Just Blaze On Music Blog Culture & The Return Of TheMegatronDon.com | SoulCulture TV

“You will know that my name is the lord, because I will strike upon the BLOGOSPHERE with great vengeance and furious anger..”

Whilst in Europe on the SOUNDCLASH tour with fellow heavyweight Hip Hop producer The Alchemist, Just Blaze sat down with SoulCulture TV in London earlier this week to discuss today’s key issues in music blog culture. Namely: the commonplace battles between bloggers and record labels, and what should be done about it – from both sides of the fence.

We could have gone on for days but we were all stuck for time. Soundcheck imminent, he summarises his thoughts in this 5-minute to-the-point clip:

[Fast forward to 4:12 for Just Blaze's word on the return of his own popular blog, TheMegatronDon.com, currently on hiatus.]

Key Points:

• “Bloggers cry about the labels trying to shut them down for posting new and unauthorised music… but they don’t offer an alternative…” he says. “They’re issuing cease and desist [orders] because they don’t want you posting this music, but they have a right to do that…. [Bloggers] help generate interest in the artist… and in the long term sometimes you help generate income, for these artists, but you’re not doing anything to work in tandem with the labels….”

• “The blogs aren’t going anywhere, the labels aren’t going anywhere – so both y’all need to shut up. Until somebody comes to the table with a system how this can work in everybody’s benefit. Because the labels aren’t gonna just let you run rampant with their music- and at the same time labels need to understand that blogs aren’t going to stop posting it.”

• “If a kid’s trying to get hot and he gets his hand on an unreleased Jay-Z record or Eminem record… he’s not gonna not put it out with tags of his name all over it. I think the problem is sometimes a lot of people in positions like that don’t really think about how they can monetise outside of that day…

“Here’s Monday, and such-and-such has a new Jay-Z record that no-one’s ever heard before. You put it out, you’re hot for a day… What do you do after that? …I bet you 99% of them can’t answer that question.”

• He goes on to name Eskay [NahRight.com] as one of the few to make their blogging brand successful in business terms. “Other than that,” he comments, “bloggers is just posting music just to post music. If that’s what you wanna be known for – cool. But I don’t know how much of your rent that’s really paying…”

His advice to all?

Get smart, stop crying… Figure out a system with the labels – and labels, stop crying too ’cause y’all look stupid and prehistoric complaining about this ‘darn newfangled internet’; it’s been here for 10 years on a mainstream level and it’s not going nowhere – figure it out, work it out.”

Many thanks to Doctor’s Orders for scheduling our interview.]

Discuss!