Latest vs Popular
Or you could just experiment forever
I heard that this week, or maybe it was last week, that there was a new “thing” on the internet. “Trends” or “Friends” or something that sounds like those words. It’s an alternative to something else, said the billionaire. Everybody should sign up because the shiny actors on the split screens said so. Take your protein pills and put your helmet on.
Like most people, I didn’t sign up because I don’t care. I’m too busy experimenting by playing with The Latest in the places that are still visited and not overtly throttled.
A good example of where I am lately is the terribly-named YouTube Shorts. I currently prefer Shorts over Instagram Reels because of how dead or throttled Reels has become. Oh, I know some people can still strike it big on Reels, but I’m not a 20 year old female that fits well in a bikini and spends my days turning large paintings around for the camera. And I’ll never give money to Zuckerborg for ransom, cough cough, I mean “boosts” and “ads”.
The only slight downside to Shorts is that I have to edit the Description of the Short after it’s uploaded, but that’s just a quick cut and paste of links and metadata.
I like showing the painting for the duration because that’s an easy thumbnail. I also quit talking during the Short and just let music play. We’ll see how long it takes before the novelty wears off. Here’s a playlist of my art shorts on YouTube, and a single video example that takes 15 seconds to watch:
On the music side, I had more posts on my Playlisting Substack. That’s been a fun experiment. I like making playlists. I made mix-tapes and mix-CDs back in the day, and that’s something I’ll never outgrow.
The other thing that’s happening is my ongoing participation in Spotify’s Discovery Mode campaigns. I resisted doing it for a long time because Spotify only pays you 70% of the streaming royalty if a track is in Discovery Mode. My experience has been that the gains of having tracks in Discovery Mode far outweigh the reduced royalty payment. Not every track scheduled for Discovery Mode wins the jackpot, but that data is presented each month so you can make an informed decision whether to keep including a track in the next month’s Discovery Mode.
Pandora’s AMP has “featured tracks” you can schedule, and that’s been a very worthwhile thing for me for the past three years. You have to figure out how to make your (newer) tracks qualify for Featured Track status, but the bar is very low if you know what you’re doing. Then you have to schedule everything in the Pandora AMP backend. There’s a time investment. Not every Featured Track does great, but most do noticeably better. Some go a little bonkers, and that’s always fun to see in the reporting. You have no control over any of that.
Speaking of “no control”, let me continue to talk about how much I love Spotify Radio. Every now and then, various tracks by a handful of the artist names I publish under get sucked into that service and pushed to listeners at an increasing rate. Some of the tracks are deep catalog, and there’s no rhyme or reason. It’s always a thrill to see the changes.
Who am I?
Hi, I'm Mark Rushton, a professional recording artist and fine artist who has managed to hang on to creativity.
As a fine artist / painter, I make original abstract landscapes on paper and canvas, limited edition prints, and functional merchandise.
As a recording artist, I've released more than 2500 music and sounds on streaming services since the early 2000s under many different names, including my own. I largely create ambient, beat-driven electronica, and avant-garde music and soundscapes, as well as field recordings and sound effects.
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https://kalonasupernatural.com/product/organic-kefir/whole-milk-vanilla-kefir/
The Sparkling Probiotic drink I like:
Doctor D's Crisp Apple and Concord Grape: https://www.doctordslive.com/flavors