When I Don't Hear A Single initially progressed, I became noted as a Power Pop writer. I never really thought of myself as that.my tastes are fare more all encompassing, but looking back over those first year posts, I probably was. IDHAS was a reaction against the opinions of music fans of a similar age. All new music was supposedly rubbish and I set out to prove them wrong.
It was more than a coincidence that supposed Power Pop Artists were great examples of new music that was melodic and welcoming. I'd have to say that the vast majority of musicians that I come into contact with are great and appreciative of anyone who helps, writes or talks about them. The majority of writers are too, although some do talk about themselves far more than the artist they are covering and others are so obsessed with a certain artist that every review warrants a mention for the said artist.
I Don't Hear A Single has evolved and I suppose it centres now around Guitar Pop Rock. As mentioned earlier, my influences are varied and Psych and Prog slip in. But I'm proud that there is a loyal following and those that don't like those genres, just move on to the next post in a wonderfully tolerant way. Google Analytics brings a lot of new followers, some stay, some don't, but all remain just as tolerant.
Power Pop used to have a lot of great writers, there are far fewer now. Maybe people just got tired of the lack of recognition or tired of the genre. Talking to an old friend, during the week, about how IDHAS has progressed, he asked me if I got bothered about the lack of comments on the Blog itself. I replied that I'd never aimed for that. I always wanted the interest to be on Social Media, because that was the quickest way of spreading the word.
A great part of that interest came from Facebook Groups, particularly Power Pop and that is where the problems for Power Pop grew. As I left another Power Pop Group this week due to the same intolerance from supposed fans, I realised how few I am a member of or contribute to now. The arguments over what is and isn't Power Pop are largely killing the scene. There is little talk of new bands, because all those who mention them have been driven away. There are exceptions, like Power Pop Overdose, but few.
So it is the same bands and artists who are constantly mentioned. I never expected a post about a new band to get more attention than an established band. Raspberries, Badfinger, Big Star will always be clickbait. But I did expect tolerance and people to either move on or at best listen to the band. Instead there is just largely grief about how they are no Badfinger or The Knack. Power Pop is eating itself to the point that people are moving away or don't want to be associated with it. Heaven help anyone who posts a potential Power Pop song by an artist who "isn't" Power Pop.
The argument about what is and isn't Power Pop is laughed at by those who matter. But those who take it seriously and treat "winning" an argument as a badge of honour should be left to their list compiling. Facebook is crying out for a group that covers the new and under appreciated, but no obe ever wants to run these things.
I'd also add that I Don't Hear A Single isn't really driven by Social Media any more. I adopted Google Analytics, despite the mind numbing boredom of it, to encourage older IDHAS posts to be found and read. Blogger is great, but it isn't good at reaching people beyond the front page and the most Popular Posts of the month stage. I am no slave to Analytics. I only look at the end of month report.
When I started to use it, Social media provided I Don't Hear A Single with 75% of the hits. That has gone down month by month to the current 25%. So over three quarters of the traffic in one of the Blog's most successful months did not come from Social Media. That may be because I am far better at targeting IDHAS or it may be that people have become more and more fed up at the "shouting at the moon" behaviour on Facebook in particular. I suspect the latter.
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