APPLE EATS ITSELF

Jon Gruber, on the recent news that Apple is demanding a 30% cut of fan payments in the Patreon app (read about it here):

“How do you put a price on the number of Patreon iOS users — who are all, by definition, Apple customers — whose view of Apple will shift from “Apple is a company that supports small indie creators and artists” to “Apple is a company that uses its position of power to extract exorbitant rent from small indie creators and artists” because of this change?

I’ve been a Mac user since 2003, so that’s 20 years. I had an iBook laptop, and marveled that I could take it to a Borders book store and surf the web.

I had a U2 iPod, and bought songs via iTunes.

If I remember correctly, I stood in line for a 3G iPhone at the Apple Store on 5th Ave.

I bought several more Apple laptops – at least five or six, and now own a M3 MacBook Pro which I love.

Apple’s “services” category (stuff like Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Care) reached $24.2 billion last quarter. Not year, but it took just three months for Apple to make just over $24,000,000,000 on digital goods.

And now, well, they need more. Like I said, growth is cancer. There must always be more money to squeeze, and now they’re going after the somewhat beloved Patreon.

This only applies to new subscriptions in the iOS app, so at least for now, direct your fans to sign up on the web.

As Derek Sivers wrote in ‘Use the Internet, Not Companies,’

“It’s so important and easy to have your own website. Instead of sending your fans to some company’s site, send them to yours. Get everyone’s direct contact information, so you don’t have to go through any one company to reach them.”

It was true seven years ago, it’s even more true today.

HUMANE IS MULLET MARKETING

Maybe you remember the Humane Pin rollout, and how it got trashed. I was reminded of this from a new post from The Verge, saying “Humane’s daily returns are outpacing sales.”

That seems bad.

It was released April 11th. Marques Brownlee put out his review a few days later (April 14, 2024).

Surely by now Humane has probably improved things, right?

I went to the website, to investigate.

Aside from some special offer banner (where you still need to shell out $700), there’s a video in the upper left corner.

Holy shit, the video is from March 17th. That’s BEFORE the pin came out. Before the bad reviews.

So then I reluctantly look on Twitter, and of course there it is, the full circle of Mullet Marketing.

Rather than put this full list of updates and new features on their actual website, they put it on social media.

Look, if you’re a business and all that, sure, put stuff on social media. But why neglect your website? Why not put this list of features in a place you control, just 200 pixels away an ORDER button.

Bethany has uploaded multiple videos on Twitter since the release, like this:

Not one bit of this “social evidence” on their own website, though.

Believe it or not, not everyone is even on Twitter. Not everyone would think to look up the co-founder and CEO of the company on Twitter.

This is classic Mullet Marketing; putting your most up to date information, details, features on social media (party in the back), then feature a months-old video on your website (business in the front).

All it takes is a blog or “UPDATES” section on a website… take these videos, copy and paste the text, and boom, it’s on the wide open web for anyone with a web browser to find, watch, and maybe even BUY your product.

GROWTH IS CANCER

We always need more here in America:

“For some reason, the American mindset is endless growth. Everything must get bigger, everything must get better, and more, more, more, how do you like it, how do you like it. But the truth of the matter is, nothing natural undergoes infinite growth, other than some cancers.”

Like I started thinking about in 2008 and 2009, when running a music blog for AOL Music, “it’s like driving full speed up a mountain that doesn’t end, with two bosses in the back seat telling you to go faster.”

Growth or else. Cut writers, cut budget, but keep growing at 10% month after month. Be it traffic, or subscribers, or units sold, if you’re not growing, you’re dying.

MORNING LIGHT

Photo by Seth Werkheiser

There are so many distractions, so many shiny objects to chase. A splash of inspiration came way this morning, but had a good grounding call this afternoon to set me straight, a reminder to stay true to my own mission and style.

BLOGS DIDN’T DIE

Most people would just rather log into one app and be spoon-fed “content” every day than be responsible for searching for, finding, and discovering new things to read and enjoy on the internet.

Social media made everyone think that there needs to be one channel, one source for everything. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are like the big three channels our parents had growing up. Like, “Welp, that’s it! That’s all the choices we have!”

But it’s not.

All this talk about discovery. Are you kidding? If you’re on social media, go find that one fascinating character. Now, see who they follow.

There – you now have 600-2000 people to dig through and find some interesting people doing cool things.

Yes, I subscribe to 322 newsletters via Substack. You can find a list of them here.

Discovery? It’ll take you days to sift through all those.

We used to discover bands from the thanks lists on cassettes and CDs, from the shirts that artists wore in their music videos, or from the ones they brought with them on tour.

There is a whole world of discovery out there that we’re missing because we’re letting social media algorithms dictate what’s most interesting.

We’re all anti-A.I. but we sure seem fine with computers influencing our taste.

START OVER

Photo by Seth Werkheiser

If an unpaid intern could write it, start over.

There are things can could be written by someone else on your behalf – announcing a new product, an upcoming tour, a fancy new something or other.

Lay out the facts. The dates. The logistics. “I’m really excited about this,” you say – gee, really?! Tell me more 😕

There’s enough safe, boring, dry text out there. Throwing chatGPT into the mix makes it even less spicy.

Your creativity is your magic. But please, don’t stop using it when it’s time to talk about the things you’re doing.

I wrote about this in ‘Find social media success by occasionally riding a horse,’ where I say:

“If all you can muster is “I updated my site,” lower your expectations. The algorithms are cruel, but it’s nothing personal. Is this fair or kind? No. But playing this game is a choice, and hardly anybody wins.”

STOP BUILDING ACCOUNTS

Jamie R Cox with a reality check:

“If you only exist in the minds of your consumers as an Instagram handle, you haven’t built a brand. You’ve built an account.”

When I had an Instagram, I may have followed a lot of runners, but once I deleted my account, those runners were gone.

Same with the bands, artists, designers, and photographers I followed.

Hardly anyone pushed me off the app and into their own world – their own website, email list, nothing.

One runner I’ve followed for years – they recently ran the Western States 100 mile ultramarathon. Since I wasn’t on Instagram, I went to their website, which was just a bunch of products for sale. A lot of static bits and pieces.

But oh – they had an email list sign up! I entered my info, and got an email a few seconds later, telling me I was already on the list.

Ooops – I had been on their list for well over a year, and didn’t even remember. I definitely didn’t get anything regarding this big upcoming race, but when I clicked over to the web-version of their Instagram account – woo! There were like a thousand new photos and videos and long captions and stories and reels…

All of which could easily ported to their own website.

I get it – you can’t be everywhere, but… once a fan leaves one of those platforms, what are they left with?

The web is ubiquitous, and so is email. Every smartphone ships with a web browser and an email app.

But if all you have is an Instagram account – I mean, nevermind the weirdos like me who aren’t on social media anymore. There’s people who don’t use Instagram, but will spend hours on TikTok, you know? Or Threads, or Facebook(?!).

It’s time to stop letting our websites be the most boring, out of date corner of your online world. Post photos, stories, rants, memes… stop giving your best material away to platforms that limit your reach, and keep you locked into their universe.

EIGHT YEARS OF RUNNING

I can’t believe I started running when I was 40 years old, and now I’m 48. Where does the time go? It was 8 years ago today that I started on this adventure.

After a slow and easy winter, I got back to running in April.

Knowing I’d be slow, running on flat ground didn’t sound appealing, so I went for the hills.

Being out of breath and slow just ain’t a fun time. That’s why I started seeking hills to climb, knowing that I’d be slow, but at least I was climbing a mountain, you know?

I always remember the old running adage, “Hills are speedwork in disguise.” I wasn’t looking for speed; I was looking for strength and fitness. Every step up a hill was a single leg press, and every step down was a forward lunge.

Since starting on April 19th I’m down 12.5lbs, and I am definitely stronger and fitter. I’ve put in 75 hours on mostly trails, covered 283 miles, and climbed 36,800′ in elevation (about 7 miles).

Mind you, I’m mostly power hiking the hills, but you gotta walk before you can run. And when I do run, I’m finally able to nail a 12 minute mile pace, which is definitely an improvement from a few months ago when I’d run 14-15 minute miles. A few more months, I’m sure I’ll be able to hit a 10:30 minute mile pace.

The fun part has been how good it’s felt, which is why I keep doing it. It feels good going up a “mountain,” you know? I’ve gone up a trail called Leg Destroyer a few times. Some runs I’ve climbed 1,400′.

It’s been fun getting back in the flow, building up a base again, and making every run an adventure. I might not be doing epic 100 mile challenges just yet, but like I said earlier, gotta walk before you can run.

YOUR ART NEEDS MORE OF YOUR ART

I believe a few things in my line of work:

Let people know what you’re doing.

By this, I mean when you have a new song, exhibit, drawing, or idea, you should share it with your audience or your fans.

Like Rick Rubin says, “make stuff, and show it to your friends.”

Let people know what you’re doing in a way that is as creative as the work itself.

Established artists can send out a flyer with a BUY NOW button because they have the luxury of being established artists.

Radiohead and Beyonce can drop a surprise album because they’re Radiohead and Beyonce.

You’re not Radiohead or Beyonce.

Posting “here’s my new thing” and a link gets lost in the river of content, because everyone posts “here’s my new thing” every hour of the day, week after week, year after year.

“Meritocracy is a myth,” says Delon Om. “I always believed that my art would speak for itself- that its merit would earn recognition and validation. Unfortunately, I have learned that is not the case.”

It’s never been easier to distribute your work and get it seen by a million people by lunchtime, but because everyone can do that, it’s also never been harder.

This video from Noah Kalina documents how he captured a photo and made it into a print, which sold out in a few hours. To my knowledge, he only mentioned this offering in his video, which “only” got about 900 views in a month, but his work doesn’t just speak for itself. His work is the work, and his art is the art. It’s all Noah Kalina.

He didn’t just post “new print for sale” on his Instagram Threads and call it a day.

He spent many hours making that art and told his friends about it in a 100% Noah Kalina way.

Bobby Hundreds doesn’t need to write 500+ word newsletters, he’s Bobby Hundreds! He could easily get away with posting his random thoughts and links to new endeavors. But I imagine someone like Bobby has so much creativity coursing through his veins that he’s compelled to share more about the big things he’s doing.

QUESTION: How can your creative spirit inform how you tell your friends about your work?