Six Noises: 2018
There'll be a few changes occurring at Six Noises in 2018. First, I'm going to be publishing more articles and sharing more music. In the past, I've edited and re-edited everything I've published to a ridiculous degree. But I'm taking a far less pedantic approach this year. That means a few more grammatical errors might creep in – but fuck it. That's punk rock, innit.
Secondly, I'm killing Six Noises' Facebook page – which is the blog's prime means of promotion. I'm doing that because Facebook is a waste of space. Every time I post anything on Six Noises' Facebook page I get a message informing me that I should really think about paying to promote that post – if I'd like to exceed 14 views.
So, again, fuck it. Facebook sucks. But social media, in general, also fries my neurons. I see plenty of bands indulging in witty online banter and coming up with ceaselessly cleverclogs memes. But I also see a lot more bands indulging in relentless promotion that's essentially fucking desperate, and kind of fucking gross too.
Basically, I’d need to indulge in exactly that kind of behaviour to keep Six Noises visible in most people's social media feeds. But that ain't me.
I want to keep things humble, underground, and DIY. I'd always imagined Six Noises as an online zine. But, over the years, things got more complicated. Well, this year, I'm aiming to uncomplicate things.
I'm aware that my ideals are prehistoric. I also realise it’s not social media per se that's the problem. (That said, social media certainly sets solipsism front and centre.) Things just change over time. As they should. But one thing that's never changed, for me, is my undying hatred of self-promotion.
I fucking loathe self-promotion. It just sticks in my craw. But any whip-smart writer (or top gun 'content generator') knows that running a successful music blog requires a lot of shrewd, multi-platform marketing.
You have to astutely manage your online persona/brand while tantalising and cultivating the right audience.
Thing is, though, I don't care about any of that. I'd rather spend my time listening to Assück than worrying about analytics.
Obviously, some music blogs do a great job of promoting themselves with a finely tuned sense of self-awareness. (And I like reading those blogs.) But plenty of others seem locked in a frenzied, back-stabbing battle. I'm not interested in joining that piss-fight. And I'm heading deeper underground to avoid both the hustle and the tussles.
Obviously, there'll be consequences for killing off Six Noises' Facebook page. The blog will likely slip further into obscurity. But that's fine. I like haunting the shadows.
Originally, Six Noises didn't have any kind of social media presence. But it still grabbed an audience. Maybe that'll continue. Maybe it won't. Let's find out!
Sharing Six Noises posts will now be down to you and the bands I write about. But if that sounds like I'm passing the promotional buck, I'm really not.
If you don't want to share Six Noises' posts, I've got no problem with that. I just hope you enjoyed what you read. That's my prime goal.
If you do decide to share a post, I'll obviously be thrilled. Lots of the bands I like have no real online profile aside from being shared about by a DIY network. I hope Six Noises maintains its visibility via that method too. But if the blog's readership does end up dropping to critically low numbers, I honestly don't give a fuck.
I'll keep on keeping on, whatever happens. I like to write about the music that matters to me. I like to support the noisy bands that I believe in. And none of that's going to change in 2018.
I hope you'll continue to support Six Noises this year. But if Six Noises disappearing from social media means you'll be disappearing too, then thanks for stopping by. I appreciated it, mate.
I'll see ya round, comrades.
You can't miss me; I'll be the old guy packing the noise.
