Funny podcast feedback...
If you read this journal at all, sure you've seen me mention 75 Minutes. It's the podcast I've been doing for the past 6 months, both to fill a void left when I walked away from WLUW and as a way for me to collaborate with like minded people to get the word out about under represented artists.
The show is hosted, recorded and mixed by me every week. However, there's a team of 11 other people who help with song selection. The goal from the beginning was to ignore the ghetto-ization of independent music and culture and to spotlight the interesting goings on around the music community that is outside of the reach of the RIAA/BPI/CRIA, etc. The result is a show that highlights music from all over the world and explores a vast array of genres. So many that in any given week I am hearing at least a third of the artists in the show for the first time.
The show has been extremely successful, quickly becoming one of the highest rated music podcasts on the net. I'm extremely proud of that. With over 1500 listeners a week (which is quite a bit considering we don't have a cable network pimping us during every commercial break and stray from the big name artists that would bring in more listeners), what I've been saying all along must be true. You won't like every song that get's played on the show but you will definitely hear music you've never heard before, and some of it you may even like. That's been the appeal from day 1. An ad free venue to discover new music from artists that are still very much under the radar as well as older stuff that completely flew right past you.
This all makes the following comment string even funnier to me. It was posted as a private message to me on our message board:
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USER: Hey I used to like your podcast, now I just find it anoying. We live in this pop post punk post D.I.Y. world and you guys play so much different stuff it gets to be too much. Like I will be rocking out to a hardcore, then you'll play some timid emo, or electronic. Sometimes it's the other way around. Also don't you guys have a filter at all? You play everything "indie" or whatever you it's called. It gets really stupid. Why don't you guys have some people who just play the stuff they are into, like a real D.J.
I think the main problem is that you guys are just the HYPER SUPER MUSIC NERDS who collect all 7"'s, all LP's all and everything music. You are not real musicians, your just fans.
Anyway, I still listen to your podcast, but for real, start a new podcast that play's some music blocks. Make podcasting like a real DJ. Also play more fucking champs and science of yabra.
PEACE.
ME: hey todd. first off, I am a musician. Second off I DJ'd for 8 years, and I DJ'd the same way I do now. If I really don't like a song, it doesn't go in the show. But I have a pretty large taste in music.
Sorry you don't enjoy it, but the reality is, a lot of your comments are just off base. However, that doesn't mean you're instantly going to start liking what we do. I'm glad you still listen to the show and enjoy some stuff, but I just want to, once again, state:
1. I am a musician who regularly plays music as well, all of which sound drastically different, and different from most of the stuff I've done in the past.
2. I am doing the show like a real DJ. I'm doing it the same way I did it when I DJ'd for 8 years and exactly the same way I'd be doing it if I was still in broadcast media.
3. I may own a lot of records, but there's no collecting going on. There's never a moment where some sort of music isn't playing.
(and on the point of both 2 and 3, how can you say we're not real musicians because we open ourselves up to all sorts of music? Any musician who is worth a damn immerses themselves in as much music as s/he can get their hands on, and the best musical ideas come from completely unrelated genres)
4. I don't know what you mean by music blocks, but our show is nothing but blocks. song, intro, 4 songs, backtalk, 4 songs, backtalk/news, 4 songs, backtalk, 4 songs, conclusion, advance.
So yeah, not sure what else to really say. Lyssa's starting a new show on the site in about 2 months that will be more focused week from week, but 75 Minutes is going to remain how it is for the reasons I listed above. Not sure if you were drunk when you wrote that (what with all the typos and grammatical errors, though to be fair, I've had plenty in this message and haven't had a drink in months) but if you have more to add, definitely feel free to type it up. I'll keep responding and hopefully some good does come from the discussion.
USER: Wow your like a really mean guy, making fun of some one's inability to spell. I'm not a great SPELLAR, but thats how I roll. I didn't know little dudes with glasses from NYC (MANHATTAN) could be so mean. Sorry I don't have your east coast, better than the rest, education. All I'm trying to say is that your sets are super lame. You go from dink dink donk dink dink whee whee sing softy girly singing to AFI then to some like world beat then some lame ass DJ, hey I'm a DJ, I played too much nintendo as a kid. Wow so retro. Nintendo sucked. Then you switch to some, "I only listen to the Miami Vice(original tv show) sound track," DJ, and "here is my jams that suck but you have to listen to them". Then you go to some HIP HOP then silly electro dance crap.
Anyway have fun confusing the population.. Once in a while you have a jam that is pretty good.
BUT MIKE, for real, all music tastes aside, how do I make Playlists in my Itunes from the 75 minutes podcast? When the podcasts are one long .mp3 or aac there is no real way to break it up just the songs you want to hear. I guess I could convert them to AIFF files and edit them in Audacity or something?
ME: hey man, you expected me to just let you make false accusations (which you are still making, for one, I've only been on the east coast for 6 months) and not call you out on any of it?
Once again, sorry you don't like it, but if you'd check the poll on the front page, you'd see our listeners do, and the fact that our listenership has doubled in the past 2 months says to me that we're doing something right. If you're not open to new sounds then that's on your end, not mine.
As for making a playlist. It's just a single file, but if you grab the aac file, the bookmarks are already there and you can click back and forth to the songs that you like and think up other false statements to lob my way.
USER: Hey man lets burry the hatchet, don't make fun of my spelling and I won't make fun of your east coast attitude. OK, OK, your not an east coaster. You might be an east coast transplant, but your attitude was/is definitely eastwardly. Chicago? Minneapolis? Maybe..
Anyway, I'm over it, I could argue forever.. bye bye.. I'll miss you..
*****************************************
When the conversation started, I posted this poll to the page:
Occasionally we get feedback that expresses the writer's concern that we try to cover too many genre's with 75 Minutes. What do you think? Do we cover too much? Should we narrow our focus?
No: 63%
Where am I and why am I naked?: 24%
I'm confused. What's the question?: 11%
Yes: 3%
***************************************
Really, I find it hilarious, but it just reaffirms an aspect of many music fans that really sits poorly with me. The lack of or unwillingness to appreciate and explore out of your comfort zone is quite unsettling. Obviously it's a small portion of our audience that agrees with the kid, but still, what is so scary to people about hearing a glitchtronica track next to something from jawbreaker? Or going from (Lone) Wolf & Cub to 70's UK psych-folk. Especially when we build a mechanism into the show that allows you to move from song to song with a single click.
Discuss
The show is hosted, recorded and mixed by me every week. However, there's a team of 11 other people who help with song selection. The goal from the beginning was to ignore the ghetto-ization of independent music and culture and to spotlight the interesting goings on around the music community that is outside of the reach of the RIAA/BPI/CRIA, etc. The result is a show that highlights music from all over the world and explores a vast array of genres. So many that in any given week I am hearing at least a third of the artists in the show for the first time.
The show has been extremely successful, quickly becoming one of the highest rated music podcasts on the net. I'm extremely proud of that. With over 1500 listeners a week (which is quite a bit considering we don't have a cable network pimping us during every commercial break and stray from the big name artists that would bring in more listeners), what I've been saying all along must be true. You won't like every song that get's played on the show but you will definitely hear music you've never heard before, and some of it you may even like. That's been the appeal from day 1. An ad free venue to discover new music from artists that are still very much under the radar as well as older stuff that completely flew right past you.
This all makes the following comment string even funnier to me. It was posted as a private message to me on our message board:
****************************************
USER: Hey I used to like your podcast, now I just find it anoying. We live in this pop post punk post D.I.Y. world and you guys play so much different stuff it gets to be too much. Like I will be rocking out to a hardcore, then you'll play some timid emo, or electronic. Sometimes it's the other way around. Also don't you guys have a filter at all? You play everything "indie" or whatever you it's called. It gets really stupid. Why don't you guys have some people who just play the stuff they are into, like a real D.J.
I think the main problem is that you guys are just the HYPER SUPER MUSIC NERDS who collect all 7"'s, all LP's all and everything music. You are not real musicians, your just fans.
Anyway, I still listen to your podcast, but for real, start a new podcast that play's some music blocks. Make podcasting like a real DJ. Also play more fucking champs and science of yabra.
PEACE.
ME: hey todd. first off, I am a musician. Second off I DJ'd for 8 years, and I DJ'd the same way I do now. If I really don't like a song, it doesn't go in the show. But I have a pretty large taste in music.
Sorry you don't enjoy it, but the reality is, a lot of your comments are just off base. However, that doesn't mean you're instantly going to start liking what we do. I'm glad you still listen to the show and enjoy some stuff, but I just want to, once again, state:
1. I am a musician who regularly plays music as well, all of which sound drastically different, and different from most of the stuff I've done in the past.
2. I am doing the show like a real DJ. I'm doing it the same way I did it when I DJ'd for 8 years and exactly the same way I'd be doing it if I was still in broadcast media.
3. I may own a lot of records, but there's no collecting going on. There's never a moment where some sort of music isn't playing.
(and on the point of both 2 and 3, how can you say we're not real musicians because we open ourselves up to all sorts of music? Any musician who is worth a damn immerses themselves in as much music as s/he can get their hands on, and the best musical ideas come from completely unrelated genres)
4. I don't know what you mean by music blocks, but our show is nothing but blocks. song, intro, 4 songs, backtalk, 4 songs, backtalk/news, 4 songs, backtalk, 4 songs, conclusion, advance.
So yeah, not sure what else to really say. Lyssa's starting a new show on the site in about 2 months that will be more focused week from week, but 75 Minutes is going to remain how it is for the reasons I listed above. Not sure if you were drunk when you wrote that (what with all the typos and grammatical errors, though to be fair, I've had plenty in this message and haven't had a drink in months) but if you have more to add, definitely feel free to type it up. I'll keep responding and hopefully some good does come from the discussion.
USER: Wow your like a really mean guy, making fun of some one's inability to spell. I'm not a great SPELLAR, but thats how I roll. I didn't know little dudes with glasses from NYC (MANHATTAN) could be so mean. Sorry I don't have your east coast, better than the rest, education. All I'm trying to say is that your sets are super lame. You go from dink dink donk dink dink whee whee sing softy girly singing to AFI then to some like world beat then some lame ass DJ, hey I'm a DJ, I played too much nintendo as a kid. Wow so retro. Nintendo sucked. Then you switch to some, "I only listen to the Miami Vice(original tv show) sound track," DJ, and "here is my jams that suck but you have to listen to them". Then you go to some HIP HOP then silly electro dance crap.
Anyway have fun confusing the population.. Once in a while you have a jam that is pretty good.
BUT MIKE, for real, all music tastes aside, how do I make Playlists in my Itunes from the 75 minutes podcast? When the podcasts are one long .mp3 or aac there is no real way to break it up just the songs you want to hear. I guess I could convert them to AIFF files and edit them in Audacity or something?
ME: hey man, you expected me to just let you make false accusations (which you are still making, for one, I've only been on the east coast for 6 months) and not call you out on any of it?
Once again, sorry you don't like it, but if you'd check the poll on the front page, you'd see our listeners do, and the fact that our listenership has doubled in the past 2 months says to me that we're doing something right. If you're not open to new sounds then that's on your end, not mine.
As for making a playlist. It's just a single file, but if you grab the aac file, the bookmarks are already there and you can click back and forth to the songs that you like and think up other false statements to lob my way.
USER: Hey man lets burry the hatchet, don't make fun of my spelling and I won't make fun of your east coast attitude. OK, OK, your not an east coaster. You might be an east coast transplant, but your attitude was/is definitely eastwardly. Chicago? Minneapolis? Maybe..
Anyway, I'm over it, I could argue forever.. bye bye.. I'll miss you..
*****************************************
When the conversation started, I posted this poll to the page:
Occasionally we get feedback that expresses the writer's concern that we try to cover too many genre's with 75 Minutes. What do you think? Do we cover too much? Should we narrow our focus?
No: 63%
Where am I and why am I naked?: 24%
I'm confused. What's the question?: 11%
Yes: 3%
***************************************
Really, I find it hilarious, but it just reaffirms an aspect of many music fans that really sits poorly with me. The lack of or unwillingness to appreciate and explore out of your comfort zone is quite unsettling. Obviously it's a small portion of our audience that agrees with the kid, but still, what is so scary to people about hearing a glitchtronica track next to something from jawbreaker? Or going from (Lone) Wolf & Cub to 70's UK psych-folk. Especially when we build a mechanism into the show that allows you to move from song to song with a single click.
Discuss