20. JULY 2024 RECAP
Originally published July 30th, 2024
I am so thrilled to be writing this article. This first of (hopefully) many monthly recaps to come from the launch of this blog. Suffice it to say, “Fifteen Minutes of Fame” is off to a great start! I have had so much fun getting to know so many incredible independent artists on a global scale and I look forward to expanding on that in the months to come.
In the month of July, the inaugural month of the “Fifteen Minutes of Fame” blog, there were a very sweet SIXTEEN reviews! That encompasses four album (LP) reviews, three EP reviews, and Nine Single reviews. In the states, these reviews consisted of artists spanning from seven states: California, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, and Tennessee. We also hit international soil with reviews out of Canada, Wales, England, and The Netherlands.
There were a variety of genres reviewed: there was punk, pop, rock, Metal, Surf folk/emo, Rap/Hip Hop, Baroque Pop, Indie/Folk, Americana, R&B, Instrumental/classical, House, and many more sub-genres.
There is also a range of diversity within the artists reviewed as well. Some of the artists have thousands of streams, followers, have played in front of audiences across the globe, have been featured on televisions, in movies/tv shows, and commercials, and some are new to the industry; even having just released their very first song.
I want to recognize and thank each of the artists who were reviewed this month:
I also want to thank every artist who submitted songs, albums, or other projects that I was, unfortunately, unable to write about. I want to say this to you: I didn’t make a decision to not write about your music. I simply didn’t have enough time to write about everybody. Doing this myself, around working full time and being a full time father and husband, unfortunately puts limitations on some of the things I wanted to accomplish. Additionally, this is a new thing. I’m learning how to do it and how it will work within the limitations my life permits me. One of the alternatives I’ve landed on is curating a Playlist for Fifteen Minutes of Fame. I’ve already done one on Spotify and this month, I hope to roll out a curated playlist on Apple as well. These playlists will be updated on a monthly basis and will feature artists who’ve applied, are being considered for, and/or have been selected to be featured in an article or review. So, one way or another, I truly hope to do my part in helping promote you, your music, your art, and give you the platform needed for your voices to be heard.
Special Recognition
I did want to take this opportunity to give a shoutout to three individuals who I was unable to write an article for:
Mark Bacino: I truly enjoyed your album; particularly the song Flop of the World. It gave me Chicago vibes. Particularly John C. Reilly's masterful performance of Mister Cellophane
MCB Style: I want to thank you for taking the time to submit Thank You God. Because I am one person with limited time and because I have a clear vision for Fifteen Minutes of Fame to keep the content up to date and “in the moment” so to speak, I have put limits on music that’s being reviewed. Your song didn’t qualify as it was released in March. However, I listened to it and your other works in your catalog. Your voice is superb! I want to know when you do release something new and I will make it a priority to write something worthy of your talent.
Only Monsters: your EP was also prior to the cutoff I had placed for submissions and your new single unfortunately released at a time where I was frankly juggling too many balls, including writing other reviews for this blog. But you have always been respectful. You’re always interactive. You’re polite, courteous, and you essentially embody all that I have envisioned for the Fifteen Minutes of Fame Mantra. Thank you for your friendship and your commitment to making this a community we can all dream to be a part of.
On That Note
I don’t want this to be the type of forum where we just quickly catch content for a second as we’re scrolling on by. I want this to be a platform for all independent artists who are part of this community to stop and listen to their peers. I want us to change the critical narrative. Offer praises, constructive criticisms. I want everybody to be involved in the conversation. Without getting too “preachy,” my hope is that we can agree to participate and take the time to appreciate featured artists as if they were the artist being featured. Pay it forward and it should benefit everyone. We are all links to that chain. I’ll spare you the cliche. But you know…
How Far We’ve Come
I’m proud to say I feel that there was definitely more participation than I was expecting for the first month of the blog. In all, the articles were visited a total of 916 times, which I am extremely proud of. That is all of the great work YOU did as artists to promote your music. So thank you for that!
From all of that traffic, there were only a total of 5 comments left on the articles themselves. I want to encourage everybody to comment on the reviews themselves so we can get people talking about your music! The more interaction on these blogs, the more exposure these artists are receiving.
In the last 30 days, since the launch of the blog, there has also been growth through social media.
On Threads active followers increased by 60% and there were a total of 250 comments on the initial post seeking artists who would be interested in being featured.
On Instagram active followers increased by 9% and there were numerous stories with reposts of blogs about featured artists.
On Facebook active followers increased by 225%! Admittedly, I don’t manage Facebook as actively, but I am working on improving that.
So, thank you for doing your part in helping to grow our community!
What’s Next?
August Campaign
Already, there are two reviews for August that I am working on; one for this week and one for next week. I will also be posting to request interested artists who might be willing to participate in the August campaign for FMOF reviews. That post will be going up tomorrow! So, if you have new works; released from July 1st or later, or if you have an upcoming release you want to have reviewed prior to its release date, get ready! This goes for ALL artists. If you’ve submitted before, or not and if you’ve been featured or not. I will get to AS MANY as I can.
Fifteen Minutes of Fame Interviews
This has not been scheduled yet, but I plan on trying to feature 1-2 artists this month in an interview to promote their upcoming releases. Check social media for more details if you are interested in being one of these featured artists. There will DEFINITELY be a write-up of the interview. Depending on scheduling, there MAY be a live video (possibly YouTube). It’s not fully ironed out yet but there will be more details to come!
TikTok Live
I am also planning on launching a live event where we can interact and have an open forum, round table discussion on what we like/would like to improve with Fifteen Minutes of Fame. So, if you haven’t yet, please make sure you’re following these social media platforms.
Virtual Group Writer’s Table
This would possibly be done through Skype, Teams, or something else. Depending on the interest, I hope this might be an opportunity to cowrite together and possibly get a couple of collaborations together through our diverse community of talented musicians!
I want to say that there is no monetary incentive here. I will not be asking for financial compensation for any of this. This strictly comes from a passion for music in the arts. That being said; I (we) have a job to do so I can pay the bills so please be patient with me as I work to make some of these ideas happen.
If you have something you would like to contribute via social media, all you have to do is this: #fmof. I want everybody to be part of the conversation. This is YOUR community. I’m just facilitating it.
That’s A Wrap
One last time, thank you all for submitting your work. Thank you to the featured artists for keeping these reviews circulating and please keep coming back as we continue to try and grow this community into an ecosystem of thriving, independent musicians, with a safe haven to connect, collaborate, share, and create.
Social Experiment:
If you’ve read to this point, comment the word “rainbows.”
Rainbows!
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