Posted by Lance Wicks
2012.01.26 at 9:13 pm

Stoney Roads is a fantastic blog based in Australia. They’re one of our favourite blogs and have been for years now, and we have nothing but a whole lotta respect for them. If for some reason you haven’t heard of them then I strongly urge you to like them, follow them, tweet them, RSS them and sign up for their newsletter.

Today they posted an opinion article about SoundCloud titled Is Soundcloud the new Myspace?, and I’d like to reply to their post with a post. And because this is a reply, it would obviously be helpful if you went over to their page and read their article to get the gist of what we’re talking about here, but basically this reply pertains to their comments about comments. SoundCloud comments that is.

For many months now, it’s been a common sight on twitter and other mediums to see a blogger, or many blogs simultaneously, commit to a fit of rage over the infamous “BLOGGED HERE” comment on a SoundCloud track. They go on to say that those shitty blogs that make those comments are a global annoyance, gumming up the SoundCloud comment bar in an adolescent effort to get more pageviews with winded “marketing techniques and social strategies.”

This is what seems to be the common consensus among well-established blogs, and I do agree with this to a certain degree. When I visit one of these “blogged” links only to find a site with a SoundCloud embed and not one other thing, it’s really annoying. Sorry, emedding a track on your “blog” with no opinion, purchase, or page link is NOT blogging, and very well should be looked at as a digital pestilence. And even more so for all the spammers, “your track is alright, but check out my latest mix!.” Ughh.

But there are sites out there that do blog about music. They write, criticize, celebrate, analyze, and most importantly, support artists’ work. So why wouldn’t the artist want to know about that?

If you follow us on SoundCloud, you’ll notice that we make a comment on almost every single track that we post, and many tracks that we don’t. From the lastest Oliver single, to whatever dig that arrives in our inbox from previously unknown producers. Are we simply looking for more traffic? No. We’re showing our support to the people that deserve it.

I’ve also heard people turn around and say that if you want to let the artist know that you wrote about their work, just send them a personal email. Yeah that does work, and we do it often, but when given the opportunity to turn more heads to an artists work, wouldn’t you do it?

Example. This morning we wrote about a first-time producer that goes by the name of Le Messager. He had two SC followers (Remix86 being one of those…), and a handful of plays. We wrote a post, placed a comment in his track, and that comment showed up in every persons’ feed that followed us. Who follows us? Producers, artists, labels, blogs and music fans.

The “cool” and “this is awesome!” and “love it!” comments are bountiful, most notably on popular artist accounts. But producers like it when people get excited over their work. Last year when we spoke with Melee, he mentioned SoundCloud comments on his work: “I feel pretty lucky to just have people following my music closely. Some of them comment like 10 minutes after I post a song on Soundcloud – that’s really flattering…”

And other producers are commenting on their colleagues tracks constantly. Just have a look at Bit Funk’s latest remix. Let’s not forget about one of the original goals of the SoundCloud comment system; collaboration and constructive criticism.

So to all the producers out there, I’d love to hear your take on the subject: are SoundCloud comments a hindrance or are they helpful? I’ve personally noticed that almost the entirety of people that have a problem with blogs posting “blogged” are other blogs, but hey, they aren’t our tracks so it seems appropriate for the owners to weigh in.

Do I think the comments are the best feature SoundCloud has to offer? Definitely not. Honestly the very first thing I do when checking my incoming feed is press the “comments-off” button. Yes, this is slightly annoying (who wants extra clicks in their life nowadays), and my suggestion to the SoundCloud Lords is to have a master comment switch that can turn every comment off-and-on with the flick of a button. Simple.

But when I’m really into a track, I want to know what other people think of it. I want to see what other producers think about it. I want to see what other blogs have to say about it. They are valuable opinions and they are appreciated by many people when used right. So to those who I’ve pissed off with my “blogged” SoundCloud comments, I think the benefits to the artist outweigh your irritation. Close your eyes and press play, we’re here for the music.

-Lance Wicks

Under: Opinion, Soundcloud, Stoney Roads, Websites