Few Things...

[vinylpops]

1. As I've mentioned before, I would love to help anyone out with exposure with their music (especially new releases). If you have recently released a FREE album (any genre), hit me up with a PM with a link/info and I will post either on my site or another one I have access to that gets a lot of traffic.

The catch...

All I ask in return is to set up an account and upload at least one track to another site that I help out. Free, fast, easy.

If you released an album that isn't free, I'll do the same thing except be forewarned that the one site with a lot of traffic is where I post free albums on a bootleg site (and no I do not bootleg there myself), so if you didn't want that posted there, I would have to see what I could do in other places.

2. I have a lot of questions that I would love artists (rappers and producers of any experience) to answer. I have a lot of ideas and stuff that I have been working on and would really love honest feedback and answers from people on the rise, people that do this for shits and giggles, and people that have been around for years. Email, chat, phone, PMs-- whatever way you prefer to talk, I'd really appreciate your time and will try not to be too annoying.

3. Are there any web designers/graphic designers with a portfolio peeping this thread or that you know of? I would love some linkage/contact info.

[ardamus]

Word. I'm on it.

[vinylpops]

Same offer still stands as far as #1 goes.

If you remember, I helped out a site called BandSoup. A lot has changed and it's now called: UndergroundMusic.fm (don't ask).

http://www.undergroundmusic.fm

It would be cool if all of you rappers and anyone in a band would sign up (free) and share some music when you can.

Holler

[Philaflava]

another new website? how many blogs do have homie?

[vinylpops]

It's my therapy.

The site I mentioned above isn't a blog, though.

[ardamus]

Got some stuff coming up, vinylpops. I'll PM you once its all complete.

[ardamus]

Ah, nevermind, went ahead and uploaded some stuff. Cool site.

Now I do have to ask, why do you keep shutting down websites and blogs then creating new ones? Are you trying to find a niche in promoting music you like on the internet? Serious question.

[vinylpops]

Ah, nevermind, went ahead and uploaded some stuff. Cool site.

Now I do have to ask, why do you keep shutting down websites and blogs then creating new ones? Are you trying to find a niche in promoting music you like on the internet? Serious question.

Thanks for uploading those, man! If you have anything to new to stick up on the bootleg blog, just let me know. I also sometimes put things up on the UG.fm blog if you want to give me more info, etc.

To answer your blog question: I'm obsessed with music. It's a incurable disease. I do it as my 9-5 and then as a hobby in various ways into the early AM. Blogs are a good outlet for me because they force me to write something every day. I also like writing-- very calming-- but am not very good putting down short stories, fiction, etc. I've done hip hop blogs for years and loved doing them but it's a real thankless job most of the time. I also don't dig the whole atmosphere of the "hip hop blogosphere" at all either. I keep re-opening and shutting down because it's just a personal thing for me that was open to the public. It's been very cool to have a small group visit the sites on a daily basis, but it was never a big deal for me to just stop. Although it was a mistake to shut down one of them. I was trying to carve out a niche with the hip hop blogs, but it just got to be a little boring and odd.

Nowadays I still have the bug and just wanted to type while listening to stuff at night so I just made the GroundFloorGo site for the hell of it (more rock and other genres). I've also been planning something for years now and blogging puts me in the mix of things a bit better, or at least I think it does. No idea if I will ever do it, but it's good to daydream, right?

Thanks again.

[vinylpops]

On the UG.fm site, you can login with Facebook or email to upload and as a listener. If you like a song, just click the thumbs up and it saves it to your favorites. You can play those and the site like a radio if you keep the browser open. You can filter by genre/popularity, etc.

If you have any thoughts/comments, definitely let me know.

[ardamus]

Ah, nevermind, went ahead and uploaded some stuff. Cool site.

Now I do have to ask, why do you keep shutting down websites and blogs then creating new ones? Are you trying to find a niche in promoting music you like on the internet? Serious question.

Thanks for uploading those, man! If you have anything to new to stick up on the bootleg blog, just let me know. I also sometimes put things up on the UG.fm blog if you want to give me more info, etc.

To answer your blog question: I'm obsessed with music. It's a incurable disease. I do it as my 9-5 and then as a hobby in various ways into the early AM. Blogs are a good outlet for me because they force me to write something every day. I also like writing-- very calming-- but am not very good putting down short stories, fiction, etc. I've done hip hop blogs for years and loved doing them but it's a real thankless job most of the time. I also don't dig the whole atmosphere of the "hip hop blogosphere" at all either. I keep re-opening and shutting down because it's just a personal thing for me that was open to the public. It's been very cool to have a small group visit the sites on a daily basis, but it was never a big deal for me to just stop. Although it was a mistake to shut down one of them. I was trying to carve out a niche with the hip hop blogs, but it just got to be a little boring and odd.

Nowadays I still have the bug and just wanted to type while listening to stuff at night so I just made the GroundFloorGo site for the hell of it (more rock and other genres). I've also been planning something for years now and blogging puts me in the mix of things a bit better, or at least I think it does. No idea if I will ever do it, but it's good to daydream, right?

Thanks again.

Good answers and I completely understand. I have to be honest here: I actually have a bit of a gripe with some of these bloggers when it comes to hip hop music (not you, you've been very cool about it even when you disappear then reappear, hahahaha). Like submissions and etc., when you get skipped over in that spam mailbox they and you're not sure whether or not your submission was received. However, knowing these bloggers personally always seems to grab their attention more. Or if you have that major label or big indie connect with someone who does PR for a certain amount of money, the bloggers seem to love you. Just feels like you have to kiss ass more than get a fair shake in the game.

So, GroundFloorGo is the site? How has it been doing?

[vinylpops]

Good answers and I completely understand. I have to be honest here: I actually have a bit of a gripe with some of these bloggers when it comes to hip hop music (not you, you've been very cool about it even when you disappear then reappear, hahahaha). Like submissions and etc., when you get skipped over in that spam mailbox they and you're not sure whether or not your submission was received. However, knowing these bloggers personally always seems to grab their attention more. Or if you have that major label or big indie connect with someone who does PR for a certain amount of money, the bloggers seem to love you. Just feels like you have to kiss ass more than get a fair shake in the game.

So, GroundFloorGo is the site? How has it been doing?

Yea, I know exactly what you're talking about. There are tons of problems with that entire system. I've been on both sides and it's a very interesting process. I do not like it at all and I used to rant and rave about how fucking odd and ridiculous it is. There is also a huge problem with bloggers stealing other bloggers words, material, etc., which is also very weird to me.

I used to receive about 75-80 emails a day at a very small site, so I give a lot of the bigger sites the benefit of the doubt because I know their inboxes are probably 5 x as jammed. Also, 80% of those e-mails are terrible southern acts and artists rapping into USB mics in bathrooms hoping a blog post would make them suck less, so you got to give them some leeway with what they have to sift through. I think that's why the PR firms work because a few of them can be very trustworthy sources and you know they at least have something worth posting (audibletreats was always a favorite of mine). There's a definite upside about building relationships with these guys but, if you are like me, I would feel a lot of it was ass kissing for coverage. But that's only if you are approaching someone just for that reason. Building with guys that like the same music/live in the same area/dig your peers' music and seeing if they dig what you're doing is a bit more organic. I think sometimes you have to forget about the bigger sites completely and focus on the other ones that cover artists that you you were influenced by or artists that you sound like. Sometimes its easy to forget about all those little guys, but my thinking is you never know who will see it, share it, and re-blog it. I also think "bootleg blogs" focusing on indie hip hop are heavily under utilized for promo and get way more traffic than a lot of other sites. Those sites are also really good for rapid spreading because a lot of albums go to torrents and sharing sites all over the world. Black EL's first ever online release had over 260,000 downloads from that. I always thought that was fucking awesome.

I don't know if the same stuff goes on in the "blogosphere" nowadays. This is me talking 2-5 years ago so I'm way out of the loop. It's a terrible game and I always felt for the artists coming up, which is why I tried to be the "stepping stone" guy. The biggest problem I have with blogs is their inability to take a chance on new artists, break artists, or even bother to find new artists worth covering. They all copy/paste each other and ignore a lot of artists because they don't bring in traffic or haven't been exalted by their peers yet. It's just like the stuff that you always hear about DJs/Radio DJs, haha.

Like I've said before, I really have no problem helping anyone with online promo if you want it or have questions. I get a kick out of the challenge and have had some decent success doing PR for artists in the past. I'm not claiming to know any secrets or tricks on how to make it big-- I know pretty much nothing and run off insane ideas and instincts-- but maybe it would help. I have a little system that might be outdated but it seems to work and I like to share it.

So, GroundFloorGo is the site? How has it been doing?

I just made it 1-2 weeks ago. Just having fun listening to new music and going back to my 90s alt/Garage Rock/Fuzz Rock roots. The older I get, the noisier I like my music. I don't get it...

[ardamus]

We need to have you around more to talk about the blogosphere shit. I never know how much someone goes through to make a blog very interesting for people to check it out but I can understand how it can be a thankless job. Thanks for your insight on it.

And do not shut down you UG site. I'm spreading the word about it but for real, if you're gonna shut it down and disappear just warn me before you do it, man. I think you got something here.

[vinylpops]

And do not shut down you UG site. I'm spreading the word about it but for real, if you're gonna shut it down and disappear just warn me before you do it, man. I think you got something here.

Hahaha. Thanks. It will stay up. I really appreciate you spreading the word, you have no idea. We aren't allowed to do any advertising/paid promotions under our grant terms, so

[ardamus]

And do not shut down you UG site. I'm spreading the word about it but for real, if you're gonna shut it down and disappear just warn me before you do it, man. I think you got something here.

Hahaha. Thanks. It will stay up. I really appreciate you spreading the word, you have no idea. We aren't allowed to do any advertising/paid promotions under our grant terms, so

Word.

[vinylpops]

Anyone have any physical releases on cd/vinyl/cassette?

[ardamus]

coming soon. wait til the summer.