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Articles - PAGE 3

The (Not So) Annual State of Chorus.fm

Chorus.fm Logo
Jason Tate

I have a reoccurring reminder to reflect on the state of Chorus at least once a year. The idea is to pull all the numbers together, get an idea of how things are going, and make plans for the future of the website. I realized today that I hadn’t done this since 2021.

So, it was a morning of looking at spreadsheets. And I see a few obvious trends. The first is that the cost of running the website has increased. The most significant cost increase comes from our hosting provider unilaterally hiking prices 20% in April after being bought by another company. Cool. Second, the online advertising industry (already tenuous at best) has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels. I charted the last two years, and we’re continuing to trend downward.

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The Eras Tour: Taylor Swift’s Greatest Love Song

Taylor Swift
Garrett Lemons

The cynical view of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour goes something like this: let’s take a cash grab tour of her past lovers and public debacles through songs that may have changed genres two or three times, but all sound the same. (They don’t.)

The critical view goes something like this: after mastering country, pop, and indie, are we looking at the next all-time great? (Ignoring the fact that, if she were a man, she’d already be lauded as being there.)

The delusion fan view goes something like this: Is this algebraic formula an Easter egg? (No.) Taylor Swift is for the girls, gays, and theys and straight men shouldn’t be allowed at the tour. (This is exhausting.) I bought all four versions so I could have a clock. (Okay, this one is more on Taylor’s incredible mind for capitalism; but, c’mon folks, it’s the same record. You only need one copy.) Etc.

Somewhere in the middle of this wild and inaccurate Venn diagram of discourse is the truth: we are witnessing something not quite before seen in history. Taylor has achieved something not seen in decades: monoculture. She’s the zeitgeist. Everyone seemingly has something to say about it. Including me.

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Liner Notes (June 18th, 2023)

Sunflower
Jason Tate

This week’s newsletter has first impressions of new music from Yellowcard, Anberlin, and PVRIS. Plus, thoughts on new releases from a great week in the pop-punk EP world (Origami Angel, Millington) and a bunch of other music and entertainment I’ve been checking out. As always, there’s a playlist of ten songs worth your time, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.

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Liner Notes (May 13th, 2023)

Cheers
Jason Tate

This week’s newsletter has early impressions of the new Japanese House album, thoughts on a really good week of new pop-punk and pop-punk adjacent music, and a love letter to summer. There’s also a playlist of ten songs worth your time, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.

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Record Store Day Roundup: 2023 Edition

Adam Grundy

Record Store Day is the annual celebration of indie record stores that is paired with special vinyl releases across all genres that get fans of the music format excited to join in the party in hopes of obtaining the release(s) they absolutely need for their collection. In this article, I’ll be outlining some of the special releases that brought music fans to the stores in droves, what I was noticing from the in-person and online feedback from attendees of the event, what was working well as well as a few recommendations for future years, and the aftermath of purchasing RSD leftovers online from various indie record stores.

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