Tonspion is the first MP3 blog in Germany and started in 1998 with reviews and downloads that international artists and labels gave out free on the web.
A significant number of indie music labels, promotional agencies and hundreds of artists regularly send promo CDs to MP3 blogs in the hopes of gaining free publicity.
This drew attention not only for the song and the label granting permissions, but also because several comments praising the track came from IP addresses within the Warner Bros. network.
The publicity generated by MP3 blogs crossed the line from the internet to TV in early 2005, when Music (For Robots) was featured during MTV's Total Request Live program for bringing the Hysterics, a Brooklyn rock band composed of four 14- and 15-year-old high school students, to the network's attention.
While this is essentially illegal, record companies often turn a blind eye because of a belief that the blogs constitute free advertising.
[6] Bands such as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and The National have reported increases in sales as a result of attention from MP3 blogs, which often provide links to legal album downloads.