Finally, I'm somewhat recovered from the week long booze binge that some so graciously call WMC and this year Miami was so good to me. I had the privilege this year to be a panelist for the "To Blog or Not to Blog" panel alongside representatives from ClubPlanet, EDM Tunes, NotableDance, LessThan3, Dani Deahl, Dancing Astronaut, and The Media Nanny. We discussed the impact that blogging has on music, as well as some of the issues we face not only when it comes to music blogging but also the industry as a whole in regards to people trying to pay their way to the top or paying to be blogged, and we openly shared our preferred method of being contacted in regards to doing write ups (private links on SoundCloud, via email, etc.).
It was refreshing to see that other panelists shared the sentiment that we have here at DAD of having a zero tolerance policy towards accepting "monetary persuasion" to post artist's music. I also found it to be interesting that some bloggers pay attention mostly to emails from publicists where I personally love discovering those up and coming artists that don't necessarily have the money to pay for publicists; this is probably because I'm mostly covering artists in the tropical bass realm and I can't think of any of us that are sleeping on a bed of $100s.
It was an amazing experience speaking with those who attended as they shared their love for our blog and our writers and our unique personalities, specifically Brice and Nappy were brought up for their outspoken nature and I shared how I love how there are no limitations and we are free to express our opinions and viewpoints despite who we might piss off and that is what makes us who we are. Compared to the other blogs on the panel, DAD was definitely the baby in the bunch, and it meant so much to hear from people that they loved our blog since we have writers that are DJs and producers who provide insight from that perspective. It was nice to see the inner-workings of other blogs as well, as similar or different as the other blogs may be, the main focus seemed to be about the music.
Overall it was an amazing experience, I still have many demos to sort through but I wouldn't have it any other way. I want to give a special thanks to Ron Slomowicz from Notable Dance for having me and to Dani Deahl for referring me to the panel and I want to thank everyone who came through so early after a night of partying to attend, ask questions, and share their music and their stories.
