100+ Posts, 60,000+ Hits: Time For A Change

It's funny that there has been a brief uproar over the last couple of days relating to Def Jux and their threats to Google/Blogger, and that Travis over at WYDU wrote something today on the subject, as it relates strongly to changes here at FDB. I've been thinking about these for a while, and actually wrote this post over the weekend, but held back whilst I was trying to sort out some of the technical issues surrounding the change. Anyway, here's the lowdown in all its glory...

One of the issues that has continued to plague me in relation to From Da Bricks is that of the dubious nature of file sharing. I believe strongly that in many ways the sharing of albums in their entirety is worthwhile, particularly when they are out of print or representative of an under-exposed or forgotten artist. I hope that in posting whole albums in the past, people will have gotten a hold of music that they either couldn't find, lost, or didn't know about in the first place, and that can only be a good thing. Having said this, it does still concern me that I may be in some way damaging the industry or artists in some way (not to mention the legal issues of course), and I wouldn't want to take anything away from something that brings me such continual joy (or get shafted by a lawyer).

As a result, I will now be streaming tunes on FDB, as well as giving you the option to download a couple of tracks for a limited period of time (likely to be the previous five posts) instead of posting up the whole albums. I hope that this will give you a flavour for the artist featured in each future post to accompany the words, verbs and pronouns, and may encourage you to purchase some of their music and research their body of work further. I intend to post two cuts from each album that I write something about, and provide a link to a place in which it can be purchased, predominantly Amazon.com. If you're interested, here are some of the reasons why as well as a few comments on the change in general:

1. With the plethora of blogs now out there as well as online resources such as Albumbase, it really is incredibly simple to find pretty much anything that you want on the World Wide Web in its entirety. In fact, I don't imagine that I have posted anything that can't be found on Albumbase or other blogs with relative ease, and so it feels like a bit of a waste of time for me to upload the albums themselves when there really shouldn't be any problem finding them anyway. Conduct a search on Blogger or Albumbase and I can almost guarantee that what you are looking for will be there.

2. From my own downloading habits I know that sometimes I download ten albums in a day just to get an impression of what they are like, only for them to sit on my hard drive for months with little to no airplay. I appreciate it when I can listen to songs directly on a blog or website, so I assume that you will too. Although the downloads will be functional immediately, it may take me a little while to get the streaming up and running with total consistency, so bear with me and let me know how it's going for you.

3. Aforementioned moral/legal dilemma concerning file sharing. I want to make it clear that my feelings here are very mixed, and that I have no beef with anyone offering complete album downloads on their blogspot. Is it right, is it wrong... whatever, I have just chosen to go down a slightly different route from here on in and it's as simple as that. FDB was never meant to be a statement about the current state of the music industry or an attack on record labels and the status quo, and I have never shared anything in the past with the intention of changing the way that it is structured or functions (as if this little blogspot could have that effect anyway). My file sharing was never intended to be taking a stand against evil, money grabbing corporations that rob the consumer of choice and exploit artists (if that's what they are and do). Oh, and I don't want any lawyers breathing down my neck any time soon either.

4. I am still willing to send people links for whole albums via e-mail, but there are several conditions. Other blog owners, those people who I would consider online friends (you know who you are) and people who regularly comment on the site are more than welcome to drop me a line if there is something featured that they want, and as long as you don't then spread that link any further, then it will be a pleasure to oblige. If I send someone a link and then discover a week later that it has been accessed 100 times, the original recipient will never receive the same privilege again... but I know you good people wouldn't do that anyway. If you have never commented on the site and I have no idea who you are, I'm unlikely to respond to a request: don't take it personal.

5. I hope that one of the reasons that people visit the site is because of the chance to share a passion and interest in hip hop and discuss artists/albums/issues rather than simply to hit the links, and that the majority will still find FDB a friendly and inviting place to do so whether I offer full albums or not. Maybe this is naive and somewhat arrogant, but I hope that these feelings are not entirely misplaced and that regular readers will still find worth and enjoyment in visiting the site.

6. There will of course be exceptions to the rule. I still intend to post 12''s in their entirety because there is rarely more than two tracks on a vinyl single anyway, and I assume that if you download 12''s, it's probably because you collect them and are simply previewing the record in case you find it somewhere. The bottom line is that the digital format does not match the physical product, whereas if you have downloaded a whole album and have it on your hard drive, there really is little difference between that and owning the CD, as you can burn one easily yourself. Sconeboy mixes, compilations, and the odd bits and pieces will still be uploaded in their entirety, and essentially choices will be made based on the issues involved in each individual case. I'm sure that there are a mass of contradictions here, but I can only do what I feel is right. Essentially, I reserve the right to be a hypocrite.

So there you have it. The links that are currently on the site will be removed early next week, so this is your last chance to plough your way through the archives whilst there's still music there to grab. One of the positive things for me in all of this is the fact that I can now comment on/review new releases due to the two track/limited time policy which I would have previously avoided when offering whole album downloads.

Thanks for all of the support so far over the last six months or so, I still love doing it, and I hope that this only serves to improve things here at FDB. If there are any technical issues that arise from this change, e.g. the tracks aren't streaming properly (as I said, the streaming may not be immediate), then let me know and I will find a way around it. I hope that this blog continues to be a source of pleasure for all involved, and I thank you once again for all of the comments, feedback and props that, perhaps a little tragically, really do make a difference to my small and insignificant time on this planet. Peace.