May 1st 2009 Hatchet Day

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Results from last month
If I thought things were bad in last month's post, it seems they've gone downhill a notch or two this month. The community idea I posted in the forum got a whopping 2 responses by PM, one of those from abroad. And the other wasn't exactly local either. A bit shocking really when you consider I've actually met more than one believer who lives within a few miles of my home address at more than one Sellaband event or gig. Add to that the fact that my favourite Sellaband artist decided to leave, despite having already gained over $10,000 in budget and things are starting to look more than a little worrying around here. And after a perfect record in my blog report last month on the thankyous, it was back to the old days as a couple of artists forgot this time around.

This month's gainers and losers
Windom were the only one of the artists threatened last month who actually showed up, so it's goodbye to Kellie Jaxson, Johane Exen and Off the Deep End. Parts reclaimed have gone to Bench Grinder (that one was overdue tbh), Chapter II and The GoStation

I'm having a "time out" again next month, on the basis that Sellaband should (finally) have the filter for inactive artists in place. Miss the deadline again and the knifelady will definitely be back to chucking some knives around seeing as I've now been on the case of this one since April 2007.

It should also come as no surprise that Phil Tweed regains my "spotlight artist" spot as a result of the departure of Skitzo Calypso.

Given the large number of parts returned from Skitzo Calypso's departure, and the T&C for believers. I've now done something I didn't originally plan and withdrawn some of those parts from the system rather than re-investing them in new artists. I don't believe in the quality of the vast majority of artists signing up each month, and many aren't bringing any new believers with them anyway. It's clear no artist will get anywhere now, unless they do bring some of their own fans, and I can only see money starting to pile up in my account as a result of the lack of believers on the site that are taking any real interest - too much money lands up going round in circles between artists and I'm not going to keep an "excessive" amount of money on the profile when economic conditions mean I can use it elsewhere. The lack of response to my community initiative was really the nail in the coffin that decided my course of action (and yes the investment policy on my profile has been updated to reflect what I'm now doing). Sellaband needs believers who will take an interest in the site and it needs them fast, but more about that later.

New investments
I bought a part in Headblow and TheLights during the month. In the second of these cases, it would appear the band is not only local, but pretty much on my back doorstep and unlike Voodoo Johnson, I hadn't actually heard of them before. As a result, I'm planning to go to the release party for their single later this month to try and get a better impression of them live.

I've also bought a part in The Stetz who had been on my wishlist for a while.

Watching
With the deadline for inactive artists approaching, it's been time to take a look round some of those people nobody ever really talks about, who are lurking round the place, whether regularly or irregularly.

WildRose disappeared for a long time but has been back a few times this year. She has posted 2 new tracks just recently. The first of these "Beautiful" will probably make you think gothic metal if you only listen to the intro, but it's worthwhile listening on because it's one of those tracks that has a lot of surprises in store as it switches through genres and to be honest makes me wonder how you'd actually class it as a result. "Welcome to my grey" is a much slower track and one for all you piano music lovers out there. She's still quite young and this only makes the music more impressive. One to watch if only she can have the devotion to make you watch her, and I would consider the music potential Sixpack material for sure.

Tricky@Trick has been here quite happily plying his trade since just after I joined the site. He's never received any attention, or even asked for it but he's one of those who have been there in the background producing new music on a regular basis and putting it up on his profile for people to listen to. I've seen him grow to $280 whilst being lost in the mist of inactive artists. Take a listen if you like your solo acoustic guitar and see what you think. I wouldn't say the tracks he has up are the strongest of those I've seen posted, but he's definitely worth a visit now and again to see what's new. Irrespective of whether you like the music or not, it's artists such as this, who just keep trying, that deserve attention and who ought to get more interest once the "not really interested" crowd are removed. I'm hoping to get a few surprises and discover some artists such as this that I've missed in the past. Some of whom might actually get $10 as a result.

At the other end of the scale I'm also watching some of those on my belief list who are getting perilously close to the 6 month deadline, but who aren't actually giving any information on their profile that they've gone.

Last seen date on Kristianna is 3rd December 2008. Whilst that's a couple of days after the new T&C came into force, she only has just over a month to put in an appearance before she would be over the 6 month clause.

Another one close to, but not quite in danger from the deadline is Jion who hasn't been seen since December 2nd 2008.

Last seen date on The Sundial Project is November 17th 2008 which does put them quite firmly in the drop zone.

One of those who has been surviving the hatchet for a while now is Elmore (not to be confused with Elmor btw) who haven't been seen since September 2008

Another hatchet survivor heading for removal is Bleeding Black with a last seen date in October 2008

One of the most surprising names on the list has to be Outrance, who now hasn't really been seen since he was up for the Sixpack. Last seen date is in November 2008.

Also last seen in November 2008 is Marcel Luntungan. I really enjoyed his set in Amsterdam in 2007, but it's likely I'll start reclaiming parts next month if he doesn't show up, irrespective of whether Sellaband do anything about inactive artists or not.

I had been planning to include Mysti's second profile MAYHEM in this list, as it hadn't been updated since December 4th, but it has been recently updated. However, there is still cause for concern here as it appears the info page has been removed and there is now only one song on the profile. Here's hoping it's only technical gremlins, but I'll still be watching this page over the next month as a result.

There are others on my belief list who haven't been seen this year, so don't worry I didn't miss them. I've purposely only mentioned those either before, or very close to the 1st December date the new T&C came into force.

Video of the month
Last month I gave you my first love in music. This month is the artist that really started off my exploration into rock and metal. Whilst remembered mostly for their cheesy videos, this is a live artist who really knew how to get the crowd's attention. So enjoy a live performance of "I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister.

Sixpack Stories
Nothing much to report story wise in the Sixpack this time around. Acoustic Jim got my vote second time around. Artists have been quite obvious choices for me in general recently with Tarball, Broken Sun and TheLights all getting my vote fairly easily.

Sellaband
Where do we start here? I suppose the first place is not perhaps the most obvious one. Sellaband have actually been watching my latest attempt to galvanise the community into action with some interest. To my mind, we've kind of reached a point where if people aren't prepared to get together to go visit a gig, then what on earth would they be interested in doing as a community on a music based site? When I explained that I'd only had 2 responses, I was asked if I thought writing an article for the news section would help. I didn't exactly decline, but given the fact it would probably have only come out this coming Monday, plus I am no longer convinced there are enough believers (or potential believers if you prefer) who take more than a passing interest in the site, I didn't think it was that good an idea. If/when I see new people actually posting around the place I may reopen the idea of believers meeting to get to know each other and going to a gig, but it's clearly not going to work at the moment. As to the importance of Sellaband watching, well I'm not sure if this is supposed to be kept secret or not, but I think it's important to tell you one thing that came out of my correspondence. Sellaband have still not decided whether or not they are going to hold Sellabration in August this year. Whilst I don't know the full reasons for this (though I suspect the cost, plus the demise of Fabchannel are among them), what I do know is that part of the reason is related to the situation with believer activity. Early 2007 saw a big increase in believer activity on the site as a result of the performances at Paradiso, and I get the impression that it's mainly that active believer set that have gone, leaving just a few early pioneers like myself behind along with a load of people who never got involved with the site. So if I'm failing to draw any interest for my idea, I suspect it only adds fuel to any argument for Sellaband not to hold Sellabration. If there aren't many active believers left, who is there to be interested in turning up anyway for something that I know must cost a fortune to put on?

It's time people woke up round here. The "breaking story with AIOIA" as I write this blog just proves that. Whilst I'm not going to comment on the story itself, something that's come out of it already is very relevant here. Frank has a very valid point that believers on Sellaband are basically trusting what artists say when they put money into them because they've never met them. That act of "blind faith" needn't be so blind though if you could get the opportunity to see an artist play live, or you could trust the impressions of another believer who has seen them play live. This is why events such as Sellabration are important - they give the opportunity for believers to meet and start to form friendships, and they give the opportunity to both see and talk to artists that are on the site that you wouldn't normally get the chance to meet. And to be honest, you don't really get the opportunity for that kind of level of involvement once you get much past a pub-sized gig. That's the other reason I was looking at starting something both cheap and more regularly (mainly) for the UK with the hopes that believers in other countries would start something similar in their local areas too. A meeting once a year isn't enough to foster the growth of a believer community on Sellaband, and if that one meeting goes as well, well I think any chance of a community of real believers is doomed. We've been saying it for a long time now.... Sellaband needs real people to become real believers, not just some fake profile or something you visit once in a blue moon, so it's time all you real people out there should wake up, stand up and be counted.

Arenafest seems to have gone from being the holy grail that holds new believers to being touted as the demise for Sellaband. And yes, at the moment all the signs are that it's going to be yet another PR disaster, but at the moment I think it's more likely a case that Sellaband are in danger of getting their fingers burned at a time when they least need it, rather than being the cause of the problem themselves.

So all in all everything looks very insecure at the moment. With it increasingly looking like Arenafest doesn't hold the key to finding new believers, it's back to the artists themselves to bring them into an ever-growing suspicious community, becoming more reluctant to buy parts unless they see a significant number of other names first. The next two months are going to be very interesting.

That's all for this month. Drop by next month to find out if the inactive artist problem is being dealt with, and for the latest developments in some of the ongoing stories.