The Time of Bloggerly Love

Remember the days of... music blogging? The days when one cool blog after another saw the light of day. The days of blogs like Music as Heroin, Chug Life, Music approved by a Banana, The Elementary Revolt, Circling the Drain, Toxicbreed's Funhouse, My Endless Minutes (somehow still active?), Perception through Dissonance, Cut & Paste, Tight to the Nail, Make Friends with Time, A Whole Orchestra, or pioneers like Hardcore for Nerds, Last Train to Cool and The Difference between Life and Music? Most definitely I forgot a lot... but that's how it was "back in the days". It was stacked as fuck! 

The heydays of music blogging (or blogging in general?) started in the mid to late 2000s and probably lasted 'til the mid 2010s. All these blogs looked shitty, especially in the beginning. Their operators had different approaches, be it in terms of their taste in music or their creation of content. On some blogs you could read the most in-depth record reviews ever, while others offered downloads only (it was the generation of DLs) or focused on presenting bands, new and old as well. To me personally blogs like Music approved by a Banana, Circling the Drain, The Elementary Revolut (particularly) or later Dead Air in the Pulpit were my main source of discoverig new music. 

Bloggers who were covering HC/Punk were part of their own "scene", kind of. They were connected to each other and supported each other. Being part of the German "scene" back then, we were kinda excluded, though some gave us their support and there even was a small, German-speaking blogger landscape. One of the most crazy things is, that there even was a blog called "Indie Music Blogs" (as far as I remember right), that collected posts from different blogs. This project started out in 2013, but it was fairly short lived and I think it was closed by 2014 or 2015. Ironically the only one from the very old guard (starting in 2010 or before) that is still active, hails from Germany too: Alex from Miss the Stars, who is around for nearly 13 years now. Also Stefan from Natures with no Plagues recently started a very welcomed comeback! 

It was a fascinating, but also very strange time. Being in the middle of the blog hype, we got a lot of acknowledgemet from bands and labels. We were bombed with submissions and received physical copies on a regular basis. We gave interviews to radio stations and presented tours, one time even with a mention on a flyer. Yeah, it was fucking stardom back then! However, the only reward we got were the copies and the satisfying feeling of contributing to the scene. Though we didn't ask for more. If you were real punk, it even was a sin to host any ads on your blog...

The landscape massively changed in the last 8 to 10 years. We're in the middle of the time where everyone and your neighbour makes money with putting utter shit online. And even the ones who serve you quality, don't do it just for the fun of it. That's more than understandable to me. Would you spend 5 or 6 hours a day to produce content and maintain your blog/magazine without getting any financial reward out of it? In the heydays of the blogs all of these people were doing it because they were passionate about it. 

Also the professionalism grew a lot over the years. The blogs (or kinda blogs) nowadays look cool, they use beautiful layouts, write like journalists, get interviews with bands, or run their own podcast. Hell, even I don't know if that's what I'm doing nowadays is actual "blogging". I don't think so, at least if you compare it to my humble beginnings in the mid 2000s. What I definitely know: 20-year-old me would curse what I'm doing today... with all those flashy pictures and videos, and silly ideas. In the past it was reduced, pure and in-depth. You could get through with loooooong ass write-ups and your readers even cared about it...

...that's what brings me to the ultimate question: Are music blogs redundant nowadays? Personally I'd say yes. The internet is way more stuffed now then it was 10 or 15 years ago, and capitalism changed everything. Also, the habits of music enthusiasts adapted. Streaming wasn't a thing in 2010, Bandcamp wasn't as huge, neither were the Socials. Who really needs a download blog now if you can stream everything for 5 to 10 bucks a month? Who needs a blog to recommend you any records if you can search for yourself in no-time? If you have Bandcamp, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Discord and proper online magazines like Punknews, Brooklyn Vegan or No Echo? Heck, even the streaming services do an excellent job of recommending you stuff based on your taste!

On top of that, we basically don't have the time or the patience anymore to read a lengthy text. Yeah, thanks for hanging on, Mike... love you! On top of that, how many people really visit your blog opposing to the ones supporting it on the Socials? If they see your posts in the first place! Remember, the algorithm always wins... but you can shape him with your money.

I guess back then everything was better, but maybe I'm just getting sentimental. There are still some cool blogs out there, but there's no real "scene" anymore. That circumstance definitely is related to the general downward spiral in the last few years. Less interest = less bloggers = less connectivity. We may have more tools nowadays to connect with each other, but we're living in our own bubble and are cluttered with too much bullshit. You can probably transfer this to your whole life. Just sink in think about it!

One cool tool in the heydays was the famous blogroll. It was the thing on the left or the right side of a blog, where every writer listed other blogs. It was essential and a sign of respect, support and cohesion. Some even referred to those bloggers as "partners" or "friends". Blogrolls were massive in some certain kind of cases and like the "bibliography" of the bloggers - check the one from Cut & Paste, that is still online. Would anyone nowadays give as much space of his own site to other sites like this guy did it?

So, I'm basically trying to say: Bloggers, look at your blogroll, care about it, keep it up to date and find other ways to connect once again. "The Time of Bloggerly Love" is here to do just that!

Since christmas season is among us, it's the best time to give some love to others and cherish them. When December hits, I'll constantly present one of my current favourite blogs, up 'til Christmas. I don't want a total overkill to take place, so I'll stick to every other day in December... and yep, I'd probably have a hard time to come up with 24 active blogs anyway... you know, downward spiral and stuff...

Cause we're in the year of 2022, everything will take place on the Socials, primarly Instagram & Facebook, and maybe I'll spam some Discords too. So be sure to witness it on my social accounts! The first door will open up on December 1st.