myTunes
So, happy September everyone! The following is the usage stats of my site for August, each bar representing how much data was downloaded from it per day by visitors:
The lowest horizontal (i.e. about day 1's total) is roughly 80Mb/day, which I used to be happy to hit - that translated into about 50-75 listens per day on mp3 sites. Then it kinda slowed down, and I thought I was in for a slow month...then August 24 happened, and BOOM. I mean, some rise was to be expected due to the end of the Olympics, especially as my listeners mostly seem to come via a chinese-language site, but still - almost 250Mb/day. Strangely, the # listens doesn't seem to gave grown much, people are just listening to songs for longer it seems. I've also had a number of odd referrers (= sites people get to mine from) include a few spam, one that looks like a ringtone site, and another apparently from ninemsn :S Maybe it was after the 20th = Pegasi's first gig, but either way, hopefully it'll keep up!
On the topic of music, and gigging, we received feedback on the performance. Most was good suggestions, stuff expected to be said about a band at their first gig after being formed for 3 weeks. However, a few things said - although not surprising comments - did kinda annoy me. They were - (1) The guitar playing was 'too complex', (2) Not enough hooks, (3) Stick to one genre, and (4) The song structures were too unusual.
Those who know my music tastes will know my #1 band to listen to, almost exclusively, is Dream Theater (with Fastball high up for their composing skills). Lets see some of the reasons I listen to DT and shun most other music:
(1) They're skillful - most parts are amazingly complex, yet still appealing to the ear (e.g Overture 1928)
(2) Most songs don't have catchy hooks, instead almost all notes and lyrics are important (e.g The Great Debate)
(3) Their range of songs is diverse, newer ones especially are not repetative (e.g. Constant Motion vs. Wait For Sleep vs. Endless Sacrifice vs. I Walk Beside You vs. Never Enough)
(4) Structures are rarely simple, with guitar/keyboard/drum fills and unusual time signatures added yet still sounding great (e.g. Honor Thy Father, Forsaken)
Not that I don't think the judges are bad for putting that feedback down, but it certainly is the way of the industry now to have repetative songs, whether inside the same song - i.e. lyrics repeated over and over again, the same riffs played CCVCCV, e.g. The Veronicas new 'hit' - or between songs by the same group [e.g. i have to say it - Dragonforce], or worse, songs that sound like songs already out there [*cough* I'm looking at you, Rogue Traders and Kid Rock].
And that's not to say that the artists themselves are to blame for this, it's just business. Instead, for me it's the consumer who wants 15 seconds of catchy song, either for their ringtone, or to appear on an ad, or simply because a four-minute song is too long to listen to...(*points at DT's Album/Song, Metropolis pt. 2*). So once you write your catchy, yet musically vacuous 15 seconds of hook, the next step is to play it over and over and over and OVER again, add some drum track, and dance around a bit. If you're already famous, you get some radio play, and because your hook is played 12 times per song, it'll get stuck in everyone's head! Meanwhile the musical intellect of the average listening is in a skydive.
Revolt against the dumbing down of our musical culture! It's time for a new style, where songs have over 1 minute of non-repeating sections, where lyrics and verses ACTUALLY MATTER, and where minor 7ths, suspended 4ths or added 13ths can roam free, safe from the threat of power chords!
The lowest horizontal (i.e. about day 1's total) is roughly 80Mb/day, which I used to be happy to hit - that translated into about 50-75 listens per day on mp3 sites. Then it kinda slowed down, and I thought I was in for a slow month...then August 24 happened, and BOOM. I mean, some rise was to be expected due to the end of the Olympics, especially as my listeners mostly seem to come via a chinese-language site, but still - almost 250Mb/day. Strangely, the # listens doesn't seem to gave grown much, people are just listening to songs for longer it seems. I've also had a number of odd referrers (= sites people get to mine from) include a few spam, one that looks like a ringtone site, and another apparently from ninemsn :S Maybe it was after the 20th = Pegasi's first gig, but either way, hopefully it'll keep up!On the topic of music, and gigging, we received feedback on the performance. Most was good suggestions, stuff expected to be said about a band at their first gig after being formed for 3 weeks. However, a few things said - although not surprising comments - did kinda annoy me. They were - (1) The guitar playing was 'too complex', (2) Not enough hooks, (3) Stick to one genre, and (4) The song structures were too unusual.
Those who know my music tastes will know my #1 band to listen to, almost exclusively, is Dream Theater (with Fastball high up for their composing skills). Lets see some of the reasons I listen to DT and shun most other music:
(1) They're skillful - most parts are amazingly complex, yet still appealing to the ear (e.g Overture 1928)
(2) Most songs don't have catchy hooks, instead almost all notes and lyrics are important (e.g The Great Debate)
(3) Their range of songs is diverse, newer ones especially are not repetative (e.g. Constant Motion vs. Wait For Sleep vs. Endless Sacrifice vs. I Walk Beside You vs. Never Enough)
(4) Structures are rarely simple, with guitar/keyboard/drum fills and unusual time signatures added yet still sounding great (e.g. Honor Thy Father, Forsaken)
Not that I don't think the judges are bad for putting that feedback down, but it certainly is the way of the industry now to have repetative songs, whether inside the same song - i.e. lyrics repeated over and over again, the same riffs played CCVCCV, e.g. The Veronicas new 'hit' - or between songs by the same group [e.g. i have to say it - Dragonforce], or worse, songs that sound like songs already out there [*cough* I'm looking at you, Rogue Traders and Kid Rock].
And that's not to say that the artists themselves are to blame for this, it's just business. Instead, for me it's the consumer who wants 15 seconds of catchy song, either for their ringtone, or to appear on an ad, or simply because a four-minute song is too long to listen to...(*points at DT's Album/Song, Metropolis pt. 2*). So once you write your catchy, yet musically vacuous 15 seconds of hook, the next step is to play it over and over and over and OVER again, add some drum track, and dance around a bit. If you're already famous, you get some radio play, and because your hook is played 12 times per song, it'll get stuck in everyone's head! Meanwhile the musical intellect of the average listening is in a skydive.
Revolt against the dumbing down of our musical culture! It's time for a new style, where songs have over 1 minute of non-repeating sections, where lyrics and verses ACTUALLY MATTER, and where minor 7ths, suspended 4ths or added 13ths can roam free, safe from the threat of power chords!
blame pachelbel. listen to bach.
ReplyDelete