Have you ever seen a chart of traffic at a Christmas music website? I ask because it's as funny as it is predictable. More and more people come to the website more and more often leading up to Christmas. It builds and builds and builds. And then, Christmas day, it's like the balloon pops and the number of people visiting just drops off a cliff. I think it's funny. But to be expected.
Point is that I should have said this sooner, when folks were actually here. But I didn't want to spoil Christmas, nor do I want to be the first bad thing in the new year. I'll move this back to the top after New Years and you'd have to assume it'll get read eventually.
I know I've said this before, but I'm closing up shop here at Stubbys. This time, it's for real. I mentioned yesterday that I was clearly running on fumes much of the season and those fumes ran out before Christmas day. I'm old, I'm tired, my health is not great, and I honestly believe another year of this would put me in the ground. I don't sleep right and I don't eat right. I've been living the last month and a half on frozen pizza and 5-hour energy. People say, "Well, just do less. You don't have to feed the beast every day." I only know one way to do things and that's to dive in with both feet and drown before I cry uncle. Aside from that, my eyesight has gotten really bad. I can't hardly see the letters on the keyboard anymore (you may have noticed the many many typos that I miss even after extensive proof-reading. The technology has passed me by. It's all tablets and smart phones now. And the music industry, including the way it operates on-line, has changed completely in just the few years we've been doing this. As one example, I had all the distributors bookmarked because I'd get early notice of releases that way, but they're all gone now (well, pretty much all); they went belly-up. Forum web sites--same thing for different reasons. I used to get a lot of leads from Absolute Punk, for example, but it's been dead since they became Chorus.fm. I'm an old dog who can neither learn nor afford new tricks.
Although the site never became what I wanted it to be, I think we managed to do some good work along the way. I hope that we've done some good for both artists and collectors. Maybe we've even done some good for the general category of "Christmas music". Made some friends along the way and discovered some artists I will continue to follow until I cantz foller them no more. And I'm not the only one hanging them up. The Alternative Julekalandar announced that they are done, after a decade. And Kissing Party, our friends from Colorado, are also moving on from the Christmas music.
The site, as incompatible as it may be with the new media, will likely stay up. It's a free host afterall. The first thing that goes will be the PO Box, which expires in April. The domain is paid up through October, I believe. I'll try to post the non-domain URL before the domain expires. You know, not that it matters, really. And, who knows, there might be a thing or two I might still do. Maybe I'll feel like doing The List or that Hanukkah page I was always threatening. But don't hold your breath and, as a going and timely source of information, I'm toast.
Hopefully, our Festive Friends will continue onward. Christmas A-Go-Go, Christmas Underground, Lie In The Sound and Mistletunes (to name a few) all do a hell of a job. And I'm sure that new Christmas music sites will appear.
I want to thank you for spending some time with us over the years, for your support and your very very kind words. It's been an interesting journey.
Still gotta finish up the 8 Nights of Hanukkah and New Year's. And the Stubby's House collection stays up through January 6. But, after that, it's peace out, and....
Point is that I should have said this sooner, when folks were actually here. But I didn't want to spoil Christmas, nor do I want to be the first bad thing in the new year. I'll move this back to the top after New Years and you'd have to assume it'll get read eventually.
I know I've said this before, but I'm closing up shop here at Stubbys. This time, it's for real. I mentioned yesterday that I was clearly running on fumes much of the season and those fumes ran out before Christmas day. I'm old, I'm tired, my health is not great, and I honestly believe another year of this would put me in the ground. I don't sleep right and I don't eat right. I've been living the last month and a half on frozen pizza and 5-hour energy. People say, "Well, just do less. You don't have to feed the beast every day." I only know one way to do things and that's to dive in with both feet and drown before I cry uncle. Aside from that, my eyesight has gotten really bad. I can't hardly see the letters on the keyboard anymore (you may have noticed the many many typos that I miss even after extensive proof-reading. The technology has passed me by. It's all tablets and smart phones now. And the music industry, including the way it operates on-line, has changed completely in just the few years we've been doing this. As one example, I had all the distributors bookmarked because I'd get early notice of releases that way, but they're all gone now (well, pretty much all); they went belly-up. Forum web sites--same thing for different reasons. I used to get a lot of leads from Absolute Punk, for example, but it's been dead since they became Chorus.fm. I'm an old dog who can neither learn nor afford new tricks.
Although the site never became what I wanted it to be, I think we managed to do some good work along the way. I hope that we've done some good for both artists and collectors. Maybe we've even done some good for the general category of "Christmas music". Made some friends along the way and discovered some artists I will continue to follow until I cantz foller them no more. And I'm not the only one hanging them up. The Alternative Julekalandar announced that they are done, after a decade. And Kissing Party, our friends from Colorado, are also moving on from the Christmas music.
The site, as incompatible as it may be with the new media, will likely stay up. It's a free host afterall. The first thing that goes will be the PO Box, which expires in April. The domain is paid up through October, I believe. I'll try to post the non-domain URL before the domain expires. You know, not that it matters, really. And, who knows, there might be a thing or two I might still do. Maybe I'll feel like doing The List or that Hanukkah page I was always threatening. But don't hold your breath and, as a going and timely source of information, I'm toast.
Hopefully, our Festive Friends will continue onward. Christmas A-Go-Go, Christmas Underground, Lie In The Sound and Mistletunes (to name a few) all do a hell of a job. And I'm sure that new Christmas music sites will appear.
I want to thank you for spending some time with us over the years, for your support and your very very kind words. It's been an interesting journey.
Still gotta finish up the 8 Nights of Hanukkah and New Year's. And the Stubby's House collection stays up through January 6. But, after that, it's peace out, and....
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