10.14.2009

10,000 hits... my thoughts on blogging.

I started this blog about a year and a half ago and I've finally reached 10k hits with about 9950 visitors. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I've come to find out that we bloggers (depending on our content) walk a fine line between overexposure and underexposure. Naturally, people want as much as they can possibly get and for free. Right now, I'm at the point where I feel like I've given almost all I have to offer without doing a complete disservice to the vinyl community. On the other hand, I'm completely aloof when it comes to the library community.

I didn't have any set goals other than growing the Xihong Library, but how do I measure that? I haven't found a single new Shaw Bros track since my last update. I think as long as it reaches the people who are in search of it, I did my job. It's going to be interesting to see what happens when I decide not to renew my rapidshare account. One thing that I think crosses every blogger's mind is whether or not they are still in their prime... whether they're still relevant. "If I don't make as many posts, how soon will I be forgotten?" I think the beauty of blogging is that our bodies of posts are snapshots in time.

From my understanding, the particular music I was looking for was more available via P2P, auctions, and online stores at one point. That time has come and gone. I didn't find out about it until it was too late, but some of the remnants can be found in different corners of the internet. Ultimately, it may be some years down the line when someone will look back and my compilations will be sought after. "2008... 2009 oh yeah I remember those were some good years for library."

5 comments:

Mike said...

Sure, soundtrack (library) music is great, as is soul/funk, but there's undeniably a lot more great stuff out there. You need to expand your horizons a little if you want to expand your blog conversely.

Of course your work is appreciated greatly by myself and others. If you've made up your mind that you've fulfilled what you wanted to achieve then there's not much else to say except thanks for everything.

Hrangue said...

I have discovered a couple of genres that I'm into (lounge and brazilian samba rock) it'll take some time before I'm actually knowledgeable about them.

I think the best measure is whether I still enjoy making compilations which I certainly do. It's just that they take longer to make because I've used most of my top shelf stuff. It becomes more of a challenge to keep it consistent. I would hate to post a watered down mix.

We'll see... Underscoreology No2 is getting there and I'm going to do one more vocal comp.

Mike said...

Heh, how's that for coincidence? I'm very knowledgeable about Brazilian music, though perhaps not as much rock as samba/bossa nova/MPB. I don't know quite as much about lounge but there's a plethora of lounge music out there which is relatively easy to come by. Besides, a lot of Brazilian music is, essentially, jazz with afro-brazilian rhythmic permutations.

If you ever want a heads-up let me know. I'd be glad to share stuff with you. No need to trade; you've given more than enough.

P.S. Underscorology No.2 sounds good.

dom said...

as long as you enjoy what you're doing, nothing else matters. it's natural that the blog might end because you've run out of music to share or you grow tired of it.
i wouldn't allow the number of visitors to influence you, just do whatever you think.
people should respect your decision & thank you for your efforts.
unfortunately, with blogs being removed & files being deleted, online sharing is by its nature transient.

Hrangue said...

Mike, feel free to shoot me an email Hrangue@gmail.com

@Dom

I'm not as fanatical as I was a couple of years ago in part because I have too much music now. It's hard to keep track of it. I don't spend as much time researching (I actually used to follow up on EVERYTHING I liked until results turned to gibberish) but I just don't have the time now.