@mikevial “small music” is redundant here. Sadly, blogs seem to be dead in general. Yours is the only musician blog I read.
— Josh Woodward (@joshwoodward) September 28, 2015
The day the music blog died was somewhere between 2013 and 2014.
I didn’t recognize it until yesterday* as I was updating my spreadsheets and realized 80% of the music blogs I used to* keep tabs on had stopped posting, or disappeared. The major ones are still posting away, but the little ones? Gone.
It makes me a sad to see so many small blogs disappear; the action of writing is so enjoyable. Seth Godin–who continue to post every day–says “writing clarifies my thoughts, keeps me noticing things.”
The disappearance of the small music blogs is disconcerting for an independent musician, but what about the freelance writer?
“Most of the media outlets I’ve written for have folded and then were flat-out deleted,” says Carter Maness:
- Fascinating read “All My Blogs Are Dead”: http://www.theawl.com/2015/02/
all-my-blogs-are-dead“
I can relate a bit. Years ago, I was writing for a small music blog for fun. My last assignment was to interview a new artist breaking out in the UK.
Who was that artist? Ed Sheeran. That blog ended before the publicist sent us back Sheeran’s answers.
Times have changed. Ed Sheeran is one of the most streamed artists on Spotify, and most music blogs have become ghost towns. And the ghost gardens aren’t even coming up in Google searches. The sites are gone!
The power of art hasn’t changed. People are still writing, composing, singing, drawing, photographing…however, the ability to get the work noticed continues to be the same, difficult challenge. During this transition, if you feel discouraged, I think we need to get back to the basics: the work, the art, the creation.
The Internet gives an illusion of a megaphone sounding over a flat world, but it’s the impact we can make right in our own communities that matters; so spread your arms out, check your wingspan, and let your art connect with real people in your neighborhood.
Other interesting reads:
http://www.vox.com/2015/1/30/
http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/12/the-blog-is-dead/
http://www.designsponge.com/2014/01/state-of-the-blog-union-how-the-blogging-world-has-changed.html
* * *
*Natalie and I bought a house last year, and we had a baby in March; that might be why I’ve been an ostrich with my head in the sand.
*used to–the irony isn’t lost on me, either.
Spotify top 500, Ryan Adams 1989; a sign of the turning point
After 4 days, each song on @TheRyanAdams‘s 1989 has had 450K-900K streams on Spotify.
I think we are at a turning point in streaming. Even my dad’a streaming on Spotify now. (“Mike,” he says, excited, “check out these Jack Scott records I found!”)
Spotify is sharing new data, which has demonstrated how the hit single of popular music is still king/queen of the times; but fans embracing an artists’ catalogue is powerful, too.
The top 25 artists streamed globally on Spotify this month are not that surprising. But I’m surprised to see artists like Bon Iver being in the top 200 a few days ago (now 400 today).
And streaming rankings change quickly. Pearl Jam was in the top 500 early this week; today they aren’t. Ryan Adams was in the top 500 artists (before the release of 1989) .However, today, he’s not in the top 500, even with 1989 getting curious listeners.
Here some artists in the top 500 today:
Wiz Khalifa (26)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (62)
Beyonce (74)
Coldplay (72)
Eminem (82)
Sam Smith (84)
Jay Z (109)
Michael Jackson (130)
Zedd (136)
Snoop (164)
John Mayer (184) (He was 90 a few days ago)
Adele (190)
Paul McCartney (192)
Jason Mraz (214)
Marvin Gaye (226)
Rolling Stones (264)
Foo Fighters (272)
Green Day (282)
Dr Dre (306)
Jack Johnson (314)
Kelly Clarkston (340)
Nirvana (346)
Stevie Wonder (360)
Amy Winehouse (366)
Elton John (374)
AC/DC (378)
Oasis (392)
Led Zeppelin (414)
Bruce Springstein (478)
Pink Floyd (492)
Groups who were in the top 500 a few days ago, but aren’t today:
Eric Clapton
The Doors
Pearl Jam
Death Cab for Cutie
Ryan Adams
Wilco
Backstreet Boys
the Jackson Five
Talking Heads
Paul Simon
Jimi Hendrix
Bob Dylan
Tim McGraw
Carrie Underwood
Beach Boys
Keith Urban
The Geography of My Songs & Poems
Set List: Sept 12, 2015 – the Ark
Set List: Sept 12, 2015 The Ark (Opening for Ellis Paul)
Ann Arbor, MI
- Girl on the Mountain, Boy in the Beach
- Damn Fine Day
- Only the Rain Knows Why
- A World That’s Bigger
- I Just Want to Be Your Last
- Do You Know Your Fears by Name?
- Love and Be Proud
- Ghostwriter
Lady Liberty cries with silent lips; we must be vocal: 5 ways to help refuguees
Betsy & Chris were discussing the refugee crisis so articulately and powerfully on Facebook yesterday, forcing me to reflect when I wanted to escape and ignore the photos, the story, the suffering. And then you focus on that little boy’s sneakers…and the magnitude hits you like a ton of bricks.
We need to do better. The world is flat: We worry about China’s Stock Market affecting our financial system more than we worry about another’s suffering. When one suffers, we all suffer.
Emma Lazarus’s poem on Lady Liberty speaks more powerfully than the terrible rhetoric we hear from the celebrity farce of these current and temporary presidential primaries: “Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,/ I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Lady Liberty cries with silent lips; we must be vocal.
5 practical ways to help:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/5-practical-ways-you-can-help-refugees-trying-to-find-safety-in-europe-10482902.html
