'The genie's long since fled the bottle when it comes to free music on the internet.' Photograph: Superstudio/Getty
MP3 blogs are killing music. They don't mean to. But they are, and they're killing it with love.
Let me explain. I work for Plan B, an independently published music magazine. In our November issue, our editor Frances Morgan interviews Jonathan Galkin, label manager for DFA Records - the New York-based label that's played home to the Rapture and DFA co-owner James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem, as well as a string of other acts. Galkin has a gripe: "MP3 blogs have greatly decreased the sale of our singles," he writes. "They didn't exist when we released [the Rapture's] House of Jealous Lovers and we sold 20,000 copies quickly. Now there are thousands of blogs and we sell, on average, 2,000 to 5,000 copies of a 12-inch single. I think that is a true reflection of hearing something and rushing out to buy the real deal version versus hearing something and just searching on Hype Machine for a quick lo-fi fix."
It's hard not to feel some sympathy for Galkin's position, and going on what I'm hearing back from other small and medium-sized independent labels, he's not alone. MP3 blogs - fan-run sites offering free downloadable music MP3s, typically operating without the consent of artist or label - are pretty popular right now. One blog is no big deal. When brought together by something like The Hype Machine - a central hub that tracks and conglomerates activity on hundreds upon hundreds of MP3 blogs - the situation looks pretty different. It is, in short, an HMV store's worth of music, offered up for absolutely nothing, every day. The three best tracks off the last PJ Harvey album? Right there. Flick of the Wrist off Queen's 1974 album Sheer Heart Attack? On your desktop in 15 seconds flat. Oh, and don't forget to pay for the whole album on iTunes if you like it - although of course, no one will know if you don't.
Of course, the genie's long-since fled his bottle when it comes to free music on the internet. But watching independent labels feel the squeeze, I'm coming to think that MP3 blogs are a more insidious - and ultimately, maybe more damaging - threat to smaller and medium sized labels than the likes of the copyright lawyer's most trumpeted bad guy, bittorrents. With torrents, you have to hunt for your files, the download can be pretty time consuming, and ultimately, you're under no illusions that what you're doing is of questionable legality - hey, the largest bittorrent tracker in the world isn't called The Pirate Bay for nothing. Blogs, by comparison, are quite a comfy affair: a bit of purple prose, a nice picture rustled up on Google Images - hey, you could probably read that 'Please support the artists' disclaimer at the side, pass the link onto a friend and fool yourself into thinking you're spreading the good word. You're not, of course. You're just cementing the idea in your own mind that it's acceptable to take music for nothing.
I know for some of you, having a music writer lecture you on the importance of paying for your music will probably raise the same hackles jet-setting Al Gore raises when he lectures middle America on the melting ice caps. Hell, I know that when MP3 blogs are done with care and attention, journeying far off the beaten track - like 20 Jazz Funk Greats or Awesome Tapes From Africa - they're a work of art in itself. But there are too many MP3 blogs, and they're too irresponsible. Don't fool yourself that by taking music, you are, in the time-honoured vernacular, sticking it to the man. There's collateral damage here, and if you're a fan of independent music, it could be everything you hold dear.
