#i'm back with more niche cringe art <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[frostbite-the-bat]

no but genuinely. i love shadow filbo dearly. he means a lot to me.

he marks a time for me where i began embracing what i like just... for the sake of it!

he embodies the things that inspired me to draw online in the first place. hell, sparklecat characters with bangs have made me stop cutting my hair. i haven't cut my hair properly since. just because i wanted the same bangs, not knowing how hair works. now i have what is best described as messy fluttershy hair. to many people just how long my hair is, is what defines me when they see me and my hair is in a way special to me.

and again - he was what inspired me to draw. in class i'd be drawing my own sparklecats at the age of like 8, with bangs and wings and little companions that sit on clouds that rain hearts. (and bolts and skulls when ANGRY!)

i put rainbows on everything. i thought nyan cat was the embodiment of everything good in the world. i listened to nightcore versions of songs only. i say, as i am listening to nightcore, right now.

because of all these old classic animation memes and sparklefurs and silly scene and emo song flash animations i'd find... i'd pick up ms paint and draw. i imagined just how i'd animate, finding even the simplest methods absolutely mesmerising. there is something to be said about me being this young with internet access - because it very much so had it's negative effects. not me watching fetish videos at the age of 8 just because it had pokemon in it. yea that did not have any lasting effects.

but despite all this shit - it raised me! and even just a few years later... like.. 2015 when i began posting online on deviantart for the first time, not being just a lurker... learning how The Computer works better - not only drawing on paper anymore and gaining more and more interest towards digital art... i was already nostalgic towards these earlier days. but still living IN it, y'know?

just having fun, doing my own thing! isn't that what art is all about?

well. then the cringe culture nation attacked. severe bullying at school. and in general, just shame - which i am still fighting in certain aspects. but it's a bit more complicated than just "shame". (more so fear of Things.)

i'd look back at things with either genuine "cringe" or a distaste. how DARE these people have fun? because deep down, i was simply jealous.

if i was going to reference anything old like this, like classic animation memes, it was framed as "JOKE" "NOT SERIOUS" because i feared i would be harassed, made fun of, or people would thing THAT is the best of my artistic abilities. but... it's not like that.

and now, more and more people are embracing this. and it makes me so happy. and shadow filbo helped me fight off these fears a lot and just let me love what i love and be myself.

maybe it's not an ""aesthetic"" that completely defines me, maybe it IS a tik tok trend to do nowadays - but i don't care. without any of this i wouldn't be here. those were my first inspirations. silly colorful cats animated to crunchy mp3s of songs using movie maker and 3 (three!) frames drawn in ms paint. it had so much charm. it had so much genuinity. and i could feel it even back then.

without it i might've not been here as i am now. there are so many things that go into this, of course. but i simply would not be the exact way i am. and i dunno. that's something to think about.

thank you so much, shadow filbo. one "mistake" with you i've had was thinking i should be a good creator of something and respond to every fan and fanart, which only stressed me out. i have... opinions! about being recognized in various places and, as some dub, a "NICHE INTERNET MICROCELEBRITY" (nothing against you fox </3).... yeah! not a fan.

another mistake was dubbing him as a "joke" always. and... he is! he is humorous! i am a jokey person! i like crunchy shitposts! i like being the reason people laugh! i will go to certain levels to even ridicule myself just for the bit, and i don't mind it. i'm hyper(active) and i am just a jokey person, that's that. but... him being called a joke was honestly just a shield from people taking him too seriously.

if people were to mock me for being nostalgic for nightcore, and rainbows, and edgy amvs, sparkledogs, scene culture and clothes, rave songs... all this!

but... no! people loved it! people loved it so much, it moved THEM to create art!

me, referencing things that made ME inspired to draw all those years ago - then inspired OTHERS to draw other things. to embrace themselves. to have fun. to connect.

it means so much to me. it's a bit odd to comprehend, too.

but it means the world to me. sorry if i am ever annoying about shadow filbo, and is often the first thing i bring up when bugsnax is brought up - but he is the highlight of my experience with bugsnax.

thank you so much, shadow filbo. and me and my wretched little claws, of course. for making them. and those that inspired me. those old friends i lost along the way, too. and those, that inspired those that inspired me. and so forth.

thank you.

[jellyfish-grave]

I've been meaning to make a pinned post for a while now, so...

HI!! Welcome to my blog!!! :D

I'm Camms/Sunny, I go by He/they, and I'm not giving my age srry (but im a minor).

I'm matching PFPs with my beloved @buttercup-flower-x (my love my boyfriend my world my everything yesyes wahoo!!!)🎀🎀🎀

My obsessions are Spike Chunsoft games (read: Danganronpa and Rain Code), Persona 5, Outer Wilds, Gravity Falls, Scott Pilgrim (a bit.), Project Sekai, Vocaloids in general (if u come up to me just to tell me vocaloid fans who got into it through proseka are fake fans uh. Dont 😶), a lot of extremely niche media (The Orbital Children, Tatami Galaxy or An Untitled Story for example), A Hat In Time AND THIS MFING EMOJI 🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀!!!!!!! I have a thousand OCs, and even more AUs!! :3

I draw (traditional+digital) Ocs and Fanart, I code, I sing, I write, and some other stuff ^^

You can find me on AO3 @/Jellyfish_Grave where I post some AU stuff (and sometimes even some OCs).

Classic DNI applies, but there really isn't any point saying so. Oh and DNI if you're a fandom purist. Like you only want perfect healthy stuff be created for fandoms. I'm too lazy to explain my arguments, so I'll just block you if you don't respect that! Just be nice, and don't start shipping discourse ty ❤

Anyone is welcome to DM me, but I will block you if you make me uncomfy or if you actively hate one of my favs. Nothing against you ^^

I will be horny on main at times. It's rare so I generally don't wanna make an alt just for that, but be warned. I might consider making a tag just for it so people can block it but yeah.

Blog tags are:

#Camma the drawer (art tag)

#Camma rambles (my original posts)

#camms lore??? (Vent tag) (I will not get offended if u block it. I created it so u can block it. Just don't reblog these ^^)

#Cam Ocs (for any oc related content)

#camma fics tag (self explanatory! Posts with links to my fics.)

My sideblogs are these!!

@daigo-rikuto (my p5 protagonist's blog)

@paler-entries (hasnt been updated in a while, unreality blog)

@sanananananananan (one of my p5 oc's blogs. Very empty. Bleh)

Some ships you can expect on this blog (so if they trigger you, you can leave and be on your way safely o7): Akeshu (P5, Goro Akechi×protagonist); Timebuddies (Outer Wilds, Gabbro×Player Character); Scollace (SPVTW, Scott Pilgrim×Wallace Wells); Komahina (Sdr2, Hajime Hinata×Nagito Komaeda); Makoyuma (MDA:RC, Yuma Kokohead×Makoto Kagutsuchi), Billford (Gravity Falls, (original) Stanford Pines×Bill Cipher) and some more I'm probably forgetting. I'm generally a multishipper but those are my main ones!

All of my OCs will be tagged with their full name (except the few that don't have family names, in which case the tag sample will be [story they're from] [name]).

Don't scroll too far into my danganronpa art, I was a cringe kid back then. Cringe as in had unlimited access to internet so that did not turn out well. Please don't harass me over like 2 year old posts thx

[ronin-deactivated19851026]

so i've been extremely overwhelmed by....... i guess everything online lmao, it's really hard to focus on things when you're constantly bombarded with things you don't really need at the moment

i'm trying to get back into journaling but damn it's so hard. i know my head isn't empty, i spawn walls of texts almost daily, but my mind goes blank when i'm in front of an open notebook because i don't know what's truly worthy of writing down? it's kind of like with drawing at this point. i'm stuck with the art block because i don't know what's worthy of drawing. and guess what made me feel this way? the social media lmfao. i hate that literally every idea i consider cool i never depict because my brain immediately goes like, "who cares about this?", "this won't get noticed and also you're too late, so don't be cringe", etc

i hate this so much idk. anyway, i think i'm going to make a list of things to focus on, both personal projects/artistic inspirations and fandom related ones. i do have things i overfixate on for years, so why am i letting myself be distracted by some random content ideas that only matter to me for like a day or two...?

i should also start limiting inspirations in general, looking at my folder rn and realizing that there are just WAY TOO MANY things i want to incorporate into my work and it really overwhelms me. reminds me of various artists saying that "less is more" and holy crap i should start limiting myself. this is something i slowly started to realize on my own when i did some pixel art, which is limited already due to its nature, with some color palettes instead of randomly staring at a color wheel for half an hour, not being able to decide which one to use.

also i found out about artfol, social media for artists, and so far it seems promising? haven't tried it yet, maybe i will upload some stuff there later. also maybe i'll finally sort everything here on tunglr dot com and make a separate art blog and will use this one as my "main"-diary-esque blog where i won't post much. it's not like i'm on here anyway, my dash feels overwhelming so i don't even scroll past 3-4 posts a day anymore on here. i'm tired of social media. it doesn't feel personal anymore, it's not fun, not interesting...

fomo effect used to fuck me up before something clicked and i stopped scrolling things. because due to nature of the modern internet, i have more chances of stumbling across useful/interesting information if i just keep scrolling through junk. since as you know, google is dead anyway, shit is hard to find these days, and indeed, every cool thing i managed to find was through random braindead scrolling (post 2016 i mean, i miss mid 2000s era when stuff was actually GOOGLEABLE and you didn't need to scroll long ass feed to stumble across cool things, you could get there at your own pace while just surfing the web). so the habit was made worse by "damn what if i miss some obscure post that features obscure cool thing that will matter to me once i get to know it??" but i'm just so fucking exhausted... everything i love about the internet because so dormant, niche even. the internet, as i define it, is dead to me. it's really heartbreaking

[otakween]

They Were 11 - One Shot

(The cover art above is for chapter or issues, by the way, not volumes).

This is a niche little shoujo manga from the 1970s (as is obvious by the art style) that managed to be translated by Viz back in the day. It got a film and a sequel manga so it must have had some kinda impact.

Moto Hagio is an OG big name in shoujo world. I recognize her for The Heart of Thomas which also featured bishounen and came out in America. Just thinking about 1970s fujoshi is a pretty funny mental image lol.

Ch. 1

Shoujo x sci-fi is a very intriguing combo that you don't see super often. I recently finished Knights of Sidonia which was blatantly appealing to men, so this is refreshing. Also...gays in space??? 👀

So the former Earthlings are spread across a bunch of planets and are called Terrans. There a bunch of alien species that they're allied with as well. The aliens look pretty human except for some basic differences. That's kinda too bad. I prefer my aliens to be more animalistic

I was definitely into the "male character who is pretty much just a woman in design" in my middle school weeb era, but now I just see it for what it is: fujoshi pandering. I wouldn't mind it as much if it wasn't written so awkwardly. They spend half of the first chapter being like "you SURE you're not a girl?"

The names are ridiculous in both a fun and cringe way. They really had to name one of the only darker skinned people "Chako Kaka?" da fuck

Speaking of people of color, we got a totally white looking person calling themselves the Maya King...I'm sure there's no relation to the Mayans of our world but like, pick a different name then.

Lack of darked skinned people aside, the diversity is decent for a 1970s manga. I like the variety in body type at least. They definitely succeeded in giving everyone a very distinct and memorable look. No same face syndrome here.

So the plot so far is kind of a Lord of the Flies in space vibe. They gotta show they can survive adrift in space for 50-something days. I imagine they'll encounter some kinda space threats to keep things interesting.

The English title should have just been "There were 11" because "They were 11" sounds like the cast is a bunch of 11 year olds lol.

Ch. 2

Whaaa? So this is a hetero story after all? Then what's the point? (lol)

So this chapter was all about the crew members being suspicious of Tada (thinking he's the 11th person) and Frol obsessively following him around the ship. We also learn a little bit more about the situation they're in and the ship itself.

So far this test sounds pretty plush. They're basically on a cruise liner with unlimited food lol. I'm not sure what the goal of the test is yet, but right now they're working on fixing parts of the ship.

We get some lore about Gunga's species. I feel like the pacing of this one off is kinda weird, like there's only 2 chapters left so we're probably not going to learn about everyone yet they took the time to go in depth on this one dude. I guess we got some Tada insight out of it.

Ch. 3

Okay DAMN this chapter really popped off!! My perspective has shifted with all of the reveals.

So Frol is intersex which explains pretty much everything. The explanation for how his culture works was fascinating. Normally people don't get to choose their gender (society chooses for them) but Frol is made a bargain to become a man if he passes this test. His explanation for why was surprisingly logical.

The gender diversity was dealt with pretty well for a manga from the 70s. The only thing that was iffy was that everyone started treating Frol like a woman and Tada daydreams about Frol becoming a woman (against his wishes). Knu reveals that they're intersex as well but their culture is very different from Frol's. They go through a more natural metamorphosis but Knu got "stuck" and is now a monk because intersex people aren't eligible for marriage. This kinda species world building is always so interesting to me...

Some outdated terminology was used but that's to be expected. We got "hermaphrodite," "bisexual" (when referring to genitals), and "unisexual?" I actually don't know if we still use that last one lol

Intersex characters are pretty rare, I kinda wish there were more that weren't aliens, but what can ya do?

Not Knu validating all of the astrology girlies by saying it's a valid science on his planet lmao

The Tada reveal was just as impactful as the Frol one. I loved how his repressed memory came back, that was illustrated so masterfully.

And suddenly this is a pandemic story...noooo. Isn't space scary enough as it is?? 😭

Ch. 4

Nice, I really enjoyed how they wrapped everything up in this chapter. We got the reveal (and a fake Red Herring reveal) of the 11th man, the ins and outs of the test were explained, and everybody's happy and safe at the end of the day. Honestly, feels kinda unrealistic for this kinda setting but maybe I've just been brainwashed by horror sci-fi to think that lol.

Gunga was a real one throughout this whole story. I could kind of tell he was lying about being the 11th to help Tada out.

Frol telling Tada he would become a woman for him was pretty fucked up. That's not a good start to a relationship where you gotta change yourself for your partner. What is this Grease!? On the brightside, we don't find out which path they actually take, so you can easily head canon that they either part ways or take the gay route.

That woulda been pretty disappointing if they actually didn't pass. Glad the story didn't go that way. (Sometimes you just need a basic happy ending amirite?)

An interesting one off (technically there's a sequel), pretty well paced for an older manga and the art was gorgeous. I give it a solid 6 out of 10.

[quetozcoatl]

For the fanfic game: B, F, and R!

Original ask meme here, feel free to send me a letter!

B: Any of your stories inspired by  personal experience?

One of my old RWBY fics is me angsting about my neurodivergency via the lens of Professor Ozpin. NGL, I'm considering deleting it, it's... embarassing, and not my best work.

On top of that, the backstory for one of my WoW OCs was based on, for lack of a better term, my daddy issues. It's a fucking cringe backstory and it just turned melodramatic and I'm so glad I reworked it.

But for a more light-hearted response, it's a fic I'd like to write. When I was young, one of my teeth was loose. I complained about it to my older brothers, and one of them responded with: "Oh, your new tooth is going to grow into a vampire tooth" ...or something along those lines. Knowing my younger self, she was terrified and probably cried.

I think it's a perfect concept for Klint and Barok van Zieks!

F: Share a snippet from one of  your favorite dialogue scenes  you've written and explain why  you're proud of it.

As much as I want to post a snippet from my roleplaying on WoW, I won't, because it will require a paragraph of lore-dumping, which I am prone to do at a moments notice, just read any of my AU fics.

I have a LOT of WIPs, and some of them do have dialogue I quite enjoy. However, one of them just takes the cake: it's from an AU inspired by Baldur's Gate 3 (a very good game!) and tried to work within the canon of Dungeons and Dragons. In it, Klint is a bard of eloquence, rather than a ranger. I decided to make Balmung his stuffed hell-hound that Mama van Zieks made for him and he cherishes deeply, and my favorite dialogue is Klint talking to that Balmung:

”What was I thinking, Balmung?!“ No one would hear him, he had wards specially installed to prevent that. In here, he was free to talk how loud he wanted to an inanimate object, and no one to judge him for it, either! “Acting like some sort of seductress, touching her with my bare hands!” He gives Balmung a squeeze. “I don't want to be a harlot, and, I must have frightened her terribly with these talons of mine.”

This too, which happens some lines later:

“Hells!” He snatches his head back in. “Can you believe this, Balmung?” The dog did not respond, on account of being just a stuffed animal.

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

First off, Guillermo del Toro. He is one of my idols and I look up to his storytelling a lot. I love that he does not sacrifice color to tell dark stories, and that his works have taught me to accept that I'll write what I want! Another one is Zack Morrison who writes and draws the webcomic Paranatural, which I have kept up with since high school. They made the swap to a blend of writing and art sometime in 2021, and the descriptiveness and cleverness of the writing has made my jaw drop.

Next, Another one is Eiichiro Oda. That man can casually reference something he wrote hundreds of chapters ago, and no matter how crazy things get, it feels perfectly plausible within the world of One Piece. But unfortunately it's come at a cost due to him being a mangaka, and I must stress the importance of taking care of yourself before anything else.

These two are well-known for their diverse cast of characters, and Zack Morrison does little, but effective things to make the characters stand out even more in the mixed setting and it's genius. However, an honorable mention to Andrew Hussie and Homestuck, for popularizing the concept of using limited things in text like numbers and cases to distinguish the characters.

Now, the next is sillier: Elizabeth Hoyt and Tessa Dare. Yes, they crank out regency romance novels but they know their niche, damn it! My first romance novel was Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt, and it's helped me really come to terms with the fact that what I read is not necessarily what I want. I love the fantasies romance novels bring, but the idea of actually BEING in a romance makes me want to run away screaming!

[danpuff-ao3]

You know....I'm still a bit blown away by what I did with Contempt and Devotion. The whole series really! Not even in a cocky "my work is fabulous!" way but just....I literally wrote the story of my dreams???? It makes me deliriously happy.

Snarry has been my OTP for 20 years....2/3 of my life!! And all of that love and history was just poured into these fics. Inspired by my favorite works and favorite creators. Inspired by long held headcanons and my deepest desires. I wrote the story I wanted to see in the world! All of my feelings about the individual characters and their dynamic....and my great passion for flaws.

I allowed Snape to be ugly and mean. I allowed Harry to be not so golden and not so perfect. Just a very traumatized young man who doesn't always do the right thing, doesn't always make the right choices. I let them both be human in the worst and messiest ways, which is what my soul so needed.

If I've written any story 100% for myself, this was it.

A recent ship ask started me on this whole spiral again. They asked for Snarry songs and all of them went back to the playlists I have. The one for Contempt and the one for Devotion (and the secret series one.) I felt a bit silly about it at first but it made sense when I remember these stories are literally ALL of my Snarry feelings in one place. Of course the playlists would reflect that!

THEN....I scrolled through them the other day with thoughts of binding them one day, and the glimpses of what I wrote....Normally I cringe at my own work, but I was just so overwhelmed with so many wonderful things. Pride and joy and love!!!!

And I'm still amazed my sweet friend @mrviran podficced Contempt!! And the cover art they did!! And the art @inarticulateimbecile did for it!! I'm obsessed. I had a grand old time ogling the art and I really need to listen to the podfic again, because it's so so good!

Not just the main stories, but even the extra ficlets do my heart such good. Lovestruck, featuring "the Nagini scars look like lightning bolts." Hatefuck, for that extra hit of love/hate. Sunkissed, for the fruit smut, a very niche interest of mine that I go FERAL for. And there's more to come, because I know this universe isn't done with me yet!!!! And I'm so dang excited for all of it. And other people's love and enthusiasm for this series will forever blow me away and knock my socks off and fill me with such an overwhelming sense of validation and appreciation and pure love and happiness!!!!

This is THE Snarry story for me. And again, not in a cocky way, not presuming it's anything special to the community at large, but TO ME it is the story of my soul. It's everything I love about this ship, and why I'm so obsessed with this ship. I pulled this story right out of my gut. I used my bones as the quill and my blood as the ink.

Since I first wrote Contempt, I've written other stories. Stories I'm happy with and proud of and had fun with. Stories that are special to me in their own way. But nothing else can compare, I think.

Anyway as I said I'm having a million different feelings about it and had to share! 🥰

Happy Friday, friends! I'm deep in my feelings about my favorite of my own fics, so I'm going to reblog this with my nonsense. BUT I also wanna invite other people to share this and chat about their own works. Like....have you written your ultimate version of your OTP? Have you written the story of your dreams? Have you written a story you're stupidly proud of because "wow I didn't think I was capable of that, but look I did it!" Did you accomplish a big goal? It can be anything! Fanfic, fanart...songs, embroidery, origami, rec lists, meta, whatever, idc! Just something you did for fandom you're super proud of!

I love allowing myself to shamelessly celebrate myself, and I especially love seeing other people do it too!

[hinkepink]

1917 + LotR

[limneticvillains]

Free Music Promotion Advice

2021 was quite a year for me, I released 3 albums and managed to actually gain a decent audience for my own music project, Limnetic Villains, whilst also raising money for cancer research selling my music via Bandcamp. I thought I'd interrupt my usual music posts to give away some free tips that have worked for me, maybe they might be useful for someone who's starting out or thinking about getting their music out there. I can't claim to be an expert, but a lot of people will try to waste your time and steal your money for things that simply don't work, and if I can help save any musician from being conned, or give you some actual tips that I've found to work, good. This won't be a comprehensive guide, but it might give you some avenues and methods for getting heard and actually having a chance in a frankly over populated arena of constant releases and daunting social media hype. I'm aiming this at new musicians or folk who are early into producing and releasing, as such I've done it with budget in mind, if it's free and it's useful, or if it's cheap and the best you can get for the least you can spend- good. First things first- make sure you've got some decent recordings, that's all on you, production, mixing, mastering, whatever you have to do if you're serious about it, you'll be learning new techniques your whole life about that side of things, you might as well start early and learn to do it all yourself, but that's just what I think. It really doesn't matter what DAW you use, I use Logic, I have friends that use Ableton, Fruityloops, Reaper. Find one you like, try some demos out, learn as much as you can about it, there's thousands of tutorials if you need them and just keep making stuff. Get some decent monitors and headphones (I recommend the Pre Sonus Eris series of studio monitors and some of the cheaper open back Sennheiser headphones or AKGs, many could argue there's better and more expensive options, but if you don't have much cash these are the best investments you can make on a budget, your music will improve an impressive amount the better you can hear it). Learn about LUFs, try listen to your mix on your crappy phone speaker too, if it sounds good on that next to some music in a similar style you like, well done. Once it sounds good and you're ready to release, and you've got your artwork done... Set up a Bandcamp and put something on it. A hell of a lot of musicians and bands go straight for Soundcloud/Youtube (Which have their place) or pay money for music distribution services (More on those later), a lot of people then focus on a numbers game, how many streams can you get, like it's a strange battle. Forget the numbers, half of them on Soundcloud are fake from bots, as people pay dodgy folk on Fiverr to boost their streams, to make themselves seem important or good. Ignore it. Don't feel bad about your numbers, if your work is good and you can get ears on it, things will happen. Streams aren't very important when you're just starting off, and they're almost impossible to build up at the start, what you need to focus on is becoming part of a social media community. (I hate some of these words as I write them). I'm cringing at the next sentence. Get a social media presence. Carve out a niche and don't just spam your music links when you have your stuff up online. Actually talk to people, have fun, engage in conversation and listen to other people's art, make friends, ask questions, seek advice. The Twitter music community is huge, and there's some weirdness on there, you've got egotistical weirdos, pure promotion accounts that are almost worth nothing to you, bots and folk who can't take jokes or people that take things out of context and decide you're an evil demon. This might happen, perhaps you are an evil demon. Just try and be nice and talk to people. My own version of this is pretty lax, I often tell people where to go or do silly jokes for the hell of it, but at the end of the day I really care about some of the freaks I've met on music Twitter and I really love some of their music. Reddit

can be useful, set up an account and find the music pages, post and talk to folk, the structure of the site can be a bit annoying though. Submithub and other such sites can be problematic, be weary of spending money to get music blog reviews nobody has eyes on, or in the hopes you get thrown on a playlist. Some of these sites have free options, but it might be more of a waste of time and an exercise in harsh feedback from jaded musicians, Submithub have a Hot or Not section you can put your tracks into for free, and vote and give feedback to earn credits to submit your song to actual music bloggers/radio folk. While this might work for some people, I know a lot of people that have wasted weeks getting nowhere with it, and others who have lost money paying to submit their music only to be told it doesn't fit over and over again, while the bloggers pocket some easy cash and do whatever they want, getting fed music from promoters and labels. Pay for play is generally never good. Your work has value. It could be terrible, maybe, but it could be a masterpiece, it's all subjective, but Submithub and sites like it have brought the quality of music blogs down a hell of a lot over the last few years, and their audiences are a lot lower than you'd think. Trust me on that. Do the usual, Facebook, Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram, follow other similar level artists, follow a few larger accounts, look at whos following who you're following, follow some of them, follow a few radio DJs and journalists, interact, be charming. Re-post interesting things, but don't go over the top and annoy everyone with constant updates on your cheese sandwiches, a few posts a day, maybe one about your music slipped in sometimes, and lose the ego, it's a bad look. You should also check out Twitch music streams, there's folk that want you to send them music, and they want to play it and talk about it, this is still pretty new, check out Courtroom Media for a nice place to start on Twitch. Music distribution (Don't go with Horus music, my experience with them was disgraceful). I opted for Distrokid, and they have been perfect, easy to use, slick, they actually pay out royalites, I'm happy, and they aren't too expensive. Distributors are how you get your music onto streaming platforms, and it's worth researching your options. You'll be looking to pay between utterly nothing with some loss of royalties or between 20 - 50 a year to have more control. You'll also need to look into the different kinds of royalties and the organisations that can collect these for you, there's a few tax things involved, it's pretty dry and annoying, but you should look into that side of things. There's Songtrust, MLC. Your music distributor might collect on some things and not on others, you can find YouTube guides about this, something to spend a few days on. Don't pay for radio play, don't pay for views or listens, you're conning yourself and you're trying to con others into listening to you because of numbers. It won't work. Don't pay for fake followers on social media, you'll end up with a dead account and it's obvious to any actual users on these platforms you don't get any real interactions. Real musicians and music fans can see this stuff a mile off. There are some music blog gigs on Fiverr that aren't too expensive, but apart from having something nice to show your friends, they will probably not get you actual listeners. Don't pay for the social media advert gurus, and be weary of boosting posts with ads, these are often wastes of cash. The guru's will string you along with a 10 minute free video telling you almost everything I've mentioned above, they might tell you to plan a release calendar with things like 'sort out artwork', 'post preview link on Friday before release', this is all mostly common sense stuff, and anyone who's paid to go further will tell you, you'll only get more common sense stuff, buzzwords and lists of websites that might be useful- that you can just find yourself using a search engine. There's no giant secret at the end of these routes, it's

putting time and energy in, and being smart and nice about how you talk to other people that will get ears on your work, that's the truth. Oh and if you're on Twitter, most of the posts asking for 'NEW MUSIC' are mostly from moronic bot accounts looking to boost their numbers before they start selling vacuum cleaners or turn far right and try ruin the political process of a country or something, avoid. Good luck. - Limnetic Villains