Today I found out about the demise of the blog, [tag]Hip Hop Bootleggers [/tag] (HHB). I suppose there is a limited shelf life for all bootleggin’ blogs and there has to be time when they must face the music (forgive the pun). They have lasted for quite a while and that is considerably surprising considering they have blatantly bootlegged tonnes of NEW material and even I must admit to benefitting from some of their exploits in the past (ahem). I know for a while we debated whether or not to offer “bootlegs” but now we are benefitting from the fact we have not as some artists are offering us royalty free Mixtapes, videos and mp3′s.
On one hand I understand that making music (not just Hip Hop) has become a lucrative business and that alot of record labels are making a very big investment when they sign up a new artist, and baring in mind alot of artists fail to work out the label will at times end up losing a large part of their initial investment. I think money should be spent by the labels on training and developing their artists – at the end of the day they saw something worthwhile when they signed them in the first place so shouldn’t they be helping them to make “better” music? I recently heard from the Last Skeptik who’s latest album with Verb-T has been a bootleggers dream in the last couple of weeks and the album is not even due to drop till mid August.
With all the work I have carried out over the past two years I actually believe more artists need to embrace this digital revolution and can already see those who are actually benefitting from a strong presence in new media e.g. blogs, websites, myspace. In the last few years the industry has changed so much, artists now have the opportunity to retain their creative control and push the boundaries of commercial music. With sites like Myspace and iTunes allowing artists to sell their music online for a nominal fee, there are less and less reasons to sign up with the big boys. However, I firmly believe that artists should offer some of their music online for free to generate interest in their work and to help build a following taking the model of the Arctic Monkeys, even though everyone owned a free MP3 of their tracks people still went out and bought the album in their millions. Therefore I would love to share music with regular LHHS readers and get the “word” out about new artists & new music. I know that some heads are still aiming to sell music from their back catalogues but I honestly think that most people aren’t gonna take the time out to go and find it.
I think what I am tring to get at is that no matter what your or my beliefs are about the practices within the music business, they still have a great amount of control over what we hear. So if we want to hear better music or new music we have to put our money where our mouth is and support the people that put out the good music on these bigger labels. That means not going to sites like HHB and actually going out and actually paying for it!!
I mean it wasn’t all that long ago you’d go to the record shops and buy the CD or Vinyl go home and sit with the artwork in hand and read the thank you’s and the credits, I agree its nice to get hold of something before it comes out but it takes away from our experience with the album and will just force the industry to continue to fire out these quick fire singles and uninspiring pieces.
So in summary LHHS won’t be offering NEW MUSIC Bootlegs (unless we are given the artists consent) and will continue to support artists making only good music whilst more labels should look into offering Digiwax releases giving the consumer a high quality MP3 version of the album free with the vinyl release.
[tags] hip hop, blog, bootleggers, music, news [/tags]
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This HHB incident makes me think twice about putting up full albums on my blog, or even anything at all. But as you say, I also feel that I’m helping the artists in some way by getting their music out there and giving them a bigger audience, no matter how small an addition.
Blogs in general are superb for the profiles of artists, and some have gained an entire new audience just from the blogging community, so I agree wholeheartedly when you say artists should embrace the new digital revolution and try as hard as possible to get their music out on the internet for free to give the listeners a good first impression before releasing their albums in the shops.
Great site mate, I’ll visit it a lot more often.
I truly beleive that HHB’s demise was due to their blatant flaunting of unreleased material, I think alot of bootleggers who offer old and rare samples have the right idea & I bet some of the artists and labels are probably glad of the media attention even 15-20 years later.
I know a few DJ’s who use these sites and to them they are invaluable in searching out those rare gems, and they are then played to a whole new audience during their next set or party.
Check http://www.worldtradecentrelondon.blogspot.com for quality hip hop
Well, HHB posted too much (bullsh*t). I prefer quality over quantity. Those albums on HHB could easily be found on albumbase.com. They just upped random albums in an order without any concept. So, don’t panic, you are safe (unless you are doing the same amount of “work”, HHB did).
Sabotage took down HHB
HHB LIVES!!!! How dare you shit talkers try and diss the same people dissing are the same people who are in the cbox begging for shit that hasnt come ojut yet douche bags.
Uhhh, perhaps you don’t know, but several artists are trying to benefit from blogs nowadays for mass exposure, HHB isn’t dead, and is also a great source for getting heard if your a new artist with quality. Even if your an old artist, they hear an album on there, and look for more, and buy their merch, we always tell people to support, and dont have a lack of integrity.
HHB was the shit,always went out and bought the shit i was really feelin and the contribs always told ppl 2 buy the albums and support the artists,most artists i listen 2 now ive heard on that site and aint stopped me still spending my money on their products,fuck the haters,HHB WILL BE BACK BITCHES!
its always the uk faggots that cry and moan
I thought that was most faggots to be honest mate – but obviously as one yourself you know best.
faves, it has been months make a note of. Well just use this one, much appreciated. I need something like this something I am working on, and mine is on a similar topic as yours. Glad, have a good one.