A Sincere Thank You (!!), With Important Website Updates
First of all, I have to give a very heartfelt thank you to all of you who have subscribed and given my website and music writing a chance, and given it, even if only a minute, of your precious time and some space in your minds. By giving AirdriftSignals even a moment of your attention means the world to me. This website I built from the ground up for more than a decade, without any outside assistance. It’s been a long journey and a gradual learning curve for me, but I am feeling myself reaching the peak of my abilities for what I have to offer folks in terms of the richest music journalism and user experience on the web.
I couldn’t be more pleased to see it just surpassed over 400,000 website visits! To most of the big deal music websites, this may seem insignificant and unremarkable to them, but not to me, especially since I’ve been operating AirdriftSignals all on my own, and since I offer a rich user experience that no other big corporate music websites can offer.
Premium And Ad-Free, For Everyone
A big decision I recently made to achieve this rich user experience, which sets it apart from the rest of the music conglomerates, is my removal of all ad placements across all of AirdriftSignals. We all know that ads are undeniably horrible and ruin what can otherwise be a great thing for consumers. Ads suck! Sorry, but I just need to get that out of my system. Google ads clogged up my pages, caused load times to slow, and were generally obnoxious and ick. Now that I’ve removed the ads entirely, AirdriftSignals zips wherever you want to go with whatever article you might travel to, no matter where on my site you start.
Seamless Consistency
This brings me to my next point: my revamping of AirdriftSignals as a rich user experience meant updating every single article to reflect the same consistency and level of detail that I began adopting and applying to my latest articles. Before I get too deep into Deep Dives, I wanted every article to have the ability to navigate to or from without opening up multiple extra windows on a browser, which can be annoying and disrupt site navigation. Everything that happens within the borders of AirdriftSignals stays within AirdriftSignals. Any article linking to another doesn’t bother with or busy readers devices with multiple confusing windows. Everything loads in an instant, and there’s honestly no better way to do it than with this in-site navigation, complete with zero ads.
Listener-Supported
Listener-supported is a phrase I used a lot when I was growing in my radio stature. WHUS 91.7FM and WPKN 89.5FM are listener-supported stations. It is crucial for them to stay in operation with the help of listener support in the form of fundraising and donations, and due to their huge overheads, that organizational structure is obvious. In lieu of ads meant to support faceless corporations, I chose to offer my website premium and ad-free with the hope that maybe some kind readers down the line might find my work of value. Instead of feeding algorithms, listeners and readers may choose to support another human being with original thoughts and ideas to share with those who are willing to listen. That's why in each of my pages, you may notice a small ask, in the form of a personal ad I am putting out:
This is a necessary, but preferable replacement for the obnoxious style of corporate advertisements that are always trying to creep into your subconscious thoughts and actions. It's a question, not unlike Wikipedia's, which I highly value and have given to for years, that if you enjoy what you see, and you enjoy the premium and ad-free experience, and you feel like platforms such as this are rare nowadays but are a fresh break from the noise, then why not offer a little monetary support? Money talks, so be careful where you spend it.
A Revamped Playlist, “AirdriftSignals Presents”
Quality Content
Ongoing, Deep Dives, And Interactive Posts
As of this month, I am starting to do something that I’ve never done before on AirdriftSignals, and that is to have Ongoing posts. Because of my latest Beach Boys SMiLE article and my argument that they have the best fanbase around, the basis of my claim is that they have a fan community that constantly reshapes and reimagines the music that The Beach Boys released and the mountain of recordings that were left unreleased. This means that new fan-made mixes and projects will keep popping up from time to time, so since I transitioned my article into a fan-made project archive, it will be periodically updated with new content that fans have made.
So if I have an article that has this disclosure at the top, that an article is Ongoing and will be updated either regularly or periodically, if you’re interested, then you should probably bookmark it and check back if you’d like. Being updated regularly also means that I might possibly be open to suggestions for future updates! Wink, wink.
Deep Dives I started a few years ago so it’s been a while, but they are my articles that consist of a Table of Contents. These articles are huge, so long that you may get lost in, so I needed to divide it up into parts that make sense. This has so far only been done with my Masterpiece Crate series, where I analyze a classic, beloved album from beginning to end or track by track. There you can read each section seamlessly by referring and using its Table of Contents, which brings me to my third point.
Some of my articles are now Interactive, meaning that for seamless navigation, you can click, or tap if on a phone or tablet, any Table of Contents section and instantly be taken to its respective section. Articles that are dense will now have this capability to navigate to, go back to the Table of Contents, or jump to the next section, in order to make it easier for readers who may feel overwhelmed or get lost in all of the information I provide. Certain parts of articles may even say to click or tap to go to another section. Those parts will have this functionality as well. In all of these ways, AirdriftSignals is becoming one of the most fluid and user-friendly music websites.
Embedded Media
Another important piece of the puzzle that I always try to keep up with is the embedded media that I am referring to or analyzing. This is common in most blogs but it deserves a quick an concise explanation. Older articles may have lost a YouTube or playlist link, either due to copyright claims or the artist themselves taking them down. These are embedded media windows that I will need to update in the near future, but AirdriftSignals' mission is to bring to you all the music playability at your fingertips in-house and onsite so that you don't need to go off and find the music that I am featuring. This ease of use and quick access is important to me for other music sites, so I know it is important to you.
Press Services, Pitches, And Rates
Services that I was active with for a few years and later halted were my Press Services, Interviews, and Reviews of artists' newly released music who were interested in being a part of my platform. This took a backseat for quite a few years due to me getting some of my professional priorities in order, but now I am ready to bring them back! One crucial change that I have to mention though is that I will no longer be a reviewer-for-hire. I realize now that this is a conflict of interest and it is unfair to artists who are utilizing my services. At the time, I had to maintain a more measured approach and to not appear too critical of paying artists' music. So while most of what I reported on in their music rings true, I always felt like it was my duty to put a positive spin on the music and to not appear overly critical. This is why I am transitioning the core of my Press Services as a PR campaign rather than a review. I want as many people to see your music, but I don't want to feel the awkwardness of hyping it from a reviewer's lens.
Pitches is just a simple and friendly invitation for those of you who may like to see my take on another artist, album, or trend in the industry at large. One of the ways I seek to provide unique insights from the many ways music touches our lives in my Essays series, of which I have my number 4 essay cooking right now.
If you are interested in my Press Services, you can navigate to my newly added page called Rates. You will have the benefit of a high quality article on my newly revamped site, free from frustrating ads, and with the benefit of an automatic email campaign that is sent to my thousands of email subscribers. This brings me to my final point that I want to make.
Thousands Of Email Subscribers - Thank You To All Who Subscribed!
Lastly, I couldn't have imagined that my readership would grow into the thousands, in both visitors per day, and email subscriptions. Seriously, THANK YOU to all of you for your faith in my craft and your continued support in what I do. I have put so much research, time, and thought into every article, every artist, every album or EP, and every inch of AirdriftSignals Music Magazine that I feel honored to be a part of, if even for only a minute, of your day.
Be well and stay safe. Times are getting darker and we only have each other in this crazy world we all live in.
Thank you,
Stefan Walczak - Owner and Writer
DJ Dark Flow - My Music Alias
