Highlights from the Madison Music Bloggers Roundtable

(Sorry for the lame clip art, I forgot my camera)
Wednesday night Madison Interactive hosted it's fourth panel discussion at the High Noon Saloon. The topic was "Madison music blogging" and the panel consisted many of Madison's best known music bloggers. Even with a low turn out (the oublic was notified about the event two days prior) the discussion was lively and covered everything from why bloggers blog to bloggers as promoters to a Austin style music festival. Below we have collected some of the highlights from the panel.

MC: Todd Lekan from madison.com/post
Panelists:
Ryan from Muzzle of Bees
Hastings from Emcees Without Voices
Aaron from Civility in Public Discourse
Tom from More Cowbell
Skip from Up the Downstair
Kiki from Kiki's Magical Music Reviews

The panel started with Lekan asking the panel why music blogging is so strong in Madison.

Kiki said that while we don't necessarily have a large community, it is so easy to blog, "anybody can do it whether they should or not."

Tom said if bloggers didn't think they had some kind of influence on the scene they wouldn't be doing it.

Ryan took his hat off to all of the venues and promoters around town, "without them I wouldn't have anything to write about."

Aaron said we have a really strong music scene for a city our size and it is too big for something like Isthmus to cover completely, "bloggers really open it up."

Hastings made us blush, "I thought Madison was incredibly lame until I started reading Dane101, if I just read Isthmus every week and decided that was my slate of options for the week I would have been incredibly bored."

Lekan asked what role music bloggers thought they had in promotion.

Aaron said he has increased his local music coverage and made the point "Do you want to be the hundredth blog writing about a national act or the first blog writing about a local act?"

Hastings gave props to Kiki, Ryan, and Kyle of "Just Sayin' Is All" (who was unable to attend) for taking the next step and putting the time and energy into booking smaller acts in town that may not come through with the traditional bookers.

Todd asked if the online dialogue would lead to the scene growing and more music coming through town.

Kiki said she couldn't see anymore shows in a week.

Skip said there are a lot of bands he would like to bring to town but doesn't know how to do it. He also pointed out that he was the only blogger to write about the Blues Picnic and that the blogging scene seems hyper focused on indie rock.

Kiki pointed out that it could be a demographic thing. Indie bands tend to be younger so they are more tuned into the burgeoning technological trends.

The discussion then turned to bloggers versus newspaper "music journalists."

Hastings said calling people who write about music in local papers music journalists is a misnomer. They have to be generalists and have to write about music, books and everything else, "in the blogosphere you can be OCD."

Skip said that many music bloggers do a better job than the "State Urinal" and the "Crap Times." When you read about music on a blog it is often written by a fan so you can get a perspective that a newspaper writer can't capture. History of the band in that town, comparisons of studio versus live.

Aaron said that it isn't clear who newspaper music writers are writing for, "Are you writing for someone who is interested in this show for an upcoming show? For someone at the show? Some one into the band or artist? There is a checklist thing that local press has to do. Blogs give you a lot more options."

Ryan said blogging gives him a lot of freedom, "I don't feel pressured to write about things I'm not keen on." He said if you are true to your self and what you write about then an audience "will fall in line."

Kiki added "it is more about the band than it is you."

Lekan asked the bloggers if they felt a responsibility when they give recommendations.

Ryan said, "Definitely. I'm not going to be posting a show I'm not really behind. Most of the shows I'm talking about I'll be right there in the audience."

Lekan asked about the future of music blogging in Madison five years out.

Tom pointed out that is a long time in terms of the Internet. He said he hoped more blogs would turn up focused on other genres like blues and classical.

Skip said Madison needs to ask what the role of this enormous transient music population is going to be. One role that blogs to play is as a starting off point for new bands and music fans coming to town.

Hastings says he gets irritated every time a music blogger references Pitchfork. he said he would love it if a group of local bloggers could come together and split coverage 50/50 between Madison and national acts and garner national attention.

Lekan asked if a SXSW style music festival could ever happen in Madison.

Ryan said "I think it can happen, I think it is gonna happen."

Tom pointed out some other cities that have failed and said it has to be done right, "the first time we screw it up it will leave a bad taste."

Skip asked "who is going to put it on?"

Ryan said "we have to work together. A lot of people aren't happy with what SXSW has turned into. I think if we could do it on a smaller scale people would come."

I asked about payola. A number of national level bloggers have been accused of taking gifts in exchange for writing positively about music.

Tom said More Cowbell only accepts guest listings from things they are into.

Kiki said "it's hard writing bad things about local music is you are going to see these people."

An audience member followed up on Hastings early comment about a local collaborative music blog.

Hastings kindly volunteered "the bowels of Dane101" as a place to host such a thing. He added that it helps a bloggers credibility to be on a site that isn't followed by "blogspot.com."

Dane101 contributer Jason Dean asked from the audience how bloggers got into promoting.

Kiki said she didn't know how to, she just put on some shows for friends and then managers started contacting her about similar artists.

Ryan said a lot of bands contact him directly but he has little interest in putting on shows. Instead he passes them on to venues and local promoters.

Local promoter with Last Coast/True Endeavors asked how someone like him could help bloggers with their passion for blogging about music.

Ryan suggested that on a night where there are two good shows, have one earlier and then fans leaving that show with a ticket stub can get into the later show at a reduced rate.

I asked if there are currently any Madison bands that are on the verge of "breaking out."

Kiki told me she knows I was fishing for Pale Young Gentlemen. Am I really that transparent? Sigh. She suggested Blake Thomas.

Tom said he has seen a lot of positive movement for the Box Social.

Aaron seconded the Box Social noting that they have four dates on the Warp Tour and have been able to pack many of the clubs on their current tour.

Ryan mentioned Pale Young Gentlemen and suggested Milwaukee's Cocksmiths if they could stop drinking.

Hastings tossed out El guante who just signed to a label in Minneapolis and will be moving there at the end of the summer.