Wishes and Goals for the New Year

To say 2010 was eventful would be an understatement. There was death,disease,crime, and retirements. But there was also great music too. It's still debatable whether any of the things I wished for are coming true from last year but here are some things that I hope for for the coming year and also some goals for the blog in the coming year as well after the jump.


Let's start with the wishes:
1. A continuation of bands that are influenced by their contemporaries in Europe. The Absence and Agalloch are examples of bands that could easily be mistaken for Swedish or just plain Scandinavian. And it is good.

2. Hold off on the retirements at least for this year. I think metal is taking on a bigger face and if some of the older bands can just hang on to see this resurgence continue it would be a good thing. Plus I'm not sure if there is anybody worth carrying the mantle just yet.

3. If the promoters are going to be lowering ticket prices like they're suggesting then get some real festivals here Stateside for once. Something closer to Bloodstock or the Swedish rock festival. And no it's not because I want to see Therion. Fuck that guy still. Just use the same sites that have been used for Mayhem and Ozzfest. Or pick a centralized location and I'll fly my ass out there for one.

4.Labels actually pulling in enough revenue to promote and not solely relying on blogsites and the internet to do it for them. Most of us don't get paid for this or make just enough to maintain the sites. We love the music and still want to get it out there but we can't do it alone. Bands have a contract with you. We're just helping out.

5. No deaths this year.Mortality is inevitable and we get the message after last year but let's hope guys take care of themselves, keep off the drugs, and the old guys bodies hang on.

And now for some announcements or goals for the blogsite:

1. I'll be pushing in the next month to move to Wordpress and actually be hosted.Blogger has been good to me but the readership has grown and a couple of labels have suggested to me to get my own domain to increase traffic and be taken more seriously. Not to mention I've started finding some big limitations to the format as it is now. When this all happens I will give you the full 411 on new e-mails and web addresses.

2. I'm in the market for some new writers. Draeden has done a great job and helped boost traffic here but we still can't do it alone. In order to provide more content that will appeal to a broader audience I need writers that are invested in the music, are aware of the latest happenings and have tastes that vary to some degree from ours. I have a couple of people I know that will be posting things soon but it may be very sporadic. So keep your eyes out for new contributors this year.

3. There will be more interviews. As we grow look for some interviews from some people that you may or may not know. We have some people in mind its just a matter of getting coordinated but I think people will be excited or intrigued by some of the groups we have in mind. Some of them might be in person, by e-mail, or even audio interviews.

4. There will be more reviews with a scoring system in place. I'll keep doing Real Time Reviews for bands that I think can be entertaining but standard reviews need to be improved upon and we want to be a better presence on that front.

5. As our relationship with labels grow I'd like to be able to provide more contests and give you the readers the ability to win some cool stuff directly from labels or bands.

6. And as always I have a goal for more viewers. The last three or 4 months have seen a dramatic increase in traffic and I want that to continue into next year and also thank you for your patronage. If you the readers know of people that want to be kept informed on what's happening in heavy music by all means send them our way.
Facebook has been a great tool to get the news out there and Last.Fm is another avenue to get interaction between us and you.We care about the music and we want to share it with as many people as possible.

Plus there are some other things I want to get going over here but I'll save that for later. For now these are things I'm hoping for this year in both music and the blog. So let us know what you think of the pending change ideas and share your wishes for the coming New Year.