Blog Profile!

Today I am going to take a look at another similar (and good!) music blog, discuss it and talk about the similarities and differences to my own.

Freelance music journalist and college radio DJ, Kat Bee, writes the blog, Sketchy Town, which is about Los Angeles, classic and independent pop/rock/electronica/etc. music (especially bands like Animal Collective and My Bloody Valentine), and what’s going on in the Music Industry today.

From Sketchytown.com-

SKETCHYTOWN blends the best of today’s emerging digital age with a bit of old-school, new-wave style thinking; blog meets electronic underworld meets music journalism meets girltastic webdesign.

Taking all these ingredients together, SKETCHYTOWN serves up a pretty sweet dish—we strive to bring up-and-coming bands to the forefront of the Los Angeles music scene and bands definitive of this ever-changing generation. SKETCHYTOWN also features up-and- coming, albums, music videos, and a slew of other awesome music-related things to check out—as well as people and places well-known and well-loved.

SKETCHYTOWN is Los Angeles’ answer to all the east-coast centric haughty music publications, highlighting some of the best gems in independent music while retaining a uniquely Southern Californian focus. Sometimes, it borders on the random, the ribald, the ridiculous—but hey, it would not be sketchy then, would it?

According to the blog, Kat has had some experience in the industry, writing for various Internet and print publications and DJ-ing at a radio station, and it definitely shows in her writing, she knows her stuff and has researched the topics pretty well. Posts are updated often, about every 3-5 days, however there are not too many comments on the posts, but I could be wrong about the popularity since I cannot figure out how to check a blog’s technorati rank!

There were two posts that struck me in particular because they illustrated exactly the type of topics I want cover in this blog, the ever-changing music industry and how the artist and consumer are adjusting to it. One post discusses how the economy has affected the concert industry, particularly festivals, and how annual festivals like Coachella are planning on doing a sort of lay-away plan for payments instead of paying it all at once (Disnelyland is trying a similar payment plan for the annual pass). You can read more about concert layaway plans here.

The other post discussed the recent demise of the local independent radio station indie 103.1, many music blogs posted about indie’s abrupt and controversial end, but Sketchytown’s was full of links for additional articles on the subject and discussed the disappearance of indie radio everywhere, including XM radio.

The style and layout of SketchyTown (as well as many of its topics) are very similar to what I am interested in, and aim to do with this blog. Sketchytown talks a little more about concert dates and album reviews than I will in this blog, but it captures the currently shifting music industry and its market in a way I too want to exhibit in my blog.

Some of the posts are long and contain a lot of references, others are short little musings, you will see no different here. And while Sketchy Town and its writer are more qualified and educated in this industry than I am, I will try to provide in my blog just as relevant and exciting information/news as it does. While SketchyTown’s audience is a little more focused to the L.A. region and the concert scene there, mine will try to draw in people in any state with news about music and the industry in a more general sense, however this may change as I go along. Those things aside, both of our blogs are still directed towards indie/alternative music lovers and young people with a taste for nostalgia and a craving for something a little less polished then Pitchfork. I hope that you will enjoy both.