So it's December 1, which means that the Federal Trade Commission's new guidance regarding endorsements, or, as I like to call it, "THE WAR AGAINST MOMMYBLOGGERS."
I'm just kidding. I've never called it that before typing it just now.
I'm going to give you the short of it here, then if you want more detail, feel free to read after the jump.
I have never received anything of monetary value (cash or otherwise) in exchange for a post. I have received products for possible review free of charge (primarily CDs and DVDs, but also a few other products), but have never accepted those products in exchange for a guarantee of a post, nor have I ever sold those products once received.
If you really want to know more, read on...
So, yeah, while I appreciate what the FTC is trying to do, it seems like it's trying to do so with too broad a brush (and, simultaneously, too small of one -- remind me again how newspapers, who publish on the web, are different?)
Anyway, more detail:
1. I have never received cash or products in exchange for a post. I never will. That's just icky, folks. Icky, icky, icky.
2. I'm a music reviewer. That means people send me their CDs (or DVDs or Wii games or books) in hopes of a possible review, like musicians have been doing since the dawn of time, or at least the 20th century. I should note that not every item I review is of an item provided to me gratis -- a portion (relatively small) of my reviews are on products I have purchased myself. Anyway, from now on, I'll specify in my reviews how I obtained the item in question.
3. I don't sell those CDs and other stuff I get for review. You can ask my wife how the 1,000+ disks I have have sort of taken over. I retain the disks for future use for various projects. Should I ever feel the need to recapture some space, I will donate the disks to charity (and not claim the donation as a charitable donation for tax purposes).
4. I should also note that I help produce music concerts here in the Phoenix area -- two concert series, with more in the works. As a result, I often attend concerts that I produce free of charge. I typically pick folks for these events based on who I want to see and who would fit well in the series in question. So my excitement about these artists is the reason why they're playing in the concert, not vice versa. I have also attended other concerts for free -- I've attended Austin City Limits Festival, for example, on a press pass, but that's all that was provided -- I still needed to pay for my own plane fare and lodging.
Well, that's probably way more than you needed to know. Anyway, you'll note that Zooglobble has never had advertising on this site, nor do I ever intend to have it. This site and my efforts in the kids music field has been a labor of, well, if not love, community building. That and my reputation are way more important to me than the possibility of a few ducats thrown my way.
Thanks for reading.
