Over the past few weeks I’ve made some behind-the-scenes changes to how advertising works on the site, and I wanted to share a quick update in one place.
Short version:
- We officially moved to a new ad platform.
- It’s already performing several times better than the old setup.
- I’ve also updated the Advertise page so anyone can now easily purchase direct ad placements on the site again.
If you’d like the longer, more detailed background on why I made this change and how it affects the site long-term, I’ve linked a few in-depth posts below.
Why The Change?
As I’ve written about in our yearly update posts, running this site has ongoing costs (servers, bandwidth, software, development time, storage for over a decade of photos and attachments, and more). The previous ad setup had slowly degraded to the point where it simply wasn’t sustainable anymore.
At the same time, I have zero interest in locking the site behind a paywall.
So the choice became:
- Either make major parts of the site paid-only
- Or switch to an ad platform that could actually support the site while keeping it free
I chose the second option.
So far, even in the very early “learning” phase, the new system is already generating roughly 4-5x the revenue of the old setup, with room to improve as campaigns stabilize.
What This Also Enables: Direct Ad Buys
One of the other upsides of moving to Mediavine is that it makes purchasing banner placements dead simple again.
If you’ve ever wanted to promote:
- A band
- A song or album release
- A label
- A podcast
- A product
- Or really any project at all to a highly targeted music audience!
You can now do that directly through the updated Advertise page.
Want No Ads At All?
As always, supporting members see zero ads across the entire site. And, as I like to clarify: the ads are fully removed at the code level (they don’t even load). This makes the website extremely fast.
That’s still available starting at $25/year or $3/month.
IMO: It’s the absolute best way to browse the website and a great deal. Sign-up here.
More Background
If you want the full context, feedback discussion, and deeper breakdown of the change, you can read:
- Initial announcement of the new ad platform
- More detailed thoughts on the ad unit changes themselves
As an independent site, I have to constantly reassess what’s working and what isn’t. This change is about keeping the site open, free, and sustainable long-term, while still giving everyone options for their comfort level. Whether that’s browsing with ads, going ad-free as a supporter, or advertising directly on the site.
As always, thank you for being here and supporting what I’ve built over the years. I truly don’t take that for granted. It’s because people read the site that we have options in who we work with, and I hope to keep learning what works best for the business while continuing to improve the site for many years to come.