Category: Internet

THE APPEAL OF INTERNET RADIO

Something about live radio really intrigues me. That you can turn something on and speak, and people could hear it, but you don’t really have numbers or metrics to see who’s tuning in. Not like YouTube and Twitch streams, you know?

With Macrowave you can do that straight from your Mac, and anyone with a web browser can listen in.

I messed around with Blast Radio years ago, streaming from Abelton Live, and people could listen via the app. Afterwards you could download your “show,” and I pieced them together into a HUNTERTHEN album.

POST EARLY, PLEASE

Chelsea Bradley from ‘Your Content is Killing Your Brand‘

“When should it be posted? If the event is tomorrow, the answer is not tonight. Most people won’t see it until two days from now – it’s too late. Like when restaurants post their daily specials at 6 pm – great, hope your dinner service was wonderful. I saw it at noon the next day, and it means nothing to me now, I wish I had known about it sooner so I could plan.”

WHERE TO NEXT?

I’ve been thinking about how we get away from social media, or spending less time on our phones, and I think it’s less about dumb phones or apps and more about people.

As Priya Parker has said recently it’s less about “self-help” and more about “group-help.”

Social media has isolated us so much that we thinking breaking free is a solo endeavor, when I think it’s more of a group effort, with the support of other people (I host three Zoom groups per week, ask me about ‘em).

Getting away from social media isn’t just quitting, it’s about starting something else, or a return what came before.

So, where to next?

LET PEOPLE FIND YOUR WEBSITE

If we can agree that we’re posting into the void on social media, why not just post on our own sites “into the void?”

I recently suggested a client add a blog to their website, and they sent me this:

“Literally within one week (of adding the blog) this led to an invitation to give a talk (you know the old-fashioned way, you introduce yourself to someone cool, they look you up, find your website and boom).”

If someone looks you up, and you’re on a social media platform and they don’t have an account, it’s very hard (or sometimes impossible) for them to see your work.

But every smart phone ships with a web browser. No one needs to have an account to view your website on the wide open internet.

When adding to your own website, you’re not posting into the void, you’re building an online archive.

IMPRESS HUMANS, NOT ALGORITHMS

“We work to impress algorithms in hopes they’ll share our stuff, when we should be working to impress our readers so they’ll share it with other humans.”

I could talk about this all day (oh wait, I already do), but for real.

A performer on stage doesn’t seek out new listeners during the show, they must focus on the people right there in front of them. If they do a good job, perhaps they’ll talk to a few people afterwards, and get them to join their email list.

Hopefully the next time you play in the area, they bring a friend.

If you impress the people right there in front of you, the dream outcome is them telling a friend. Posting about you. Sharing your work with others. Telling their friend who writes for a publication, or runs a radio show.

Everything starts from within. Make sure you’re making the work you wanna make. Then, share it with friends. Play in front of 12 people on a Tuesday night. Write that blog post that will only get 5 “views.”

Then do it again tomorrow.

MY MINIMAL DJ BROWSER APP WITH MIDI CONTROL

Modern DJ software is bloated, and way too much for what I need, so I built this minimal DJ web app with Google’s Gemini + ChatGPT. It’s an HTML page that I load locally into Google Chrome with keyboard and midi controls.

I need this to make mixes of my HUNTERTHEN music, available to those who buy the full albums on Bandcamp. I make “soundscapes for your interplanetary commute,” which will either lull you to sleep or help you get your work done.

Next on my shopping list is something like this, the GRID3 PBF4 4-Button + Pot + Fader MIDI Controller. I really only need two sliders, but having four will be nice, and the extra buttons can be mapped to start / stop each track.