It's no secret that if you run a music blog of any note, promotion companies will offer to supply you with the latest news, free CDs, tickets to shows, MP3 streams, contests and other wares. Who doesn't like free stuff? If you happen to already like the band, even better.  You just want to help your favorite bands get heard. Everyone wins. So what's the problem?

Blogs operate under the premise of having an uncorrupted opinion, free of manipulation or avarice. Take away this independence and blogs risk becoming nothing more than press release mouths for corporations who have long recognized the value of uninfluenced, "nine out of every ten doctor recommends"-type advocacy. Promoters want real fans to talk up bands. Bloggers achieve what a PR release could never do, speak with the voice of a loyal supporter who promotes the music because it's good.

There's a term for this type of influence peddling: payola. But for bloggers, there's no cash exchanging hands directly. For some, the immediate payoff is ego building. If you're breaking the news (supplied by PR releases), going to all the hot shows (with free tickets), offering exclusive contests (with prizes supplied by promoters), then you are seen as an insider, a source. Do it well, build an audience and watch your site traffic numbers explode. If you get enough page views, why not make room for a little discrete advertising to help pay the server bills?

The relationship between bloggers and the labels they promote directly or indirectly is one of convenience. The promo companies provide the pipeline of addictive freebies while the blogs provide the street credibility. Bloggers are free to pick and choose which promo opportunities they want to take advantage of. Don't like The Living Things? Well, there is a She Wants Revenge email coming right around the corner. Don't like them? How about some Grand National or We Are Scientists?

Take as many freebies as you like, but there's an unwritten and unspoken deal being brokered. The PR companies hope you'll spread some positive word of mouth in return for their charity. To me, this is the crux of the problem. How do you discern whether someone is being honest in their praise or is just paying back the free tickets? I have always believed and will continue to believe that the majority of people put tremendous unpaid effort into maintaining a blog, simply out of love for music. It's not hard to see, however, the line between being an sincere fan and a shill can easily be crossed.

I realize this post is being written by someone who has dipped occasionally into the promo goodie bag and will likely do so in the future. Feel free to call me a hypocrite. But in the perhaps vain pursuit of honesty, henceforth it will be my policy to be completely forthright about graft. Once a week I will list the bands being pitched by promotion companies and what was being marketed (i.e. new album, tour dates, etc.) Additionally, within posts I will disclose if freebies, such as tickets, were accepted and used by myself.

Footnote:

Gawker wrote about this subject back in February 2005. Read their post on "Linkola", but pay no attention to that Hard-Fi banner ad above the story. Hey, they gotta pay their bills, right?

UPDATE: After thinking about this so more, I added another paragraph (beginning with "Take as many freebies...") which I felt was missing from the original version.