So, this past Saturday, I was at Panera with my girl enjoying a delightful roasted turkey artichoke panini when I get a call from illa. He sounded like someone had bought him candy after punching him in the gut.

He proceeded to inform me that The Weekly Beat Sessions was picked up by the music aggregator site, The Hype Machine. I remember using the site to find mp3s when I would update my Project Playlists at work years ago. I was floored. Now, come to find out, The Hype Machine has become an even bigger deal since I last checked it out having partnered with SoundCloud — allowing labels to connect with bloggers, giving them access to exclusive songs amongst other benefits.

Exciting as it was, the news came rather unexpectedly– what did this mean for the participants, supporters, and listeners of The Weekly Beat Sessions? Generation ILL has since sent out a mass email to its in-house producers as well as to the producers currently participating in The Weekly Beat Sessions, communicating what this means for The WBS and informing everyone that this is certainly a positive step toward connecting The Weekly Beat Sessions with a wider audience. A larger audience means a larger network and an even bigger platform for both exposure and expression.

Check out some exerpts from the mass email below:

Sometime yesterday around Noon, The Weekly Beat Sessions was selected by the Hype Machine as a music blog that they are tracking, following, and indexing for their website. The Hype Machine is the world’s largest music blog/mp3 aggregator. They basically collect all posts/music from the best music blogs (in their opinion) on the internet and presents it to their audience in one place. In regards to WBS being selected, this is quite significant considering that the Hype Machine is known for selecting prominent/established music blogs which they feel are relevant and of high quality. It is the goal of many music blogs to eventually get listed on Hype Machine. Yesterday, we reached that goal. This is something that all participants of WBS should be proud of.

How does it work?
Basically it works like this: on Monday night, as soon as I click “update post”, WBS pings Hype Machine and lets them know that a new session has been posted. Hype Machine visits the site, and automatically indexes the post and makes all the posted mp3s available for streaming (more on this later) on their front page. As new posts/songs get cataloged our songs move further down and eventually off the front page. It’s kind of like WBS is now being syndicated by Hype Machine.

I personally think that this is a great thing. Generation ILL wants WBS to be a platform for beatmakers/producers to get their music heard. This furthers that mission on a larger scale. And it is also a testament to the greatness that you guys do every week.

Make sure to check out this week’s edition of The Weekly Beat Sessions (being posted later tonight) and also make sure to check out The WBS now on The Hype Machine.

Peace.

Billy Soco ( t: @bsoco / @generationill )

PS. The hype feeling we have can’t be completely explained in words– check this dope instrumental from Generation ILL producer, Eladbrit (what up, Elad!?!?):

The Grime – Eladbrit of Generation ILL