Welcome to the first hatchet day of 2010 which also marks the third and final phase of my parts shuffling since the site went live. As you'll see, there's still a few cases where things are not 100% sorted even so, but the original aim of getting to a state I'm happy with under the new T&C I think has been pretty much achieved and I'll work through the remaining issues as and when things become relevant.
Results from last month
Finally the conclusion of the Paypal story, and yes the money has finally arrived in my Paypal account (including Christmas it's taken about twice as long as I was used to under the old system - might be interesting to compare without a holiday in the way). So you might think this is the end of the story. However, there's an interesting and relevant twist to my removal story, which I'll be revealing later in this blog. Meanwhile, you might want to note that the removal I've done now officially puts me back under $10,000 in Sellaband in total in terms of combining parts in artists with those floating round in my balance.
Parts changes
It's a long time ago now given the Christmas break, but the most interesting of the changes happened when Cubworld changed his plan and became only the second artist to see a parts increase from me since the new site went live. For those who are unaware, I didn't even buy a part in his first album although the opportunity was there. The case of the fence sitter who never quite managed to find enough in the music to buy a part applied. And to a large degree, the fence-sitting still applies. This time around he found enough to drag me into buying one part, and it probably would have stopped there, if it hadn't been for the timing of the plan change and the contents of his new plan.
Let me explain:
If you've been following my blog since the latest Sellaband site change, you'll know that I'm not altogether happy with it. Whilst I think it could have been a useful thing, the fact that Sellaband have basically washed their hands of having anything to do with what artists come up with, don't even seem to be interested in enforcing section 5.5 of their own fundraising terms and conditions and also have gone entirely backwards to the bad old days as far as the "housekeeping" to deal with inactive artists (or artists who have left Sellaband) is concerned, means I think we're back to the complete mess/farce we were looking at a year ago. To sort out the still interested, the clueless and the good-intentioned who merely need a bit of guidance from all the junk out there is even more of a nightmare than it was under the simple 1 part = 1 CD system we had before. As someone looking for artists to support, I consider it too much work unless the artist has a provable track record or can demonstrate a certain level of existing support in the first place. So once again, I found myself questioning what I'm still doing here. It was whilst I was contemplating this question and reminding myself of how and why I came to be here in the first place that Cubworld changed his plan.
I remember the airport baggage handler who used to sing songs for his wife and kids who signed up to the site, and who was so nervous the first time he performed at Paradiso, he almost forgot to plug in his guitar (and in fact looked like he'd have probably jumped a mile if someone had walked up and tapped him on the shoulder at that point). As I said in my review of the year post, to hand someone like that $50,000 when they basically have no experience of the music industry is like handing them a ten tonne ball and telling them that in order to achieve success they have to go run to the finish line over there (which is an infinite distance away). And whilst it's fair to say that finish line is still a long way away, the whole point is that unlike some others who have been handed a ten tonne ball, I've seen he's still trying to roll it, push it, kick it etc. inch by inch towards that destination. So having been talking to a number of artists now and watching what's been going on since the site changes, you could say I'm refining my rules and Cubworld has been the first of very few ever likely to benefit as a result.
As a "small believer who turned big" thinking (seemingly in error) that by supporting artists through on Sellaband it would give Sellaband something they could use to help promote themselves, many of my parts purchases have been as much for the benefit of Sellaband in the past as for the artists themselves. Now Sellaband have firmly removed themselves from that equation (if indeed they ever genuinely were in it) my focus for multi-part belief has moved towards those whose music I have a real liking for, or if I think someone has demonstrable proof that makes them worth supporting. And my standards on that one are very high, as I'm not expecting to receive all the money back (though it would be nice). Cubworld's plan is one I felt respects the original reason many believers (including myself) landed up buying parts, and he's demonstrated to me that unlike some others he is at least going to be trying to gig/sell CDs etc. I still believe there is a home for the CDs out there, given enough time and effort, hence my reasons for upgrading to 10 parts. i.e. I felt he was one of the few on here who was definitely worth support.
Next we come to the part changes due to phase 3 of the process I've been going through since the site change.
Wetwerks are still showing no signs of getting any kind of plan online, despite their October post and the fact they have been visiting their profile, even though it seems they haven't been saying a lot. Hence I've added to the continuing parts leakage on their profile again by dropping all the way back down to one part.
I also can't currently see Vegas Dragons getting any plan sorted soon, so again have dropped back to one part.
I am still talking to Phil Tweed, but given some developing stories on Sellaband plus the fact it seems he's still at a bit of a loss what to do, I have a horrible feeling I'm going to be reducing parts here as well soon. Probably the most heart-wrenching decision I'm likely to be making on here due to how much I like his music, but something which is starting to look ever more inevitable, despite the fact I keep convincing myself to put the decision off.
Finally in the case of Blister, I'm holding station on 5 parts at the moment due to past incentives, but it seems they haven't been seen on the site yet this year, so I will be keeping a close eye on this one.
There are still other cases where I'm not completely happy, but I think most are likely to resolve themselves during the normal hatchet process, so as stated earlier, I'll be waiting for the remaining cases to become relevant.
As for new part purchases? Absolutely none have been made. I'm now adding artists to my following list pretty much exclusively. Until I've fully researched an artist it's unlikely I'll be buying any parts in new signups in future, and given the amount of time that takes it means it will already be obvious whether there is a fanbase willing to support them or not by the time I get through the process for those I'm most interested in. Thank Sellaband for not enforcing their own terms and conditions as the reason for this, as it seems my new approach is going to be the only halfway reliable way I'll be able to sort out the idiots as a result. i.e. I'm generally not going to buying parts in future unless artists get much closer to their budgets than they are at present - obviously the best way to overcome this is if I already know you.
I've got a plan
It looks like The Esoteric Gender (who I mentioned in a previous blog post) now have a much better set of incentives online. They're working themselves towards the top of the list of artists I'm interested in and most likely to buy parts in as a result.
The perils of copying others comes into play in the form of Tyla Gang. Originally with a budget of $100,000 it seems their budget has now been halved on that score after having words with Sellaband. And whilst their incentives section itself is now empty compared to what it had before, their plan reveals a set of incentives including a Public Enemy T-shirt for 10 parts. Hmm... did I miss something happening here? If you like classic rock, you'll be right at home listening to their music though.
Alex Highton is one of the newer custom artists on the site, though I am a little confused as to how he landed up as one. All the signs are that (to me at least) he looks closer to most of the "normal" artists signing up, rather than someone with the level of plan you'd expect of a custom artist. However, I am impressed with the way he's approached the forum and he is supposed to be getting a revised budget and incentives online soon, so could well be one to watch as a result.
The list of artists belonging to the "help I'm lost" section also continues to increase at an alarming rate.
Koma Umbu are "Getting Rich and famous"
Can we expect a HUGE influx of Brazilian fans starting any time soon? Jesse Hart's plan reads as follows "A tour for Jesse's fans in Brazil. His main base of fans are in Brazil, he just needs the support to get there and share his music with his biggest fans. Tour is already scheduled for March/April and Jesse will be in Brazil by Jan. 15 setting up gigs". I might be wrong of course, but somehow I think there's rather a lot of misplaced optimism on this fundraising plan.
Also joining the crowd who thinks they can raise a budget in no time whatsoever is Shicehouse who signed up on December 19th with the following plan "We desperately need an economical injection to produce our new video "Sex With The Easter Bunny", which we want to release as fast as possible (January/February 2010). The thing will be completely free to watch on YouTube and downloadable on our MySpyce site".
Gritty has the following plan for consideration along with a budget of $100K. "Use my existing fan base and street team to tour and reinvest into my future projects including film works". Am I really surprised he's currently raised $0?
Clemont offers inspiration in the form of "A dream is a wish your heart makes..". A really big shame about the plan tbh as there's some excellent music on this particular profile.
Nipun the LORD would like "To earn some money by selling my songs". What more to say but welcome to the club?
And of course there are plenty more out there who joined up in December or earlier in January to join this brief selection, so I'll leave it up to you to see how many more of them you can find.
Following
Despite all the other things going off on Sellaband, I'd say the average music quality just keeps getting better and better, which makes it very difficult to pick out the real highlights for you. It's just a real shame that some of the best music seems to be coming these days with plans which are far from straightforward.
Airspace represent some of the best rock I've heard on here for quite a while, and if they'd signed up back when I was believing as soon as I found something I liked, they'd have landed up with me as their first believer. So a real shame that their plan has me going ouch and hence I'm only interested in following at present to see what happens. The 20K raised is supposed to be going to fund ONLY 2 singles and their associated videos. (5K per video and 5K for recording the single). So it's unclear exactly what is offered for the download (presumably the 2 singles - which for $10 looks a bit steep) plus the fact they appear to have completely missed the fact 10% of the project cost goes to Sellaband, meaning their numbers don't add up. Is the lack of business acumen seemingly displayed here the reason they were turned down for a grant I wonder?
Likewise Skelley's Dream is displaying some real quality music I'd have happily bought parts in in the past - this time soul, sometimes with hints of jazz or R&B depending on which of the large selection of uploaded tracks you listen to. But likewise the plan makes you wonder what exactly is going on. For starters most of it appears to have been copied directly from the "hints" on working out costs that you can find on the artist sign up form. Particularly confusing as a result is the section "1 CD to 500-700 Believers worldwide costs Between $1000 - $2000. The more we can reach, the more we raise for the instruments". On the one hand their profile has the "1 CD per believer" set to no and on the other, how more believers means there is more money left over for the instruments they want to buy with 25% of the revenue share is something I'm completely lost on. If you are offering a CD per believer and you have more believers it means your costs go up not down. Or do they mean money raised rather than revenue? So anyone who can translate their plan into English for me is more than welcome, because it seems my own grasp of the language doesn't stand a chance in working this one out myself. (and I was born and still live in England!)
Elsewhere Silver and Blue turned up early in December with some catchy tunes, one of which made my top 20 of the year. But if it isn't the plan, it seems it's the page attendance stopping me on artists instead most of the time. And they haven't been seen since the day they signed up. Also the fact they have no incentives means a 45K budget could well be difficult to reach.
If you want something a little out of the ordinary to listen to, then Voodoo Pharmacology is a very interesting find. No physical CD though, which is the next reason I get stopped on artists once the plan and the page attendance boxes get checked.
Here's one for all you lovers of the ladies out there that also has my interest. I'm half surprised Sommersby hasn't leapt onto Sound of Sirens yet and dragged them into the Dream Team, and as one of the few I've seen sign up since my last hatchet day blog who actually appear to have something halfway reasonable in the plan department as well as the music department, they have to have one of my strongest recommendations for you to check them out this time around.
And seemingly more proof that it's currently the ladies giving the better demonstration of having a clue comes in the form of the Jo Harman Project. The single track on the profile is actually made up of snippets glued together from her EP tracks. The biggest question comes in the form of how many fans she already has, given how new her band is, because I'd say the music itself suggests she is certainly one to watch.
There are quite a few more artists on my following list gained since the start of December, but given that this month is going to be shorter than usual due to the fact my hatchet day post gets delayed over Christmas/New Year, there is a chance I might mention a few more next month - it all depends how many more artists turn up and grab my attention.
Sellaband
Welcome to paint drying. Unless your name is Hind, or you're lucky to have a certain believer on board who is rapidly heading for $100,000 in the Sellaband system (yep that's correct, 5 zeros!). Very few artists other than those covered by the conditions I just stated are making steady progress forwards (if you are one of the exceptions, you can be sure you're doing a great job) - it's mostly a case of a few parts up and/or down. As a result I've been looking at what I should do about the money I have floating on my balance - it seems there are not enough artists turning up with a decent plan and/or support to tempt me in early these days, and with parts being sold sparsely in general, a big whack of parts from me isn't likely to have any noticeable extra effect of attracting believers into an artist I think is really worth supporting. I'm also not a fan of passive middlemen in general, so leaving large chunks of money lurking round doing nothing for long periods of time isn't an option either. As a result, I decided it's time I actually took some of the money I have back out of the Sellaband system. Hence the Paypal payout in December (and watch this space, because unless things improve in the next couple of weeks, it's likely I'll be having another one soon)
And so to the twist I mentioned earlier that you've been waiting for. I'm going to tell you where the bulk of the money I removed in December has gone and why.
You've heard me mention Matthew Ebel a few times already. So hopefully you're starting to get the idea that I like his music. Seriously, can someone tell me how I never fell over him and listened to his music before he hit Sellaband, because once you know he exists he seems to be basically everywhere (although usually buried rather than obvious). Blog posts, industry articles about him and how he is approaching a "modern" music industry - the more I look the more I keep finding even now. You may not realise, but I basically keep two lists of people in my head when it comes to Sellaband - those whose music I like a lot and those who have shown proof they are worth supporting (irrespective of whether I personally like their music or not). For someone to appear on one of those lists is hard enough, but to appear on both is insanely difficult. Let me tell you now that Matthew is towards the top of the list on both.
So the setup for the situation is the fact I not only have someone whose music I like, and they've also given me enough evidence they are worth supporting. Sellaband themselves have turned into a passive middleman, few parts are being sold unless an artist is new or getting the "big believer" push and I'm staring at money on my balance doing nothing as a result. Even a "push" from me isn't likely to make Matthew hit his target any time soon, so I figure it's more logical to remove some of that money and take a subscription now when it can actually show my support and do him some good. I know the money goes direct to him, and I also know his site has been running more than a year - would people still be renewing subscriptions if they weren't happy? i.e. this is just one piece of undenyable proof that I know I'm looking at someone who can deliver.
But between the time I arrived at this conclusion and the time I actually managed to get a payout to work, my plan of taking a subscription changed.
Matthew announced he was creating a new subscription option called the "Entourage" back in October that was only available for 5 people to take up (and also somewhat more expensive than his existing options). As might be expected with a seemingly rabid fanbase (albeit quite a small one) the first 4 went as soon as they became available, but the 5th seemingly got stuck. It sat there and sat there and sat there, and despite the odd mention that only 4 slots were taken on his weekly show, still nobody bit. When you consider I've spent more parts on Sellaband before in artists whose music I like less and I had more than enough money sitting round on my Sellaband balance, I think you can guess what's coming next. Yes folks, instead of taking one of his more general subscriptions as originally intended, I've followed the old Sellaband adage of putting my money where my mouth is and snapped up that last Entourage spot using money reclaimed from the Sellaband system. And trust me, assuming I'm still walking this earth and have the money, I'll guarantee you now that it'll be renewed next year too. So it all goes to show - why bother with a middleman in the first place unless there's a very good reason to do so? So unless Sellaband suddenly decide they have something to offer after all, I suspect this may not be the last time I decide there's more benefit to be had on both sides by taking my support to the artist instead. A hint of the way my Sellaband involvement is likely heading in future? Only time will tell.
And before you ask, I still have my 15 parts in his profile in the (vain?) hope that people (including Sellaband themselves) are going to wake up and realise the potentials they're missing here. If you've been following me, you'll know I might mention that something looks interesting or good, but I won't generally start raving publicly about an artist. So trust me when I say that I'm raving here about an artist genuinely worth supporting - it's a statement I can't repeat enough.
And Finally
Hopefully by the time the 1st February blog post rolls round, I'll be able to reveal what I think is the real Sellaband success story as I'm currently waiting for the last few pieces to fall into place on that score. Keep your hopes up for this one, because I'm pretty sure this story is going to teach a few people something interesting they weren't aware of before. The February hatchet day also marks the first time I'll be running a proper hatchet day checking for inactive artists since the site changes, so things could be very interesting on that score too.
Thursday 14 January 2010
Sunday 3 January 2010
Review of the Year 2009
Welcome to this year's review, when you can find out my highlights and disappointments of 2009 and discover all kinds of other things such as my top artists and songs of the year.
But before we get to the really good stuff, let's give you a quick update on just a few of the more interesting things that have happened since my last "hatchet day" post.
A quick update
Wow. I'm amazed. Do I scare people round here or something? Are you afraid I might just tell you the truth (and hearing the truth scares you), or are you all quite happy in your current knowledge? With several people having said on the forum that they were quite interested in the old "believer questions" sections from the Tribune, and the fact I'm one of the believers who was never asked to participate in that, this is why I opened up the opportunity for you to ask me anything you wanted (as stated in my previous 2 hatchet day posts). But it seems I won't be answering any questions in this special after all, as not a single one appeared in my inbox! With the readership of this blog seemingly continuing to grow, only you readers can know the reasons why not a single one of you took me up on this offer and you can therefore also be sure it's going to be a long time before I make a similar offer again.
It looks like my post about Scrooge coming to Sellaband had an effect on Jon Robert's parts. Less than 24 hours after publishing my blog, he'd lost another one. And it hasn't entirely stopped there, as he's since lost more but also gained one - the net result being that he's back on the same budget he was on before he changed his plan. Guess the only thing to say here is that obviously Scrooge is very active on Sellaband this year and things like Christmas spirit and charity have been lost in favour of a greedy Christmas charts parts competition. Bah Humbug. I'll also let you decide for yourselves what you think this means for artists currently on Sellaband, because as far as I'm aware, I'm still the only mention of his charity initiative (as far as Sellaband itself or other active users is concerned) in the first place.
I also had another go at a Paypal payout, and this time it looks like it has worked. Watch this space though, as although the money has disappeared from my Sellaband balance, it still hasn't appeared in my Paypal account, so the story may not be quite over yet. Christmas has managed to get in the way as far as the 5-7 working days quoted is concerned though, so there's still a few days left before I need to consider throwing some knives around. So fingers crossed the outcome will be known before my January hatchet day blog gets posted.
Top 10 artists of 2009
I like an awful lot of music, but this is the only time of the year you can discover who my real favourites are. As with all things, the list changes each year, often as I discover more about each artist and their music. To be eligible for this, the artist needs to be currently raising a budget on Sellaband or have completed one within the last 12 months and have posted at least one new song on that profile during that time. So here's the list for 2009
1. We Love The Underground
2. Phil Tweed
3. Matthew Ebel
4. Civilized Tears
5. Ulrik
6. MOPI
7. The Jade Diary
8. The Lights
9. Voodoo Johnson
10. Conflict in the sky
Most noticeable this year is that the 2-way scrap for my affections at the top has most definitely become a 3-way scrap. And to be honest it's been so close between the top three that I don't think I actually officially decided the order until I wrote it here. Brad manages to hang onto first place by a whisker, mostly as a result of coming up with more new material than Phil. But both these two should watch out next year, because there's a very real threat of displacement coming from third place in the form of new entry Matthew Ebel. Squeezed into third place this time around partly because of being a new find and partly because although he definitely has the talent (you might want to put the innocents to bed before you check this out though), he's not quite 100% there 100% of the time. Given that he's been putting out at least 2 new songs every month, the fact he doesn't necessarily write stuff that is easy to play in the first place (watch him play live and solo when 3 hands are required for starters!) and is now going to be putting out an album every 6 months (with or without the help of Sellaband), it's obvious the odd missed note is more of a case of familiarity/practice due to the volume of material than anything else. And if this makes you worry about "filler", well I haven't seen any. I also haven't found a song that I don't like yet, and that's pretty much a rarity in itself.
Quite a few slots obviously became free this year as a result of artists leaving, going pretty much inactive, or becoming ineligible due to finishing their fundraising more than a year ago, so it's made for some quite interesting changes from last year further down in the list, as a few of my "near misses" from last time around managed to fight their way on this time against some of the newcomers, most notably Civilized Tears who went all the way up to 4th. This year the near misses are as follows: Derek Daisey, Jon Allen and Taylor Horn.
Top 20 songs of 2009
Here's the list of my favourite songs for this year. To be eligible for this, the song needs to be currently on the artist's Sellaband profile and I also impose a limit of one song per artist. The new requirement for this year is that the artist must either be currently fundraising or have reached their target in the last 12 months.
1. A few good men -Phil Tweed
2. Who do you find - Ulrik
3. Drive away - Matthew Ebel
4. Feel it down - MOPI
5. Drop dead girl - Mount Fabric
6. Words you bleed - Derek Daisey
7. Open her eyes - Silverimage
8. Bad habit - Voodoo Johnson
9. 7:30 plane - Matt Byers
10. January blues - The Lights
11. Dead man's suit - Jon Allen
12. Love called me home - The Jade Diary
13. The universe is burning - Marc Supsic
14. My enemy - Silver and Blue
15. The comedown (we are not saints) - We Love The Underground
16. Country storm - Aly Cook
17. Death clock - Conflict in the Sky
18. Candy whore - Six Eyes Lost
19. Back up - Taylor Horn
20. Take me - Broken Sun
Sadly a few of the artists on this list appear to be going inactive, which is a real shame. You'll find all the listed songs in my playlist until February, when I'll revert to a playlist which only contains fundraising artists. Most interesting in this top twenty list is probably either Mount Fabric, as I feel this particular song is one of the flashes of genius that occasionally pop up from the often quite mediocre I've heard from that direction, or Silver and Blue who are so new on the site I haven't even had the opportunity to mention them in a hatchet day post yet.
Dropped the ball
Here's my list of artists who I think have real music potential, but look like they're in the process of dropping the ball.
1. Matt Byers
2. Silverimage
3. Voodoo Johnson
Amazingly Matt still seems to be listed on Sellaband despite all the site changes and the fact I mentioned him in this category last year as having not been seen for ages round the site. The last seen date on his profile is still listed as unknown. Silverimage left a message on their own wall back in August mentioning that not only were they having problems with the site, but there was also a split in progress. Voodoo Johnson also haven't been seen around the site in more than 3 months now so the question of whether they're actually interested in fundraising any more is coming to the fore. It will be interesting to see if any of these recover or disappear over the next few months.
Sellaband albums
What's my favourite of the albums produced so far? Just a top 5 here as there's still a relatively small number to choose from. The main factor deciding the order is how much I like the tracks on an album and therefore how likely I'd have been to go out and buy it if I'd heard it first.
1. Arm Yourself - BulletProof Messenger
2. Circles and Squares - Francis Rodino
3. In Control - Nemesea
4. The Elements - Second Person
5. Until the Morning Light - Daniel Ward-Murphy
So interestingly, no change from last year, although I have to make special mention for Unseen by Ellie Williams at this point, as I think it's easily the best Sellaband album Tony Platt has produced to date and shows exactly why he's considered a world class producer. So from a personal point of view, whilst I have a lower liking for the songs themselves than I do for those of some other artists, I'd still say this album is highly recommended as not to be missed due to its quality.
I also got surprised by one of the album releases this year, as it contained a derivative work of a very well known song. I say derivative, because while the lyrics had been altered, the song itself was the same (just the artist's own interpretation as opposed to a straight copy). Interestingly the artist in question had had the cover (i.e. exactly the same song but with its original lyrics) on their page when they were fundraising. I'm slightly surprised Sellaband let this one through given the terms and conditions under which this album was produced, particularly as the last time I looked, the original composer was still alive, so here's hoping the correct dues have indeed been paid. Meanwhile, I'll leave you to try and work out for yourselves which artist I'm referring to.
Disappointments of the year
1. Vegas Dragons
Let me take you off sideways first by talking about Cubworld raising his 50K (trust me, the relevance will become clear by the end). When you consider that when Jake originally signed up to the site, he was just an airport baggage handler who sang songs for his wife and kids, the idea of giving someone like that 50K to make an album and therefore effectively get started in the music industry from nothing is like handing them a ten tonne ball and telling them they need to carry it to a finish line that's an infinite distance away. And despite starting from nothing, as soon as he was given it I've seen him try and pick that ball up and carry it, or even effectively just keep pushing and shoving, trying to roll it on the ground towards that finish line. It's fair to say he's still an infinite distance away, but equally you can see that having been given that ball, he has both moved and is still trying to keep moving. You'll find out the full story in my hatchet day post, but this is just part of the reason why Cubworld became only the second artist on my belief list to see a parts increase since the site change - the fact that he's making that effort deserves respect.
But you might be wondering where the relevance of Cubworld to Vegas Dragons is. If you know the history you shouldn't be, because you should be aware that the story behind Vegas Dragons also means a ten tonne ball effectively got handed out in that direction as well. And as one of those doing a large part of the handing, you could say I've had a vested interest in trying to help out beyond handing over my part of that particular 50K.
So it was when I was writing the "review of the year" blog this time last year, that I noticed the Vegas Dragons website had gone offline. For those who don't know the story, when Brian first joined the site, there was no Vegas Dragons website. Not only did I create the site for him free of charge using my limited knowledge and experience, but I also paid for the first year of hosting (which turned out to be 18 months in the end, due to the special offer on at the time). I also rethemed the site to match Lovingly Cruel on its release (again for free) and indeed would probably have continued to maintain it for as long as he wanted, providing he just picked up the hosting tab. Towards the end of December last year is when the money I'd paid ran out and I contacted Brian to let him know (despite the fact the reminder e-mail that the site was due for renewal would have been sent straight to him anyway). The bill has never been paid. And like any independent web developer worth their salt, I still have a backup of the site, so it wouldn't exactly have been hard (and indeed still isn't) to get the site back working again - seriously, how hard is it to pay one small bill?. Add to this some of the other things that need to be done and still haven't, and it soon becomes clear that when it comes to dealing with ten tonne balls, Cubworld and Vegas Dragons are a world apart. And perhaps a second lesson to be learned as well - that despite the best will in the world and the support of others, there does come a point where artists have to wake up and realise it's no use waiting for things to happen, you actually have to do something yourself rather than expect that others will do everything for you. Don't get me wrong, there's still a friendship there - it's just a highly frustrating situation when it's known and agreed what needs to be done, but it just doesn't happen. So if you're wondering what happened to the Vegas Dragons website, that's the story behind that particular disappearance. And if you think carefully, maybe this story can also go some way towards explaining just part of the reason behind my own changes in parts buying as time has passed, and hence why I have a certain reluctance these days to jump in and support, even when I see something that I think has potential.
2. Sellaband
Probably no surprise here, but some of the reasons for my own disappointment may be a little bit different from what you might expect. I could probably write an entire blog on this subject alone, but let's keep it simple with a summary list of the more important ones in no particular order.
- failure to maintain "housekeeping" of inactive profiles - this was only done for a couple of months before the June site change, and we've been back at the bad old days of them not deleting inactive ones, or removing artists who are stating on their profiles they've left the site since.
- coming up with a confusing and complicated incentive/plan system which seems to be just as complicated and confusing for artists to get changed. Even artists are struggling to know how to fill this in to make sense, never mind the poor believers who have to try and interpret what everything really means themselves now. Sorting out those with good intentions from the (often total) idiots is a nightmare as a result.
- failure to enforce section 5.5 in the current fundraising terms and conditions. Just go back over the blogs I've posted since the last site change and look at the "help I'm lost" part of the section I have dealing with artist plans. Despite some of these plans being more than 2 months old now, they still don't conform to this section of the T&C and Sellaband appear to be doing nothing to rectify the situation. This is also only the tip of an ever increasing iceberg as far as this particular problem is concerned.
- no Sellabration. 2009 was probably the last chance I would have been able to do some travelling (particularly abroad) for a while and I'd been aiming to go. It's unlikely I'll be getting out much this year, even if it does return.
- isolation rather than fostering of community. I remember mentioning in last year's blog that I feared this was the way they were heading and it looks like that fear came true.
I may still be listening to and following interesting new music on the site, but is it really any wonder that even I have become somewhat apathetic as far as believing in artists is concerned?
And you shouldn't be surprised that I don't mention ArenaFest in that particular list. After all, who described it in an earlier blog post as "looking like a big if"? So whatever the story behind its failure to occur, it should be obvious that the fact it didn't happen was obviously not an entirely unexpected possibility to me, and hence couldn't be that much of a source of disappointment as a result.
3. Believers
A slightly misleading title perhaps. One thing this year of disruption on Sellaband has given me is a time to reflect on the "good old days" when I used to talk to other believers and artists on Skype, or could be found trading comments with others on their pages. But if it wasn't for "Mr Silver Balls" himself (i.e. UBG) I'd be inclined to think I'm the earliest active believer left. Particularly distressing to me was to discover the apparent loss of Dolly. The first I noticed something was wrong was when I discovered the music interests she had on her page had been replaced with some philosophy about the dangers of herd behaviour. If you visit her page today, it's gone - the photos, everything in fact except for the fact her "about me" is now populated by the following quote from Henry David Thoreau. “Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it.” If you aren't familiar with Dolly, then let me tell you she is (or should that be was given the seeming disappearance) employed by Sellaband and has an appreciation of music that goes beyond the average. Musically, you got the sense that Dolly was dining on caviar while you had a tin of baked beans at hand. Not in a snobbish way, but rather for her appreciation of music as an art form rather than just your run-of-the-mill enjoyment that the average person has. To see a believer such as this go AWOL is probably the icing on the cake of the sadness I feel at seeing so many of the believers who were around with me in the early days drift away from the site, and it truly makes me wonder what the future holds if true supporters of music such as Dolly no longer have interest in the site.
The forgotten
As regular readers of my blog will know, it tends to be very long. As a result I often reach a stage where I intended to talk about someone or something and don't get around to it because the blog is already quite long. And often I intend to talk about it the next month as a result, but then find the same effectively happens again. So here are just some of those who ought to have been mentioned but weren't through lack of space.
NRG Rising
There's been more than one point when I ought to have written about these ladies, but somehow something else always worked its way further up in my memory. Probably the best reggae I've heard on the site since Alioune K decided to call it quits, although the demos themselves aren't the best in quality. I'll be interested to see what their first actual single sounds like, as whilst I'm not a huge reggae fan, I am currently keeping watch from a distance and will almost certainly take a better look at them once the budget raised figure starts to become that bit more serious.
M Harris
I had been hoping the arrival of Public Enemy might have a knock-on effect in this direction, but with rumours floating around that PE aren't even promoting their Sellaband profile on their current tour, this might be a long time in coming. There is also the question of what exactly a M Harris CD is going to sound like, given the current profile contents. I originally said a long time ago that it was obvious there was more to him than just rap, and now Sellaband is allowing more than 3 tracks on a profile the range starts to become that much clearer. On an artist where a track like "Do it" has me reaching for the skip button, but I could quite happily listen to something like "(ethnic)" for hours on end, it opens questions as to what exactly he is planning for a Sellaband album. Irrespective of whether it falls more towards the rap/hip-hop end or the jazz end of the range though, it seems neither are particularly popular amongst current believers.
Jon Allen
As one of several custom artists that came in at the same time, this turned out to be an artist I was extremely interested in but a combination of the high part price and its corresponding absurd plan/incentives put me off. With Amazon selling the album in question for less than 10 GBP, the only reasons to take an interest in the Sellaband profile were really those of the extra EP+download plus the concert ticket. And the problem with the concert ticket is of course the fact you'd really have to be in the UK to take advantage of that in the first place. Sadly a profile that therefore looked only of real interest to UK believers who didn't already own the album (which would presumably rule out most of his existing fanbase) and hence something which has held a sense of doom from the start, even without the low profile attendance.
The Fanclub
Well here's another interesting custom artist, and one that makes me wonder if we're now seeing the "custom promotion profile" appearing. There's always been a big question over artists who seemingly are using the site merely for promotion rather than having any genuine intention of raising a budget and the frustration it can bring to music lovers who are genuinely looking for someone who is genuinely interested too. So cue an artist who doesn't have a website (just a glorified e-mail signup) and whose management company doesn't have a website either (just a nice "under development" page) despite the fact they're quite happily mentioning all the experience they have on their myspace site. Roll forward a couple of months and recheck, and find that nothing has changed on this score, and what you have basically looks like a profile that's just on Sellaband for the promotion. Either that or their choice of signup time on Sellaband is bad, which let's face it, isn't that much of a recommendation for their management either.
Kompis is to this year's post what netvalar was to last year's. I always read the 50K music mag, but due to its timing I never tend to make any comment or post about it, because I'm either still writing my own blog post or busy taking a breather having just finished writing one. It doesn't mean I don't appreciate the effort though. In a world where Sellaband appear to have given up on community, it's always great to find there are still other believers still trying to do their bit to keep a spark alive. So this is me raising a glass to Kompis for his efforts in that direction.
And finally...
I'll be taking a short breather before my January hatchet day post. That means you should be able to expect that particular installment in about a week's time, when I'll hopefully be able to tell you the finish of the stories I've left ongoing here as well as give you a catch-up on the new artists of interest and my parts changes. Happy New year and here's hoping for a better 2010 on Sellaband than 2009 has been.
But before we get to the really good stuff, let's give you a quick update on just a few of the more interesting things that have happened since my last "hatchet day" post.
A quick update
Wow. I'm amazed. Do I scare people round here or something? Are you afraid I might just tell you the truth (and hearing the truth scares you), or are you all quite happy in your current knowledge? With several people having said on the forum that they were quite interested in the old "believer questions" sections from the Tribune, and the fact I'm one of the believers who was never asked to participate in that, this is why I opened up the opportunity for you to ask me anything you wanted (as stated in my previous 2 hatchet day posts). But it seems I won't be answering any questions in this special after all, as not a single one appeared in my inbox! With the readership of this blog seemingly continuing to grow, only you readers can know the reasons why not a single one of you took me up on this offer and you can therefore also be sure it's going to be a long time before I make a similar offer again.
It looks like my post about Scrooge coming to Sellaband had an effect on Jon Robert's parts. Less than 24 hours after publishing my blog, he'd lost another one. And it hasn't entirely stopped there, as he's since lost more but also gained one - the net result being that he's back on the same budget he was on before he changed his plan. Guess the only thing to say here is that obviously Scrooge is very active on Sellaband this year and things like Christmas spirit and charity have been lost in favour of a greedy Christmas charts parts competition. Bah Humbug. I'll also let you decide for yourselves what you think this means for artists currently on Sellaband, because as far as I'm aware, I'm still the only mention of his charity initiative (as far as Sellaband itself or other active users is concerned) in the first place.
I also had another go at a Paypal payout, and this time it looks like it has worked. Watch this space though, as although the money has disappeared from my Sellaband balance, it still hasn't appeared in my Paypal account, so the story may not be quite over yet. Christmas has managed to get in the way as far as the 5-7 working days quoted is concerned though, so there's still a few days left before I need to consider throwing some knives around. So fingers crossed the outcome will be known before my January hatchet day blog gets posted.
Top 10 artists of 2009
I like an awful lot of music, but this is the only time of the year you can discover who my real favourites are. As with all things, the list changes each year, often as I discover more about each artist and their music. To be eligible for this, the artist needs to be currently raising a budget on Sellaband or have completed one within the last 12 months and have posted at least one new song on that profile during that time. So here's the list for 2009
1. We Love The Underground
2. Phil Tweed
3. Matthew Ebel
4. Civilized Tears
5. Ulrik
6. MOPI
7. The Jade Diary
8. The Lights
9. Voodoo Johnson
10. Conflict in the sky
Most noticeable this year is that the 2-way scrap for my affections at the top has most definitely become a 3-way scrap. And to be honest it's been so close between the top three that I don't think I actually officially decided the order until I wrote it here. Brad manages to hang onto first place by a whisker, mostly as a result of coming up with more new material than Phil. But both these two should watch out next year, because there's a very real threat of displacement coming from third place in the form of new entry Matthew Ebel. Squeezed into third place this time around partly because of being a new find and partly because although he definitely has the talent (you might want to put the innocents to bed before you check this out though), he's not quite 100% there 100% of the time. Given that he's been putting out at least 2 new songs every month, the fact he doesn't necessarily write stuff that is easy to play in the first place (watch him play live and solo when 3 hands are required for starters!) and is now going to be putting out an album every 6 months (with or without the help of Sellaband), it's obvious the odd missed note is more of a case of familiarity/practice due to the volume of material than anything else. And if this makes you worry about "filler", well I haven't seen any. I also haven't found a song that I don't like yet, and that's pretty much a rarity in itself.
Quite a few slots obviously became free this year as a result of artists leaving, going pretty much inactive, or becoming ineligible due to finishing their fundraising more than a year ago, so it's made for some quite interesting changes from last year further down in the list, as a few of my "near misses" from last time around managed to fight their way on this time against some of the newcomers, most notably Civilized Tears who went all the way up to 4th. This year the near misses are as follows: Derek Daisey, Jon Allen and Taylor Horn.
Top 20 songs of 2009
Here's the list of my favourite songs for this year. To be eligible for this, the song needs to be currently on the artist's Sellaband profile and I also impose a limit of one song per artist. The new requirement for this year is that the artist must either be currently fundraising or have reached their target in the last 12 months.
1. A few good men -Phil Tweed
2. Who do you find - Ulrik
3. Drive away - Matthew Ebel
4. Feel it down - MOPI
5. Drop dead girl - Mount Fabric
6. Words you bleed - Derek Daisey
7. Open her eyes - Silverimage
8. Bad habit - Voodoo Johnson
9. 7:30 plane - Matt Byers
10. January blues - The Lights
11. Dead man's suit - Jon Allen
12. Love called me home - The Jade Diary
13. The universe is burning - Marc Supsic
14. My enemy - Silver and Blue
15. The comedown (we are not saints) - We Love The Underground
16. Country storm - Aly Cook
17. Death clock - Conflict in the Sky
18. Candy whore - Six Eyes Lost
19. Back up - Taylor Horn
20. Take me - Broken Sun
Sadly a few of the artists on this list appear to be going inactive, which is a real shame. You'll find all the listed songs in my playlist until February, when I'll revert to a playlist which only contains fundraising artists. Most interesting in this top twenty list is probably either Mount Fabric, as I feel this particular song is one of the flashes of genius that occasionally pop up from the often quite mediocre I've heard from that direction, or Silver and Blue who are so new on the site I haven't even had the opportunity to mention them in a hatchet day post yet.
Dropped the ball
Here's my list of artists who I think have real music potential, but look like they're in the process of dropping the ball.
1. Matt Byers
2. Silverimage
3. Voodoo Johnson
Amazingly Matt still seems to be listed on Sellaband despite all the site changes and the fact I mentioned him in this category last year as having not been seen for ages round the site. The last seen date on his profile is still listed as unknown. Silverimage left a message on their own wall back in August mentioning that not only were they having problems with the site, but there was also a split in progress. Voodoo Johnson also haven't been seen around the site in more than 3 months now so the question of whether they're actually interested in fundraising any more is coming to the fore. It will be interesting to see if any of these recover or disappear over the next few months.
Sellaband albums
What's my favourite of the albums produced so far? Just a top 5 here as there's still a relatively small number to choose from. The main factor deciding the order is how much I like the tracks on an album and therefore how likely I'd have been to go out and buy it if I'd heard it first.
1. Arm Yourself - BulletProof Messenger
2. Circles and Squares - Francis Rodino
3. In Control - Nemesea
4. The Elements - Second Person
5. Until the Morning Light - Daniel Ward-Murphy
So interestingly, no change from last year, although I have to make special mention for Unseen by Ellie Williams at this point, as I think it's easily the best Sellaband album Tony Platt has produced to date and shows exactly why he's considered a world class producer. So from a personal point of view, whilst I have a lower liking for the songs themselves than I do for those of some other artists, I'd still say this album is highly recommended as not to be missed due to its quality.
I also got surprised by one of the album releases this year, as it contained a derivative work of a very well known song. I say derivative, because while the lyrics had been altered, the song itself was the same (just the artist's own interpretation as opposed to a straight copy). Interestingly the artist in question had had the cover (i.e. exactly the same song but with its original lyrics) on their page when they were fundraising. I'm slightly surprised Sellaband let this one through given the terms and conditions under which this album was produced, particularly as the last time I looked, the original composer was still alive, so here's hoping the correct dues have indeed been paid. Meanwhile, I'll leave you to try and work out for yourselves which artist I'm referring to.
Disappointments of the year
1. Vegas Dragons
Let me take you off sideways first by talking about Cubworld raising his 50K (trust me, the relevance will become clear by the end). When you consider that when Jake originally signed up to the site, he was just an airport baggage handler who sang songs for his wife and kids, the idea of giving someone like that 50K to make an album and therefore effectively get started in the music industry from nothing is like handing them a ten tonne ball and telling them they need to carry it to a finish line that's an infinite distance away. And despite starting from nothing, as soon as he was given it I've seen him try and pick that ball up and carry it, or even effectively just keep pushing and shoving, trying to roll it on the ground towards that finish line. It's fair to say he's still an infinite distance away, but equally you can see that having been given that ball, he has both moved and is still trying to keep moving. You'll find out the full story in my hatchet day post, but this is just part of the reason why Cubworld became only the second artist on my belief list to see a parts increase since the site change - the fact that he's making that effort deserves respect.
But you might be wondering where the relevance of Cubworld to Vegas Dragons is. If you know the history you shouldn't be, because you should be aware that the story behind Vegas Dragons also means a ten tonne ball effectively got handed out in that direction as well. And as one of those doing a large part of the handing, you could say I've had a vested interest in trying to help out beyond handing over my part of that particular 50K.
So it was when I was writing the "review of the year" blog this time last year, that I noticed the Vegas Dragons website had gone offline. For those who don't know the story, when Brian first joined the site, there was no Vegas Dragons website. Not only did I create the site for him free of charge using my limited knowledge and experience, but I also paid for the first year of hosting (which turned out to be 18 months in the end, due to the special offer on at the time). I also rethemed the site to match Lovingly Cruel on its release (again for free) and indeed would probably have continued to maintain it for as long as he wanted, providing he just picked up the hosting tab. Towards the end of December last year is when the money I'd paid ran out and I contacted Brian to let him know (despite the fact the reminder e-mail that the site was due for renewal would have been sent straight to him anyway). The bill has never been paid. And like any independent web developer worth their salt, I still have a backup of the site, so it wouldn't exactly have been hard (and indeed still isn't) to get the site back working again - seriously, how hard is it to pay one small bill?. Add to this some of the other things that need to be done and still haven't, and it soon becomes clear that when it comes to dealing with ten tonne balls, Cubworld and Vegas Dragons are a world apart. And perhaps a second lesson to be learned as well - that despite the best will in the world and the support of others, there does come a point where artists have to wake up and realise it's no use waiting for things to happen, you actually have to do something yourself rather than expect that others will do everything for you. Don't get me wrong, there's still a friendship there - it's just a highly frustrating situation when it's known and agreed what needs to be done, but it just doesn't happen. So if you're wondering what happened to the Vegas Dragons website, that's the story behind that particular disappearance. And if you think carefully, maybe this story can also go some way towards explaining just part of the reason behind my own changes in parts buying as time has passed, and hence why I have a certain reluctance these days to jump in and support, even when I see something that I think has potential.
2. Sellaband
Probably no surprise here, but some of the reasons for my own disappointment may be a little bit different from what you might expect. I could probably write an entire blog on this subject alone, but let's keep it simple with a summary list of the more important ones in no particular order.
- failure to maintain "housekeeping" of inactive profiles - this was only done for a couple of months before the June site change, and we've been back at the bad old days of them not deleting inactive ones, or removing artists who are stating on their profiles they've left the site since.
- coming up with a confusing and complicated incentive/plan system which seems to be just as complicated and confusing for artists to get changed. Even artists are struggling to know how to fill this in to make sense, never mind the poor believers who have to try and interpret what everything really means themselves now. Sorting out those with good intentions from the (often total) idiots is a nightmare as a result.
- failure to enforce section 5.5 in the current fundraising terms and conditions. Just go back over the blogs I've posted since the last site change and look at the "help I'm lost" part of the section I have dealing with artist plans. Despite some of these plans being more than 2 months old now, they still don't conform to this section of the T&C and Sellaband appear to be doing nothing to rectify the situation. This is also only the tip of an ever increasing iceberg as far as this particular problem is concerned.
- no Sellabration. 2009 was probably the last chance I would have been able to do some travelling (particularly abroad) for a while and I'd been aiming to go. It's unlikely I'll be getting out much this year, even if it does return.
- isolation rather than fostering of community. I remember mentioning in last year's blog that I feared this was the way they were heading and it looks like that fear came true.
I may still be listening to and following interesting new music on the site, but is it really any wonder that even I have become somewhat apathetic as far as believing in artists is concerned?
And you shouldn't be surprised that I don't mention ArenaFest in that particular list. After all, who described it in an earlier blog post as "looking like a big if"? So whatever the story behind its failure to occur, it should be obvious that the fact it didn't happen was obviously not an entirely unexpected possibility to me, and hence couldn't be that much of a source of disappointment as a result.
3. Believers
A slightly misleading title perhaps. One thing this year of disruption on Sellaband has given me is a time to reflect on the "good old days" when I used to talk to other believers and artists on Skype, or could be found trading comments with others on their pages. But if it wasn't for "Mr Silver Balls" himself (i.e. UBG) I'd be inclined to think I'm the earliest active believer left. Particularly distressing to me was to discover the apparent loss of Dolly. The first I noticed something was wrong was when I discovered the music interests she had on her page had been replaced with some philosophy about the dangers of herd behaviour. If you visit her page today, it's gone - the photos, everything in fact except for the fact her "about me" is now populated by the following quote from Henry David Thoreau. “Men profess to be lovers of music, but for the most part they give no evidence in their opinions and lives that they have heard it.” If you aren't familiar with Dolly, then let me tell you she is (or should that be was given the seeming disappearance) employed by Sellaband and has an appreciation of music that goes beyond the average. Musically, you got the sense that Dolly was dining on caviar while you had a tin of baked beans at hand. Not in a snobbish way, but rather for her appreciation of music as an art form rather than just your run-of-the-mill enjoyment that the average person has. To see a believer such as this go AWOL is probably the icing on the cake of the sadness I feel at seeing so many of the believers who were around with me in the early days drift away from the site, and it truly makes me wonder what the future holds if true supporters of music such as Dolly no longer have interest in the site.
The forgotten
As regular readers of my blog will know, it tends to be very long. As a result I often reach a stage where I intended to talk about someone or something and don't get around to it because the blog is already quite long. And often I intend to talk about it the next month as a result, but then find the same effectively happens again. So here are just some of those who ought to have been mentioned but weren't through lack of space.
NRG Rising
There's been more than one point when I ought to have written about these ladies, but somehow something else always worked its way further up in my memory. Probably the best reggae I've heard on the site since Alioune K decided to call it quits, although the demos themselves aren't the best in quality. I'll be interested to see what their first actual single sounds like, as whilst I'm not a huge reggae fan, I am currently keeping watch from a distance and will almost certainly take a better look at them once the budget raised figure starts to become that bit more serious.
M Harris
I had been hoping the arrival of Public Enemy might have a knock-on effect in this direction, but with rumours floating around that PE aren't even promoting their Sellaband profile on their current tour, this might be a long time in coming. There is also the question of what exactly a M Harris CD is going to sound like, given the current profile contents. I originally said a long time ago that it was obvious there was more to him than just rap, and now Sellaband is allowing more than 3 tracks on a profile the range starts to become that much clearer. On an artist where a track like "Do it" has me reaching for the skip button, but I could quite happily listen to something like "(ethnic)" for hours on end, it opens questions as to what exactly he is planning for a Sellaband album. Irrespective of whether it falls more towards the rap/hip-hop end or the jazz end of the range though, it seems neither are particularly popular amongst current believers.
Jon Allen
As one of several custom artists that came in at the same time, this turned out to be an artist I was extremely interested in but a combination of the high part price and its corresponding absurd plan/incentives put me off. With Amazon selling the album in question for less than 10 GBP, the only reasons to take an interest in the Sellaband profile were really those of the extra EP+download plus the concert ticket. And the problem with the concert ticket is of course the fact you'd really have to be in the UK to take advantage of that in the first place. Sadly a profile that therefore looked only of real interest to UK believers who didn't already own the album (which would presumably rule out most of his existing fanbase) and hence something which has held a sense of doom from the start, even without the low profile attendance.
The Fanclub
Well here's another interesting custom artist, and one that makes me wonder if we're now seeing the "custom promotion profile" appearing. There's always been a big question over artists who seemingly are using the site merely for promotion rather than having any genuine intention of raising a budget and the frustration it can bring to music lovers who are genuinely looking for someone who is genuinely interested too. So cue an artist who doesn't have a website (just a glorified e-mail signup) and whose management company doesn't have a website either (just a nice "under development" page) despite the fact they're quite happily mentioning all the experience they have on their myspace site. Roll forward a couple of months and recheck, and find that nothing has changed on this score, and what you have basically looks like a profile that's just on Sellaband for the promotion. Either that or their choice of signup time on Sellaband is bad, which let's face it, isn't that much of a recommendation for their management either.
Kompis is to this year's post what netvalar was to last year's. I always read the 50K music mag, but due to its timing I never tend to make any comment or post about it, because I'm either still writing my own blog post or busy taking a breather having just finished writing one. It doesn't mean I don't appreciate the effort though. In a world where Sellaband appear to have given up on community, it's always great to find there are still other believers still trying to do their bit to keep a spark alive. So this is me raising a glass to Kompis for his efforts in that direction.
And finally...
I'll be taking a short breather before my January hatchet day post. That means you should be able to expect that particular installment in about a week's time, when I'll hopefully be able to tell you the finish of the stories I've left ongoing here as well as give you a catch-up on the new artists of interest and my parts changes. Happy New year and here's hoping for a better 2010 on Sellaband than 2009 has been.
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