There are a lot of music blogs out there.  I know this.  I research them every day to find the best new music out there.  There are certain things that stand out in certain blogs or websites that I like, and when I find these things, I try to incorporate it on my blog: It’s Yours to Find.  Now these things can be anything from a beautiful layout to a more user-friendly experience.  Here are a few of the blogs that I like a lot, and why.

1.  The Needle Drop

The man says it plain and simple at the top of the screen when you go to the site: “The Needle Drop is a b/vlog and radio show about music you should hear. We dedicate most of our time covering independent music because the major labels keep putting out garbage.”  This is a great music blog.  There is a clean design with interactive images and video that are inviting and appealing all at the same time.  The creator of the blog, Anthony Fantano (also of CT), has his own radio show on NPR and incorporates videos for his album reviews, along with podcasts from his radio show.  The videos are what make this site work, because it gives you imagery of the man behind the madness, and this gives the blog a “human” element that lacks on a lot of websites.  The blog also gives readers a similar taste in music to what I have, and being from the same area of the globe would likely generate a similar group of potential users.  Mr. Fantano attracts his users by posting these creative album review videos on Youtube, and having you own show on NPR to promote your site doesn’t hurt.  This gives him credibility, and in turn the readers come back for more. The blog has also been featured by the New Haven Register, Hartford Advocate, and a variety of other print and online publications.

2. Pitchfork

Pitchfork is a major music website out of Chicago.  Their site is dedicated to album reviews, song reviews, interesting live and music videos, along with the most breaking news in the world of music.  This site generates a lot of traffic from many potential users of my site because they cover the type of music that I listen to, and the news and reviews are constantly updated every day.  The site works for me because it is a clean layout, easy to use, and well produced.  The video box on the top right of the homepage makes it easy to browse the newest videos they’ve put up.  There is also a tap where you can browse news headlines and then tap to the newest concert dates.  Its variety and ease of use, along with the amount of information you obtain, is what makes the site so popular. Something it lacks is a comment section, and this is something I would always have on my blog for better interaction between users.  They attract their users by having Twitter updates, Facebook pages, and so on.  They are also linked to a million other music blogs, and is how many obtain a lot of new music information.

3.  CT Indie

This site would also be a competitor.  They concentrate mainly on the Connecticut music scene, focusing almost entirely on the concerts in the state.  They post a few videos here and there, but it’s mainly content that gives people in the area information on local shows, which is why the people go there.  They seem to have a decent following.

THE USERS

The users of these blogs are going to be people who have an avid interest in music.  Their tastes are removed from mainstream music, and they enjoy going to see concerts.  If they are from the area between New York and Boston, they will be loyal followers because they will be able to see all the local concerts and new music coming to their area.  Other people may just browse the site from time to time to hear a new mp3 or song that they like.  Still, these people from outside the area have the potential to become loyal, because there will be constant updates on fresh new music and cool videos.  From looking at my stats on my website’s control panel, I’ve had visits from other countries as well, from Japan to Sweeden.  This shows that people from outside of NYC-Boston will still have an interest in hearing this new music.

The age group of the users would likely range from 16-50. They are able to access the sites through things like Twitter accounts and Facebook fan pages. What I have done is contact other blogs that are competitors, make friends, and hope that they put me on their blog list.  These blogs get a number of hits from people searching for a new song and it’s title, along with people searching for concert information at local venues.

ORGANIZATION

When I created my music blog, I gave it the same template as I have on this blog.  Just like these other blogs, I think it gives it a clean, beautiful look that will attract readers.  When you access the site, the first thing you see is my most recent blog post, along with links at the top to click on articles I’ve posted such as Covers, Local Shows, Mashups, New Music, Remixs, Throwbacks and Videos.  These are aspects that I found on Pitchfork and The Needle Drop.  This gives people the option to look at what they want to look at, and also access older postings without having to sift through.  I put up a box for “What People Are Saying” at the top right, just to show the interaction I have between myself and my readers. This is something that Pitchfork lacks in my opinion. This can help with credibility.  After that on the right, I list all the local shows that I would recommend.  As of now, I give 3 posts per day because that’s all I have time for. Updating constantly is what makes Pitchfork great.  Under each post I allow the reader to rate the song or post, giving them interaction with the website.  These are aspects I did not find on these blogs.  I also give you links to share my posts on Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Delicious, and a number of other social media tools.  This will help to get my site out there.  There is a box on the right also with my latest tweets, so you are able to click that as well and follow me and my blog on Twitter.  I’ve also been posting my website link to Facebook Fan pages of artists I blog about, as with in the comment section of other blogs I read.  Today, Anthony Fantano of “The Needle Drop” commented back on my blog and stated that he was going to add me to his blogroll on his site.  These are some of they many ways to promote your site.

CREDIBILITY

The credibility factor on The Needle Drop and Pitchfork are great.  Pitchfork is a well established site, and even have their own music festival.  But for a small blog like The Needle Drop, the videos give him credibility because you actually get to see him give a review with his own words, confirming that it’s his ideas and not ones that he stole.  He also makes it clear that he has his own show on NPR, and also posts links to articles he has written for them on new music.  CT Indie lacks in some credibility, but the fact that they are on a blogroll of someone like The Needle Drop gives them some credibility in my mind.  They must be doing something good to have other bloggers reading them.  This is why a good way to promote my blog is to get on those blogrolls of my competitors to try to draw some people from those sites to mine.

DESIGN

The design on The Needle Drop and Pitchfork are great.  The layout is clean and gives you a lot to look at, but not in an overwhelming way.  CT Indie’s design is a little plain.  I would definitely like to see a better template, because the elegance of the website design is what brings a lot of people to your site.

WHAT CAN THEY DO BETTER?

I’ve stated a lot of the good about these websites, but lets talk about how they can improve.  Pitchfork should offer a comments section.  This brings together a bigger “community of users.”  The Needle Drop should offer CT concert information, because they are losing people by not posting that info to sites like CT Indie.  CT Indie needs a better design.  They have a lot of concert information that is great, but they need to add more videos, music, and other things that allow the readers to become interactive with the site.  My site will have all of these aspects that the other 3 are lacking, hopefully making it a better experience for the users.

Whew.  I’m tired.