CMJ has lots of panels, but the one I was most excited about was called, “So You Want to be a Music Blogger: Who Cares?‰” Not because I want to be a music blogger, but because the panel included Matthew Perpetua, founder and sole writer of Fluxblog (www.fluxblog.org). Fluxblog is great because of Perpetua‰’s undying and deeply personal love for the music he writes about. What makes that website different to is that he posts not only indie flavors du-jour, but also a dazzling array of forgotten diamonds in the rough type mp3s. (I am also indebted to him forever for introducing me to the whole of DC punk god Ian Svevonious‰’s entire ouvre.)

Perpetua, along with the rest of the panel members (which included Strangers in Stereo/Cream Scene‰’s Veroinca Murtagh‰ÛÒ and Spoon/Radiohead/Arcade Fire rep Steve Martin, and small time blog sensation Blackbird) all agreed on one thing- to blog about music, you have to love it, and you have to keep your day job. When an audience member mentioned that he had heard of people cultivating a music blog to make some quick cash on the side, without blinking, Steve Martin said, “That is the stupidest f*cking thing I have ever heard.‰Û

The panel members also mentioned the importance of authenticity and genuine enthusiasm. Most blogs, they noted, get lost in the shuffle because they follow trends of hipness and hype when selecting which mp3s and bands to cover. They suggested developing a unique/consistent voice and taste to make your blog singular and memorable- which, I mean, duh, but very nice indeed to hear from those who truly know their stuff.