86. January Recap

Originally Published January 31st, 2025

Just like that. One month into 2025. I don’t know what to think of it; it’s exciting as all new years are. It’s that time of year where we find ourselves goal-oriented, dare I say optimistic, and refreshed after having answered the grind to another year. 

It’s also a time for reality sink in as the world will be tested for the foreseeable future. Particularly in America, we have new leadership in our country. Leadership that has polarizingly different views than the previous administration -and the majority of our country - have had. Among the many alarming concerns this new regime have brought, there is one that could genuinely have a direct impact on Fifteen Minutes of Fame. That being the threat to our Constitution’s First Amendment Right of Freedom of Speech. In America, we have seen the imminent threat of the loss of the world’s most popular social media platform, TikTok. It was only by executive order that the platform was saved, and really, simply received a stay of execution. 

TikTok isn’t the only social media concern that we have either. Meta, just days before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, made the announcement that they would be making significant changes that affect the content that we would regularly be exposed to. These are significant changes. Aside from the very obvious and terrifying implications, I also worry what that does for the communities of independent artists around the world who rely and depend on the networking that occurs on social media. What will we see? What will we miss? Who will we miss? As we step further into 2025, hopefully we will get answers to some of these questions. Perhaps, there already is an answer. Perhaps I will bring it up later in this very article (foreshadowing! Did you get goose bumps? I got goose bumps!)

But BEFORE we get into all of this nonsense…. Let’s talk about the first full month back for Fifteen Minutes of Fame, Music and Arts Entertainment and the first MONTH of 2025! And what a month it was.

What Happened in January?

Fifteen Minutes of Fame kicked off the New Year in epic fashion as we introduced planned rollouts for the year, published more music reviews, and posted more blind reactions, adding more independent artists to the extensive Fifteen Minutes of Fame-ily (you put a dad in charge, you gonna get dad jokes!).

With 9 published reviews and 8 new blind reactions, we had a great month producing  new content for artists, listeners, and viewers to enjoy within our community. 

Looking at our map of reviews, we added Texas and Michigan to the list of states that Fifteen Minutes of Fame have featured artists from. This officially puts us on the map for half of The United States of America! Currently, Fifteen Minutes of Fame have a domestic reach of 25 states, 14 countries, and 4 continents. Thank you so much for allowing me to represent so many places in the world, feature so many cultures, and connect artists from all over. To say I’m honored is an unspeakable understatement. 

How We Have Grown

Fifteen Minutes of Fame have continued to grow across every platform. From followers, to reach, and engagement, more and more artists are getting the chance to put their music out their through the various content we publish and produce on a near-daily basis. 

Our top growing platform for January in terms of followers was YouTube which saw a growth of 36%. This was followed by Facebook, which saw a growth of 15%.

The platforms that still consistently receive the top reach and engagement are Threads and Instagram, an overall reach of more than 15,000 viewers across all platforms for the month and nearly 1,000 engagements!

I also want to take this opportunity to OFFICIALLY roll out two platforms that I will be making sure to be more active on. That is TikTok and Bluesky! While the content will be typically universal, keep an eye out for each of these platforms as there may be content released that is exclusive to the platform. 

The blog has also seen its share of growth in January. After a massive growth in viewership last month, the ship steadied its way into a solid, more realistic stream of viership with 3,429 new views! Additionally, our comments have officially crossed the century mark with there now being 101 engagements! 

Furthermore, I am seeing more and more artists using quotes from their reviews as a promotional tool for their music! This is earning more engagement for these artists on their platforms, and it’s drawing more artists to Fifteen Minutes of Fame, asking how they can submit music for reviews! 

***THIS IS WHAT IT’S ABOUT PEOPLE!!!***

The pride I have knowing that Fifteen Minutes of Fame is connecting artists to artists and artists to fans is so great, it motivates me to be able to continue this work for years to come! So thank you!

What’s Next?

February might be the most exciting month of Fifteen Minutes of Fame content since we first launched in July! Even the things we typically do are going to be done in new and creative ways! Make sure you are following along on what’s happening. Take a moment to read the posts, check out the blogs. Remember the mantra: take just fifteen minutes to be a part of the great changes coming with our little community!

February Review Campaign

As always, February 1st will roll out the new monthly campaign for artist submissions to have their music reviewed by Fifteen Minutes of Fame. You are probably well aware of the rules: Fifteen Minutes of Fame review Singles, EP’s, and LP’s. It doesn’t matter the genre, the songs just have to have released by the first day of the prior month or later. 

Well…

For February ONLY we are THROWING THOSE RULES AWAY!!!!! Why? Because, February is highly regarded as the month of love, being as Valentines Day falls directly at the center of the month. So, in an attempt to “show some love,” we are accepting submissions for ANY SONG, released at ANY TIME. Just to be clear, this month will only feature reviews of singles, in an attempt to have MORE reviews. 

If you are reading this, you might be thinking, “What’s the catch?” Because there is ALWAYS a catch. Well, you’re 100% right! The catch is this:

I will NOT be accepting any artists’ submission of their own work. I will ONLY be accepted submissions by people who REFER OTHER ARTISTS. You heard me. Do you have a friend or a loved one you simply think I have to hear? Well NOW IS THE TIME TO LIFT UP YOUR PEERS!!! Now is the time to SHOW SOME LOVE, you sexy little valentines!!!! 

Blind Reaction Campaign

The Blind Reaction campaign is never-ending. Meaning I will alway accept ANY submission for Blind Reactions, so long as it’s not a lyric video, it’s not AI, and it’s not a live performance video. We are looking for “traditional” music videos that feature story arcs. Yes you can be performing in them. Yes I will watch your videos, no matter what you submit. But, I don’t want to post a blind reaction video of somebody playing that song they wrote while sitting on their living room couch. I will watch and comment on it. But I won’t post a blind reaction for it.

I am going to post about the February Campaign for blind reactions. If you’ve already submitted and I haven’t posted a reaction to your submission, please resubmit your video to ensure that I see it. I don’t want your art getting lost in the constant feed of content that is being posted.

TikTok Live and more YouTube Engagement

In an effort to grow our audiences, I am trying to be more engaging by way of videos and live streams.

Admittedly, it’s an uphill battle but I’ve got my hiking boots on! If you see me live on TikTok, don’t be a stranger! I will try to schedule when I will be going live. If you got the time, stop in and say hey!

Website Launch

We are getting very close to a website launch, people! I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to give you guys a HOME BASE. This is for YOU. 

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!

Speaking of websites, it is my great honor to announce a MAJOR project that our friend Daniel, a.k.a. Neccos for Breakfast is actively launching! 

Allow me the privilege of introducing you to the website CAN: Collaborative Artist Network. This website is a community HUB for independent artists. It is 100% FREE to join! Let me tell you, this site has it all! 

Membership is offered at a 3-tier system: Create! Support! and Lead! As stated, the first tier is Create! and it is 100% absolutely free. The other tiers are options that come with some very exciting perks for a small monthly fee, but there is no obligation to sign up for a paid membership. 

Let me tell you what I mean when I say this site has it all. There is a channel dedicated to collaboration opportunities. You can chat on this channel to find other musicians to collaborate on a song or project, an artist or editor to work on album artwork or videos/shorts to promote your music, songwriters, instrumentalists, you NAME it! Need advice on merch? CHAT! Need advice on booking shows? CHAT!

Lastly, why am I telling you this? Because Neccos is SO AWESOME that he thought it would be a great idea for Fifteen Minutes of Fame to have our own CHANNEL within C.A.N. I am so PUMPED about this opportunity. So, C.A.N. will be another place the Fifteen Minutes Fame-ily can call home. I will be posting content there AND, there will be special and EXCLUSIVE content and opportunities to be involved with Fifteen Minutes of Fame through C.A.N!

This is important because, this platform isn’t going to be controlled by anybody but OUR communities. Worry about prioritizing independent artists? Well worry no more! It is RUN by independent artists. The only people who will have a say in how our community runs and operates is OUR COMMUNITY! This might just be the safe space we will be looking for in a volatile climate where social media is unable to offer us any assurances besides uncertainty.

So, do yourselves a favor and go create a profile today!!!

Final Thoughts

Needless to say, I am really excited about all of the new and different things we will be doing as Fifteen Minutes of Fame continue to grow and connect with Independent Artists all around the world. I want you to know, I love my art. I love music. And I am a fighter. I simply will not stop fighting for artists to have a safe place to express themselves. Whether you’re commenting on content, leaving a message, submitting music, drop a line in the Collaborative Artist Network chat, or sending me an email. I want to know you guys. I want to know your music. I want to hear from you. I want to answer questions. I want to discuss your art, my art, and what we can do to better support one another. We are in this together! 

Finally, I want to give a great big virtual hug and say thank you. On January 20th, in my own little peaceful protest of Inauguration Day, I released my latest single, Here Comes the Wolf. In 11 days, this single has by far been my most successful release in my entire career as a musician. It’s bittersweet as, this is the song I never wanted to have to write. But, what’s been done is done and it’s happening. It is time for us to stand together and continue to raise each other up. Through art and music, we will find ways to break through hate and control. Thank you all for reading. Thank you for engaging. Thank you.

If you read this far, comment on this blog the word: CAN