robertsona: | Sputnikmusic

Hawks 08.01.24	Damn bro!!! :[
CugnoBrasso 08.01.24	Everytime somebody reminds me that people can't create new accounts I lose 10 brain cells.
Manatea 08.01.24	Congrats my friend! Appreciate you and everything you do
Flugmorph 08.01.24	real one o7
someone 08.01.24	August Fools I hope?
Pheromone 08.01.24	can people not make accounts what the hell
artiswar 08.01.24	"Yea, my final legacy to this piece-of-shit site"
zakalwe 08.01.24	I’m offended by your narcissism Bob.
Egarran 08.01.24	Hey, this was not very concrete.
robertsona 08.01.24	Just in one way—that’s my last review, whereas I had gaps of one, 1.5 years of not writing any and then getting back to it, multiple times
Egarran 08.01.24	But are you going to be busy with other things? Will you write for a bigger platform? Hungry for new readers? Sensing the immediate end of sputnik?
robertsona 08.01.24	I’ll probably try to submit reviews elsewhere. I’m mostly busy with teaching these days. I do sense the end—if people can’t make accounts I just gotta imagine the site is bleeding out slowly—but will be around no matter what. The music criticism game is really tough, though, and I wouldn’t /expect/ to see my writing elsewhere particularly soon. You just also won’t see it here, for what I promise are normal-man reasons.
evilford 08.01.24	Yeah @ new accounts question: because of the site hack that happened a year or 2 ago, a lot of functionality was lost. The ability to create a new account was part of what was lost. Many of us don't want the site to die, but the owner (mx) is all but unreachable these days apparently and it doesn't sound like this functionality can be restored w/o him Or some shit
artiswar 08.01.24	Colton can't keep getting away with it!!!1
Pheromone 08.01.24	gah that's so frustrating and worst of all, i lost my big av
denboy 08.01.24	accounts are like bitcoin now
denboy 08.01.24	hey rob i'll buy your account off you for 3.50
artiswar 08.01.24	Goddamn giant crustaceans from the paleolithic era
CugnoBrasso 08.01.24	mx could be dead for all we know. There's got to be a way to make this site, like, functional? I'm sure a web developer would be able to fix it, and I'd be willing to pay.
gabba 08.01.24	I don’t get why posting reviews elsewhere is better than here, but it’s your work, your choice. You’re needed here, don’t let Narcissus take you over! Publish another stellar review and it’ll be fine.
robertsona 08.01.24	My writing by definition goes nowhere else by being posted on Sputnik, and now people don’t even comment on stuff.
zakalwe 08.01.24	There’s nothing decent to write about is the main prob
Voivod 08.01.24	Final review until the next one fixed -- and now people don’t even comment on stuff. don't let that stop you from writing, the first and foremost problem with reviewing entails having the time to listen to something, and then having the time to put the thoughts that emerge, on paper. If you are ok with the above, go ahead, and readership is always bigger than the number of comments.
artiswar 08.01.24	I've always enjoyed your reviews, lists and input (even your music). But if you want to bow out I understand. Sometimes reviewing things can feel like a thankless task, especially if you don't get the engagement that you hoped for. Plus the site has felt pretty stagnant lately
Dedes 08.01.24	It's really been bled to its core community in an extremely literal way. It's pleasant having such a distinguishable set of like 30 active users you know and love but it's been disheartening to now it will never be what it's capable of.
robertsona 08.01.24	kinda feels like we're all will smiths standing in that empty Fresh Prince living room
artiswar 08.01.24	I have no idea what that means but yes I agree
gabba 08.01.24	Most things I read here I don’t comment on just for the sake of posting. Doing stuff without proper feedback can be frustrating, but don’t forget about the crowd in the mist. You’ve written 150 reviews, you’re a pro, act like it.
Hawks 08.01.24	Listen man, as long as this site is functioning I will comment and post reviews. I'm perfectly fine with the community we have even if MX is a little bitch and won't fix shit. Of course it was better back in the day but this place is my escape from reality and I love all of the relationships I've formed here over almost 2 decades. Love you idiots and wouldn't trade you guys for nothing lol.
robertsona 08.01.24	If I were concerned with acting like a pro in the conventional sense I'd have been out of here a long time ago, and I mean that in the least condescending way possible. There are reasons to stay here but I have to figure they're other ones, and even those are dwindling. I don't mean to be all doom-and-gloom but I think it makes sense to move on from the rare site that both depends entirely on individual users to generate content and has literally no mechanism through which to add new ones. Not to mention the at least outside possibility of finally getting paid for music writing
artiswar 08.01.24	the crowd in the mist, that sounds metal as fuck. Yeah don't forget about us. There are a million reviews that I've read here that I didn't comment on and now I feel slightly bad (I always take a second to upvote though)
robertsona 08.01.24	it's just the crowd in the mist is increasingly becoming the only crowd, and I put too much labor into this for that being the case to feel good. why not reach for something where there's a crowd in the mist /and/ maybe some bigger more visible constituency? (or at least SOME amount of money-currency per word.) but I'll relent, I don't mean to be negative and probably asked for this discussion. I do love sputnik it's just like. what's the path forward
NexCeleris 08.01.24	These days, it's faster to click through some tracks and see if an album is to your taste than to read a review. Platforms like Sputnik were relevant before free, instant access to pretty much all new music released became the norm. Now, it seems like reviews mostly serve to drum up some hype and, in Sput's case, enable discussion among a steadily shrinking group of enthusiasts. I highly doubt reenabling account creation would lead to a significant influx of (non-alt) users, much less grow Sput's community in a meaningful, sustainable way. Still makes me sad to see regular contributors like you call it quits.
Hawks 08.01.24	Agreed with that Robert bro. Also lol @ Pots showing his true, mentally ill colors in your shoutbox. That guy needs many years of therapy. Actually funny he's showing how mentally ill he really is. Look at his profile pic. I'd be upset if I looked like that too.
robertsona 08.01.24	not touching that
robertsona 08.01.24	@nexceleris I do suspect you're right, but it's just tough going that it's now /literally/ impossible to "grow" "sustain" etc. Sad that music journalism is kinda dead--though many places still pay people to do it.
artiswar 08.01.24	I still will read reviews without even intending to sometimes because a lot of our writers are so fucking good that they will suck me in within like 2 sentences, and before I know it I read a whole review. It's kind of a lost art and people take it for granted too much but I love seeing some of the stuff people come up with. I guess it's become a complete labour of love
Hawks 08.01.24	"not touching that" Hahahahahaha understandable.
gabba 08.01.24	I was reading sputnik for years before I made an account. Reviews are visible to everyone, and they are not difficult to find. So the readership may extend way beyond its members. By “pro” I meant your experience in writing about music and your skills in navigating through sput’s often arrogant (but at times surprisingly caring) landscape. If you’re into money, well, then good luck.
artiswar 08.01.24	Same. Back in the day, a lot of times I would google random album reviews, ones from this site would pop up on the first page or be the first result. Always thought that was kind of cool. Honestly, the caliber of writing here is generally better than on other sites where people get paid to review
robertsona 08.01.24	I'm not into money per se, though maybe, though who knows, I just can't see how "act like a pro" aligns with "keep writing for sputnik" in kind of any sense really. above all I've gained less and less from the practice as a person over the course of these past years
robertsona 08.01.24	My roommate in Queens, an at-the-time 34-ish-year-old dude who was an OG animal collective fan and huge into ween and shit said he found my review of Hollinndagain like years ago that I wrote when I was 15. Definitely cool
artiswar 08.01.24	your writing has improved thanks to the site though.
robertsona 08.01.24	I didn't mean to be so negative in the thread but the case for continuing to use sputnik is a troubled one to say the least so I'm a bit surprised is all. people literally can't make new accounts, it's just not good
robertsona 08.01.24	Yeah I do think my writing is the best it's been and that that "wasn't always the case" if that makes sense, like def periods of writing where I was older than I was before (hehe obv) but the writing was worse, and I'm thankful to sputnik for the growth/feedback/practice etc., I really don't mean to cast aspersions
artiswar 08.01.24	the site is fucked and it's devolved into a microscopic echo-chamber over the years but I will always be fond of this weird little community
robertsona 08.01.24	No doubt, me too. Just feels right to cap the reviews. Year 15 of reviewing canyabelieveit. Possible I’ll change m’mind
NexCeleris 08.01.24	"Honestly, the caliber of writing here is generally better than on other sites where people get paid to review" Agreed, art. Most staffers and contribs on here write more interesting reviews than you'd find on sites with "professional" reviews. It has always been this way, tbh, but the most active writers have also shown an impressive amount of growth, both regarding their versatility and their general chops/cohesiveness when it comes to formulating and structuring their thoughts. That's why most staff and featured non-staff revs have been an instant click for me for many years. Compare that to those professional journos and you'll find that many of their texts, even the non-fluff pieces, could now be written by ChatGPT.
robertsona 08.01.24	yeah a lot of the sites with idiosyncratic-at-all writing like cokemachineglow or tinymixtapes died years ago. sad
ThyCrossAwaits 08.01.24	I’ve been here even longer than you and we’ve witnessed like 4 different generations of this site and a ton of changes. Sputnik is still my primary source for determining if a band or album is worthwhile, because the free-forum style leaves room for people to troll or post garbage, but it also opens up so much more honesty and better depth than a site with staff writers and a style guide.
artiswar 08.01.24	"the free-forum style leaves room for people to troll or post garbage, but it also opens up so much more honesty and better depth than a site with staff writers and a style guide." 100%
gabba 08.01.24	Agreed. This is my very first & last social media-like activity, sput replaced all the shitty music sites I was following earlier.
Slex 08.01.24	Aw damn I remember tinymixtapes they were awesome
Zakusz 08.01.24	Anyone have an actual total of how many weekly visitors / members use the site?
Slex 08.01.24	Between 69 and 420
artiswar 08.01.24	anyone remember leoslyrics back in the day? And Epinions? I 'member... nostalgia-tripping hard today yeesh
Slex 08.01.24	AbsolutePunk lmao
Winesburgohio 08.01.24	extremely and utterly "no no no",
artificialbox 08.01.24	Love this discussion. “These days, it's faster to click through some tracks and see if an album is to your taste than to read a review.” Man, I honestly always thought reviewing music was dumb AF until I started using this site again and tried writing my own, now I kind of get it. Even 10+ years ago, I never cared what Fantano or Pitchfork had to say, I would go to their websites and copy paste the album name into youtube and decide for myself (which in a way is still a success for the writer). But this website really made me care about the time and effort people put into writing, which is why it will be sad to see you stop Robertsona. I understand though and wish you the best.
artiswar 08.01.24	guys, I'm gonna cry
Voivod 08.01.24	The thing about music reviewing, at least for punk/metal, is that it's great pretext for talking about stuff outside music. Sputnik has fostered exchanges of the sort (as well as others), hence it will always be relevant. The thing about mx fixing the site... I'm not in the guy's head, but building this site and watching it grow, must have felt like climbing on the top of mount Olympus. But nowadays, the guy is a university professor, which in terms of mountains, is like climbing mount Olympus Mons. It's just difficult to look back, and yeah, Sputnik users are left with less, but hey, that's life, folks just do what they can, with what they have, where they are.
MO 08.01.24	"what with people not being able to make new accounts and all." whoa what? I must be living under a rock, damn what happened?
robertsona 08.01.24	The site was hacked, early 2023 or summat: Jom's whole account got iced, some reviews deleted, avatars gone, and somehow (in what I figure is related) no more new registrations!
artiswar 08.01.24	no forgiveness for Colton for breaking the site like that
Pheromone 08.01.24	The fresh prince comparison made me sad sput lives on ;_;
Pheromone 08.01.24	i imagine at some point there will be another big crash and no mx to fix and then that will be it
denboy 08.01.24	in a twist of fate, the fact that no new accounts can be created will be what saves sputnik, as the rest of the internet gets drowned out completely by AI generated schlop
robertsona 08.01.24	honestly valid
robertsona 08.01.24	hold up your end of the bargain and I'll continue holding up mine
gabba 08.01.24	No prospect for new accounts is very sad, but it’s exactly the reason why people shouldn’t abandon the ship rn.