#there are so many available on spotify for free so might as well

[nadjabear]

Me: "Yeah I've been listening to the audiobook I'm Glad My Mom Died and it's been pretty good so far" Friend: "That book is so sad tho"

5 minutes later

Me: "Look I just read this one and it was pretty good!" *points to My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness* Friend: "That looks like it's a pretty depressing book" Me: "It is but it's really good :D"

Another 5 minutes pass

Me: "Alright I'm going to buy this book!" Friend: "What's the name?" Me: "The summer Hikaru died" Friend: "WHY ARE YOU ONLY READING SAD BOOKS!?"

[jmdbjk]

Why I don't expect promotion for Muse to be similar to RPWP or Golden...

...or any other release before that.

Smeraldo Garden Marching Band is doing well for not having it's artist available. In fact it is outstanding. There were many other prominent artists who released music on the same day and are currently hitting up the interview circuit and other promotional activities. Our boy debuts at #4 on Global Spotify and he's somewhere on a military base.

See the post here.

That is pretty outstanding for not having the artist available to promote. Name another artist in which this has happened.

Perhaps a dead one... let's just not go there.

"But the Youtube views are low..."

I think since the popularity of Tiktok, the use of YouTube and therefore its influence has diminished somewhat. That doesn't mean there shouldn't be more views. We all know the challenges we have with YouTube. We just have to do the best we can with using YouTube.

Help boost views. Watch the MV here.

"But Right Place Wrong Person was heavily promoted..."

Namjoon was all over his own IG often, almost every day for a while, along with the staff he appointed to post on the @rpwprpwprpwp Instagram account. Perhaps this created a perception that RPWP had some heavy promotion when he was doing all that himself and it was keeping it in front of us so consistently.

The BigHit instagram chat channel is being used for Muse and has been very engaging. It is convenient for Jimin in case he is able and does repost or create a story with any of that content.

I've seen a lot of buzz in the media on both sides of the Pacific regarding SGMB and Muse. That means BigHit sent out press kits. I saw at least one radio group posting they had the song and it was ready to include in their rotations. We'll see if they actually follow through. But that means BigHit sent it to radio.

"Jimin and the members need to post about it..."

It is more of a challenge for Jimin and Jungkook to be online because of the location of their base. If it is in the mountains as was mentioned earlier this year, their internet connection may not be as reliable or strong enough to allow much use. Soldiers may also be restricted as to if they can even use it if the base itself needs it for military operations or if its encrypted for security or whatever myriad of reasons why they can't access it.

If they had reliable internet service where they are, we'd be seeing JK on TikTok more often. But... perhaps TikTok is one of those apps that they are discouraged from using as it is China-based and why JK created the Instagram account for Bam.

Perhaps they are free to do what they want only when OFF base and out of the area during their days off. We don't know what their restrictions are.

People just have to come down to earth and think. Jimin is in the military. I'm most certain that Jimin is being Jimin and focused on his duties. He is wearing fatigues and a helmet and going out everyday doing drills and training including firing ammunition out of a big ass piece of warfare equipment. He is listening to reports from his commanders about what is going on regarding North Korea and what his base will be expected to do if anything should escalate. He should be focused on his duties not focused on what is happening out here.

It is Saturday. Not sure what their alert status might be on a weekend. But we have to be cognizant that JM and JK are the closest to the DMZ of any of the members and will be activated first should anything occur.

I am constantly thinking about how every time we hear of nonsense from NK that JM and JK have to hear it every day too and any contingency they will be ready for in case anythng happens.

NK fired missiles the other day. Yesterday maybe? Some sort of rocket that can launch multiple missiles in one shot. It's chilling. Now imagine you are mere miles from the border and must react with your own weapons of mass destruction should anything become more aggressive.

Jimin worked and created, then he left it for us while he is doing his duty. I'm never going to expect him to do anything else until he is discharged. Unless he is able and wants to. Otherwise I want him doing what he feels he needs to do in order to get through this for himself and Jungkook.

I am very, very happy Namjoon was able to and wanted to participate in his own album's release as much as he was able. But some people have the same expectation that Jimin should too.

I'm never going to expect it from Jimin.

"The company is not doing enough..."

Surely everyone knows this is not a big long vacation for them. It may be a break from their careers and their real personal lives but its not a vacation by any means.

They keep saying its not easy. Perhaps they mean its not easy sitting in a military base carrying out a routine day in day out.

Or perhaps they say its not easy because they are on constant alert. They cannot give any details because their locations and their activities are classified information. Surely, surely, people can realize that right?

See? My brain is always thinking I just don't say a lot of what it comes up with. Because it serves no purpose to talk about it except to create worry. Just like people screaming at the company, it creates stress and negativity.

There is only so much public facing promoting the company can achieve especially when its been planned with the artist's involvement. Since I don't know (and neither does anyone else) what the entire promotion plan is, how can anyone speak on the promotion plan? Just because another member's release was handled a certain way does that mean it should be done the same for all? Not necessarily.

Stationhead listening party schedule:

This is an ad I just saw from BigHit.

Yes, this is an ad and not a repost, I've seen it twice already and it is not on the @BTS_bighit accounts feed:

These are posts promoting SGMB on streaming platforms:

Of course, if you use any playlists on streaming platforms, check the songs on the list and turn off/delete the ones you don't want to stream. Or create your own playlists.

The people printing their own posters, putting them up in public and asking for them to be displayed is WONDERFUL! THAT is the energy Army are known for!

Also the UK issue with the random inclusion making it disqualified. A fix may or may not be in the works. Constant screaming to the company won't make it happen faster or at all if it can't be done logistically. All screaming does is make everyone feel bad, including Jimin if he sees it.

@OfficialCharts is UK based and posted about Jimin and SGMB:

But since people began screaming since day one, every time another step in the promotion process occurs, screamers will take credit for it and vehemently scream it only happened because they were screaming when the reality is, no one knows whats on the promotion schedule.

Those of you telling people not to buy the album now but to wait and buy it when it releases? THAT IS USEFUL AND PRODUCTIVE INFORMATION!

We, as Army, know how, what and when to buy in order to impact the charts. I know you didn't forget any of that. So stop screaming and do something productive like tell people how to work around this apparent obstacle until it is fixed or in case it never gets fixed.

The screaming at BigHit to do their job is not productive or useful at all in helping Jimin at this point. It only displays negativity and lowers morale for those who don't know what to do.

We are a month away from the album's release for god's sakes, the pre-promotions are paced to keep interest.

They can't all be thrown out all at one time.

Whatever comes out as pre-promotions will be things that were planned in advance and not knee jerk reactions to the screamers.

"If we don't say anything, things will never change for Jimin."

That is your perception. Jimin is very much in control of his own life and career. He can change anything he wants to. Feel free to scream about it, I know its different strokes for different folks. But constantly screaming and trending it surrounds Jimin's activities with stress and negativity. I know you know how to communicate your concerns to the company discreetly. And we know they see our communications because they ask us for help to identify those who are carrying out slanderous and illegal activities against our guys.

If you want to help, communicate to the rest of the fandom the steps they can take to actually help increase streams, views and sales.

Even if the company plasters posters everywhere, WE, THE FANS, are still the ones who do the streaming, buying, viewing and supporting. Its in our hands now. We know what to do!

After all is said and done, I trust Jimin. He's in control of his life.

And he has Jungkook with him. That's the smartest fucking thing ever.

Please go stream it now on your preferred streaming platform.

Please go share some of the various positive news media stories out there on your socials.

[hexpositive]

Hex Positive, Ep. 047 - What My Granny (Weatherwax) Taught Me

Now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms!

Lozzie’s back, friends and neighbors! And this month, we’re sitting down to talk about everybody’s favorite coven - the Witches of Lancre, from Discworld. Longtime fans of the show have heard the works of Sir Terry Pratchett (RIP) and the wisdom of Granny Weatherwax quoted many times on the show, but what other lessons might the Lancre coven have for us over the course of their many odysseys, quests, holidays, and general mucking about? (Tangents include which fantasy character is Legolas’ hot grimy dad, why certain tourists are so bloody annoying when they go abroad, which Discworld quote made Lozzie snarf tea out her nose, and what Bree and the sainted Sir Terry’s origin stories have in common.)

If you love Discworld, this episode is for you. If you’ve never heard of Discworld or are only passing familiar, consider this your introduction. Bit late for the Glorious 25th of May, but all the same - Here’s to Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably Priced Love, and a Hard-Boiled Egg! 

The Witches of Lancre 

Equal Rites - Wyrd Sisters - Witches Abroad - Lords and Ladies - Maskerade - Carpe Jugulum

The Tiffany Aching Saga

The Wee Free Men - A Hat Full of Sky - Wintersmith - I Shall Wear Midnight - The Shepherd’s Crown

(GNU Terry Pratchett)

Upcoming Events:

Sunflower Witch Market - https://www.facebook.com/events/191005147387320

Free Spirit Gathering - https://www.freespiritgatheringmd.org/ 

CritWitchCon 2024 - https://criticalthinkingwitches.com/events/ 

Follow Bree and Lozzie on Instagram at @breenicgarran and @bihexualhistory. Visit the Willow Wings Witch Shop on Shopify and check out this month’s featured items. Make sure you also visit the Redbubble page for even more cool merch!

Check my ⁠⁠Wordpress⁠⁠ for full show notes, as well as show notes for past episodes and information on upcoming events. You can find me as @BreeNicGarran on TikTok, Instagram, and WordPress, or as @breelandwalker on tumblr. For more information on how to support the show and get access to early releases and extra content, visit my ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠.

Proud member of the ⁠⁠Nerd and Tie Podcast Network⁠⁠.

MUSIC CREDITS

Intro & Outro – “Spellbound” & “Miri’s Magic Dance” Host-Read Ads – “Danse Macabre – Violin Hook” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

[icecreamisbetterwithafork]

Hello friends! It’s been a minute, I hope the summer has been treating you well. We have been busy with summer camps, playdates with friends, lots of gardening, cooking, and trying your stay cool in this San Diego humidity and heat, which as a native I never remember the weather being this hot or humid EVER growing up here as a kid! 

On the music front, there is much to be excited for on the horizon. For starters, I just released a beautiful collaboration track, Bobby My Friend, with an artist by the name of Leo Prakash. We met down at Playa Del Carmen, last December at a Wanderlust Palmaia. Leo was there for the week accompanying the yoga classes with live music and i was sitting in for a song, during the end of my friend Schuyler Grants yoga class, for Shavasana. Leo is an insanely talented multi-instrumentalist from Mexico, but grew up part of his childhood living in an Ashram in France. I was immediately captivated with his Sitar playing. We ended up chatting after class, and exchanging info with the hopes of doing a collaboration in the future. He ended up sending me this beautiful song for his friend, the late Bobby Klein, and asked me if I would like to accompany him on it. I loved this song from the beginning, and it was also a much different style than anything I have previously done before. The song was just released a couple weeks ago, give it a listen, I love it so much. 

Aside from that, I have some other exciting collabs coming out, as well as the new music I have been working on over the past 2-3 years co-written and produced by my friend (AND no biggie, one of my fav artists of all time!!!!), Trevor Hall. The first song of that project is set to drop at the end of this month. Stay tuned for deets and links coming soon! And definitely make sure you are following along on IG where I post the most, as well as following my artist profile on Spotify if you listen there, the song will also be released everywhere else music is available. I am so excited to share this new music with you all, it’s def a been a bit of an experimental sound and journey for me. But it has also re-awakened my creative process and flow. It feels unbound and intuitive and that in itself is exciting and inspiring. 

I will keep it at that for now, many of you have expressed your fondness for the days when I wrote my Tumblr posts, so I will try to do more of that! These days are a lot different from the ones when we were in our 20’s, i was on tour, single, free and wild! But if you have any questions or topics you would like me to touch on, I would love to be sharing things that might be helpful and useful. I took a step back from social media for the last couple years, because I realize how bombarded i/we are everyday with unwanted thoughts, opinions, and just all kids of stuff flying our way. I would really love to be sharing things that nourish and support this community and inspire a loving, kind, but also keep it real kind of connection. Life seems to get so much busier in the 40’s! So if you have any thoughts on that, please let me know! 

Sending love to all! Also, if you have reached out to get a bracelet and I haven’t responded, it’s because I literally haven’t had a moment to myself all summer with my kiddo not wanting to go to camp! Lol. I am planning to do another batch that will ship in September. I will email soon or email me again at info@tristanprettyman.com

As always thank you for being here! Big love - 💗

Tristan 

[gigamuffin]

[The Main Crew] [The Villains] [Landlubbers]

Maybe you're simply just curious and want to check it out, maybe you're looking for something specific, or maybe you're a Norwegian looking for nostalgia. Does it matter, not really. Here are the links:

[Updated 7.06.24]

Let's start off simple with the music

This is my Kaptein Sabeltann playlist, it has all the songs available on Spotify right now, in the best quality I could find, semi-sorted from most to least popular (so i recommend turning off shuffle). This is a simple starting point and I recommend you check out the music first. Especially if you want a quick and simple way to see what the deal is about without looking at any of the other media.

Kaptein Sabeltann's official YouTube is also a great place to start since it's available worldwide. Lots of music videos filmed directly from the stage, as well as Kaptein Sabeltanns Sjørøverfest at Chat Noir in Oslo and Drømmen om Sabeltanns rike (They're cheap even for Sabeltann standards, but they're there if you want them.)

The main 3 shows (filmed in the early 2000s directly from the stage) are available on NRK TV for free, but you're going to need a VPN to get access (NB: I haven't tested this myself so it might not work). They also have the first ever Kaptein Sabeltann show that kicked the entire thing off, and that show should be available worldwide. And the follow up to the original show, Hemmeligheten i Kjuttaviga, is on archive dot org

The official viewing order is as follows (the main canon shows are highlighted in bold): Skatten i Kjuttaviga, Hemmeligheten i Kjuttaviga, Grusomme Gabriel's Skatt, Den Forheksede Øya, Jakten på den Magiske Diamant.

NRK TV also has the entire Kaptein Sabeltann TV-Show (14 minutes per episode + 26 episodes). It's a prequel to the main shows and follows Pinky in Abra Havn, but it's not required to watch first. (You're also gonna need a VPN for this one too if you're not in Norway.)

If you don't speak Norwegian, good news! 3 Kaptein Sabeltann movies have all been dubbed into English as well as many other languages: Kaptein Sabeltann (2003) (Animated), Kaptein Sabeltann og skatten i Lama Rama (2014) (Live Action) and Kaptein Sabeltann og den magiske diamant (2019) (Animated). I've linked to their IMDB pages in case you want to find them in your language. I don't have links directly to the movies, you may have to go the route of Kaptein Sabeltann to watch them hint hint cough cough 🏴‍☠️

[piplupod]

ooo who are your favourite Black artists? I wanna expand my music tastes too

hello !!! i created a playlist for you and for anybody else who would be interested! I made it in spotify and then transferred it into a youtube playlist as well (I need to go through it and make sure everything transferred correctly, so the youtube playlist might be a little wonky right now) so that it'd be available on both platforms :]

there's a good mix of music genres and eras I think, and a decent-ish mix of popular artists and some relatively unknown ones. these are all songs that I've (me or others in the system) listened to and enjoyed at some point - I went through my(/our) playlists and compiled as many songs as I could!

I actually don't listen to musicians and albums very much lately; I mainly hop around to different songs or listen through other people's playlists, so it's always kind of difficult for me to choose any favourite artists LOL, but I do really love Genesis Owusu and would consider him to be a favourite of mine! Celeste was a more recent find and I love what I've heard of her so far. I find myself listening to a lot of Eazy E and enjoy the sound of his stuff but I don't know if I'd say he's a FavouriteTM of mine. I also enjoy The 5th Dimension a lot when I'm in the mood for 60s/70s music!

I hope this was helpful :3 I love to share music!!! Thank you for asking, I'm always really happy when I see people taking an interest in expanding their music tastes :D Also if anyone has recommendations especially if they aren't already on the playlist, please feel free to add on - I'd be really excited to listen to some new stuff!

[deadcactuswalking]

How lonelyboy's lofi chill vibes with korn misses the point

For some backstory, on 20 June, 2024, producer lonelyboy released what appears to be a semi-official or at least licensed remix album of songs by the iconic nu metal band Korn. Whilst not credited as lead artists on the album itself, they are featured on every track. The album consists entirely of lo-fi hip hop renditions of the band's most acclaimed and successful singles across nearly their entire career. It is currently available on all streaming services and I used Spotify to listen to this album so the link is attached here. Feel free to listen to the record and support it if you enjoy regardless of my opinions. For the full review, written on 24 June and originally published on RateYourMusic, click the tab below.

If there's one band that I enjoy that I would probably never grant the lo-fi hip hop remix album to, it'd probably have to be Korn. Qualities that stand out to me about the band's work and make them unique do not seem to fit a lo-fi hip hop palette swap. They're percussive and raucously so, but also unpredictable, and at their best, can deliver very wonderfully written hooks. Even the most stock Korn songs or albums can be incessantly catchy if that earworm warps its way back around into your head, and I would probably place a lot of that on the unique and polarising vocals of the frontman Jonathan Davis, whose delivery has never not been convincing, whether he's going for the creeping falsetto or pained shrieks and grunts that pepper what otherwise could work as pretty damn great pop songs honestly. There's a lot to love about Korn, and I like the original version of pretty much every song here, and for many of them, I actually adore them, and have a great deal of nostalgia for them and especially their videos.

Expectedly, I was a bit cynical about all this considering lonelyboy's previous remix ventures with seedier, less worthwhile artists I won't name - or even acts that fit the lo-fi hip hop template quite well like 2Pac. Yet I still came into listening to this project with the expectation that, hey, maybe what I think will not work about this will greatly be to its benefit. The struggle between having what you want to express and finding the mode to express it in forms the crux behind some of my favourite records, including ones by Korn. Translating the passion, trauma and desperate pleas for acceptance that Davis will cry out for, into a lo-fi hip hop package, isn't dead on arrival because it doesn't sound like it'd work. Hell, I'd argue that it's quite the opposite: it sounds weird and difficult, so much like Korn's brostep album or any of their other bizarre experiments from their career, this could be at least interesting.

What goodwill that exists whenever Korn bring in the bagpipes, Skrillex wub-wubs, guest rappers, funk grooves, etc. is that it's all human and ultimately a part of the Korn sound and appeal, and even if those ideas don't necessarily make it through all the steps of writing, recording and producing without being diluted or unfocused, you can still respect how daring the idea was and how they fucked around and found out. The level of "fucking around" here feels much cheaper and less collaborative. The beats are perfectly fine, I suppose, but the melodic elements ripped from the band's finest singles aren't natural fits (obviously!) and little is done to accommodate that. I can imagine the only influence from the real members of Korn here was perhaps giving him a stronger, more professional MIDI for their greatest hits compilation to place through a lo-fi hip hop soundfont and call it a day. The stereotypical elements of the average algorithm-pushed lo-fi hip hop nothingness are all here: you get whooshing sound effects on what honestly might be too many measures, it's borderline obnoxious, whilst layers of ASMR rain pattering, birdsong and cricket ambiance are laid upon the already programmed beats in such a flat and unengaging way that it just emphasises how basic and uninspired these versions of the songs are. If you love and appreciate the band's work to the extent of a full remix album, you'd take the risks they made part of their brand.

"Y'all Want a Single" being a lo-fi hip hop beat is such a foreign idea to me that I figured maybe there'd be a novelty factor to it that's somewhat amusing, but of course not. No amount of royalty-free library SFX of water swishing around in a lake can make this elementary shit sound anymore than a demo an intern would have put together for the Luigi's Mansion soundtrack when first hearing the concept and they haven't got Totaka on board yet. And that comparison isn't just a throwaway joke either because there could be genuine promise to this: the way Korn wrote melodies and how lo-fi hip hop beats are inherently somewhat stagnant and moody could create an at least immersive darker experience. Focus on the ambient touches, have little parts where you stray away from the melody, replace the "chill vibe" sound bank with some horror elements, it could genuinely make for an interesting reinterpretation of the band's work in a similar sound. certain tracks, like "Falling Away from Me", "Blind" or "Right Now", have a vague menace and suspicious aura inherent in how the songs are already composed that could be developed on so extensively within this sound. But lonelyboy just doesn't care. If he cared, the intro track wouldn't have an extended period of silence accidentally tacked onto the end and left on the Spotify release. on first listen, I questioned what this guy actually did and on repeat listens, I question what he could have done and what really could have been. Korn have written some of my favourite songs of all time and it's obviously not just because they're nu metal songs, or that there's no room to transform them into something different. There's just so little tangible care put into this that it makes me almost a little embarrassed for the guy who now has tons of eyes and ears on him because he somehow leeched this onto the official Korn page. And given how low some of these basic, thoughtless and detached melodies are sometimes in this muddy cloud of a mix that could have been sequenced all in a day, I think he's a little embarrassed too - that this is what he's chosen to make his brand. Can't blame you, man. Hope whatever monetary gain you scramble back on an album you wrote none of, that can't even get a "Freak on a Leash" remix on Korn's official account to 10,000 streams as of writing, is worth it.

[kowaindar0u]

i present: yuichi's playlist! [spotify] [youtube]

(as of 3/14/2024)

as with most of the playlists i make, some songs are readily applicable, some just have the right Vibe, some are sorta funny... and in yuichi's case, there's a lot of a rain theme going on lol

(also, some are ones from my own tourabu mood playlist that i just had to bring over)

because i've always wanted to do this i'm gonna go through all the songs and maybe explain why i put it there or something?? yolo! playlist guide under the cut lol

i recommend having this going while you listen!

most songs (on the youtube version) have lyrics/translations where available!

there's a lot of kpop don't judge me lol

Dreamcatcher - Full Moon this is a song from dc to their fans on their first anniversary lol, so the themes of a somewhat-new bond are pretty relevant!

Seventeen- Campfire do i even need to explain? sobs this song makes my heart warm ... just thinking about yuichi & all the toudans sitting around a campfire having *sniffles* precious moments... ; A;

Rihanna - Umbrella LMAO this one is very on-the-nose but also just thinking about it's hilarious, i couldn't resist. (plus like... it's a jam. also lyrically it actually does fit!)

Dreamcatcher - Boca be prepared to see a lot of dreamcatcher w/me, they're my Favorite(TM). anyway Boca is about protecting someone from harsh words (better translation is "if those thornlike words / start to hurt you / i won't let them open that boca (mouth)") AND has a very rainy/stormy atmosphere which makes it perfect. yes i know my toudans are Sword Warriors yes i still want to protect them as best i can!! (it's more about like. bullying and hate but yknow. similar sentiments...shhh...)

The Weather Girls - It's Raining Men ...............i don't think i need to explain myself on this >.> (THO HAHA IMAGINE IF THIS WAS HOW SWORDS MANIFESTED IN HIS HONMARU i'm dead)

ToppDogg -Annie (Anniversary) another 'anniversary' type song, i think it speaks for itself. saniwa💙toudans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Clean Bandit - Rather Be lyrically, yes!! being a saniwa is not an easy or peaceful job by any means but yuichi wouldn't want to be anywhere else <3 also the song makes me think of rainy/cool moist days!

Seventeen - Home seventeen shows up a decent amount too, but what can i say? the songs fit lol. saniwa-toudan relationships might not always be 100% sunshine and rainbows, but... they are home, no?

Twice - Feel Special GOD. this song came out while i was very into tkrb a few years ago and so that plus the song itself made me actually cry when i first watched it lol. it's so fitting though, i think from toudan or yuichi's perspective. for yuichi, he clearly struggles with his self-worth, and is...well, he's no stranger to a breakdown. but ... he's got so many touken danshi around him who love him

Girls' Generation - Talk Talk no explanation needed methinks! <3 just comparing a love to the rain

SF9 - The Beat Goes On okay this song is just like... pure beach episode, everyone gathering in the sunset and having a great time being free with each other. i include it on so many playlists where i just want to imagine a joyful time with the whole cast of whatever, it just has to go here too, even if you'd be hard-pressed to get yuichi on a beach lol

Yuju - Play this is just strictly for the vibes. i don't know that yuichi has someone who dipped and hurt him like that (but it could be interesting i guess lol). the song just is perfect for the rainy atmosphere

Dreamcatcher - Piri i told u prepare for dreamcatcher lol. anyway this song is literally about like... depression and getting to a point where you need a lifeline. very yuichi, unfortunately

New Politics - One of Us another "do i even need to explain?" song ;u; it's definitely on my tkrb playlist lol. also the lyric video is kinda fun lol imagining it as different toudans at the table

Gfriend - Summer Rain just very nice rainy vibes.

Super Junior - Why I Like You this song (the whole album really) has always given me rainy/humid vibes. but also... love <3 (ofc not necessarily romantic in yuichi's case! but yknow what i mean)

Flo Rida - My House almost a joke addition but like... also almost not a joke LOL

David Cook - Come Back to Me okay this song is tkrb playlist because it's like... 100% kiwame send-off vibes. i initially added it after watching hanamaru, thinking about kashuu sending off yasusada, but i think it also suits most sendoffs very well. i wanna cry. sobs....

SF9 - RPM So I don't have a good reason for adding this to yuichi's or my tkrb playlist other than it makes me think of using time travel to go on a mission. also i just REALLY like the song... and listening to it with the rain going is mmmwah *chef kiss*. just imagine a team going up to the [time travel device] all ready to fucking GO, looking all badass in the mist and shit. and then PPEPWWW they go! and now they're ready to fuck shit up (to un-fuck the timeline)... it's the VIBES AGAIN

Darren Hayes - Bloodstained Heart no words needed <3

Dreamcatcher - Over the Sky another anniversary fan song from dc! this song just makes me so happy and like. energized. spring time. anime conventions. so it's on my tkrb playlist, but it's also a sweet and fun song so, yknow, puts it on.

Ravi - Lean on Me is this yuichi talking to a toudan? or a toudan talking to yuichi? or ? who knows, but either way, i like it. sweet and reliable.

Seventeen - Thanks just... a song about being so grateful to know and love someone.

Major Lazer - Cold Water (the one song with justin bieber i listen to unironically lol)

Seventeen - Holiday oh man just LISTEN to it, even without the lyrics it's just like. fun!! party!! chill!!

SF9 - Bibora a jam. a rainy jam. but also maybe some parts of it speak to yuichi.

Jinsoul (Loona) - Singing in the Rain KNK - Rain Super Junior - Raining Spell for Love Strictly for the vibes.

JBJ - True Colors oh man. this song makes me cry too. my heart...

Starley - Call on Me Another song that I think explains itself lol

Dreamcatcher - Reason yet another anniversary song from deukae but it fits. through all the triumphs and hardships, despair and joy, the toudans in this citadel have become his whole reason for being and they inspire him to keep going and do better and be someone they can depend on and be proud to call their saniwa.

[rabbitechoes]

so many great singles dropped this month!! 2024 is shaping up to be a rlly exciting year for music. plenty of interesting projects are coming within the next few months and the singles accompanying them have me setting my hopes super high. here are my thoughts on some of the most notable singles & songs from the month!!! to check out my thoughts on some of the albums, EPs, and mixtapes that came out this month click here!!! since three noteworthy artists dropped singles like right after i posted this i made an add-on post here!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

"Turn the Lights Back On" - Billy Joel

◇ genres: piano rock, singer-songwriter

The way they hyped up Billy Joel's performance of his first single in over 30 years at the Grammy awards earlier this month ironically described why I'm not crazy about the track. The way it was framed in the video, and how I perceive the situation given the song itself, was that Freddy Wexler consistently pushed Joel to get back into the studio until finally Joel conceded. It was played up for laughs, but this song really does sound like a "please, will you get off my back" kind of thing. I don't know, it's fine. I feel like an asshole pooh poohing on a new single from Billy Joel, but it just feels so unnecessary. I doubt this will lead into a full album. Likely, the Piano Man will continue to sell out Madison Square Garden multiple times a year and play the songs everyone actually wants to hear. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Burning Down the House" - Paramore

◇ featured on Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense (not yet released) ◇ genres: new wave, pop rock

Paramore have provided the lead single for the new Stop Making Sense tribute album being headed up by A24 Music. It's a decent cover. The band can't really capture the frenetic, weird energy of the original, but that is an impossibly high task. Judging by some of the other artists involved in this project, this might be the best we get. I don't wanna be a hater because I'm hopeful this project might introduce more people to one of the greatest live albums, concert films, and bands of all time, but we shall see! listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Floating on a Moment" - Beth Gibbons

🥇 SONG OF THE MONTH

◇ featured on Lives Outgrown - Beth Gibbons (not yet released) ◇ genres: chamber folk, psychedelic folk, singer-songwriter

Beth Gibbons releasing a new solo album wasn't on my 2024 bingo card, but holy shit I'm so excited. Her feature on Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers nearly 2 years ago really got me excited to hear more new stuff from her and "Floating on a Moment" was exactly what I needed. This song is so good. Gibbons' voice is obviously fucking incredible, that goes without saying, but this sound suits her so well. That chorus is one of the best things I've heard this year so far. The twinkling guitars paired up with her vocals feels like you're ascending to a higher plane of existence. Not to mention that refrain at the start of the outro!!! What a lead single and what a comeback for one of the most distinct vocalists of all time. Can't wait for the full album. Ranks highly among my most anticipated albums of the year so far. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Dreamfear" | "Boy Sent From Above" - Burial

◇ genres: breakbeat hardcore, electro

Not entirely sure if this is an EP or a single, but I'm gonna throw it on here anyway. London electronic artist Burial is back with his first release for the XL label. 2 over 10 minute tracks that are pretty cool! My knowledge about Burial's sound isn't super expansive, I've only heard Untrue, but there's some really cool sounds here. Of the two tracks, "Boy Sent From Above" is probably my favorite. I love the more atmospheric vibe to it. The drops are really satisfying too. I'll try to revisit this again once I'm more familiar with Burial's work, but I still enjoyed these songs a good bit. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud (not available) YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"RiTchie Valens" | "Dizzy" - RiTchie

◇ featured on Triple Digits [112] - RiTchie (not yet released) ◇ genre: experimental hip hop

RiTchie, formerly of Injury Reserve and currently half of By Storm, has released his first two solo singles and is teasing a new upcoming project. I was a bit surprised by this because I assumed we would be getting some kind of By Storm project first after they released "Double Trio" late last year. This single is also a big change of pace compared to the tone of what they've been doing. Here, RiTchie is playful throwing out confident bars over a shimmering beat. The little "RiTchieeee, RiTchieee's" throughout the song are so silly too. The second single "Dizzy" is even better. It only dropped a couple days ago, but I can't stop listening to it. Alongside its release, RiTchie officially announced his first solo project coming in April. We're in for a real treat. listen here: "RiTchie Valens" Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud (not available) YouTube "Dizzy" Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud (not available) YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Butterfly Net" - Caroline Polachek & Weyes Blood

◇ featured on Desire, I Want to Turn Into You Everasking Edition - Caroline Polachek ◇ genres: art pop, new age

Caroline Polachek has released a deluxe edition of Desire, I Want to Turn Into You this month and it features a host of new tracks. One of them being this reworking of "Butterfly Net" featuring Weyes Blood. The original wasn't my favorite on the album, but this reworking has made me appreciate it a bit more. These two have really powerful vocals and they play off of each other very well. I haven't gotten the chance to listen to all of the new tracks from the deluxe version, but if they're as good as this then I'm excited. I also should probably revisit the whole album itself sometime soon. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"16 Carriages" | "Texas Hold 'Em" - Beyoncé

◇ featured on Act II - Beyoncé (not yet released) ◇ genre: country pop, country soul, contemporary country

Beyoncé surprise dropped two singles during the Super Bowl and announced the follow-up to her amazing 2022 album RENAISSANCE. While that album was focused on celebrating dance and house music as well as the black and queer pioneers of those genres, Act II seems to be trying to do the same for country. "16 Carriages" is the clear highlight here and Beyoncé feels right at home with this sound. Love the way she leans into the country soul side of things and I hope we get more of that on the album. "Texas Hold 'Em" is a bit rowdier, but it's the weaker of the two. I love the instrumentation though, for both tracks actually. Perhaps the best thing about "Texas Hold 'Em" is that it finally knocked Jack Harlow's boring, uninspired "Lovin On Me" off the number 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. I'm hoping it'll grow on me when it's in the context of the full album. I'm super excited to see where she can take this sound. listen here: "16 Carriages" Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube "Texas Hold 'Em" Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Capricorn" | "Gen-X Cops" - Vampire Weekend

◇ featured on Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend (not yet released) ◇ genres: indie pop, chamber pop

I was a massive Vampire Weekend fan when I was in high school. I was listening to Modern Vampires of the City almost every day, I was obsessed. I would be lying if I said they were something I "grew out of" because these new singles really hit the spot for me. "Capricorn" sounds like a darker take on what the band was doing on a lot of Father of the Bride, leaning into some of the more psychedelic and folkier sounds. "Gen-X Cops" is more reminiscent of their earlier work, but still has a more mellow and introspective slant to it. Love the almost surf-rock sound at the start of it. Both tracks dive into themes of aging and Koenig makes some pretty poignant observations. Really excited for the new album! listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Training Season" - Dua Lipa

◇ genres: dance-pop, disco

I loved Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia and it even made it into my top 5 albums of 2020 (don't go back on my rym and look at the list, i'm embarrassed at my writing from that time). I was super excited about whatever Lipa would drop next and it looks as if she's building up to a new project probably sometime this year. "Training Season" follows "Houdini" and I feel the same sense of apathy for the latter that I do the former. Neither are bad by any means and the production work by Kevin Parker on these singles is stellar, but it just feels like something is missing. Lipa still sounds like a star, but these hooks just don't grab me like some of her singles from a few years ago. Again, neither "Training Season" or "Houdini" are bad songs, but I'm just having a hard time getting into them. Hopefully they grow on me in the context of a full project. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Saturn" - SZA

◇ featured on LANA - SZA (not yet released) ◇ genres: neo-soul, alternative r&b

I'm not up to date on the SZA lore, but when this dropped I saw people saying that it was "finally on streaming" so I guess this song has been around for a bit. I think it's the lead single for SZA's LANA album, which is a reissue of SOS ... uhhhh I don't know this is very confusing to me. What I am sure of, is that SZA can make a damn good song. "Saturn" is further proof of that. This feels like a cut from CTRL and I love it. It has this hazy, dream-like production with SZA's distinct vocal style that sounds like she's bouncing along the beat. Really great stuff. I'm still not sure what LANA is, but as long as we get some more great songs I'm not gonna complain! listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp (not available) SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Fool" - Adrianne Lenker

◇ featured on Bright Future - Adrianne Lenker (not yet released) ◇ genres: indie folk, singer-songwriter

Another excellent single from Adrianne Lenker ahead of her new album coming next month. "Fool" is a lot shorter and sounds a lot more upbeat than "Sadness As a Gift" from last month, but it still has Lenker's signature writing style. It feels like ever since Songs she's just on an unstoppable role. I thought the well might've run at least a little dry following Big Thief's incredible double album from two years ago, but that's quickly been proven not to be the case. I'm not sure if this new album will be better than Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, but it certainly has the potential to be Lenker's best solo project. Definitely one of my most anticipated albums of the year, can't wait to listen. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Hand On Me" - Nourished by Time

◇ featured on Catching Chickens - Nourished by Time (not yet released) ◇ genres: chillwave, synthpop

I listened to Nourished by Time's last album Erotic Probiotic 2 in like December of last year and I was so blown away by it that it ended up almost cracking my top 10 favorite albums of the year. It seems like he's not slowing down either, announcing that he has signed to XL and dropping this new single alongside a new EP coming next month. "Hand On Me" is brilliant. Taking his unique vocal style and throwing it alongside some dreamier production is a match made in heaven. Coming off his last album, I said that Nourished by Time is an artist that you NEED to keep your eyes on and this new single proves me right! Can't wait for the new EP. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Life Is" - Jessica Pratt

◇ featured on Here in the Pitch - Jessica Pratt (not yet released) ◇ genres: brill building, singer-songwriter

The first time I listened to Jessica Pratt was around the time her last album Quiet Signs dropped. I ... wasn't crazy about it. Pratt's unique vocal delivery just didn't resonate with me and I just never revisited it. That was until earlier this month when I, at the behest of my partner, revisited both that album and the two that came before it. I get it now! I was wrong, she's really good! Then like a week later she teases this new single ... perfect timing. This is an interesting new direction for Pratt, sort of ditching the folk of her previous work and instead turning to brill building. The pairing of Pratt's voice and this sound are so satisfying. It's like hearing a forgotten hit from like 1965 only with a bit bit of a more modern, dreamier sound. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"I'm a Man" - Kim Gordon

◇ featured on The Collective - Kim Gordon (not yet released) ◇ genres: industrial hip hop, trap, noise rock, witch house

Kim Gordon's new album is coming out in a few weeks and this month she released another insane sounding single leading up to it. "I'm a Man," like the previous single, has Gordon experimenting with hip hop and trap in a surprisingly ... great way! She mixes those sounds with some noise rock which we all know Gordon fits in like a hand in a glove. The lyrics here are a bit more substantial than the other single as well. The way she sings "come on, Zeus, take my hand" is just so fucking cool. I'm so hyped for The Collective and it's so cool that an Kim Gordon is still experimenting this deep into her legendary career. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"The Invisible Man" - Maruja

◇ genres: post-rock, post-punk, art rock

Following an amazing EP and a string of great singles in 2023, Manchester post-rock band Maruja have returned with their first release of 2024. They're in a really interesting spot right now because they've been dropping some really great stuff without having a debut album to their name. All eyes, at least in pretentious music spheres, are on them. This new single, "The Invisible Man," is certainly no different and its one of their best tracks to date. The instrumentation here is unreal, especially the saxophone parts. I'm a sucker for a post-punk band with a saxophone. Maruja are great at building tension in their songs and that's no different here. Everything just feels very anxious and when the climax finally comes it feels so earned. Their lyricism has also continued to impress me. I'm not sure if this new single means a debut album is on the way sometime this year, but I sure hope it does. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Doves" - Armand Hammer

◇ featured on We Buy Diabetic Test Strips - Armand Hammer ◇ genres: experimental hip hop, abstract hip hop

billy woods and Elucid have seemingly reissued their amazing album from last year with this incredible new bonus track "Doves." A slow-burning near 9-minute track featuring vocals and guitar from Benjamin Booker. The track begins with some soft guitar over this ambient noise with twinkling pianos interspersed within it. Booker's hushed vocals almost force you to pay attention to them. There isn't as much rapping on this song as you would expect, but when the verses do come in they lack the fire we've come to expect. In a good way, I might add. The noisy ambience gets harsher and harsher as we reach the end of the song. It's almost unnerving. They manage to make you feel so many emotions in just this one track. I've only had a couple days to sit with it, but "Doves" is really great. One of the most experimental tracks these guys have ever put out and it pays off. listen here: Apple Music Spotify Bandcamp SoundCloud YouTube ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ thanks for reading <3

[squideo]

Have You Considered... Spotify?

There is an overwhelming number of options for individuals and businesses looking to build an online presence. The focus for many remains on the big three: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. With a combined monthly active user base of 4.29 billion people, an account on each of these platforms puts you in the pocket of half the world’s population (Source: Backlinko 2022).

For businesses, there are huge markets to access through these platforms – if you can be heard over the crowd. These massive platforms attract companies from around the world. From multinational conglomerates to the newsagent at the top of your street, it feels like everyone has an account. 

It is a buyer-seller market that these platforms are geared toward. Each of the big three, and many like them, run paid advertisements and offer additional tools and insights if you switch from a personal account to a business or creator account. Instagram and Facebook also have marketplaces, to facilitate direct sales.

How to Stand Out?

First of all, keep your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts. Nothing can be gained from ignoring these titans of social media! If you want to stand out amongst your competitors, however, it’s time to consider expanding your social presence to other platforms which offer more opportunities to shine.

The obvious secondary choices are the runners-up in the social media rankings – namely TikTok and Snapchat – however, as they surge in popularity they start to mirror their competitors. Both have business account options and deliver advertisement packages. It’s vital to tailor your content to stand out and choose your platforms with care.

To engage your customers and convert new visitors, it is important to identify multiple platforms where they are most active. Find out their location, age range, professions, and any other identifiers you can think of. If you’re operating as a Business to Business (B2B), platforms like LinkedIn and Clubhouse could be ideal. If your market is teachers and educators, use Facebook and Pinterest.

Go where your customers are. You might end up somewhere unexpected!

What is Spotify?

Spotify is the largest music streaming service with 365 million monthly active users tuning in from around the globe.

As well as big title artists, Spotify also hosts over 2.9 million podcast titles. It is free to sign-up and listen with adverts. Premium membership is also available for a monthly or annual subscription.

For a business looking to build brand awareness, Spotify has two key advantages:

1. Prima Podcast

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat… they’re all focused on the visual, whether it’s an image, video or reel. Spotify allows you to reach out to an audience through a different medium: audio. From your Spotify account, you can launch an informal podcast to deliver insights from your industry, chat with customers or service users, or host different team members to discuss company updates.

In education, students have long been grouped into three learning preferences: visual, auditory and kinaesthetic (physical activity). While most people have a preference, the best lessons incorporate all three. So why should your marketing strategy be any different? By incorporating audio into your marketing plan, you can engage a new customer segment.

2. Humanising the Brand

Spotify isn’t only available to businesses as a podcast platform.

Humanising your brand helps your audience build a connection to your business, making them more likely to convert into customers. Form meaningful connections and build a community that wants to work with you, and soon you will stand out amongst your competitors.

Spotify lets you do this by giving you the option to add music to your brand. Curate playlists that align with your services and products, or give team members a chance to create something unique to them. Show your audience that there is a personal element behind the logo.

Below is the playlist that Squideo created for Halloween - each team member picked a track and their personalities really shine through with each selection!

How to Utilise Spotify

It’s easy to promote a Spotify account through your existing social media platforms. Spotify allows you to share music directly to Twitter and Facebook, and embed it on a website. With platforms like Linktree, you can share your Spotify account across all of your social media accounts to encourage your combined audience to visit your business page and follow.

Unlike other social media platforms, Spotify does not offer users the choice to switch to a business account which means there are no statistical insights into the reach and engagement of your account. The prime method to track engagement is through channel followers and user likes on playlists and original content.

What Spotify lacks in business functions, however, it makes up for through passive engagement.

Traditional advertising has become less engaging for consumers, and curated content is a great way for brands to make an impact on an oversaturated landscape.

People listen to music all day. Offering a curated playlist enables you to passively engage these potential customers throughout their daily activities.

Design playlists that relate to your brand or team. Read on for inspiration!

Location. What is the team in your office listening to, compared to a different branch based in another city? Bring a company together and bridge staff no matter how far apart they are.

Holidays. Squideo kicked off its first Spotify playlist with a compilation for Halloween, with tracks chosen by each member of the team. Make one for every holiday or season, like Valentine’s Day or the Summer Holiday.

Themes. Ideally connected to your brand in some way, the songs in this playlist will connect to one main theme. For a company like Squideo, this could be ocean-themed, film-themed, or Hull-themed (the city where we’re based).

Activities. For people using Spotify, activity playlists might be curated for things like working out, relaxing or cooking. For a business, consider creating playlists for activities connected to your work. If you’re an estate agent, create a playlist that represents the joy of selling a house. If you’re a construction agency, create a playlist for working at a site on a hot day.

Once you’ve made your playlists, add an extra layer of personalisation. Spotify gives its users the option to create a playlist cover. Design this with your branding in mind, so that when people go to play your playlist they think of your business!

Share your playlist across social media and keep it up-to-date (Spotify does remove and add music depending on its arrangements with music record labels). You’ll find your following soon enough.

For more inspiration, check out other leading businesses on Spotify like McDonald’s, Nike, Zara and Lidl.

Get Started with Video Marketing Today!

Hopefully, you found this first installation of Have You Considered useful. Stay tuned over the next two months while we explore other underutilised platforms and find ways to make your brand stand out.

Speaking of standing out, check out our portfolio! And, if you want to discuss how animated explainer videos can benefit your business, get in touch with the Squideo team today.

[mrlnsfrt]

40th Birthday

I turned 40 today!

As part of the celebration, I invited you to ask me questions. You might have read my Personal Posts post where I left a link for you to ask questions anonymously.

Below are the questions I was asked, in the order I was asked. The answers, however, are very short on the written post. For the full (long) answers I invite you to watch the video or listen to the audio. The audio is also available as a podcast. Wherever you listen to podcasts just search for Pr.Marlon. I am on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and pretty much everywhere else.

What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)? - Journals, Bluetooth headphones (podcasts & audiobooks)

How has a failure or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favorite failure? - I lost a $4K scholarship during my first semester of college. Humbling experience. I’ll need a miracle to graduate. 

In the last five years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life? - drinking water first thing in the morning. Mobility exercises. Intentionally moving more throughout the day.

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise? I can’t think of any (I talk about it more in the audio/video)

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? - go for a walk, clean, work out, take a nap. 

You were hesitant to have kids. How do feel now? Did being a father come naturally or did you have to put in work? What's the biggest blessing your kids have brought so far? - I am glad to have kids. I tend to work at everything I do. I am still working on it. Father = new identity, new responsibility, weight of responsibility that motivates me to be a better version of myself. Keeps me from being selfish 

What do you feel your greatest achievement is? My family and my friends. Lifelong investments. 

Do you ever have conflict in your life? If so, how do you handle it? Relatively few conflicts. Open dialogue is my preferred way to handle conflict. Structured, honest, kind, generous dialogue. 

When you look back on your life, is there anything you would do differently? Anything you'd change? - more humility as a teen. 

What advice would you give to a person having to decide between different paths in life and navigating the big change that would follow? - do your homework. Journal. Make lists. Ask the opinion of people in those areas. As the opinion of those who know you well. Ask the opinion of those you admire and respect. Talk about it with someone you trust. 

How did you know you were meant to be in ministry? Did you ever think about switching to something else? - we are all meant to be in ministry. The tricky part is figuring out what kind of ministry you should engage in. I have thought about switching many times. But I do not feel called to do anything else. I want to do what God is calling me to do. I enjoy ministry and apparently, I am not terrible at it. Feedback is important to me. 

Is it possible to go into ministry and speak at church without having a degree in it? If so, what steps would you recommend taking to start? - you don’t need a degree. Prayerfully prepare and make yourself available. Start small, prayer meetings, vespers, smaller churches. Pray and God will lead you.

Are there any questions you would like to ask me? Feel free to leave them as a comment below or go to https://ngl.link/mrlnsfrt and ask them anonymously.

You can also find me on social media.

[musicinfooy]

Under the current “pro rata” model held true in Spotify and Apple, money from your dedicated fans goes into a giant pool that’s paid out to artists based on their share of total streams. This mostly benefits mega stars.

Spotify figures out how many streams came from a given country and then calculates the portion of those streams that went to specific artists. This causes smaller artists who might not have such a massive reach, but have a dedicated loyal audience, not getting much money because they share a smaller portion of the overall streams.

Effectively, if The Weeknd or Harry Styles gets 5% of all streams on Spotify in any given period they and their labels will get 10% of your monthly subscription fee, even if you never listened to any of their songs.

Rolling Stone reported in 2020, that the top 1 percent of streaming artists end up getting 90 percent of the revenue.

If you were to take the more than 1.6 million artists who released music to streaming services in the past year and a half and ranked them by their total streams, you’d find that the top 16,000 of those artists pulled in 90 percent of the streams. And it doesn’t take more than a basic grasp of math to realize that this leaves 1.6 million artists with just 10 percent of the streams.

FYI the current number of artists on Spotify has now grown to about 9 million, this means more share less.

This “pro rata” model typically benefits the major labels and the most popular artists. When you listen to music on the streaming services what do you hear on these platform generated playlists, radio stations and suggestions: More of the same top artists represented by the biggest labels. This has changed very little if at all over the last 3 years.

Obviously this is not acceptable. Not only from the view of the music creator, independent label and self-publisher but also from the fan’s’ point of view. It too sucks knowing that these superstars are taking money away from your choice artists.

Yet, I cannot feel too bad about using streaming services. The subscription fee is for using the service. No longer do I need to carry around all my CDs or be limited to the storage capacity in my device. And new releases are automatically available. But there must be a better way to focus user and fan activity and payments in a more meaningful way.

Lets see how the biggest record labels will get their fingers into the new payment models. We’ll take a look at the most recent deal with Universal and Deezer, as well as the first change in the “pro rata” model founded by Soundcloud and Warner.

Micropayments and Tips: A Better Way to Pay Your Artists

If only there was a way for a fan to pay directly to the artist. Wait, hold up there is. Though Netease and Tencent in China use the “pro rata” model, they calculate the accumulated streams of a given artist and pay out according to the type of user: free, subscribing, or VIP. So the pay per stream varies from user to user. Already there is a distinction between users. But even, is the possibility for the listeners and fans to give gifts directly to their artists.

Yet another advance in China that the western services are lacking and struggling to “catch up to”, if that is even a tangible consideration for the streaming services to implement?

Micropayments and digital tips are common in China. There are apps that allow people to tip or give monetary gifts. However, many platforms have this function built into their system as they do in the music platforms in China like QQ and Netease as well as Douyin and others. And you can always use a 3rd party app to send a gift to the ones you choose. How awesome would it be to go to Spotify or Deezer or Apple and leave your thoughts and show your love as comments to your artist as you listen to their music, as they do on Netease and QQ. And also showing your support by giving them a tip or virtual gift.

Moving Beyond Pro Rata

Universal has struck a deal with Deezer or is it vice versa? Deezer CEO Jeronimo Folgueira says that the deal is the “most ambitious change” to the economies of music streaming since it first started.

Focusing on artists who have a minimum of 1,000 streams per month with a minimum of 500 unique listeners will get a “double boost.” Is that 2x per stream?

They will get another “double boost” if the song was actively searched for by the user rather than suggested by the system or on a playlist. Is that 4x times per stream?

This Artist Centric streaming model is definitely a move forward. It seems though that the ones it benefits the most are the artists who are already taking the majority of the royalties. So any artist who has more than 1000 monthly streams and 500 different listeners will now be taking double of what they are already taking. Where is this coming from?

Denis Ladegaillerie of Believe, expressed his concerns that this 1000 streams/500 listener threshold will increase over time. Essentially squeezing out any upcoming artist with fewer than the threshold.

Jeronimo Folgueira of Deezer has addressed a very sore point in the streaming world, “There is no other industry where all content is valued the same, and it should be obvious to everyone that the sound of rain or a washing machine is not as valuable as a song from your favorite artist streamed in HiFi.”

Deezer is planning to replace non-artist noise content with its own content as functional music which won’t be included in the royalty pool. And of course tackling fraud by driving a better new and improved fraud detection system, making it less attractive to fraudsters and protecting the royalties.

So at least we can count on 2 things: Artists will receive a smaller payout if their songs play as part of an algorithmic playlist and will not need to compete with background noise tracks. Please remember this is only on Deezer. And how about all artists that are not part of Universal Music Group do they share pro rata of whatever is left over?

As of now Spotify is not on board, “We are willing to make the switch to a user-centric model if that’s what artists, songwriters, and rights holders want to do. However, Spotify cannot make this decision on its own; it requires broad industry alignment to implement this change. The research we’ve seen to date suggests that a shift to user-centric payments would not benefit artists as much as many may have originally hoped.”

Another possibility implemented by Tidal is their Direct-to-Artists payment model established in 2022. As a listener and subscriber your monthly fee will be allotted to a pool of royalties based on your subscription tier. As a premium HiFi plus subscriber it is estimated that 10% of your fee will go directly to your artists you listen to.

At the forefront we have Soundcloud and their Fan-powered royalty model since 2021. This is only available to independent artists who monetize directly with SoundCloud. The more time your dedicated fans listen to your music, the more you get paid. So a user paying $10 a month only listens to five artists, those five artists will get a split of that $10, after SoundCloud takes its cut, no matter how many times the user listens to each of them.

This model that seems to benefit independent artists is a collaboration with Warner Music Group, having cut a licensing deal with SoundCloud to adopt the streamer’s Fan-Powered Royalties system. WMG is the first major label to adopt the system, and its embrace of the model could signal a larger shift for the industry. Warner and independent artists are like oil and water, could there still be a light at the end of the tunnel for independent artists?

Conclusion

The structure of payments between streaming services and labels or independent artists are in need of change.

There is an inability to distinguish premium content, any stream over 30 seconds in length counts the same. This means that the music that has a higher value is not recognized.

An alternative is a more flexible artist-centric model that seeks to distribute payouts based on the value an artist creates and provides for the platform.

Fan-powered royalties means a subscriber’s subscription fee or advertising revenue will be shared among the artists they actually listen to, rather than going to a big pot and being split up among the platform’s most popular artists.

Streaming platforms have more pricing power than they have demonstrated in prior years as several major music streaming platforms have increased their prices on their standard services; however, the average revenue per user on paid streaming music services has fallen by 40% since 2016.

Apple Music and Spotify have essentially lowered the value of their catalogues by introducing family plans and smaller prices for bundled users, but maybe they are preparing for the next generation of users.

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[billsby23]

Freemium business model- Advantages and disadvantages

If you are in the SaaS industry, you might have heard about key gameplayers shifting to a freemium business model. The debate is whether the freemium business model is efficient for the SaaS industry not?

While many SaaS companies have achieved new levels of success by using the freemium model, some have also faced a steep downfall as this model proved to be inefficient for them. This article will discuss the freemium business model, including its advantages and disadvantages, to help you make your mind up whether to adopt a freemium model yourself.

What is a freemium model?

Freemium is a marketing technique, used by SaaS companies, where they offer their customers a free version of their product or service as well as their paid versions. With the freemium plan, users can engage with a feature lite version of the software without incurring any cost.

If they like the software and want access to premium features, they will then have to purchase these as part of a paid plan.

Some of the most prevalent examples of the freemium model in a SaaS company include Spotify, dropbox, PUBG and Google docs. With these services, the user can use the software's basic features without paying for it. There are then upgrades for using specific features which cannot be used for free, and result in the user having to pay to avail of such features.

Freemium models should not be mistaken as a demo or a trial for the product or service, because there is no end date. Users can take advantage of the free features limitlessly and are only required to pay once they need a feature that’s not included for free.

A software that lets you download but does not allow you to get its services until you pay and upgrade to the premium version is not a freemium model.

For example, if you are permitted to download software that is known for providing wallpapers or ringtones, but you cannot download those wallpapers or ringtones onto your device until you can get the premium, it is not freemium software.

On the other hand, if you can download an app and listen to the songs on it with the internet, but you cannot download those songs for offline listening unless you get the premium membership, it is a freemium model.

Sometimes start-ups exclusively offer freemium subscription models of their products to gather data on factors such as what features are used the most within the product, or just general customer feedback on how the product is to use.

After gathering an analyzing this data, they then make the whole product, or parts of it chargeable based on what the data told them was used the most or on any improvements they’ve made.

While upgrading to premium software membership comes with its own benefits, the freemium version also offers a lot to consumers without them ever having to pay a thing for it. This has made the popularity of the freemium model touch new heights and most SaaS companies are now making use of the freemium model.

Advantages of the freemium model

There are multiple benefits of the freemium model for SaaS companies. Some of them are mentioned below.

➔ No barrier to the usage

There is no limit or barrier to the amount of app usage by any user. So, for example, when a person uses Spotify without getting a premium membership, they can listen to unlimited songs for as long as they want with the help of the internet.

However, they have to experience advertisements and cannot download the songs, for which they are lured into getting the premium membership.

Similarly, apps like iCloud allow the data of the iPhone to be stored on them up to 5GB, after which if they want to store more data, they will have to get the premium membership.

Another appealing factor linked to this is that the apps appear as ‘free’ when the user downloads them, and customers always tend to go for the free app first rather than the one that costs them. This increases the likeability of the app and the popularity of its underlying SaaS company.

➔ User base

The popularity of apps that offer free services allow SaaS companies to acquire a more extensive user base. Once the users are acquainted with the app’s features, they tend to become future premium customers.

Even if you require them to upgrade to the paid version later, most users tend to stay with your services because those services have become a part of their life. This way, you can offer them free services in the beginning and later leverage the love they have developed for your brand for cross sales or upgrades.

➔ Better service and support

Customers who use the app for free might not be given access to the best customer service that’s on offer. This therefore might encourage them to buy the premium version to get a better level of support, such as the developer's requisite support.

This is usually the case when a person uses SaaS software for their business operations, as they need better and faster support so that their business operations are not effected for longer than they need to be.

For example, if a person is using WordPress, Grammarly, Google docs, et cetera for their work, they tend to prefer the premium version in order to get the best support and help in times of need, along with the exclusive features that can help their business grow.

➔ Better and effective customer acquisition

As mentioned above, every customer loves to go for the app or software that provides them good discounts or is entirely free to use. When your competitors charge for products and services that you can offer for free, it becomes irresistible for the customers not to use your services.

Later on, with the help of some analysis and tactics, you can increase your premium per conversion rate and get higher revenues from the same customers you acquired using the freemium model.

➔ Enhancing your brand value

If you are offering your services for free to someone, they will first be lured in by the term ‘free’. Later, you can ask them to pay you to continue using those services. If your brand is good enough and your product resides in the customers' hearts, they will continue using your services even if they have to start paying for it.

This will increase your brand value and show the world that people will continue using your services no matter the situation because your services and brand are the best in the market!

➔ More cost-effective for the company

When you offer freemium model plans to your customers, they do not expect a high level of service support and commitment from you because they’re using the product or service for free. They’re also happy to discover the ins and outs of the products themselves, without the need for costly demos or customer support.

This leads to cost-effectiveness for the company. It cuts down on the costs incurred by your developers or support team. For a premium customer, you can use the basic onboarding tactics and regular emails, and no exceptional service or higher costs will be required.

Disadvantages of the freemium model

While the freemium model is highly beneficial for some SaaS services, it’s not immune to negative repercussions. There are multiple disadvantages also attached to the freemium model, which we’ve listed for you below:

❖ It costs the SaaS company money to offer a freemium plan

While the user is not paying anything for using the product or service, the company still has to pay the incurred costs. These include the expenses utilized in building and maintaining the product, handling the customers' accounts, providing them with data storage and processing API calls.

While all these costs are being made, there is no guarantee that they will ever be retrieved from the customers. Only the customers that convert into premium members later will provide revenue to the company to cover these costs, while all others will just draw out, causing losses to the SaaS company. This unpredictable nature of the freemium model makes it risky for companies.

❖ Not all users want the premium features

Not all of your users will be tempted to take the premium membership to make use of the paid features. Only some customers that have a certain dedication to your brand, or need the features offered by your premium membership will be ready to take it.

The others will only learn to satisfy themselves with the free features and will never look up to your higher-value features. Therefore, they will continue using the free features and drop out of the company or look towards your competitor when the freemium model will be taken away from them.

If you find this frequently happens to you, it would be better to offer customers a free trial instead of a freemium model.

❖ Lower return on investments

Letting your customers use your services for free for a long time have a negative impact on the return you make on your investment. This is heightened when conversion rates are low, and the free population is much larger than the premium users.

Even if some of the users acquire the free membership, it is not always possible for the revenue generated by the premium users to cover the total investment, including the one made on the freemium model. This might result in losses for your SaaS company.

❖ Conversions are not easy

If you offer a service for free to your customers and after a few months you ask them to pay you for the same service, they will probably jump to another service which is offering the same features for free. Conversions are not easy in SaaS business, especially when there’s a lot of competition.

Also, it totally depends upon the overall worth of your product whether the customer is willing to pay for that or not. If not, you will lose customers as soon as you start demanding money from them.

Things to keep in mind before shifting to freemium model

If you’re a SaaS business trying to make a shift towards the freemium model, it’s important to consider the following -

➢The reason for offering the service for free- if you are offering free services to widen the customer base, you need to be prepared to meet the rising demand that comes with a larger customer base. You should carefully assess the reason why you are going to adopt the freemium model in the first place, for it to be implemented effectively.

➢ The level of benefits you can get- you need to ensure that you do not end up paying more than the revenue you’re generating already when shifting to the freemium model. Your costs incurred on support, guides, tutorials, data etc should not be more than what you earn through your freemium model or premium conversions.

➢ If you have a conversion plan ready or not - starting with freemium, a customer will upgrade to the premium version only if you attract them with lucrative features or essential services that will make them want to upgrade and pay for your services.

➢ Do you have a backup plan- you should formulate an additional pricing strategy in case your users do not convert. You can offer them add-ons or free trials to features not included within the freemium plan, which they cannot resist. You can do this by-

○ Partnering with advertisers so that they can make the customers want an advertisement-free subscription

○ Capture their information. This is worth a lot as it helps you understand how they’re using your product and service so you can charge for that

○ Sell information to the other vendors based on their usage patterns

○ Build a community of the customers

○ Up-selling them to buy the system.

Cases where freemium models work best

There are many cases where companies have adopted the freemium model and been successful in it. Some studies have even identified circumstances where freemium models work best. Some instances are mentioned below.

A. Your product or service is easy to use

B. With time, your product can get people hooked or to understand its value

C. Your company does not have to pay a lot to support free users

D. You have no problem using customer data and feedback

E. The premium membership of your product or service has an inevitable and undeniable benefit

F. You have other sources of revenue and income through your app or software.

With so much knowledge and information, including the advantages, disadvantages, potential risks and compelling factors, you can now decide whether your SaaS company is ready to experiment with the freemium model or not. Implementing the freemium model strategically can help you achieve significant revenues and a broader customer base.

But it can be hazardous for your business as well. It’s therefore essential to create a perfect implementing strategy, keeping in mind the risks involved, so that you can continue raising your revenue without going through a loss first.

Source- Freemium business model

[bensonproctor61]

Listen to podcasts offline, wherever you are.

There's no reason why you should stop listening to podcasts while travelling if you don't have a WiFi connection. There might be an data plan that restricts your data usage to 30MB per month. If you have a limited data allowance, it might be worth downloading your favorite podcast or video to your smartphone.

Download podcasts to your smartphone

The ability to download podcasts onto your phone lets you listen to your favorite audio content on the go. You will need to have an internet connection with a good connection to stream them. There is a chance that they can buffer. You have the option to download podcasts to your phone so you can listen offline. For listening to podcasts while on the move download any episode of a podcast using an official podcast application. Open the app, tap or swipe left to download the episode. To stream the episode downloaded offline, you must turn the app's WiFi off. Podcast apps allow you to record podcasts directly from your phone's microphone. They allow you to upload audio files from external sources, and listeners are able to leave messages on the podcast. Some podcast apps let friends record together. These apps can be excellent to discover new podcasts and get the chance to sample. You can find many popular podcast applications in the Google Play Store. Two of the most popular podcasting apps include Pocket Casts, and Spotify. Pocket Casts has more than one million podcasts, while Pocket Casts offers thousands. yt mp4 Both apps allow podcast downloads and uploads. Zen Mode is an ambient audio player.

Save Youtube video on your laptop

A premium member is required to download a YouTube video onto your computer. The premium club offers premium features such as downloading videos in a timely manner. You can also change the quality and size of the videos you are downloading. Before downloading videos from YouTube ensure that you review the Terms and Condition. If you're running Windows, you can easily download YouTube videos onto your laptop. The video will appear under the Library tab and under Account. You can also utilize VLC software to play offline. It is compatible with Windows computers and can play any video format such as mp3. Another option is to use an MP4 downloader. The MP4 Downloader is regularly updated and is extremely easy to utilize. A video downloader that's good will let you select the format and resolution. It can optimize downloads for smartphones. Some models support different video resolutions and game systems. You can also utilize the Turbo mode as well as built-in media player to speed up the download process. If you want to listen to podcasts while offline, you can download audio files. Based on your requirements The free media player can be used to download podcasts. VLC is a great option. It is able to play all videos and audio files and also stream radio stations online. mp4 video download It also comes with an audio library that automatically adjusts quality for slow Internet connections.

You can listen to the podcast as you commute to work.

Podcasts are available online, and there is no need to be connected. The genres of podcasts vary, from news to history and comedy, to science, sports, and technology. Plus, you can cut out the segments that you don't wish to hear and add episodes to your playlist. You're bound to find what you're looking for in the podcast. Listening to podcasts on your phone is the simplest way to do so. Nearly every smartphone has an option to listen to podcasts. It is also possible to download episodes from your preferred podcast site. These apps make it simple to enjoy podcasts from anywhere you are. These apps provide suggestions and help you discover new podcast content. You can also download an app for free from Google Play if you don't have money for. It's sleek and elegant interface and has access to millions of podcasts. The free version of the app does include advertisements, however you can upgrade to an upgrade to unlock features and expand your listening options. It also offers some amazing features , including the ability to search for episodes or podcasts. It also lets you create playlists you can share with others.

Once you've downloaded the podcast, your device can play it , and you can also listen offline. Bluetooth technology lets you easily connect your car to your smartphone. Be sure to set the correct sound settings before you start listening.

[podo44]

Learn how you can download any mp3 song free

How to download famous Bollywood songs

Streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music allow users to download songs for offline listening.

Users can also download songs from music downloading websites such as Saavn, Gaana, and Hungama.

Some Bollywood songs can also be found on file-sharing platforms such as torrents, but it is illegal to download copyrighted material from these websites.

Many artists and bands also release their music on their own websites, which can be downloaded directly from the site.

Which quality song is best for listening

The quality of a song that is best for listening depends on the listener's preference and listening equipment. For high-quality audio, a lossless audio format such as FLAC or ALAC is considered to be the best as it preserves all the audio information from the original recording. These files are typically large in size and may require more storage space on your device.

For a balance between sound quality and file size, an uncompressed audio format such as WAV or AIFF can be a good choice.

If file size is a concern and you're looking to save storage space on your device, a compressed audio format such as MP3 or AAC can be a good option. These formats use algorithms to remove certain parts of the audio that are considered to be inaudible to the human ear, resulting in smaller file sizes.

It's worth noting that some people might not be able to tell the difference between high-quality and lower-quality audio, and the quality of the audio can also depend on the listening equipment and environment.

India has a diverse and vibrant music scene, with many popular singers across various genres. Some of the most popular singers in India include:

Arijit Singh - A popular Bollywood playback singer known for his soulful voice and romantic ballads.

Lata Mangeshkar - Often referred to as the "Nightingale of India," Lata Mangeshkar is a legendary Indian playback singer with a career spanning several decades.

Sonu Nigam - A popular playback singer known for his versatile voice and his ability to sing in multiple languages including Hindi, Bengali, and Kannada.

Kishore Kumar - He was a Indian playback singer and actor, He was popular for his comic roles in Bollywood films, as well as his playbacks singing in the Indian film industry.

Shreya Ghoshal - A popular Bollywood playback singer known for her melodious voice and her ability to sing in multiple languages, including Hindi, Bengali, and Tamil.

A. R. Rahman - A popular Indian music composer, singer-songwriter, and music producer. He is known for his work in Indian film music and for his world music.

Neha Kakkar - A popular Bollywood playback singer known for her energetic performances and her ability to sing in multiple languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, and Haryanvi.

Mukesh - An Indian playback singer who was one of the most popular and acclaimed singers of the Hindi film industry.

Alka Yagnik - A popular Bollywood playback singer known for her melodious voice and her ability to sing in multiple languages, including Hindi, Bengali, and Gujarati.

K. J. Yesudas - An Indian playback singer and classical musician who has recorded more than 50,000 songs in a career spanning over five decades.

These are just a few examples, there are many more talented singers in India.

If you want to linstend free song of the famous singers of  Bollywood then the best site for  you is pagalworld .the best place to download HD Indian videos online for free. Hindi songs, bollywood songs, mp4 video, 1080p 720p HD video songs, ringtones are available for free download. Download mp3songi app now for android iPhone iOS devices to get access to unlimited indian songs 2020 tamil songs 2018 2019 latest hot new releases.

It is important to note that downloading copyrighted material without permission is illegal in most countries, so it's always best to purchase music from legitimate sources.

[aclomo]

Android music icedrive

ANDROID MUSIC ICEDRIVE UPGRADE

ANDROID MUSIC ICEDRIVE SOFTWARE

ANDROID MUSIC ICEDRIVE MAC

ANDROID MUSIC ICEDRIVE WINDOWS

But believe it or not, some of us still like to keep our own list of music safely stored on our hard drive.

ANDROID MUSIC ICEDRIVE SOFTWARE

Either we listen to music through YouTube or we play it directly from some software like Spotify. They are definitely a check as the cloud storage for students due to their low cost and varies of plans.It almost seems like the days of storing music on your hard drives are over. It’s too early to tell, but they have to start somewhere somehow isn’t it. Not only that, but Icedrive is also proving to be trustworthy as security and excellent encryption forms are extremely important when it comes to our data protection.Ībove all, Icedrive is determined to keep your data safe, secure, and accessible at any moment, any time for the foreseeable future.Ĭan Icedrive put up a good fight against other prominent cloud storage like pCloud or ?

ANDROID MUSIC ICEDRIVE UPGRADE

You can definitely try their free plan at first, and if you do like it, you can upgrade your plan to Icedrive Lite Plan, which is $19.99 for a one-year subscription ($1.67 per month). Though it is new to the market, we’ve seen no reasons why you shouldn’t check Icedrive out. To conclude, Icedrive is definitely a better choice when it comes to pricing. With their comparable cheaper prices, it’s worth trying Icedrive. The company is still very young, and they certainly are a rising star.

ANDROID MUSIC ICEDRIVE MAC

If you are an Apple user, you might miss out on this cloud storage for your Mac in the early stage, but not anymore. They had also released the iOS and Mac versions as of late 2019.

ANDROID MUSIC ICEDRIVE WINDOWS

If you are interested, here’s a list of cloud storage for Windows that we’ve compiled. The only downfall is that the application is only available via Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1 & Windows 10. The software application is one of the coolest cloud storage apps to hit the scene as it instantly backup your documents, photos, and videos.ĭata available on Icedrive storage will be synced with mobile applications and websites at the same time as other cloud storage. All the data and files added using the software application will be automatically synced to the cloud server, which is an astonishing advantage for convenience.Īnd the data can be accessed from the website and the mobile apps instantly once the software application is installed. Therefore, this gives you the feel and easy to upload, edit, open, and delete your data. Icedrive’s software application was designed to provide drive-based access in which the storage will “mount on the system like an external hard drive”. Icedrive Applications 1) Software application We won’t have had heard of Icedrive if not to a user that suggested them to us. Icedrive is a cloud storage service product from ID Cloud Services Ltd in GB. You won’t find much information on them except that we know they are from the UK and they had just launched their service back in January 2019. “The main feature of Icedrive is that they offer 10GB of space with the Twofish encryption algorithm.” Many have said that Icedrive provides similar features to pCloud. Now, back to our Icedrive review here, is the latest addition in the cloud storage market. So there will be no steep learning curve in this Icedrive review here as well. It’s never too late to have an addition or expansion after you had tried them out.Īfter all, their features are unique but at the same time are quite similar compared to all other cloud storage services. There are countless cloud storage services out there, and even though premium packages usually cost a bit, most services offer free packages as well, which might be just enough in terms of space provided.īut usually, the free services are traded with your privacy and security. It is what that appeal to most people these days. Don’t get too hyped up.Ĭloud storage is growing in value and popularity for people to save files online.