Positive signs?

If you already know about my rating system then skip on down to the next header, otherwise here's the lowdown.

The rating system
The rating system I use for this blog is somewhat unique. It's not a reflection of how much I like the music itself as much as it is of how far I am along the process of conversion from consumer to fan. So, over time you may well see some of these ratings go up if I mention an artist again. And indeed go down, as musical changes of direction or failure to keep my interest are just some of the reasons that may affect a rating.


Congratulations, you've made a temporary blip of interest on my radar. Now how are you going to keep it?


I've seen enough of you to recognise and remember you, but I'm undecided so I'm not really following you (yet). I may make a spur of the moment decision to check in on what you're up to once in a while, but even that's no guarantee. May also apply to artists I am aware of, but whose music I've decided I don't have enough interest in to want to pursue further based on what I've heard.


I'm liking what I hear in general, but I still wouldn't describe myself as a fan. I will be wandering past your site occasionally, and there is something like a 50% chance I'll be buying your next offering once I find out about it, providing I have the money available.


Now I am a fan, so the chances are I'll be past your site once every month or two at least. There's a 90%+ chance your next offering is already sold, and occasionally I might even be going for something more than the basic package (if you have one)


Reserved for very few, this is about as close to internet stalker as you can get. I am actively watching because I do not want to miss your next release date, tour in my area etc. etc. You may not always be aware of the fact I'm looking over your shoulder to see what you're up to, but trust me, I'm there on a weekly if not more like a daily basis. Depending on how you tend to release your information, I may well be signed to your mailing list as well.

Video of the Month

As I'm still in the process of moving house, it's only really appropriate I feature a video from an artist I've been checking in on occasionally as I haven't really been searching for new music during this time. As Gayle Skidmore is about to release her next album + colouring book project, here's the first video that goes with that album. This video for "Little Bird" has only just been released as well

Who I've been looking at

With the passing of the 4th anniversary since funding completion, finally some news on Lori Greco's album. Firstly I've had not one, but two mails from Sellaband asking me to check that my address is correct so the album can be sent. Of course, this isn't the first time this has happened - it must be a year or two ago now that I was asked to double check my address for Lori and as we know that message was supposedly sent in mistake. This time there is a second positive sign though in as much as it's possible to download some rather dodgy mp3s from your believer dashboard for the album. And I say rather dodgy because it appears (yet again) that someone needs a lesson in creating tracks with proper metadata. All the tracks are apparently coded as track 1 and the artist name swaps between "Lori Greco" and "Loredana Greco" depending on which song you're listening to. Looks like I'll be creating my own copies if/when the CD finally gets here as it'll be quicker than sorting out the mess that's the tracks provided on Sellaband. At the moment I'd be expecting it to arrive by the end of September assuming it actually gets posted in August.

As for the tracks themselves, initial impression is that the music has a habit of drowning out the vocals (though whether this is down to poor mp3 encoding or the reality of the mixing on the disc is something I'm going to have to wait to find out). Songwise the overall album feel is somewhat chilled out and quite a pleasant listen otherwise so "Get Out of My Life" is a rather unexpected change which actually feels out of place compared to surrounding tracks as a result. (Incidentally that track has potential single written all over it). The album is a decent length as well with 13 tracks mainly between 3 and 4 minutes in length. So far I'm liking this much more than I have with many other overdue albums - there are a few tracks which have particularly caught my interest though I think the album as a whole isn't likely to land up as a favourite. I am however, not convinced that this is so earth shatteringly good as to have been worth a 4 year wait (or more like 6 if you consider when I originally bought into the project).

Elsewhere Cubworld's album release party is showing on his Twitter feed as 30th August and on his Facebook page it says the tracks should be available to download for Sellaband believers before then. He actually posted an update on his Sellaband page a few days ago saying he'd sent them the information, however nothing has actually appeared as of yet and there are only a few days to go before the release party.

As I mentioned last post, the Poets of The Fall DVD I'm waiting on from Pledge Music is behind schedule, though hopefully not too far based on the updates. It was originally due for release at the end of August, but much in the same way a CD goes off to be mixed and mastered, the raw material is currently booked in to have its final editing, colour correction and audio mixing etc. done starting on 10th September. There looks to be about an hour and a half of extras included on the DVD from the latest information provided. It also looks like the copies for pledgers are going to be even more exclusive as the plan is to manufacture and ship them from Finland rather than waiting for the original plan of getting duplication done in Germany (which will still happen for the shop copies) as that would take longer. In the meantime there's a rough version of video for one of the tracks available to pledgers only. And it's not often I get to say this, but if the rest of it is even half as good as the rough version when completely finished, this is definitely going to be the best music purchase I've made this year. And like I said when the project was first announced, I was expecting it might not quite come out on time, so I have no worries about the delay so far.

If you were thinking of getting your hands on one of these, you're unfortunately too late as funding recently finished with nearly 300% of target reached so you will just have to wait until it hits retail. It looks like it's going to be well worth your money based on what I've seen so far.

Once again, it's more than 2 months since the last update from Vertical Horizon on how that album is coming along and that particular project is STILL open for pledging nearly 18 months after I made my pledge (when they'd already reached target completion several months before that). Comparing this project to the Poets of The Fall one has been like chalk and cheese to date.

I'm still waiting on news about when exactly Fox Amoore's project for an album recorded at Abbey Road studios will go live, mostly because it seems he's still on the tour circuit at the moment. It does appear that it's likely to happen on IndieGoGo, will be called "Come Find Me" and some time in September though, so hopefully I'll have more information for you in my next post.

Coincidence or did someone read my last post? Aly Cook dropped her project total to the 18,000 euros I suggested in my last post and managed to complete the project before its deletion deadline as a result. Given she managed it with several days to go, I actually wondered if a 18,500 or maybe even a 19,000 target would have been possible or whether that would have been considered too much for a last minute rush.

Civilized Tears haven't been so lucky. Their project still appears stuck around the halfway funded mark, though it did move very slightly since my previous post. I did see a Facebook post from them asking what incentives people would like to encourage them to spend money on the project but at the time I looked it hadn't had any replies and I haven't been back to check up on it since.

With the main set of funding projects that I've been keeping an eye on dealt with, it's time to move onto the artists who have caught my attention for other reasons.

In terms of the "blast from the past" category, there have been a few names from the early days of Sellaband that have managed to catch my attention in one form or another recently. First on the list is Darren J Claxton who signed up on Sellaband once again recently. Whilst I think the songs have improved both in terms of quality and songwriting since his last failed attempt, it's clear the fanbase is still missing which means he's had even less attention on the site than the last time. He even sent me a message asking how to get more followers, believers and plays on the site, so it seems he hasn't realised the site is a very different place to when he originally signed up.

Next is SupermassiveQuazar who still seems to be putting out music left right and centre and according to the odds ought to have made something I really like by now but somehow still seems to be failing on that score.

The other name on the list is Mike Nealis who some of you may also remember from Sellaband as being part of the band Private Nation. It seems that he's currently involved with a new band called Martian Soul, but there doesn't appear to be any music online to listen to yet. So far all I've been able to find is a Facebook page and a very recent and barely used Twitter profile but no website. Their debut album is apparently supposed to be out some time in the Autumn.

On the new discoveries front, Christopher Battles caught my attention with his rather interesting mailing list offer. At first glance you'd think he's offering the standard "sign up to my mailing list and get a song in return" deal, however there appears to be what can be best described as an affiliate offer available as well. In essence you get a spreadsheet to download and fill in with contact details of others you've passed his music onto and in return for the number of different people you send back as willing to join his mailing list you can get various different incentives such as personalised notes, free skype concert or even a free house concert (amongst others). You'll find the full details of the deal here.

In one of my rare trawls of the new signups on Sellaband I came across an artist called #22 who are from Poland and the rather catchy track they have posted caught my attention. Unfortunately it looks like they're using the site as a promotional tool rather than being serious about any kind of funding attempt. I'd quite like to hear more from them based on what I've heard so far, but it seems they're not the easiest of artists to find music or indeed much other information for.

The sites I've been looking at

Tastemakerx
The web version of this site has had a number of bugs for a few months now and there has been no sign of when they might be fixed. As a result I haven't been using the site much, thinking they'd be fixed in the "August update" , which now appears to be happening mid-end September instead.  However I'm now left wondering on whether there's going to be a lot more than just an update given a Twitter conversation between a fellow user and the site itself, where it's being described as a "2.0 version". He's assuming that means a complete rewrite (possibly even a pivot) so it looks like it will be a case of watch this space to see what exactly happens with the site.

Plumspotter
Following on from the conversation about Tastemakerx, I landed up looking at this website which appears to also be heading down the "music discovery as a game" route but which is still in beta. The "how it works" video on the site makes it seem rather interesting, however there's no way to see how any of it works in practice without signing up and currently that's only available via Facebook (which I don't have and wouldn't use to sign in anyway even if you paid me). I may revisit the site if they make it more accessible than it is at present.

Sellaband
It's been over a year since I last requested a payout from the site, so I decided I'd drag out the current balance (what little of it there is, given there have been only 3 small eurocent revenue payments added in that time). And it seems that the message about Sellaband updating the payment system that's been in the automated withdrawal messages since the previous management is (you guessed it) still there. This is the smallest amount I've requested from the site to date, so I'll be interested to see what happens with it.

The number of artists on the site itself continues to drop slowly although the number of artists with at least 1% of budget does appear to be remaining stable or possibly creeping slowly up. It will be interesting to see what effect the changes to the terms and conditions have on the figures as it's too soon since their introduction for anything much to have been done yet and only a small fraction of the artists currently on there would appear to fit with the activity required by the new terms.

Pledge Music
I've recently been asked to take part in a survey about the site so the ad agency they have employed can obviously issue some recommendations and help them promote it.. I'd kind of like to be a fly on the wall when someone reads what I've sent in as it includes both the good and the bad (much of which you've read at least something about on this blog), and I'm half expecting some more questions to come my way on the subject based on what I've sent. I've also been offered a free download of any artist on the site for my help, so the next problem is going to be who to pick.

And finally
Looks like the house move is going to take longer than originally planned, so I should get at least one more post in before things get really hectic. You can therefore expect the next one in about a month.