Ones and Zeros: Why I don't want the major labels to send me free CDs...

Why I don't want the major labels to send me free CDs...

July 29, 2002	Music
Eric Olsen proposes a program of Free CDs for Bloggers in exchange for reviews of them. I agonized. Ginger reviews every concert we attend and talks about music frequently. I regularly write about Music, Technology, and the Law. We're both big fans of live local music. But... Aside from questions about the intentionally non-commercial nature of my site, aside from not wanting to commit to a certain number of reviews for the privilege, aside from not wanting to get the hit counts out of the logs to show them that I am a good prospect... The showstopper was that it would be promoting major labels, who are fighting against the future of the industry and hurting consumers to do so. I was going to write a long essay on why I wasn't going to participate, but Josh Kortbein beat me to it. So I replied to Eric. I asked him if there was a way to modify the concept to support indy/unsigned acts only. We'll see what comes of it.
.:Posted by Michael on July 29, 2002 12:54 AM:.

There was a setup a few months back where bloggers who signed up agreed to exchange mix CDs with a "summer" theme - one friend of mine pulled together a CD for a road trip and outlined where each song fit in the trip, et cetera. Big swap meet thing. Something like that could be good to resurrect.

(It's all about free-for-you music.)

.:Posted by Mike ( total) on July 29, 2002 6:46 AM:.

Michael, I replied briefly this morning - will get into more details soon. Odds are we will get more initial interest from indies and even sub-indies to begin with anyway. I understand your concerns, but think a different perspective is also valid.

.:Posted by Eric Olsen ( total) on July 29, 2002 10:28 AM:.