- cutty (holle...) (webmail), April 25th, 2006 6:44 PM. (mcutt) (later) (link)

Unread Messages

I am going to start using the phrase "party good times" a lot more now

what are you doing this weekend?
you know. party good times.

-- Mickey (mi...) (webmail), April 25th, 2006 9:39 PM. (modestmickey) (later) (link)

-- N. (nickdastoo...), April 29th, 2004 9:02 AM. (nickdastoor) (link)

oh, bloggerpaws

o superman
o dave
o wrinklepaws
wrinklepaws paws paws paws paws pawus paws paws paws paws paws paws paws
hi.

OMG YOU DON'T SAY

"Could he be any more gay?"

I was blown away by what I found.

Last summer he took up blogging.

Don't even bother to try to read it unless you have an advance degree in economics.

(Update: I've read more of it now and it really is very interesting. But it all goes back to my biggest argument against the study of any kind of philosophy, if it isn't directly applicable to your life and you are able to gauge it's real life affects - then wtf is the point, other than to redirect your time into something that keeps you from dealing with your real problems! We can all use just about anything to avoid dealing wih our real everyday problems.)

http://www.scenestars.net/

I recommend the bands Bobtail Yearling and Arma Sectreta from that there.

If you are a musician you should really take advantage of this opportunity to network. If there are four people in your band, it's 25 bucks each! Did you read the list? Not only are there a lot of well connected industry people from Memphis attending, there are a lot of people you will probably never have another opportunity to be in the same room with. Don't be a dumbass.

"Don't be a dumbass."

http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~renglish/377/notes/chapt03/shelly2.jpg
Oh, wrinklepaws.

"The way that I was laying, I was snuggled into a pillow that blocked them from my view, which I was actually thankful for, but there was no mistaking what was going on. Once the realization hit me, I began going through scenarios in my mind of what I should do. Sit up and scold them? Pretend to continue to sleep? Make a noise so that they know I am awake? Get up and go into the bathroom?

The last idea was sounding pretty good because, of course, I had to pee really bad. I just had to find the courage to stand up and go to the bathroom. While I was looking for it, their whispers became more and more audible, well, at least to me. Client guy would whisper something to chatty girl, which I could clearly hear and in her highest sorority girl voice she kept saying, "What?"

Which made me really want to si up and yell, "He said blah, blah, blah, you stupid bith!." (that was not a typo!)

Instead, what happened next was that client guy said something so lame to chatty girl, that I accidentally cracked up. I immediately recovered and turned it into a cough, but I think the sentiment was understood, because the performance was over. And so, at that point, I did what most people do after sex, I got up and went to the bathroom."
http://rachelandthecity.com/skins/one/rachel2.jpg

davidblainehands.jpg

Slang

Along with their unconventional rhyming style, one of the defining elements of the Diplomats' music is their distinctive slang they have incorporated into their lyrics. Expressions such as "doggie", "Ay!", "no homo", "scooby snacks", "hen fap", "piff," "huff," "u mad?", "move the movement", "off' wit' Ya' Kufi Smacker", "duck tales", "OH WRINKLEPAWS," "family matters", and "coochie rap" are known to have originated in Dipset lyrics. They also coined the greeting, "What's Really Good?", which is often shortened to "Whats good?".

what would be the Finnish title?

cornie indie xxxxors

hey! tuomas is cumming in front of a babby

xp

good luck ilxxxx

"it came from tuomas" sounds like an ilx baby horror film

xxxxxxposts

in finland no one can hear you scream

I often feel a lot of sympathy for Tuomas for having to be "the dude known for defending masturbating in front of a baby" right up to the point where I remember that he was defending masturbating in front of a baby.

http://trollcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/forced_meme_is_forced_trollcat.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y176/edwardiii/memeshotwad.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y176/edwardiii/jumpedshark.jpg