New Year seems to have come early this year, and I'm not sure whether that's good or bad. Whilst January is traditionally the time for making new starts, Sellaband seem to have shuffled this around to the autumn.
We'll wait and see what the new Q&A section in the news brings I guess, though at the moment I don't hold any high hopes for it. My instincts are telling me this is going to be a case of getting more answers that aren't really answers at all, or as Mawa would put it "if you have nothing to say, better say nothing"
As a result,I had to have a wry smile at Friday's "weekly update" section of the news. Seems they completely forgot to mention one of the artists who has been very active in asking questions in the past - Mandocello - whose profile they were very quick to delete when he decided he didn't want to be around any more, yet they are mentioning that "Luna Assassins decided to call it quits", which is going to make people think the band has split when they haven't, rather than that they've decided to leave Sellaband. So we know Sellaband have noticed they're off but the profile is still there. I'll be waiting to see if the answer to the first set of questions can adequately cover inconsistencies such as these.
And of course that in turn got me thinking about the other questions for Monday - the most obvious of which was the one concerning how quiet SAB HQ have been on subjects as of late.
I have to admit I was initially quite surprised when the Sellaband management started getting publicly involved with the "active" community back in its early days. E-mails/private correspondence I could understand - you soon find out who your most interested people are, so it's natural to demonstrate you're interested in them too, but when you have only 4 guys it's hard to understand how they could have the time to spend getting involved with that community and yet still have the time to spend doing the necessary things to expand the company. Yet, as a believer, it's one of the things I particularly liked about the "old" Sellaband - the fact you felt part of the family rather than belonging to some "faceless" corporation of the kind I suspect several came to Sellaband to avoid.
Yes, I've given Sellaband a hard time in the past, and it's likely there'll be cases where I'll continue to do so, but I still remember the little things, even when I'm winding up to take another shot. I once sent an e-mail on a Sunday evening, not expecting to hear anything before Monday morning if at all, yet a response came back later that Sunday evening. Time doesn't exist on the Internet. It's always open 24/7 and when you're going to bed there's someone on the other side of the world taking an interest instead. If you're planning on being a "Web 2.0 company" it's something you need to be aware of, and this kind of response from such a young company at the time, was something that actually exceeded my expectations. That level of customer service is just one of the little things that I've genuinely appreciated and have been very sorry to see go as Sellaband has evolved. I fear the Q&A section will turn Sellaband further towards that "faceless" corporation - how long before the stock message of "Dear (insert name), We have a FAQ located at (insert url) which covers most of the questions people ask. If however, it doesn't then please feel free to e-mail us at question@sellaband.com. Thankyou for you interest in Sellaband" appears? A large part of me thinks that would be a shame.
But like many things, it comes down to a case of expectations. I've got used to expecting Sellaband HQ to take an active interest, so now it's going it feels like a backward step, even though the new situation more closely matches what I originally thought life at Sellaband would be like. And because of this, I've already started planning my next of these "between hatchet day" posts in my head, because expectations exist all over Sellaband, but it's not easy to understand why or what to do about them and that's worthy of a post all of its own.
Finally, I needed something to cheer me up after a hard few weeks, so I thought I'd tell you that my thing to look forward to for the weekend is actually not on Sellaband, but is summed up by this e-mail I received a few days ago from one of my favourite artists.
"The Howard Jones 25th Anniversary Concert CD will be available to
purchase and take away with you minutes after the concert has ended
this coming Saturday 20th September 2008.
This is not a typical live album, and it’s not a bootleg. Think of it
as something in-between a unique and official souvenir to remind you
how amazing Howard's live music is.
The concert will be on 3 CD's and is priced at just £17. The release
is being handled by Live Here Now - part of Mute, and they are the
same people who record and distribute the Depeche Mode Live CD's.
For those who will not be attending, you can order your copy for
delivery via the Live Here Now website:
You will also be able to download the album via Live Here Now from
Monday 22nd September.
The track listing will be available on the Howard Jones Website on
Sunday 21st September.
More information about the CD will be available at the Merchandise
Stand on the night, so be sure to visit the stand to secure your copy."
What more could any music lover want? It's interesting to see that whilst Howard was one of the early pioneers of the "official bootleg", a company has now sprung up to do the same for all musicians and fill that hole. I can't help but feel there's some lessons waiting to be learnt from this.
Friday 19 September 2008
Tuesday 9 September 2008
Believer fatigue
I'm suffering from what has been called "believer fatigue". If you're an artist, the feeling is often more familiar as that raindrop in the middle of the ocean - you don't necessarily want to reach the shore as a tidal wave, but you do at least wish someone would notice the ripple (or as one artist said to me "sometimes it feels like nobody ever gets to hear our music"). From a believer point of view the feeling is the same, the thing that most often causes it being the complete and total lack of progress by Sellaband itself which leaves you being that raindrop, banging your head against a brick wall or worse.
I've seen more than one believer seemingly suffer a terminal case of believer fatigue. Who can forget Kristen for instance and her Sellaband promos? (here's just one as a taster - I'll let you find the rest), yet if you go to her page today, it's pretty much a case of the lights are on, but nobody's home. Don't get me wrong, she's still around. In believer land, just because you give in on Sellaband, it doesn't mean you stop caring about those you leave behind.
You've probably noticed the Amazon widget under my picture by now, and are probably wondering what it's doing there instead of one of the Sellaband ones. Simple - the Sellaband ones don't let me promote Sellaband, they only let me promote artists I own parts in, so I've decided to go with what I consider a more suitable solution for people who just happen to stumble over this blog and are wondering what music has come out of the place so far. I also like how obvious and simple the Amazon one is, rather than the somewhat confusing design from Sellaband.
That's just one example of something that believers have been shouting about for ages ("give us promotion tools!"). Add to that incidents such as the fuss over the "stolen" T-shirt slogan, poor CD sales through Sellaband and the fact Sellaband doesn't seem to be going anywhere believer-wise to the casual observer and it's maybe easier to understand why the faithful seem to be slowly losing it, thoughts of incompetence are appearing and that fatigue is creeping in. Remember the Paradiso concert after Nemesea hit 50K and how many believers turned up buying parts in the following weeks, catapulting Cubworld to 50K in the process? Bit of a disappointment not to see the same after Sellabration both this year and last, wasn't it?
My own case of "believer fatigue" currently exists as a result of Sellaband's lack of response to dealing with the "inactive profile" problem. I originally started on about this in April 2007 when the biggest common theme was the fact that artists seemed to be using it as a dumping ground for music, often didn't bother uploading any info or a photo, were completely non-responsive when you tried to contact them and didn't make any mention of Sellaband anywhere on their other sites. These days, you won't find quite so much of that going on, but will find the deficit made up of profiles of artists who have left Sellaband, have split and are no more, or who opened a new profile and the old one is still hanging around.
Whilst artists are supposed to send an e-mail to Sellaband if they want their profiles closed down, it's impossible to tell how many do this and how many arrive in Sellaband's "other" inbox (otherwise known as the spam folder). I used to report in profiles to Sellaband, but I stopped because they never do anything about them.
I've been trying my best to try and find some of the "interested" hiding in the mass of seemingly "inactive" profiles. Hopefully a case such as Essentia, who this week sent another bulletin round Myspace about Sellaband, yet who still haven't updated their Sellaband profile demonstrates these people exist. (Of course that's only part of the story, but I won't go into the rest of the hell you have to go through if you decide to do something to try and help in this post). I've also traditionally listened to every artist that signs up, irrespective of my own musical taste. With so few believers on Sellaband to start with, I think every artist deserves to have been listened to by someone. But the fire and enthusiasm has gone. With Sellaband seemingly not caring, it gets harder and harder for me to care too. Sellaband isn't helping me to try and help artists, so why should I bother? I've changed the way I approach Sellaband as a result.
I'm now only listening when I feel like it or have the time, which means I'm only listening to a fraction of the music I was not so long back. All artists I believe in I am now a fan of (if I missed you, let me know - I have rather a lot). If I set myself as a fan of an artist, but don't own a part it's pretty much a guarantee that I love the music enough that there will be a part there sooner or later if the artist is active. Wishlist is now for people I'm watching or whose music I haven't really decided on yet.
But maybe you're thinking I'm making a fuss out of nothing. I've never asked for Sellaband to do something to every artist who hasn't updated their profile in a while, only to do something about the obvious problems which can be fixed e.g. deleting profiles of artists who have left, or not even displaying/creating profiles of artists until they have filled in a minimum amount of information (say info section, upload main photo and one song). So to give you a very brief intro as to what I'm talking about, here is the list of profiles that I can think of where the artist is quite clearly stating they are no longer there, has messaged believers to say they are no longer there, or has made some attempt to clean out their profile. Obviously, there could be more, and remember this doesn't include some of the really crazy profiles out there like the band that's been on Sellaband for well over 2 years and never had a song on their profile to start with. (If you want a list of those, we could be here all night)
Mellow Yellow - if you want them these days, go visit Rebelle instead
Awake - Siger is back as Tarball
Man Made Ivory - Remember their game?
Yakir Shahar - Note the comment of frustration (presumably at being unable to delete the profile themselves)
Orange latitude - hmm, how soon is soon? That was a year ago.
Private Nation, Emily's playground, Mira gem, This side Up, Alioune K, Marijke, The Super Dead, Alien Orphans, Lapser, Trailer Trash Tremblers, Joyz, Eutopia, The Mitchell Blues band, Jesse David, The tonic rays, Dirty Wee Middens, Syrius Jones, Monsieur Cannibale,
There are also other profiles I've heard about from other believers that are still there when the artist is supposed to have given in, but with only their word and no evidence of my own I'll leave those out of the mix, despite the fact the profiles in question haven't been updated since I was told.
So what do you think now, with more than 20 profiles that I can think of just off the top of my head on display? Am I being unreasonable in expecting Sellaband to sort out the situation with artist profiles? In the (albeit unlikely) event that one of these artists were to reach 50K, I get the distinct feeling there'll be some lawyers somewhere making an awful lot of money while the situation is untangled.
Meanwhile, I'll go back to waiting for pigs to fly, which seems likely to happen sooner than Sellaband taking any interest in doing its "housework".
I've seen more than one believer seemingly suffer a terminal case of believer fatigue. Who can forget Kristen for instance and her Sellaband promos? (here's just one as a taster - I'll let you find the rest), yet if you go to her page today, it's pretty much a case of the lights are on, but nobody's home. Don't get me wrong, she's still around. In believer land, just because you give in on Sellaband, it doesn't mean you stop caring about those you leave behind.
You've probably noticed the Amazon widget under my picture by now, and are probably wondering what it's doing there instead of one of the Sellaband ones. Simple - the Sellaband ones don't let me promote Sellaband, they only let me promote artists I own parts in, so I've decided to go with what I consider a more suitable solution for people who just happen to stumble over this blog and are wondering what music has come out of the place so far. I also like how obvious and simple the Amazon one is, rather than the somewhat confusing design from Sellaband.
That's just one example of something that believers have been shouting about for ages ("give us promotion tools!"). Add to that incidents such as the fuss over the "stolen" T-shirt slogan, poor CD sales through Sellaband and the fact Sellaband doesn't seem to be going anywhere believer-wise to the casual observer and it's maybe easier to understand why the faithful seem to be slowly losing it, thoughts of incompetence are appearing and that fatigue is creeping in. Remember the Paradiso concert after Nemesea hit 50K and how many believers turned up buying parts in the following weeks, catapulting Cubworld to 50K in the process? Bit of a disappointment not to see the same after Sellabration both this year and last, wasn't it?
My own case of "believer fatigue" currently exists as a result of Sellaband's lack of response to dealing with the "inactive profile" problem. I originally started on about this in April 2007 when the biggest common theme was the fact that artists seemed to be using it as a dumping ground for music, often didn't bother uploading any info or a photo, were completely non-responsive when you tried to contact them and didn't make any mention of Sellaband anywhere on their other sites. These days, you won't find quite so much of that going on, but will find the deficit made up of profiles of artists who have left Sellaband, have split and are no more, or who opened a new profile and the old one is still hanging around.
Whilst artists are supposed to send an e-mail to Sellaband if they want their profiles closed down, it's impossible to tell how many do this and how many arrive in Sellaband's "other" inbox (otherwise known as the spam folder). I used to report in profiles to Sellaband, but I stopped because they never do anything about them.
I've been trying my best to try and find some of the "interested" hiding in the mass of seemingly "inactive" profiles. Hopefully a case such as Essentia, who this week sent another bulletin round Myspace about Sellaband, yet who still haven't updated their Sellaband profile demonstrates these people exist. (Of course that's only part of the story, but I won't go into the rest of the hell you have to go through if you decide to do something to try and help in this post). I've also traditionally listened to every artist that signs up, irrespective of my own musical taste. With so few believers on Sellaband to start with, I think every artist deserves to have been listened to by someone. But the fire and enthusiasm has gone. With Sellaband seemingly not caring, it gets harder and harder for me to care too. Sellaband isn't helping me to try and help artists, so why should I bother? I've changed the way I approach Sellaband as a result.
I'm now only listening when I feel like it or have the time, which means I'm only listening to a fraction of the music I was not so long back. All artists I believe in I am now a fan of (if I missed you, let me know - I have rather a lot). If I set myself as a fan of an artist, but don't own a part it's pretty much a guarantee that I love the music enough that there will be a part there sooner or later if the artist is active. Wishlist is now for people I'm watching or whose music I haven't really decided on yet.
But maybe you're thinking I'm making a fuss out of nothing. I've never asked for Sellaband to do something to every artist who hasn't updated their profile in a while, only to do something about the obvious problems which can be fixed e.g. deleting profiles of artists who have left, or not even displaying/creating profiles of artists until they have filled in a minimum amount of information (say info section, upload main photo and one song). So to give you a very brief intro as to what I'm talking about, here is the list of profiles that I can think of where the artist is quite clearly stating they are no longer there, has messaged believers to say they are no longer there, or has made some attempt to clean out their profile. Obviously, there could be more, and remember this doesn't include some of the really crazy profiles out there like the band that's been on Sellaband for well over 2 years and never had a song on their profile to start with. (If you want a list of those, we could be here all night)
Mellow Yellow - if you want them these days, go visit Rebelle instead
Awake - Siger is back as Tarball
Man Made Ivory - Remember their game?
Yakir Shahar - Note the comment of frustration (presumably at being unable to delete the profile themselves)
Orange latitude - hmm, how soon is soon? That was a year ago.
Private Nation, Emily's playground, Mira gem, This side Up, Alioune K, Marijke, The Super Dead, Alien Orphans, Lapser, Trailer Trash Tremblers, Joyz, Eutopia, The Mitchell Blues band, Jesse David, The tonic rays, Dirty Wee Middens, Syrius Jones, Monsieur Cannibale,
There are also other profiles I've heard about from other believers that are still there when the artist is supposed to have given in, but with only their word and no evidence of my own I'll leave those out of the mix, despite the fact the profiles in question haven't been updated since I was told.
So what do you think now, with more than 20 profiles that I can think of just off the top of my head on display? Am I being unreasonable in expecting Sellaband to sort out the situation with artist profiles? In the (albeit unlikely) event that one of these artists were to reach 50K, I get the distinct feeling there'll be some lawyers somewhere making an awful lot of money while the situation is untangled.
Meanwhile, I'll go back to waiting for pigs to fly, which seems likely to happen sooner than Sellaband taking any interest in doing its "housework".
Wednesday 3 September 2008
Love is a two-way street
I could seriously kick myself. In fact, forget that - someone seriously kick me!
As some of you may know I am a seriously big fan of rock and metal from Finland, but I've been struggling to find Finnish artists I'm interested in on Sellaband - even when there's been something vaguely interesting there's been no sign of life on the page in question. However last night I decided to wander down to the "under 1K in budget but more than 0 dollars" department on Sellaband and I landed up having a very interesting evening as a result.
I came across an artist from Finland sitting on $150 by the name of Essentia and yes I love the music! Their Sellaband page looks pretty typical of many I see where the artist signs up, maybe updates for a week or so and then seemingly disappears, so there was no way I was going to jump in and buy a part when the last update was May. But whilst the page looks like nothing particularly special or different, there were 2 things on it that struck me. The first was the fact that it actually had comments on the page, some of which were from just a few days ago and the second was the name of the guitarist. "Sammy Black" probably means absolutely nothing to you, but as a follower of Finnish music it was a name I recognised, though my brain failed me and I couldn't work out from where. Some research was obviously needed.
As I was going over to Myspace anyway to leave a comment on Skitzo Calypso's page (which incidentally I never got around to at the time as a result of what I'm about to share with you - sorry boys, hope I rectified that now though!) I thought I'd start my search over there. I don't know whether someone from Essentia has been reading the various tips on how to succeed on Sellaband since the revamped website, but I discovered a blog post on their Myspace page, again from a few days ago which was trying to get people over to Sellaband to believe in them, as well as finding "stickied" topic discussions about Sellaband in both their English and Finnish parts of the forum on their website. This is despite the fact their page on Sellaband hasn't been updated since the end of May!
But to come back to Sammy Black - music in Finland gets quite entertaining because a lot of musicians seem to play in more than one band and you can land up following and listening to quite a trail of music before you come back in a circle or reach a dead end. The reason the name struck a chord is because I already own the first 2 albums of the other, more famous and signed band (at least in Finland) he plays in! I'm going to give you the Wikipedia link to Lovex rather than their band site because it will give you a faster idea than trying to fight your way through the flash content.
I view this as an absolutely FANTASTIC opportunity, both for Sellaband and Essentia and the reason I am kicking myself so badly (see my first sentence in this post) is the fact it has taken me so long to spot them, which is going to make things a lot harder. But you need to understand why I am so excited about finding them.
Think about the following things. Finland went absolutely nuts after Lordi won the Eurovision song contest - media storm doesn't even begin to describe it. This is a country in which selling a mere 15,000 copies of an album earns you a gold disc and we need artists to raise enough for 5,000 albums on Sellaband. I don't know about you, but I think an unsigned band turning up in Finland having raised 50K on Sellaband to record their first album might actually cause a bit of a stir as a result. We've also talked many a time about how to get young fans interested in Sellaband and I can tell you for starters that Lovex has a small legion of young female fans in tow from all across Europe (Sellaband users, think of Lovex as the Finnish equivalent of So What if it helps, though they are obviously musical different). Some of these young fans have obviously followed Sammy's involvement into Essentia too. Here's an ideal opportunity to get some of that "missing generation" involved with this site somehow. It's noticeable that most of Essentia's existing money comes from these young ones too.
North European bands (dare I say Scandinavian?) are noticeable for their different approach to Sellaband from the majority of those from other countries. You only have to look at artists on Sellaband like Morris, Slim Void, Silverimage or Six Eyes Lost (to name just a few) to see they pretty much sit around making music or touring and don't tend to make loads of posts or direct attempts to attract believers on Sellaband itself. And I think it can put them at a real disadvantage as a result. Hence where the title of this blog post comes in.
It's all very well to moan about bands not bringing believers or being too quiet, but if you think trying to get people into Sellaband is easy, even if you're the artist then you need to think again. It's also not easy to find your way into an existing community and become part of it, particularly if you're not of the same age group. Sometimes it's necessary to look beyond what you see of an artist on Sellaband and understand that whilst Sellaband is still an "unknown", believers also need to get out of isolation and go elsewhere to see what they can do to try and help artists they love get going on Sellaband. Take some of that Sellaband love out into the world and maybe some love of Sellaband will come back in. Help create that two-way street.
So wish me luck because I now have two battles to fight. I'm off to Essentia's various sites to rattle a few cages, fight the suspicion (and the language difference) and try and get a couple of really simple things done - see if I can wake them up enough to get their Sellaband page kept up to date and as many of their existing fans as possible to add themselves to Essentia's Sellaband page as fans too. Then the other battle has to be fought in Sellaband itself, because even if we can get that far it needs the Sellaband community to wake up and take real notice of them too in such a way that may encourage more of their existing fans to become a part of Sellaband (and hopefully an active part too).
Maybe if you're reading this blog, there's something here you can help me with?
P.S. Apologies to Phil Tweed who provided the inspiration for the blog title.
As some of you may know I am a seriously big fan of rock and metal from Finland, but I've been struggling to find Finnish artists I'm interested in on Sellaband - even when there's been something vaguely interesting there's been no sign of life on the page in question. However last night I decided to wander down to the "under 1K in budget but more than 0 dollars" department on Sellaband and I landed up having a very interesting evening as a result.
I came across an artist from Finland sitting on $150 by the name of Essentia and yes I love the music! Their Sellaband page looks pretty typical of many I see where the artist signs up, maybe updates for a week or so and then seemingly disappears, so there was no way I was going to jump in and buy a part when the last update was May. But whilst the page looks like nothing particularly special or different, there were 2 things on it that struck me. The first was the fact that it actually had comments on the page, some of which were from just a few days ago and the second was the name of the guitarist. "Sammy Black" probably means absolutely nothing to you, but as a follower of Finnish music it was a name I recognised, though my brain failed me and I couldn't work out from where. Some research was obviously needed.
As I was going over to Myspace anyway to leave a comment on Skitzo Calypso's page (which incidentally I never got around to at the time as a result of what I'm about to share with you - sorry boys, hope I rectified that now though!) I thought I'd start my search over there. I don't know whether someone from Essentia has been reading the various tips on how to succeed on Sellaband since the revamped website, but I discovered a blog post on their Myspace page, again from a few days ago which was trying to get people over to Sellaband to believe in them, as well as finding "stickied" topic discussions about Sellaband in both their English and Finnish parts of the forum on their website. This is despite the fact their page on Sellaband hasn't been updated since the end of May!
But to come back to Sammy Black - music in Finland gets quite entertaining because a lot of musicians seem to play in more than one band and you can land up following and listening to quite a trail of music before you come back in a circle or reach a dead end. The reason the name struck a chord is because I already own the first 2 albums of the other, more famous and signed band (at least in Finland) he plays in! I'm going to give you the Wikipedia link to Lovex rather than their band site because it will give you a faster idea than trying to fight your way through the flash content.
I view this as an absolutely FANTASTIC opportunity, both for Sellaband and Essentia and the reason I am kicking myself so badly (see my first sentence in this post) is the fact it has taken me so long to spot them, which is going to make things a lot harder. But you need to understand why I am so excited about finding them.
Think about the following things. Finland went absolutely nuts after Lordi won the Eurovision song contest - media storm doesn't even begin to describe it. This is a country in which selling a mere 15,000 copies of an album earns you a gold disc and we need artists to raise enough for 5,000 albums on Sellaband. I don't know about you, but I think an unsigned band turning up in Finland having raised 50K on Sellaband to record their first album might actually cause a bit of a stir as a result. We've also talked many a time about how to get young fans interested in Sellaband and I can tell you for starters that Lovex has a small legion of young female fans in tow from all across Europe (Sellaband users, think of Lovex as the Finnish equivalent of So What if it helps, though they are obviously musical different). Some of these young fans have obviously followed Sammy's involvement into Essentia too. Here's an ideal opportunity to get some of that "missing generation" involved with this site somehow. It's noticeable that most of Essentia's existing money comes from these young ones too.
North European bands (dare I say Scandinavian?) are noticeable for their different approach to Sellaband from the majority of those from other countries. You only have to look at artists on Sellaband like Morris, Slim Void, Silverimage or Six Eyes Lost (to name just a few) to see they pretty much sit around making music or touring and don't tend to make loads of posts or direct attempts to attract believers on Sellaband itself. And I think it can put them at a real disadvantage as a result. Hence where the title of this blog post comes in.
It's all very well to moan about bands not bringing believers or being too quiet, but if you think trying to get people into Sellaband is easy, even if you're the artist then you need to think again. It's also not easy to find your way into an existing community and become part of it, particularly if you're not of the same age group. Sometimes it's necessary to look beyond what you see of an artist on Sellaband and understand that whilst Sellaband is still an "unknown", believers also need to get out of isolation and go elsewhere to see what they can do to try and help artists they love get going on Sellaband. Take some of that Sellaband love out into the world and maybe some love of Sellaband will come back in. Help create that two-way street.
So wish me luck because I now have two battles to fight. I'm off to Essentia's various sites to rattle a few cages, fight the suspicion (and the language difference) and try and get a couple of really simple things done - see if I can wake them up enough to get their Sellaband page kept up to date and as many of their existing fans as possible to add themselves to Essentia's Sellaband page as fans too. Then the other battle has to be fought in Sellaband itself, because even if we can get that far it needs the Sellaband community to wake up and take real notice of them too in such a way that may encourage more of their existing fans to become a part of Sellaband (and hopefully an active part too).
Maybe if you're reading this blog, there's something here you can help me with?
P.S. Apologies to Phil Tweed who provided the inspiration for the blog title.
Monday 1 September 2008
September 1st 2008 Hatchet Day
If you want to know more about what "hatchet day" is, visit my Sellaband profile and read my info section.
This month's gainers and losers
I've just made my most reluctant part removal to date and finally taken my last part out of Matt Byers. This is yet another classic case of someone who shows a lot of talent and promise just disappearing from the face of the earth. I even contacted Wetwerks and some of their friends a few months back to see if they could persuade him into at least sending a message round if he was still interested. Got a response within a few hours from the Wetwerks boys as always to say they'd give it a go, but from Matt, nothing, nada, zip.
She Tells Lies were one of the artists I tried to promote with my Christmas special on the forum. Sadly I never received any response or thanks from them for buying a part, and with their profile not updated since January either, it should be obvious why I feel I can no longer keep them on my list of belief.
Other removals this month have been fairly obvious ones. Douglas Jordan has only visited the place a couple of times since he signed up and even posts on his page by his friends from Spellbox seem to have failed to make any impression. Johnny UK was another of the complete non-responders who has never thanked or contacted me.
As always, where I remove parts through inactivity these always go back immediately to other artists. This month's recipients are Phil Tweed, GD Allan, The Black Doves and Katie Thompson
I have quite a list of artists I haven't removed this month but will definitely remove next month unless they show me some sign of life between now and then. BillyJon, Off the Bridge, Immortality, Rotten Cheri, Worow, Joel John, Guy Barnes and Striving in Greater Hopes are all definitely under threat. There are others I'm watching but there's only so many parts I want to move every month because I like to put some of those parts back into acts new to my belief list rather than just increasing in existing artists.
In addition to all the above, I've also done some parts reclamation from artists who claim to no longer be here, yet whose profile still remains. I seriously wish Sellaband would get this sorted. I had hoped that they would have used "Sellaband 2.0" to save me some work and improve the situation, but no, to date they've put a proper forum in and made the site look "prettier" (even though the new colour scheme sucks) rather than tackling any of the real underlying problems inherent in the system. So if you have parts in Awake, Private Nation or The Tonic Rays now's the time to find a new home for them.
New investments
All money in this section comes from money received from Sellaband or where parts are returned/reclaimed through artists leaving the site. I only ever buy parts in artists I like or grow to like - I'm certainly no Sellaband collector, so what you see here is always a reflection of my own musical taste. And as always, where it's an artist new to my belief list I often have no idea just how active they'll become. (that's why hatchet day exists of course).
I've added (or increased) parts today to Bleeding Black, Percy Mejhagen, Boej, Toz, Tarball and Silverimage. In addition I joined Inge during Gisel's countdown chat earlier this month. Check out the music of these artists and see if it's something you could believe in too.
Watching
I watch artists for all kinds of reasons. The most usual reason is that I'm interested in their music and am looking to buy parts later, but I also try and keep an eye out for artists whose music may not appeal to me, but who I spot around the site trying (and usually failing for one reason or another) to gain interest for their music. I also like to keep an eye out for bands leaving, seeing as Sellaband is too lazy to weed them out itself. (If you don't believe me when I say Sellaband is lazy check out the dates on this old post, which references an even older one, follow the threads and decide for yourselves how much is still relevant today!). I'm a firm believer that believers can help each other find artists they like that are worth their time spending parts on, but I also believe Sellaband is (still) doing a lousy job of making this possible.
So who has caught my attention this month and why?
Shelley has been on my belief list a while now and she always has new music appearing on her profile, even though you won't see her making a big noise about it on Sellaband itself. Her latest song is called "Cheeky, Lovely, Naughty, Bossy" and is well worth a listen.
Blister also posted new music fairly recently so if you haven't stopped by their profile in a while, now's a good chance to see what they've been up to.
I was going to buy a part in Leave this month because I've been watching them a while and felt it was long overdue, however I'm wondering from the change in name whether they are going to be one of the "leavers whose profile remains."
Dandelium is being rather too quiet for my liking at the moment. If you know me, you know I'm still waiting to hear the songs with the vocalist(s) they intend to use before committing parts because it could well turn something I love as an instrumental into something I can't stand due to the vocal style used. Under normal circumstances I'd remove the band from my wishlist, but Erik has usually surfaced sooner or later, so I will be keeping an eye on what happens over the next month.
As to some of those who've dropped by my profile this month to leave messages, I will be continuing to keep an eye on Banshee, Chump and Sandbox as they're all obviously active and keen for believers, but at the moment it's looking unlikely I'll be buying parts in any of them because I haven't found anything I like yet. Marie Dance however is one I may buy into later, just not this time around.
Sellaband
Well the new website is out, and I noticed a "last updated date" appearing in the list when you search for artists. Fingers crossed this one can help people filter out the inactive from the interested but quiet in future. It's still early days on the upgraded site, so I think it's unfair to start looking for progress until next month, but I'd have to agree with the comments so far that at the moment, there doesn't seem an awful lot of difference compared to the old site. As for Sellaband on Second Life, I'll probably have more to say about that in a later post - let's just say for now that I've been to the island and I'm still not sure about the toilet full of plants decorating HQ (yes I am serious.. go see for yourself if you don't believe the toilet exists!).
That's all for hatchet day this month. Hopefully I'll have some more postings for you to enjoy before the next hatchet day posting. In the meantime, check out some of the music I've highlighted and have fun!
This month's gainers and losers
I've just made my most reluctant part removal to date and finally taken my last part out of Matt Byers. This is yet another classic case of someone who shows a lot of talent and promise just disappearing from the face of the earth. I even contacted Wetwerks and some of their friends a few months back to see if they could persuade him into at least sending a message round if he was still interested. Got a response within a few hours from the Wetwerks boys as always to say they'd give it a go, but from Matt, nothing, nada, zip.
She Tells Lies were one of the artists I tried to promote with my Christmas special on the forum. Sadly I never received any response or thanks from them for buying a part, and with their profile not updated since January either, it should be obvious why I feel I can no longer keep them on my list of belief.
Other removals this month have been fairly obvious ones. Douglas Jordan has only visited the place a couple of times since he signed up and even posts on his page by his friends from Spellbox seem to have failed to make any impression. Johnny UK was another of the complete non-responders who has never thanked or contacted me.
As always, where I remove parts through inactivity these always go back immediately to other artists. This month's recipients are Phil Tweed, GD Allan, The Black Doves and Katie Thompson
I have quite a list of artists I haven't removed this month but will definitely remove next month unless they show me some sign of life between now and then. BillyJon, Off the Bridge, Immortality, Rotten Cheri, Worow, Joel John, Guy Barnes and Striving in Greater Hopes are all definitely under threat. There are others I'm watching but there's only so many parts I want to move every month because I like to put some of those parts back into acts new to my belief list rather than just increasing in existing artists.
In addition to all the above, I've also done some parts reclamation from artists who claim to no longer be here, yet whose profile still remains. I seriously wish Sellaband would get this sorted. I had hoped that they would have used "Sellaband 2.0" to save me some work and improve the situation, but no, to date they've put a proper forum in and made the site look "prettier" (even though the new colour scheme sucks) rather than tackling any of the real underlying problems inherent in the system. So if you have parts in Awake, Private Nation or The Tonic Rays now's the time to find a new home for them.
New investments
All money in this section comes from money received from Sellaband or where parts are returned/reclaimed through artists leaving the site. I only ever buy parts in artists I like or grow to like - I'm certainly no Sellaband collector, so what you see here is always a reflection of my own musical taste. And as always, where it's an artist new to my belief list I often have no idea just how active they'll become. (that's why hatchet day exists of course).
I've added (or increased) parts today to Bleeding Black, Percy Mejhagen, Boej, Toz, Tarball and Silverimage. In addition I joined Inge during Gisel's countdown chat earlier this month. Check out the music of these artists and see if it's something you could believe in too.
Watching
I watch artists for all kinds of reasons. The most usual reason is that I'm interested in their music and am looking to buy parts later, but I also try and keep an eye out for artists whose music may not appeal to me, but who I spot around the site trying (and usually failing for one reason or another) to gain interest for their music. I also like to keep an eye out for bands leaving, seeing as Sellaband is too lazy to weed them out itself. (If you don't believe me when I say Sellaband is lazy check out the dates on this old post, which references an even older one, follow the threads and decide for yourselves how much is still relevant today!). I'm a firm believer that believers can help each other find artists they like that are worth their time spending parts on, but I also believe Sellaband is (still) doing a lousy job of making this possible.
So who has caught my attention this month and why?
Shelley has been on my belief list a while now and she always has new music appearing on her profile, even though you won't see her making a big noise about it on Sellaband itself. Her latest song is called "Cheeky, Lovely, Naughty, Bossy" and is well worth a listen.
Blister also posted new music fairly recently so if you haven't stopped by their profile in a while, now's a good chance to see what they've been up to.
I was going to buy a part in Leave this month because I've been watching them a while and felt it was long overdue, however I'm wondering from the change in name whether they are going to be one of the "leavers whose profile remains."
Dandelium is being rather too quiet for my liking at the moment. If you know me, you know I'm still waiting to hear the songs with the vocalist(s) they intend to use before committing parts because it could well turn something I love as an instrumental into something I can't stand due to the vocal style used. Under normal circumstances I'd remove the band from my wishlist, but Erik has usually surfaced sooner or later, so I will be keeping an eye on what happens over the next month.
As to some of those who've dropped by my profile this month to leave messages, I will be continuing to keep an eye on Banshee, Chump and Sandbox as they're all obviously active and keen for believers, but at the moment it's looking unlikely I'll be buying parts in any of them because I haven't found anything I like yet. Marie Dance however is one I may buy into later, just not this time around.
Sellaband
Well the new website is out, and I noticed a "last updated date" appearing in the list when you search for artists. Fingers crossed this one can help people filter out the inactive from the interested but quiet in future. It's still early days on the upgraded site, so I think it's unfair to start looking for progress until next month, but I'd have to agree with the comments so far that at the moment, there doesn't seem an awful lot of difference compared to the old site. As for Sellaband on Second Life, I'll probably have more to say about that in a later post - let's just say for now that I've been to the island and I'm still not sure about the toilet full of plants decorating HQ (yes I am serious.. go see for yourself if you don't believe the toilet exists!).
That's all for hatchet day this month. Hopefully I'll have some more postings for you to enjoy before the next hatchet day posting. In the meantime, check out some of the music I've highlighted and have fun!
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