Full disclosure: Yes, I get free stuff

In yesterday's post I mentioned something about needing to tell you I'd gotten the IWTDI music for free (download, not CD). If you read other blogs, you've probably seen the same sort of disclaimer. Basically, the Federal Trade Commission, in an effort to bring a little more honesty to bloggers who actually get paid by companies to review their products, has ruled that bloggers should include a disclaimer when they review items they received for free. The New York Times has a good explanation here.

As a music blogger, I can tell you that the majority (but not all) of the music I review was given to me for free by the band or the label. A lot of times those bands or labels will throw in some sort of goodie like a T-shirt, or stickers. On more rare occasions I accept an offer to get on a guest list, but honestly, I've never liked doing that because I actually like supporting the bands when I go hear them play. I actually paid to get into my own birthday show last year. I usually only do that if the label makes the offer, and it's a big show where the band won't miss my admission price.

But I have never been paid by a band or a label to write anything about them. Last year I wrote the liner notes for the T's and Bleeding Hearts CDs. They graciously offered to pay me and I refused. I thought that would be crossing some sort of moral line I didn't want to cross. I do not get paid for writing for New Raleigh, and didn't get paid for writing for any music publications in the last year, though that wasn't intentional. I was actually hoping to get paid for those!

I wouldn't mind making a little money, honestly. If you notice, I've beefed up the Google Ads and iTunes presence on the blog. But I looked at my Google Ads account the other day and noticed I'd made $8 for the year. If I end up making more than that, great. But if not, that's OK too. I'm really in this for the music, not the money.

The point of all this, if you see an .mp3 or a music review on this blog, most likely I got the CD for free, but I will try to additionally point that out in each post.