Thursday, September 26, 2013

As the Seasons Change, So Does Indie Spotlight

Can't believe it's fall already, just seems yesterday that we were on the precipice of spring and I was bitching about blogtv shutting down.

Holy crap where the hell has the year gone???

As everyone knows, when blogtv shut down we moved to awdio, and ran a chat on tinychat for the show. That format while promising didn't work.

With the cool summer evening breezes blowing in, so did our own site. I found an video player that I could embed, as well as chat code and decided to see how it went. Three months into our experiment as much as I hate to admit it the visitor statistics aren't there.

With the changing leaves on the trees once again there will be a change to the show, both where it is physically broadcast from as well as the site it's broadcast on. As far as the broadcasting site is concerned this move will the final one and where the show will stay.

This coming Sunday (9/29/13) will be our final broadcast on http://indiespotlightlive.webs.com/.

After this broadcast I will be on hiatus until iVlog comes online.

Over the next couple of weeks I will actually be, well, moving myself so over the month of October I won't be online as much.

I will keep everyone posted via this blog, as well as our Facebook group as to what's going on with the show, when we will resume broadcasting and links to find us. Don't worry I'm not going to completely shut down (as I was contemplating doing a few weeks ago) but I will take waiting for iVlog to launch as a welcome break from broadcasting.

When we were on blogtv over the course of the year I generally took a few weeks off from doing the show, usually when things were slow online and I knew I wouldn't be missed. Because I've had to change sites so many times this year and was trying to rebuild the show's audience I didn't feel comfortable taking a break from it. Since our statistics on our existing site have been lackluster at best, as well as the fact that I might not be able to actually do the show since I'm moving anyway, now is the best time for me to take a break from it and come back full steam.

When I say come back full steam, I mean it.

The show will resume on a brand new website, that many former users of blogtv are waiting for. It will be an unparalleled opportunity for me to retool, and reboot the show.

The first thing obviously I'll need to do is get used to iVlog.

Then, when co-hosting is out of beta testing and ready to rock and roll, I intend to bring live music back to the show.

Finally after we're all settled in, and musicians are online and playing live on iVlog, I would like to try and put an music event together to showcase them. Keep in mind future iVlog musicians that might read this, the only catch is that it has to be ALL ORIGINALS!

I can talk about the copyright issues forever but the but the bottom line is because of the copyright issues involved I can't allow covers.

May I speak to a more honest point? No? Too bad.....

The people that come out to these shows, which are promoted as all Indie and all Original, want to hear original music. When people play covers, especially covers that they've heard a million times I'm gonna be honest we're going to lose that audience and musicians who play after you won't have the benefit of playing to that same audience because they bailed on you because you played a song they've heard a million times before. It doesn't matter if it's "your interpretation" of that song, the bottom line is, it's still a cover.

So folks this is where we are, like I said before I will keep everyone up to date. I promise when we launch on iVlog, the fun factor will return, I miss that as well and I just can't have it any other way.




Friday, September 20, 2013

This Week's Video

Basically it's a random ramble, and if you read this blog you already know what I had to say anyway.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Show Update

I haven't posted an actual update blog in a while, and I know that some of you guys don't read my more long winded blogs so I'll try to keep this one short.

As it stands right now I've decided that at least for next weeks show I'm sticking with the site that I created on webs.com. If the viewer/listener statistics improve in any way I'll continue the show, but if the hits continue to be lackluster like they have for the last month I may consider pulling the plug until iVlog,tv opens.

I've decided that the show needs to be a part of an actual broadcasting site. I don't regret not having moved to one before now for the simple fact that I've been in touch with other former blogtv members who did transition to other broadcasting sites and their stats aren't much better than mine so knowing that I can honestly say that to have tried the ustream/justintv/vaughlive/ect route would have been a waste of time.

I've decided to go "all in" with iVlog.tv for the simple fact that the folks putting it together are the real deal. I was at one of Cr3am and Fema's shows on justin and these two are the real deal. They answered everyones questions honestly and fairly, I was at the show for over an hour and they didn't set off my bullshit detector at all.

For those that might not know these are the folks putting ivlog together. They care and have a true passion for the site and the users which is much more than I could say for blogtv the last couple of years it was online before they sold out.

There has been some static in regards to the time it has taken for iVlog to launch. My answer to some of these "haters" has been really simple, where is your broadcasting site? That usually shuts them up...lol

I can see why it's taking so long. First of all, to do it right does take time, and yes, it does take money. Simply put, to create the site that people WANT to broadcast on as opposed to the site they HAD to broadcast on take a bit more effort and time. They also remember the glitches and bugs that became blogtv at the end. They want to bring the community back together and make it fun again for all of us.

When we broadcasted on blogtv we had a term at a few of our shows when the website's glitches and bugs happened during the broadcast, we called it "getting the blog treatment". The folks putting iVlog together would rather not the broadcasters have to apologize to the viewers for getting the same kind of "treatment" that we learned to live with when we were on blogtv, they want their site to work like it should and people broadcasting on it expect it to. Personally I don't think this a bad thing. We've waited this long to find a home and have experimented along the way and as it stands right now the current formula for the show just isn't working.

Oops, this did turn into a long blog.

I'm sorry I know I said I was going to try to keep this short.

Ok sue me...lol

But anyways.....

In any case I've said before that I'm only going to ask my audience to transition to another site one more time. I plan to broadcast on iVlog when it opens.

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Show notes (yeah I know I haven't done this in a while)

I will broadcast on our site for one more week, this coming Sunday at our regular time which is 9 pm eastern. If the stats are like they have been after this show I will go on hiatus until iVlog.tv opens and change our current site so that there is a link to the page that I'm building on the Unsigned Musicians homepage which will be links to the musicians played on the show and resume broadcasting when iVlog comes online.

Special note; when iVlog comes online and co-hosting is enabled I would like to put together a Musicfest Event. What I plan to do is network though iVlog and find musicians that play their originals and plan an event so that we might have a showcase of the musicians to further promote them, as well as what I do.

Final note; while I am a huge fan of Ad-Blocker I won't, and ask my viewers to please not promote this software on iVlog. The site is a grass roots effort and they need the advertising money.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Ivlog.tv, You Can't Come Online Soon Enough

Last week we had 12 hits during the broadcast.  This is a far cry from what we enjoyed on our previous platform on blogtv before they sold out and shut down.

What's worse?  This has been pretty typical on our webs.com site since it opened back in June.  I'm really at a loss as to how I might increase traffic to the show and I could really use some suggestions if anyone out there has any.

The obvious solution would be to move to an actual site that hosts shows similar to blogtv.  As I mentioned in my previous blog posts I've explored this option and because of the terms of service on almost any broadcasting site out there right now it's just not a viable option for the show.  I can't "sub-license" other peoples content to another entity it's not mine to sub-license.

I will say that as it stands right now, I am only moving the show one more time.  It's been a rocky road since blogtv shut down.  First we tried the awdio.com/tinychat format and it didn't work, mostly because people didn't want to have to open two websites to enjoy the show and the chat, and we didn't have video capability.  I found an embedded player that the hosting sites rules didn't restrict what I could do on the show as well as chat code that worked and built a page to broadcast on.  Sadly right now since I'm not a part of a broadcasting site the promotion for the show is limited, mostly what I can do myself.  Because of all the drama that frequently happened on blogtv Deb and I had often toyed with the idea with just creating our own broadcasting site.  Well I can say that I'm the guinea pig for this since blog shut down and I have to be honest I really have to wonder if it's going to work.  The current stats say otherwise.

So with all that being said here is where I am as far as the future of the show and there are a couple of options;

1) Continue with our current site until Ivlog.tv opens.  We've been in contact about my concerns with their terms of service and I am really hopeful that they will work with us, but if they don't then the only way I would feel comfortable broadcasting there would be if I didn't play music licensed to the show and went with all Creative Commons licensed music only.  I wouldn't like having to do that for the simple fact that I would have to say goodbye to several musicians that have been with us since we switched to a music format but don't license their music this way but have licensed to me for airplay on the show. Again, it goes back to the sub-licensing issue.  Right now as for as broadcasting sites, at least Ivlog returned my email, and we've been in continuous contact since.  Even if I decide to not do my show on there, I am and will continue to be a diehard Ivlog supporter, really super awesome folks there putting that together. I really hope that we can work the issues out. Why is this so important to me, and why should the folks putting Ivlog together care? I'll make it really simple, remember when MYSPACE was the place for independent musicians? It stopped being the place when the major record labels bought them out. Copyright laws are confusing as hell because the major music industry likes them that way.

2) Continue and try to build my current format on my own site.  The best way to do this is to enlist musicians and try to score some interviews.  This is a double edged sword to be honest because people want to promote themselves but as it stands right now I don't have the web stats to back someone to come onto the show and while they will bring their own fans they would prefer to not put their time and effort into an interview unless they can reach a new audience as well.  While our current audience has been awesome as far as promoting the show it's only going to go so far and I'm wondering if it has.  I don't know if the show is going to be as big as it needs to be to accomplish this on our current format although I will agree that we are young as far what we're doing and how we're doing it, we've only been on our own site for a couple of months.

3) As much as I hate to say it, I've considered just saying the hell with it and pulling the plug on broadcasting altogether.  This is the first time since I began internet broadcasting in January 2008 that the thought has crossed my mind as far as ending it.  I've really enjoyed it to be honest but lately I've been feeling that the magic is gone.  Way back when I began doing my first show NewsTalk I would get goosebumps when I would hear "blogtalkradio" which signified the beginning of the show.  Later on blogtv I'd get pretty pumped up setting up for my broadcast (it was really almost a ritual) and doing the show, for the longest time you never really knew what would happen, if a musician would pop in and we'd get them on to play, a random skype chat with Deb and Rob or whatever.  I started with a plan and some nights, well I'd have most of it left.  Then we have now, I still have the same ritual before I start a show, but much of the fun is gone right now.  I don't know if it's because we have such low traffic that the "random" factor is gone or what.  I really just don't know.  While I don't hate doing the show by any means I have to be honest and say that I don't enjoy it near as much as I used to. The chatroom is not near as lively with far fewer people and while I still seek out, find, and play new music there are far fewer people listening to it and I'm starting to wonder if it's really worth it.  Should I check out now, leave the scene at my prime and blame the blogtv shutdown for the shows demise?  I could easily do that and not really feel guilty about it.

I've met some great folks doing Spotlight, spent many hours playing music by some seriously kick ass musicians and hosting more than a few of them live on the show.  It's been one hell of a ride but over the last couple of weeks especially I'm starting to wonder if Indie Spotlight has jumped the shark and maybe it's time for me to find something else.

Please keep this in mind, I will NEVER stop promoting independent music, or independent musicians.  If I decide on #3, which while it has crossed my mind I'm still not ready to throw in the towel just yet, I just want to make it fun again.  Don't get me wrong, there are still musicians that deserve exposure and airplay, in my heart of hearts I want to keep doing this.  I think that the million dollar question is, how can we get back to being the cool show?  The awesome show the internet broadcast that people feel like if they miss every other live show on the internet then that's ok because dammit they made it to Indie Spotlight?

This is why I'm starting to wonder if the show has lost it's magic because I just don't know if I can reboot the show one more time. And make no mistake, my next move is the last one, if it's move and be a part of Ivlog.tv's opening or just saying the hell with it and shutting down, my next decision will be the last one.

As for me right now I'm really thinking option #1, and because Ivlog isn't planning to open with a co-host option I hope that they get it online pretty damn quick.  Right now it's a time game, will Ivlog come online before I decide to hang up my headset for good?  I hope they do, I would love to be on the ground floor of something that I think is going to kick some serious ass.  Their goal is to be the site that people want to broadcast on, as opposed to the site they had to broadcast on.

I've kept in touch with other blogtv broadcasters and many of them ended up on sites that they had to broadcast on.  I guess the same can be said of me right now.  I tried going back to just being an audio broadcaster, it didn't work, mostly because the site that I found that could accomodate the show was operable maybe half the time. I've tried my previous blogtv format on my own site, 12 hits last week tells me that isn't working either.

Like I said, I will never, ever stop promoting independent musicians, if I decide that maybe it's time to say goodbye to the broadcast I will keep the other mediums that have been tied to the show going.  I will keep up and promote the Indie Spotlight Live presence that we have on Facebook and try to grow it.  I will refocus my energy on this blog page, I won't reboot it as I did when we transitioned from NewsTalk to Indie Spotlight.

My love for the indies will never die, I was a lover of Independent and Unsigned Musicians before I began playing their music online and my affair with them will continue beyond my broadcasting their music.