#I'm not searching I'm not streaming I'm not using data I'm not online I actually paid for this music and own digital IF NOT PHYSICAL copies

[elusivegreen]

Fuck google and this new internet.

I tried searching for a costuming tutorial. After several pages of not what I asked for, I try changing my search terms.

I finally get to something that is at least what I asked for, so I click on that. Leads me from google to pinterest. So in pinterest I try to read more of the tutorial and it redirects me back to Tumblr where someone actually had directions and pictures and stuff.

I guess I should have just rummaged around here till I got what I wanted because that would've been fewer steps and I probably would have seen a bunch of other cool stuff people put their time and effort into.

[amazinglyspicy]

hello and sorry if i am barking up the wrong tree--do know of any good readings on media piracy, like critical theory, what forms do or do not affect certain kinds of creators, freedom of information/art etc? I'm struggling to find stuff online with the enshittification of search engines, and you seemed like you might know!

Hi there. The question you’re asking is very complex and there’s really no true one answer for it.

Media piracy as a whole is too new of a topic to really have much empirical studies or data to suggest if piracy hurts sales one way or another. We mostly have anecdotal evidence.

However, there is one study from the EU that suggest video game piracy in particular doesn’t harm sales numbers and in fact may help sales in some cases (i.e. trying out a game before you decide to buy, through the means of piracy). Going further, the same study found that piracy does negatively impact film and book sales, while music sales differences were negligible.

You can read about the study in this article, which also contains a pdf link to the study itself.

Generally speaking, I would suggest not pirating anything that’s worth buying. An indie game you pirated and ended up liking deserves to be bought.

Books always should be bought to support the author, and at local book store where the money actually helps your community too. Unless they’re overpriced textbooks.

If you use a cracked Spotify app and find a band you like, please look them up on bandcamp and maybe buy some merch too while you’re there. That does wonders more than paying for a Spotify subscription and streaming their music.

Big companies like Nintendo, Disney, Adobe etc. don’t deserve a dime. Always pirate their products.

As for what information/art should be free, I’m of the opinion, all of it should be free. No one should be denied the right to learn or engage with artworks because they are locked out behind a paywall. If you are privileged enough to help out independent game developers, authors, and musicians, then you definitely should! But just because someone doesn’t have that privilege themselves doesn’t mean they should never get to play that game/read that book/hear that music etc.

I know this isn’t exactly the answer you’re looking for, and I apologize for that. But you have to also understand things aren’t so black and white of “piracy good or bad?” Because it really depends on the situation of who is doing it and what is being pirated.

[keifyseadragon]

About those DMT trips...

I was gifted around a gram of DMT a few years ago that wound up being one of the weirdest experiences in my life. I had a few trips on it that I find myself looking for answers about. As previously mentioned, that one trip turned out to all be true things that actually happened. So I have to ask myself what from the other trips wound up being true.

In one, a one night stand (a fireman) appeared and the trip explained why he left. It went into how I was half in the closet at the time, didn't pass, and was still insecure. The painful part was him saying I was a man, when I'm a trans woman, and him going off with someone else flaunting how much prettier and better she was. But, in pain there is wisdom. There was so much more to that trip, time travel, the mafia, a drug cult (manufacturing in the 1990s for modern distribution to evade the DEA), aliens, I met deities (Tawa, Spider Grandmother) which was wild because I was previously unfamiliar with Hopi mythology, and more. Part of the trip was old friends from my addict days telling me the fireman was a cop who was using me to spy on the "homies" and they wanted to sabotage him. So, they took me on an adventure which I hated and involved a bunch of gangsters. At one point I was offered a badge by the FBI entity and I declined given my past as there isn't much worse than a dirty cop. Some of the old drug people wanted me to sabotage the police from within but I refused to help because it felt dirty and didnt align with my personal belief system. There was a lot to that trip, really.

Then in another trip I was shown sacred and secret Native American villages hidden in time away from the US military, and the US military was trying to find a way to get to the villages but aliens were protecting the Native Americans which corresponded to ancient legend of Star People helping the Natives. In that trip things got really Christian too, as I was a rock in the cave where the grail was hidden and I watched Crusaders either trying to find or hide the grail. The US military was searching for the relic but the deities didn't want them to have it for countless reasons. The wild part of that trip was the part where I was chillin' with the aliens and we had a connection between the spacecraft and my room then *boom* a military jet buzzed the house. I sobered up and went downstairs to smoke a cigarette and my sober roommate commented on how it was odd a military jet buzzed the house how it did. Like, in the trip the aliens knew the military was coming and had to break the data stream to evade detection. Turns out the extraterrestrials aren't very fond of the US military because apparently they've tortured or harmed some from that species. There was clear animosity from the aliens in the trip towards the US Government, which came between us though the aliens understood why I took my position with sympathies as I am a US citizen.

It ties back to an old trip from a while back where a group of us were here on earth for thousands of years living life after life monitoring the human species.

Which then ties into my next point. One night I did a solo meditation DMT trip and in the trip I was shown a nuclear war. Tawa, the Hopi sun God decided not to stop the war because it was infuriated that the US hadn't paid or attempted to pay reparations to the indigenous people. I cried for the animals, for the plants that would die, but Tawa was indifferent explaining that humanity was killing the planet with pollution, war, genocide, greed, and ignorance. It was tired of the rape, murder, and atrocities it witnessed. In the trip part of it was a war with Russia. Months later around August of 2021 I saw stuff online warning of a war between Ukraine and Russia. Come February of 2022 it happened. I often worry that my trip will come true, or rather is the true in that regard. Tawa explained that it was more ethical to have a mass extinction event than to slowly let all life die off from climate change and pollution. What makes humans special? There have been 5 mass extinctions before... it happens. I stay worried, but find myself wondering if there is a way to avoid it. Sadly as I watch the war in Ukraine closely and follow the heartbreaking news out of Gaza I find myself wondering if I was shown what was to come. Frightening, but, I try to have hope. It's not like I'm cheering it on, plus my heart bleeds for the Belarusians fighting against Lukashenko, and for the Ukrainians who want to see democracy flourish. I have my sympathies for many in the US, on both the left and right sides of the political aisle.

In that trip Tawa was protecting my soul from others who sought to cause harm because Tawa didn't think I deserved the pain people had put me through because I'd always been sympathetic to the Native Americans.

Life is a trip, I think. This is just one of many, the Samsara as it is written about in Hindu mythos.

Who knows, I'm just rambling. I need to go read the international versions of news outlets to do my daily compiling to stay in the know as lapses cause mistakes like earlier when I learned the US actually does permit the first use of nuclear weapons in the nuclear doctrine.

Sometimes it feels like people who are power hungry that want to control the world are why we will all die. Just chill the fuck out and vibe. It ain't hard. Really.

[dubdread-blog]

Social Network Sites and Distribution Aggregators

I'm spending time creating an online profile across multiple social networking sites. It's important to be able to target a wider audience in order to create more traffic to the sites you want people to visit, for me this would be sites where my audience can play my music. Utilizing social media platforms as a tool will be the most cost effective and independent approach to self publication. The more social media platforms i use, should enable me to connect with a wider audience. Making sure the different platforms are consistent in the sense of profile pictures and biographies for example, to ensure that my audience are connecting with me instead of leaving them unsure, which therefore can result in failure to engage with my target audience.

Instagram https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/important-instagram-stats/

Instagram is a great social media platform that allows you to shares pictures and videos along the way straight from your mobile. Being able to do upload the pictures and video clips from gigs can help keep the fan base more interested.

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DubDread-1667749146821272/

Facebook alone is a great platform with amazing stats about their online users. However, it's not actually that easy to reach out to a wider audience through facebook, due to the hope that the amount of friends you have will actually share the post you create. Alternatively it's possible to pay to boost your post to reach a wider network of people that consist out of your friend zone on facebook, it's even possible to pick specific areas in which you would like your post to be seen. Although it could be a good tactic to use when promoting yourself online, but it is a waste of time and money if you don't know where your target audience really is.

Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/paddy-dubbdread-roberts

Using another social media platform such as soundcloud can be used in accordance with sites like Facebook. Combining the information that soundcloud gives to users, then using that information to boost posts through Facebook can be very useful. Although it's a small cost to become a Soundcloud Pro user, the information that is generated through the statistics can help when targeting a more specific audience. Soundcloud pro now offers the user to generate an income form the compositions that have been uploaded, providing the content is either royalty free, 100% yours or that you have an agreement set up with any artists that took part in the production.

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/6rXpmnTyufLgEZwrUF9JoL

“Spotify generated a billion euros ($1.2 billion) in revenue in the third quarter of 2017, according to two investors briefed on the numbers. That puts it on track for full year revenue of more than four billion euros, up about 40% from 2016. And it would continue a streak of fast growth as Spotify readies for one of the highest-valued tech public listings in recent years.” (Lee, 2019)

Due to the fact that Spotify saw a 40% increase of their streaming revenue globally, proves that it is a successful way to promote your music and generate an income for the hard work that's been put in, it will be imperative to gain access as an artist.

“Key Spotify Statistics

191 monthly active Spotify users

87 million of these are Spotify Premium subscribers

Spotify’s can lay claim to 36% of the global streaming market

Average users listen to 41 unique artists per week

Average hours spent listening to Spotify per month stands at 25 hours

44% of users listen to Spotify on a daily basis

40 million tracks available on Spotify” (Iqbal, 2019)

(Just above this sentence is some information that i researched about Spotify)

Experience is proving to show that it's not quite as simple as filling out a form and creating an account like Soundcloud for example. Infringement is clearly a major factor when generating revenue, i must prove that i am who i say i am and that i have different social media platforms and websites in place to prove who i am, i have to show consistency amongst the different sites so Spotify can grant me an account for artists. When the account is set up i will have to look towards a distributor in order for my songs/compositions to be uploaded, (another blog input will look at distribution, what it is, whos out there and why it's important). It's very difficult to create a Spotify account for artists which i have seemed to acknowledge, multiple times i've been denied access to claim my account to my music that's already on spotify.

Encountering a problem claiming the profile, Spotify are requesting more information to prove to them, i am who i say i am. There could be an issue with the fact the artist i'm trying to claim is me, but it's a remix on someone else's profile. To overcome the problem, I will try and release a previous track i've composed on Spotify and claim that track to my artist profile. Also i plan on creating a Bandcamp account to release it there, also it gives spotify more links to other media sites to show legitimate traffic. By doing so will hopefully enable me enough evidence to show Spotify in order to secure my artist profile.

UPDATE ———> Managed to claim my Spotify account through the means of Distrokid.

Distrokid

Being an independent musician/label means distribution is done by me. Searching the internet for ways to distribute the songs into stores to be played and/ downloaded proved to be a minefield. There are aggregators that help artists get their music distributed into the correct places, one particular site that stood out from the rest was Distrokid. Distrokid is a platform that requires a one off yearly fee of £20 that allows unlimited uploads for tracks. Their main aim is to get your music seen and heard on the major digital online distributors and streaming sites such as Apple iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Prime.

Bandcamp https://dubdread.bandcamp.com/releases

I’ve created a Bandcamp account as another point of reference to give to Spotify when i claim the artist account. Having my tracks on Bandcamp will allow me to control the distribution and promotion of my track where i can receive maximum royalties opposed to the percentage some sites may charge you, for example Spotify, where 1 million streams equates to roughly £4000, 1 million downloads on Bandcamp would make me a multimillionaire (i can dream haha).

Bandcamp is great for self publicating artists like myself as it's very easy to use and is free of charge. I can take control on the price i want to charge, if i want to charge in the first place and also has the option to pay more than what the tracks initial cost is. Also, it's possible to pay for an upgraded account for more specific stats just like Soundcloud, but the free account comes with enough stats to see where the traffics coming from, how many plays a day/week/month and how many downloads the track has.

I released a track i've had on my Soundcloud that i made a few years back to test the waters. By doing this has allowed me to get an understanding of what to do when i come to release my two tracks.

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Reference list

Iqbal, M. (2019). [online] Business of Apps. Available at: http://www.businessofapps.com/data/spotify-statistics/ [Accessed 29 Mar. 2019].

Lee, A. (2019). Spotify’s Q3 Revenue Points to Full Year Growth of 40%. [online] The Information. Available at: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/spotifys-q3-revenue-points-to-full-year-growth-of-40? [Accessed 29 Mar. 2019].

[thinkaboutrunning]

Things I can't run without

I know, running is supposed to be the most basic of all exercises, except maybe walking. We should be able to run without any additional gear, even without special clothing. And if we must do it that way, we certainly can. But, it's so much more fun and so much more pleasant when we arm ourselves with available gadgets and gizmos. I've tried many and kept only a few I can't run without, sort of. From run trackers to podcast players, here's what I use.

I started "au naturel" wearing my ancient sports shorts from high school (I was lucky they made them so stretchy that I could fit in) and sneakers I bought for walking. They were comfortable and felt great. Sneakers were already moulded by my feet. Those were simple, chafing and blister-free runs.

The more serious I became about it, though, the more I started reading online and offline about things advertised as "essential" to improve my running. To tell the truth, I was mostly interested in finding a way to measure the distance I ran. Those were the days just before GPS became omnipresent. Sometimes I drove the route I was going to run to measure the distance on the car's odometer; on one occasion I even talked a friend into following me in a car. He avoids me ever since.

I turned to the internet, bought a Nike+ pedometer, put it on my shoes and paired it with my iPod. It was inaccurate, for sure — for example a marathon I ran with it was measured as a 45 kms run, full 3 kms longer than actual distance — but it was ingenious when it comes to motivation and goal-setting. Now I could set the weekly, monthly and other goals in distance and time. And, it had a feature I miss ever since - a "Power Song". I could pre-program my own pick-me-up tune and then play it whenever I want or need it during the run by pressing and holding iPod's menu button.

If you promise not to laugh at my taste in music, I'll tell you the song that carried me through the heavy-legged final stages of quite a few marathons and half-marathons; it was Christina Aguilera's "Candyman". Other than catchy melody and cheerful vibe, it also had the perfect beat-per-minute rhythm to which I could match my stride and get some badly needed speed. When I evolved to more sophisticated distance trackers, I lost that Power Song feature and miss it ever since!

I already outed myself as the non-purist runner. (The purists being runners who don't listen to anything other than the sounds of their surroundings and their own breathing.) Yes, I run with headphones, and am not apologizing for it. Nowadays, my phone is my tracking device and a few "essential" apps keep track of my runs and make them more enjoyable. Before I bare my running soul and sole in front of you, I want you to know that I'm kind of an old geek. I like to experiment and try new things all the time, sometimes to my own detriment. One can't know if something's really good until he tries it, right? So, here are my running essentials.

A GPS-capable smartphone is a must. I have an old-ish iPhone 8 which still tracks my distance quite well.

Comfortable headphones. My ears are large — I know, I'm not proud of them and didn't ask for them, but there they are. Most of the earbuds and other fancy small earphones won't stay in my ears. They wiggle and slide out after a few running steps. So, I'm looking for headphones that hook in place in some way. Trust me, running with an earbud that needs to be tucked back in every few steps can ruin your mood run! The current ones I have is the simplest of simple sets of Panasonic wired sport headphones with plastic hook over the ear. What I look for in headphones? I want them light, with some sort of hooking solution either over ears or around the head. Waterproof, or at least water-resistant is preferable. Because, no amount of sweat or rain can stop us, right? Bluetooth wireless are great, but tend to be heavier due to the battery they need to function, which makes them fall outta my ears easier. Also, some bluetooth headphones have connection problems, even though my phone is in my waist-belt less than a meter down from my ears. Further, I prefer earphones which sit outside my ear canal, thus allowing me to hear the sound of my surroundings. It's always useful to hear the car approaching. I know it spoils the sound quality, but ask yourself do you really need a studio-quality sound while running on the road?

I've seen people running with fancy over-the-ear noise-cancelling headphones — I'd love me a pair of those for when I'm on an airplane, but there are two problems I have with them in running situation: they tend to be hot and make me sweat even more; they make me unaware of the traffic and things approaching me outside my field of vision.

My favourite run-tracking app is iSmoothrun. It has more data of my run than I really need, but hey — better too much than not enough, right? It tracks the mileage on my shoes, too. It has easily programmable intervals with great audio feedback. And it syncs with many running community and tracking sites, from Strava to RunKeeper and many in between.

Running community site I use is RunKeeper. It's neither better nor worse than the others. I have used it since 2010, all my running data since then is there and even though I tried Strava and many others, I haven't found a compelling reason to switch, yet. RunKeeper is owned by ASICS, which sort of guarantees they'll be around for a while. But really, it's the matter of preference. I can only suggest that, when you find the site that works for you, stick with it and keep all your data in one place.

One more essential app or site is a weather app. I'm currently running in Europe and use two weather mobile websites which, between them, give me the most accurate hourly forecast: Yahoo weather and Norwegian YR. In North America I trusted The Weather Network the most. Whichever app you choose, I suggest check if it offers the wind speed data per hour. Also "feels like" feature for temperature, whether it's the humidex factor (humidity index) or windchill (in the winter) is very helpful when you need to decide what to wear for the run. All the sites I mentioned above have it.

When it comes to on-run entertainment, there is your music app, whether it's the streaming one (Apple Music, Spotify) or just music playing one. I can't help you much with it, as I'm using Apple Music because it's pre-installed and all my music is there.

Then, there's a podcasts app. Podcasts are radio on demand on any topic you can think of and many you never thought of. They are great way to break the monotony of a long run. My "weapon" of choice is Overcast.

Finally, for the book-loving runners among us, there's an audiobooks app of your choice. On Apple's platforms Apple Books app (former iBooks) doubles as an e-book reader and an audiobook player. Personally, I'm a big reader, but find the audiobooks not affordable, especially at my reading pace of 3-5 books a month. I tried Audible too, it gives one book a month within the subscription, the rest costs extra. Too much for my pocket!

Then I found the solution! There's an iOS app (I'm certain there's something similar for Android too) called Epub Reader. It not only lets me read ebooks, but it also reads it to me. There is selections of voices to choose from and some of them sound almost human. When a book is so good I can't put it down for a run, I listen to it in the same app, while running. My version of the app takes only epub formatted ebooks, but there are plenty free online book conversion sites to help if your book is in a different format. You can try ToEpub, or just search for "free epub converter online".

There you go — these are the gizmos that made my runs enjoyable for years. What are yours? Also, if you have any question, just ask!