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Indie bands dig them. Major labels shun them. Copyright issues vex them, while music fans flock to them: for free downloads, concert data, idiosyncratic musings, and impassioned chatter about acts and tracks.

Since surfacing a few years ago, audioblogs (a.k.a. mp3 blogs) have become a kind of collective road map to a music subculture built around non-mainstream artists and self-made tastemakers. Surprisingly, their creators don't necessarily fit the stereotype of 20-something geeks sharing favorite cuts with like-minded friends.

``Just in the past few weeks, a local blog community has developed around here, which is really cool," notes Jay Breitling , who runs the Clicky Clicky site and holds a master's degree in journalism from Boston University.

Jennings Aske , proprietor of rbally.net , posted a notice recently seeking to identify other local audiobloggers whom he could link to on his site. ``When I started my blog a few months ago, I couldn't conceive of asking that question," says Aske, who works in the public sector.

Breitling is among a handful of local audiobloggers -- along with Paul Irish (Aurgasm), Brad Searles (Bradley's Almanac), and Dany Sloan (Exit Fare) -- who'll participate in a panel discussion on music blogs at the annual NEMO Music Festival in Boston next month. If the bloggers profiled below are dedicated to one thing, it's the proposition that not all music is distributed (or appreciated) equally.

HELL GINA
Blogger: Gina Rivera, 26
URL: hellogina.blogspot.com
Personal file: Harvard University PhD student in musicology; holds two performance degrees in violin from University of Wisconsin.
Blog launch: June ’05, while researching a 15th-century manuscript; ‘‘I started as a blog reader and thought I could become one myself, perhaps. My site is really an extension of how I listen.’’
Blog profile: Indie bands and unsigned artists mixed with a sprinkling of classical tracks.
Daily visitors: 500.
Posting policy: Some tracks supplied for review; no reported complaints from artists or labels.
Recently featured: David Brusie, Sam Prekop, the Benevento/Russo Duo.
Touchstone artists: Eux Autres, Charles Trenet, Yo La Tengo.
Site sample: ‘‘Monday mornings are an interesting time. Sometimes a weekend hangover seems not altogether gone; a long to-do list awaits; the morning light seems a little less welcoming, a little less comforting, than it does on Saturdays or Sundays. The music for these storied Mondays can come from anywhere, I suppose.’’
Comment: ‘‘As a musicologist, I find doing this keeps my writing more grounded.’’

EXIT FARE
Blogger: Dany Sloan, 27
URL: exitfare.blogspot.com
Personal file: Philadelphia native; Boston music promoter (the Planetary Group).
Blog launch: May ’05 ‘‘as a drunken birthday joke, basically.’’
Blog profile: Music, TV, sports commentary (he’s a rabid Baltimore Orioles fan); artist interviews; focus on Brit-pop, indie rock, hip-hop, and dance music; podcast links.
Daily visitors: 200.
Posting policy: ‘‘If you like what you hear, go to the show or . . . buy the album or single. Also, I will be glad to remove an mp3 if you are the owner of the file and are unhappy with its appearance here.’’
Recently featured: Teddybears, Headlights, DJ Never Forget.
Touchstone artists: Ted Leo, Cold Chisel, Elvis Costello.
Site sample: ‘‘What really sets Larrikin Love apart is the fact that they experiment with a wide range of influences from punk to bluegrass, allowing them to craft songs that are completely unforgettable. Ever think you’d hear a fiddle solo in the middle of a dance punk song? Try ‘Edwould,’ a song that is quirky and fun in a boozy sort of way.’’
Comment: ‘‘I do my best to keep this separate from my real job. Every month I get so busy with other activities, I think I should scale back. Then I wind up spending even more time on it.’’

RBALLY
Blogger: Jennings Aske, 36
URL: rbally.net
Personal file: Moved to Boston in 1999 to attend Boston University; works in the public sector.
Blog launch: December ’05.
Blog profile: Live recordings, interviews; indie and alternative bands, from post-punk to alt-country; soon to include more jam bands and jazz.
Daily visitors: 5,000.
Posting policy: ‘‘I generally post audience-taped shows or material from indie labels that have no issue with my using it.’’
Recently featured: Fugazi, the Specials, Old 97s.
Touchstone artists: Sonic Youth, Wilco, the Replacements, Sleater-Kinney.
Site sample: (The Specials playing Hurrah’s in 1980) ‘‘Honestly, this is a great recording, capturing the band at their peak, at a time when ska was relevant and dangerous. . . . It’s so sad that I was listening to Barry Manilow when this show was recorded.’’
Comment: ‘‘Blogs like these have facilitated the discovery of new bands at a time when Clear Channel owns all the radio stations.’’

CLICKY CLICKY
Blogger: Jay Breitling, 32
URL: jbreitling.blogspot.com
Personal file: Litigation paralegal; guitarist; former music director for college radio station.
Blog launch: Early 2000, after losing his dot-com job.
Blog profile: Indie rock, European electronic, house, and jazz.
Daily visitors: 100-plus; ‘‘My most devoted readers are my former co-workers at webnoize.com.’’
Posting policy: ‘‘I ask permission from the artist or label. They’re usually cool about it.’’
Recently featured: Spinto Band, Damsel, the Shins, Bloc Party.
Touchstone artists: Lemonheads, Dinosaur Jr., Ride.
Site sample: ‘‘TV On The Radio has some strong opinions about the direction the current administration is taking our country. The between-song banter from lead singer Tunde Adebimpe and guitarist/falsettoist Kyp Malone Thursday . . . stated that each subsequent song was ‘about not joining the Marines today.’ The gag was as funny as the band was serious — the Marines were an event co-sponsor, a move the military branch probably began regretting at, oh, about 6:05 PM.’’
Comment: ‘‘Trying to keep up with new music is like having a fire hose pointed at you. Every blog has its own personality, and mine is almost like a letter to myself.’’

KEEP THE COFFEE COMING
Blogger: Kathleen Ryan, 51
URL: katry.blogspot.com
Personal file: Former Peace Corps worker; retired Cape Cod school administrator.
Blog launch: Winter ’04.
Blog profile: Folk, gospel, pop; vintage personal photos; weekends devoted to themed music (e.g. beach day). ‘‘The ramblings of a more than middle-aged baby boomer looking at the world with increasingly blurred eyes and wrinkled features.’’
Daily visitors: 1,000.
Posting policy: ‘‘No one hassles me, because most of what I post is old. And if anyone objected, I’d take down the track.’’
Recently featured: Gordon Lightfoot, the New World Singers, Tom Rush.
Touchstone artists: Joni Mitchell, Barbara Dane, Judy Collins, Peter, Paul and Mary.
Site sample: ‘‘Today will be old movie day. I decree that all the films must be in black and white and have been made no later than 1965. With Gracie [her dog] beside me, we’ll sit on the couch and munch popcorn. I’ll watch the movies; she’ll watch the popcorn. I’m thinking an old scary movie, like a Vincent Price movie in one of those dark houses in the rain with lots of screams and a few bodies.’’
Comment: ‘‘What takes time are the personal pieces. I could get ads, but that goes against everything I believe in. My heart’s not for sale.’’

BRADLEY’S ALMANAC
Blogger: Brad Searles, 36
URL: bradleysalmanac.com
Personal file: Tester for Cambridge software firm; ex-drummer (the Also-Rans, Starlight Conspiracy).
Blog launch: June ’01; ‘‘I saw sites from other cities and decided to start one more specific to my own interests.’’
Blog profile: Live recordings of indie bands; riffs on comics, TV shows, politics.
Number of daily visitors: 2,000 to 3,000.
Posting policy: Removes files after a week or two; treats pre-release files ‘‘sensitively’’; links to artists’ sites, encourages visitors to purchase their work.
Recently featured: Sam Champion, Yo La Tengo, Camera Obscura.
Touchstone artists: Ride, the Wedding Present, Throwing Muses.
Site sample: ‘‘The fact that it’s a one-man studio band helps explain why The Legends’ second album, ‘Public Radio,’ revealed such a drastic change in style and sound . . . it’s easier for a bicycle to negotiate a hairpin turn than it is for a van full of bandmates.’’
Comment: ‘‘Lately I’ve focused on sharing live recordings, since I’m constantly getting e-mails asking to trade files.’’

LOS AMIGOS DE DURUTTI
Blogger: Matt Durutti, mid-40s (above)
URL: djdurutti.blogspot.com
Personal profile: Lives in Back Bay, works in environmental field; writes concert reviews for bostonist.com.
Blog launch: May ’05; ‘‘I saw a bunch of other sites and thought, I can do this.’’
Blog profile: Indie/progressive hip-hop and jazz, post-punk, funk, soul; concert photos, listings.
Daily visitors: 225.
Posting policy: Regularly supplied by labels, promoters, and artists; files are normally removed after 7-10 days.
Recently featured: The Roots, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Dan the Automator.
Touchstone artists: Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, John Coltrane, John Zorn.
Site sample: ‘‘While beating the heat by downing margaritas and Mexican mojitos with friends in Cambridge, talk turns to mixtapes and playlists. . . . So, I get home and make a smartplaylist using ‘hot’ and ‘heat’ as keywords for the ol’ iPod to help make it through the next day’s heat. While I didn’t have the original ‘Heatwave,’ I did have a mash-up by Boston’s own DJ BC of Martha and the Vandellas vs. Mos Def vs. Led Zeppelin.’’
Comment: ‘‘I don’t begrudge others making their sites commercial. But once you start selling ads, any fair-use argument goes out the window.’’