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Let’s get the facts out of the way at the beginning. The Hype Machine is a 4-year old music blog aggregator that links to mp3 blogs around the interwebs. Tracks are available for preview on hypem.com, available for purchase on partner sites like amazon and e-music, and available for free just a hyperlink away. And – depending on who you talk to – The Hype Machine is either saving the music industry or killing music.
From here on out, it’s pretty much a gray area. Is Hypem simply a website-based Napster connecting peers for the purpose of capital-‘s’ Stealing files? Or is it the web 2.0 equivalent of your cool friend’s older brother who listens to that Sublime album with the dirty words and lets you burn copies of his CDs so you can listen to them on your discman on the bus to 8th grade? Can it be both? Wouldn’t that be awesome?
There are a thousand different questions revolving around the legality of HypeM, but I’ll leave those for the lawyer-types. (Although if you want to bend your brain a bit, consider some light reading on the BetaMax principle and some much heavier documents from the MGM v. Grokster P2P case). I’m more fascinated by the effects of Hypem on music and its increasingly more amorphous industry. If music is the lake and The Hype Machine is the rock, what are the ripples? If Hype Machine is the butterfly, where are the tornadoes? If Hype Machine is [insert action here] what is [insert equal and opposite reaction here]?
Since gray areas don’t really sell, let’s break it down to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Or, assuming the Ugly is the legal mumbo-jumbo, let’s break it down to the Good and the Bad. And since no one really wants to read a boring article praising the Hype Machine, let’s just skip to the Bad (and maybe throw some Good in from time to time). Without further ado, here are the Deadliest Sins of the Hype Machine:
1. The Hype Machine kills singles
Jonathan Galkin, label manager for indie outfit DFA Records, put in his $.02 worth in an article on guardian.co.uk, saying in no uncertain terms, “MP3 blogs have greatly decreased the sale of our singles”. He went on to detail – “They didn’t exist when we released [the Rapture's] House of Jealous Lovers and we sold 20,000 copies quickly. Now there are thousands of blogs and we sell, on average, 2,000 to 5,000 copies of a 12-inch single. I think that is a true reflection of hearing something and rushing out to buy the real deal version versus hearing something and just searching on Hype Machine for a quick lo-fi fix.â€
To be fair, House of Jealous Lovers dropped in 2002, a very different music economy than the one we’re greeted with today. With PirateBay bringing torrents to the masses, music search engines popping up, and thousands of file-transfer services, there are more influences at play than a single blog aggregator. But Hypem is an undoubtedly simple solution for a quick fix single.
But who cares about singles? They’re really just promotional samples for an entire LP. Music is about so much more than just the hits. It’s about the anticipation, waiting for the latest from your favorite artists to come out on a Tuesday. It’s about unwrapping the CD that you bought with your hard-earned cash, peeling that annoying sticky label off and finally getting a glimpse of the glittering plastic disc. It’s about turning on your stereo, putting in the album, and listening to every new song, beginning to end, over and over. Even that really shitty noise-part after Handshake Drugs, because presumably Jeff Tweedy knows more about music than I do.
Wait, what’s that you say? No one buys CDs anymore? Hardly anyone downloads full albums now? Oh, well then…
2. The Hype Machine kills albums.
It’s tough not to agree with this one. Most fans, critics, and music-makers will agree that the heyday of the album, the record, the fully functional LP is gone for good.  Take, for example, the contrast between my Dad and me.  Pops owned a couple hundred records in college that he would play over and over, that little dangly part of the turntable scratching and popping through the grooves until the cylinders warped. Two hundred some is a fair number of records, the result of years of collecting. Those albums were the soundtrack to his youth – from album art to tunes those 200 records represented a good deal of his life. He could probably name all of them off the top of his head.
Today, my soundtrack varies from week to week. I burn through albums, discarding them often after less than a full listen, marked as not worth the time or effort.  The average listener these days has probably 5,000+ songs in their iTunes library, and I would venture to say that a minority of those songs are even in the context of full albums. Hell, lots of people these days couldn’t tell you what album their favorite tunes come from. Can anyone name the Soulja Boy LP? Is there a Soulja Boy LP?
The Hype Machine makes it easy to find certain songs and hard to find others. But in a cream rising to the top kind of way. Essentially, the listeners choose the singles. Make an album full of hits, and they’ll probably hit the big time. Make an album full of duds, however, and it’s unlikely that any bloggers will feel the need to share your worthless tracks with their friends and readers. But the experience of listening to Kid A cover to cover, the fluidity of hearing one track lead into another, the realization of a concept album like The Streets’ A Grand Don’t Come For Free, is likely reserved for the devout.  The album, as we knew it, is dead.
3. The Hype Machine accelerates the speed of music.
No, not like when people play vinyl records faster than they’re supposed to go, Alvin and the Chipmunks style, or when they fast forward a cassette tape so Barry White sounds like Britney Spears. I mean that the cycle of music is sped up. That a year between albums is a long time, and two is an eternity. The good old days when bands would record and release an album, tour during the following year, recover for the next year, and start over in the third are gone. With rare exceptions, bands that follow that pattern are forgotten in the downtime, overtaken by the prolific Fallout Boys and monthly Bishop Allens of the scene. In today’s music, there’s no time to rest on your laurels. Jay-Z retired in 2003 and released a brand new album in 2006.
Hypem’s Popular page, which lists the 50 most played tracks currently on the Hype Machine, comes with this notice: “Once a song is older than 3 days, it is removed from this list to keep things fresh & current.†Perhaps there is no greater indication of the speed of the blogosphere than that. If it’s 3 days old, it might as well be rotten. In a time where if people aren’t talking about your music you might as well not exist, it’s best to stay fresher than fresh. Is Hypem directly responsible for Lil Wayne’s 8 mixtapes in 4 years? No. But it shoulders at least some of the blame.
4. The Hype Machine kills music writing.
As a music writer, this is perhaps the most grievous of sins. By creating a distribution model in which fans search directly for songs, Hypem has essentially eliminated the need for written music content. Three clicks from Hypem lands a track on your desktop, and in a flash you’re off to the next blog, not bothering to see if the person who posted that Lady Sovereign track loves it or hates it.
I would venture to say that upwards of 60% of all visitors to a given music blog spend under 5 minutes on the page. Why spend more when there are so many different songs to find! And in 3 days these will all be rotten! Oh the humanity! Unless a blog catches your eye enough times to get added to an RSS feed or to your bookmarks bar, it’s unlikely you’ll ever read the words that accompany that zshare link – an unfortunate side effect of the Hype Machine.
Most hyperbolic and finally…
5. The Hype Machine kills the enjoyment of music.
Hypem, and all the baggage it brings with it, turns the enjoyment of music into a chore. If you’re not up on the latest hit, you’re behind the times. It’s harder to sit back and listen to an album three times back to back, because right in front of you is a list of 10 other artists that have released new tracks since you got these. There’s no time to digest an artist that you don’t like on first taste, so bands that might grow on you – say The National or Cold War Kids – are immediately forgotten and lost in the sea of new cuts. I constantly re-discover artists months later by just shuffling through my iTunes library. If I had paid $12 for the record would I have tried my hardest to love each and every track? You’re damn right I would have.
But let’s not be overly negative with the killing of all good things and whatnot. As with all gray areas, there are pros to the Hype Machine’s cons. Probably stronger ones, for that matter.  All the music from the leading blogs for $Free-99, for instance. Hypem is an opportunity for bands like Tapes N’ Tapes, Menomena, and Passion Pit and to find immediate success with fans with very little notice or build-up. Hypem, for better of for worse, grants the chance for remixes and mashups to find their way into the mainstream.
The Hype Machine is a fixture. It’s the central hub of online music blogging, and it’s (hopefully) here to stay. Because for all its ills, The Hype Machine keeps people talking about music. It retains that anticipation of the newest track. It’s an e-harmony matchmaker setting up music readers and music blogs for romantic connections that will lasts for weeks, maybe even months. It might hurt profits for big artists, but it allows small artists to share their music. It might diminish the concept of an entire album, but it gives rise to mixtapes and covers EPs. It may speed things up, but it also speeds up the process of releasing music and generating buzz. And although Hypem might have allowed you to skip the prose about why Sufjan is the perfect soundtrack to some rando’s Tuesday, it also might have led you here. Which, I suppose, is the whole point.
Testing the Hype Machine Method: Hypem’s Top 5 MP3s Right Now
Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor (Shake A Fist Diplo Mix)
A-Trak Feat. Lupe Fiasco – Me & My Sneakers
Kevin Rudolf & Nas – Nyc
Daft Punk – One More Time (Laidback Luke ‘Be More Time’ Edit)
Coldplay – Life In Technicolor II
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Chris Barth is a guest-blogger here at Pretty Much Amazing, you can read his daily entries at his blog, The Stu Reid Experiment.
Tags: The Hype Machine, The Thinking Man
Haha, I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with the Hype Machine. It’s a great music search engine/aggregator, but I do think it’s making song great music into “3-day” fads.
I didn’t even think about the affects Hype Machine has in terms of the music industry. But its just like Napster/iTunes/Digital Radio… new services that have changed the scene forever and wont go away.
That said — I absolutely love these little side-articles!
Another good article Chris! I’m surprised some idiot hasn’t left a comment saying something like “stick to posting about new music!!!!”
Hypem has definitely given Remixes a new meaning/fanbase. And without it bands like MGMT and Vampire Weekend would have probably get lost in the sea of new music.
Indie rock would not be the same. It would be location based. With Hypem (and other services like it), bands like Justice can have GLOBAL audiences/fans.
Haha, does PMA really have to “test” the hype machine method? I’m sure you guys are pros at that already
Wow, Hype Machine DOES kill enjoyment of music! you have converted me.
Great article!!
but let’s face it apart from vampire weekend and mgmt the mainly American blog scene sucks. The energy of a couple of year’s back has disappeared to be replaced by careerists like the Hypem people. It’s like any scene, it goes from underground and great to pop and shit.
It’s really not that global either. Justice are an exception, normally its boring balding 30 plus bands on Merge. The stuff that gets picked up on now is really v
cliched blog fare. Little Boots for instance, who’s kind of rubbish.
So you’re debating a party that’s over.
Man, you’re really depressing Jock.
If it wasn’t for Hype Music, I wouldn’t be reading this blog right now. It has opened me up to so many new and terrific music blogs.
That is a plus in my book.
Nice article.
Love your blog, I found it yesterday via hypem
great article! Interesting topic indeed. I suppose you just wanted to keep it to hype machine in this one, but I think it’s particularly intriguing that this post is number 1 on elbo.ws right now haha
nice job! i’d say hypem is more threatening than elbo.ws, since elbo.ws lists posts & artists & mp3s in separate categories like if i just wanna read about an artist it’s a lot easier…. whereas hypem just lists posts that mp3s are in. if you don’t link mp3s in your blog when you’re writing about them, well… you’re screwed.
moral of hypem seems to be keep releasing more & more mp3s into blogs, which thereby kills the music industry. it’s a pretty messed up circle.
that being said, i LOVE those sites
Great article, but I’m not sure I agree that Hypem is to blame for all that you mentioned. I think its a product of it.
I agree completely with Half Note. Hypem is a product of the music environment.
Hype Machine is a database of bloggers that have been granted permission from the artists and labels to promote their music. 90% of the music is not to full quality which is the positive to artists and record labels as this is only used for promotional use. Like mentioned in most blogs, if you like the music support the artist by visiting beatport, juno, or itunes and buy there music.
It’s not The Hype Machine’s fault. I blame the youth and their “ADD”
Anyways, The Hype Machine is how I found this wonderful blog.
Same thing is happening in news. News blogs go online (with unchecked facts) and people have stopped buying newspapers. But studies show people only glance at the articles for the most part, and seldom click on the links to other sections. Whereas with newspapers there is more chance of you opening the paper and actually reading the content inside.
Good article.
Nice article. I found your page via hype machine a few months ago. I book marked it right away and come back everyday.
love the article.
I agree:
it kills singles
it speeds up the music, its scary that things get buried so fast
Randi Baron, B, Lisa
Don’t agree:
kills albums – I buy albums anyway. real CDs. I only download albums if it has lots of hype and I really cannot get into it. This means I wouldnt have purchased it in the first place. By the time next album comes I am way more likely to buy it.
In general itunes has killed concept albums and me listening to them the whole way through.
It kills music – this just links back to the speed of music
anyway fantastic!
robin-
unfortunately us cd buyin types are in the minority. although hypem is just a tool and can be used for good (research) or evil (disposable trend-tracking) it definitely lends itself to the latter with its ‘3 day’ hotlist.
Good arcticle, thanks.
I’m pretty sure Hype M is on the evil side. They’re not just a blog / mp3 aggregator based on hits and numbers– they get $$$ to put certain blogs up top.
Actually not sure if that’s evil or not, but it sure is misleading.
wow, that article basically defines my musical exp, i feel a little bad now, i love hypem….
“they get $$$ to put certain blogs up top.”
Oh, is that a fact?
To assume that either mp3 blogs and file sharing (or people’s use of the internet in any way, for that matter) has a negative effect on the music industry is simply ridiculous. Independent studies have shown that there is no causal relationship between the increase of music online and the decrease of music sales in traditional markets. End of story. Your only source on this is a quote from someone within the music industry itself. I suggest you do more research on the subject. Email me for sources if you need them.
Likewise, to assume that the majority or “the base” of music fans use the Hype machine and therefore are influenced by it is equally ridiculous. Even to assume that the bulk of music fans fill their ipods with singles merits a solid source of reference, where is it? Let’s be careful to not assume that we the super geeks, are the norm, eh?
Yes, the Hypem has changed the way we use music. Yes it’s altered our focus on singles v. albums but I tend to think that’s more a product of a generational shift, as you say, rather than something caused by Hypem. And as for music writing… there’s plenty of us who write about music and don’t give a damn about Hypem, don’t write with it in mind, aren’t listed on it, and have a small and faithful readership of friends who dig what we do nonetheless.
Thanks for a thought-provoking article!
Thought provoking it is. For me, I know what I like and don’t have to listen to someone’s personal podcast or read any critic-blogger-citizen-journalist wanna-be music nerd’s opinion for that matter (no offense). It is just about the music for me and fine-tuning my tastes and it goes great with last.fm as they have been advertising it lately! Collusion!!! hah makes for a better overall product and business model. Oil of the 21st century information and intellectual property will be says I, ftw!
Speaking of collusion btw, if you’re techie enough you don’t even have to leave any hypem page to download songs use FlashGot or some similiar downloader on FireFox or if you’re as nerdy as you think you are get SongBird. Granted, they’re not tagged, but you get the song and tagging’s up to you or another community, MusicBrainz. I wonder who pays them to get featured in their iTunes killer browser???
Two quick notes:
1) “they get $$$ to put certain blogs up top.” is certainly not true. Every single blog in our system is on a level playing field.
2) We have the Popular page showing only the last 3 days of tracks is our effort to highlight interesting and new tracks. If it was an ongoing thing you’d most likely find the usual suspects on top (Coldplay, Radiohead, etc etc). Not to say you don’t find these on the current Popular page, but it gives other songs a fighting chance (Teki Latex is #1 right now).
For a depressing example of how the “all time” popular tracks look check out Last.FM’s top tracks of 2008: http://www.last.fm/bestof/2008/track/10
(6 of them are Coldplay, 4 of them are MGMT).
Our system isn’t perfect, and we certainly didn’t pick 3 days to overwhelm people or kill the album etc etc. I just wanted to share our thinking and let you know we are constantly trying to improve on making music discovery fun.
Speeding up music?? There’s a couple major flaws with this argument. But just to make it easy, here’s the Beatles catalog and release years:
* Please Please Me (Parlophone, 1963)
* With The Beatles (Parlophone, 1963)
* A Hard Day’s Night (Parlophone, 1964)
* Beatles for Sale (Parlophone, 1964)
* Help! (Parlophone, 1965)
* Rubber Soul (Parlophone, 1965)
* Revolver (Parlophone, 1966)
* Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Parlophone, 1967)
* Magical Mystery Tour (U.S. only. Released as a Double EP in the UK) (Capitol, 1967)
* The Beatles (”The White Album”) (Apple, 1968)
* Yellow Submarine (Apple, 1969)
* Abbey Road (Apple, 1969)
* Let It Be (Apple, 1970)
13 albums in 7 years.
A lot of people prefer MP3 over CD or Vinyl.
Most people aren’t audio buffs with hi-fi ears who can tell the difference between a 16bit 44.1Khz PCM .WAV file and a 192k MP3.
So, it’s easy to understand why some are not compelled to spend on money they can get for free (even if it is a low quality mp3 rip).
Also, a lot of tracks, these days, seem to get leaked to the public/internet early via someone copying the promo cd/mp3 or leaking the demo, in some cases!
I understand, It’s difficult to compete with “free”.
But, I would also urge DFA to up their game, and release less medicore indie dance drivel.
Concentrate on putting out anthems, instead.
Put out great songs that are worthy of our hard earned cash.
Sure, some will download a free copy of copy.
But, many others, will buy, buy, buy.
They have yet to release anything remotely great as Dinsoaur L, Arthur Russell, Loose Joints, George Kranz, Laidbach, The Normal, The B-52s, Tom Tom Club, Talking Heads, Joy Division, New Order, Depeche Mode, The Human League, Soft Cell, Fad Gadget, The The, Kraftwerk…
Need I go on?
Jonathan Galkin – If your back catalogue was your school homework, it would be marked ‘easily distracted, could do better, & see me after class’.
Brilliant article. However if it wasn’t for the hype machine i wouldn’t have found out about PMA, but i have to agree with alot of the points this article raises
excelente article.
The speed at which music is available is killing the soul and depth that music once had and you could not have summarized it better!
Thank you.