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Posted in music | music on May 3, 2006
John Vanderslice on blogs, SPIN, Rolling Stone, etc...
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DCist asked John Vanderslice how he feels "about blogs compared with the mainstream music media". His response is below...
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Oh man. This is my experience. On Pixel Revolt, I got a review in Spin. It was the first time I'd ever gotten a review in Spin, and we got a letter grade of "C." And I also got shit-tons of reviews on internet only sites, from Pitchfork on down. We got a really good review on Pitchfork. And usually when you get a really bad review, your hardcore fans write you and say, "Man, fuck this guy," and when you get a really good review, your hardcore fans write you and say "Oh wow, this was insightful or interesting, this is great, you should be excited."
When I got the "C" letter grade review in Spin, I heard nothing. Not from anybody. No one ever said anything to me. But whenever I got a good review from somewhere like Tiny Mix Tapes I would get emails about it. It was very clear to me then that all that print media shit doesn't matter anymore. It totally does not matter. I mean, no offense to Spin or anyone like that, but people right now, hard core music people that pay attention, they're online. The big national glossies just don't have that kind of impact anymore. I guess. I mean this is all anecdotal, I can't back any of it up, but the way people find out about us and find out things about us, it's all bloggers. It's all online 'zines. Whether it's Drowned in Sound or Tiny Mix Tapes or Largehearted Boy, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, the list goes on and on.
You know, it's weird, if someone posts something on Metafilter, I look on my website and all of a sudden, we're getting like 25,000 unique visitors in one day, you know. And we got a review on Pixel Revolt in Rolling Stone. And the day that that review came out, there was no bump whatsoever. And that was a good review. And we got no bump in traffic on the website. That's insane. I can look at where people are coming from and who's searching what, and what method they are using to get to my site. After that I was like, "Fuck paying a publicist to work your record, lets just email all the bloggers and send them a record or some MP3's."
A band will come up to me and tell me "Oh my god, we're getting a record review in Rolling Stone and what I want to tell them is, 'Listen, who cares, it doesn't mean anything.'" What means something is that a blogger with credibility has his or her own fan base, you know what I mean? People follow bloggers because they understand their aesthetic framework and what they like and their sensibilities.
THE REST OF THE INTERVIEW @ DCIST
RELATED: SPIN's makeover & Rolling Stone is 1000
Previously
John Vanderslice 2006 Tour Dates | Wooden Wand
John Vanderslice live show | Official MP3 Download
Another article about music blogs
Posted on May 3, 2006 12:48 PM
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Comments (6)
word... so true.
Posted by Anonymous | May 3, 2006 1:04 PM
Really interesting to hear, and I say this not trying to mean any offense whatsoever, but I for one value the opinion of print magazines way more than that of blogs. I mean, I love blogs, BV included, but I trust reviews I read in Magnet, Mojo and the Big Takeover a lot more than I do those I read anywhere else.
Maybe that's because they have established authority and established voices, so their opinions mean a bit more. I know if jack Rabid or Mojo loves something, than more than likely I will too. Definitely see where he's coming from regarding RS and Spin, though, and of course no reason a blogger can't also establish that authority or that voice.
Again, blogs are great, but as a fan I actually learn about more from print than I do from online sources. But think I'm in the minority there.
Posted by Matt | May 3, 2006 2:22 PM
Thanks for posting that, pretty sweet.
Posted by uwmryan | May 3, 2006 2:23 PM
JV gives no love to six*eyes? The guy fellates him practically every day.
Posted by Constant Dater | May 3, 2006 4:41 PM
matt - I do think you're in the minority there, because readers form a different relationship with a blog than they do with print media. print media tends to be some group of authors working within a fairly rigidly defined framework, whereas blogs are by nature both more freeform and personal. i mean, if you have the same taste in films as peter travers then you trust the RS movie reviews; same goes for Dom or Nick or Sam at Pitchfork (though PFork is like middle ground between media outlet and blog in many respects). but a blog is like _always_ getting the opinion of Perpetua or BV or Scott Stereogum thinks, and thus feels more like a friend's relationship than a 'media outlet'. most people dont want corporations to tell us what they like, we want human beings. in fact, i _don't_ wan't any 'authority' weighing in on music, i want a (virtual) community - hence, blogs, ILM, etc
Posted by dave | May 4, 2006 12:34 AM
The good information I get to help me form opinions & make choices on where to look for quality music these days is all from blogs. I rarely look at Spin or RS & if I do it's only to get bio info or something. For real opinions that influence me, an average but trying-to-be-informed music buyer, I totally trust & look up to many blogs. It all comes down to the artist's music in the end, & how good I feel about listening to it, but trust me, what I find online about them & their music does influence me & it does mean something to the big picture. Corporate glossies don't have that much appeal as influences over me. It does feel good when they like someone I do, but I would never not buy an album because a big guy says it ain't so great.
Posted by terri kaye | January 16, 2007 3:26 PM