Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blog

MP3 blog

An MP3 blog is a type of blog in which the creator makes music files, normally in the MP3 format, available for download. They are also known as "musicblogs" or "audioblogs". MP3 blogs have become increasingly popular since 2003...

s. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender

Blender (magazine)

Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....

's Powergeek 25, and Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

's Best Music Websites. In 2010 Stereogum was named an Official Honoree of the Webby Awards

Webby Awards

A Webby Award is an international award presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the Internet with categories in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile....

 in the music category and won the Omma Award for Web Site Excellence in the Entertainment/Music category.

Recent

In late 2006, Stereogum received an influx of capital through Bob Pittman's private investment entity The Pilot Group. In November 2007, it was purchased by BUZZMedia. April 2008 saw the launch of Videogum

Videogum

Videogum is a daily Internet publication devoted to coverage of popular culture with a focus on movies, television, and trampoline accidents. Stereogum founder Scott Lapatine founded Videogum as a sister site to Stereogum in 2008, and enlisted editors Gabe Delahaye and Lindsay Robertson, who...

, a sister site focused on television, movies, and Web videos.

Music releases

In July 2007, Stereogum released OKX

OKX

Stereogum Presents... OKX: A Tribute to OK Computer is a free, downloadable tribute album to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Radiohead's OK Computer. The tribute album features songs by a variety of bands including the Cold War Kids, Vampire Weekend, My Brightest Diamond, and The Twilight Sad...

, a tenth anniversary tribute to Radiohead

Radiohead

Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...

's OK Computer

OK Computer

OK Computer is the third studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 16 June 1997 on Parlophone in the UK and 1 July 1997 by Capitol Records in the US. It marks a deliberate attempt by the band to move away from the introspective guitar-oriented sound of their previous...

. Cover songs were solicited from fourteen indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 artists including Doveman

Doveman

Doveman is a band founded by Thomas Bartlett. Originally from Vermont, Bartlett studied piano in London with Maria Curcio before moving to New York City to attend Columbia University. He attended Columbia for one year, when he left to focus on his studies of classical music. After leaving Columbia,...

, Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend is an American indie rock band from New York City that formed in 2006 and signed to XL Recordings. The Band has four members: Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson, and Chris Baio. The band released its first album Vampire Weekend in 2008, which produced the singles "Mansard...

, John Vanderslice

John Vanderslice

John Vanderslice is an American musician and songwriter. Previously a member of the band Mk Ultra, he now records and performs as a solo artist.-Early years:...

, David Bazan

David Bazan

David Bazan is an indie rock singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Bazan was the lead singer and creative force behind the now-defunct band Pedro the Lion and was the lead singer of Headphones, a band he formed out of his interest in synthesizers...

, Cold War Kids

Cold War Kids

Cold War Kids are an American indie rock band from Long Beach, California. Band members are Nathan Willett , Jonnie Russell , Matt Maust , and Matt Aveiro .-History:...

, My Brightest Diamond

My Brightest Diamond

My Brightest Diamond is the project of singer–songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Worden. The band has released two studio albums, 2006's Bring Me the Workhorse and 2008's A Thousand Shark's Teeth, along with a remix album Tear It Down and a download-only release through iTunes...

, Marissa Nadler

Marissa Nadler

Marissa Nadler is an American dream-folk singer-songwriter and fine artist based in Boston.-Early life:Marissa Nadler was exposed to art at a young age through her mother Pamela, an abstract painter, and her older brother Stuart, a guitarist and writer...

, Chris Funk

Chris Funk

Christopher Lyman Funk is a multi-instrumentalist and member of the Portland, Oregon, indie rock band The Decemberists. He is originally from Valparaiso, Indiana where he worked at Front Porch Music which inspired his love of American Folk Music. He plays guitar, pedal steel, piano, violin,...

 of The Decemberists

The Decemberists

The Decemberists are an indie folk rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, fronted by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. The other members of the band are Chris Funk , Jenny Conlee , Nate Query , and John Moen .The band's...

, and Chris Walla

Chris Walla

Christopher Walla is an American musician and music producer, most notable for being the guitarist for the band Death Cab for Cutie. He is also a former DJ of KCWU, 88.1 The Burg...

 of Death Cab for Cutie

Death Cab for Cutie

Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....

. The album can be heard free of charge at http://www.stereogum.com/okx.

Other free Stereogum compilation albums include: Drive XV, a tribute to R.E.M.

R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

's Automatic For The People

Automatic for the People

Automatic for the People is the eighth album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1992 on Warner Bros. Records. While R.E.M...

(featuring Rogue Wave

Rogue Wave (band)

Rogue Wave is an indie rock band from Oakland, California, , and headed by Zach Schwartz who created the band after losing his job in the dot-com bust. Their first album was Out of the Shadow which was released privately in 2003 and re-released in 2004...

, Meat Puppets, Sara Quin

Tegan and Sara

Tegan and Sara are a Canadian indie band composed of identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin . Both Tegan and Sara play guitar and keyboard and write songs.-History:...

, and Dr. Dog

Dr. Dog

Dr. Dog is a psychedelic rock band from West Grove, Pennsylvania. Its lineup currently consists of Toby Leaman , Scott McMicken , Frank McElroy , Zach Miller , and Eric Slick . Lead vocal duties are shared between Leaman and McMicken, with all members contributing harmonies...

). Enjoyed, a tribute to Björk

Björk

Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...

's Post (featuring Liars

Liars (band)

Liars is a three-piece band formed in 2000 consisting of Angus Andrew , Aaron Hemphill , and Julian Gross...

, Edward Droste, Dirty Projectors

Dirty Projectors

The Dirty Projectors aka David Longstreth includes Amber Coffman , Angel Deradoorian , Brian McOmber , Nat Baldwin , and Haley Dekle during live performances...

, Final Fantasy

Owen Pallett

Michael James Owen Pallett is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist from Toronto, Ontario. He won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds....

, Atlas Sound

Atlas Sound

Bradford James Cox is an American musician best known as the lead singer and guitarist of Atlanta, Georgia-based psychedelic and ambient band Deerhunter. He also pursues a solo career under the moniker Atlas Sound. Cox formed Deerhunter with drummer Moses Archuleta in 2001. The band has released...

, Stroked, a tribute to The Strokes

The Strokes

The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....

's Is This It

Is This It

Is This It is the debut studio album by American indie rock band The Strokes. Recorded at Transporterraum in New York City with producer Gordon Raphael, after meeting at an early show at Luna Lounge, a former venue on the Lower East Side in NYC, the album was first released on July 30, 2001 in...

(featuring Real Estate

Real Estate (band)

Real Estate is an Indie rock band hailing from Ridgewood, New Jersey now rooted in Brooklyn, N.Y.-Band members:* Alex Bleeker – bass, vocals* Martin Courtney – guitar, vocals* Matthew Mondanile – guitar, vocals* Jackson Pollis – drums...

, Owen Pallett

Owen Pallett

Michael James Owen Pallett is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist from Toronto, Ontario. He won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds....

, Peter Bjorn & John, and The Morning Benders

The Morning Benders

The Morning Benders are an indie rock band from Berkeley, California, now based in Brooklyn, New York.In 2008, they released their debut album Talking Through Tin Cans on +1 Records...

); and MySplice Vols 1-4:, an annual mashup

Mashup (music)

A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...

 collaboration with team9

Team9

Team9 is the work of the English-Australian producer Neil Mason. Most of their work are unauthorized mashups.Team9 formed in 1997 as a five piece band and released two albums, Gas and Air in 1999 and My Tape Machine in 2002. Originally playing guitar based pop, by 2002 Team9 were incorporating...

.