the story + soundtrack of our second year in business
Press play, and enjoy our massive compilation while reading this article...
picture blatantly stolen from someone on Pinterest. I don't know who because we don't have an account there :-)
Well, this is it, Merchants Of Air's second birthday. That calls for a little celebration, don't you think? Two years ago, we kicked things off with a massive review for the Incubate festival. That review started something that would have a great impact on my life and maybe on that of some other people as well.
In 2015 we got to blow out a first candle and, believe me, we were quite happy to be where we were. We learned a lot, which made us realise that we still had a lot to learn. By the end of September 2015 Merchants Of Air began to turn some heads. From then on, the journey has gotten more and more satisfying and amazing, even though most of it takes place in a comfortable couch in a town called Berchem.
Since 25 September 2015, we not only doubled the age of Merchants Of Air, but also our visitor count, or even tripled it. Thousands of pages are being read every day by several hundreds of guests, with peaks up to 2200 unique daily visitors. Apparently, news items from Belgian sludge act AmenRa and American post-rock masters Russian Circles were responsible for these peaks, followed by Japanese post-rockers Mono. That's three peaks, caused by bands from three different continents. Our readers come from all over the world too. I didn't even know that there were 131 countries in the world but we've hit them all.
In 2015 we got to blow out a first candle and, believe me, we were quite happy to be where we were. We learned a lot, which made us realise that we still had a lot to learn. By the end of September 2015 Merchants Of Air began to turn some heads. From then on, the journey has gotten more and more satisfying and amazing, even though most of it takes place in a comfortable couch in a town called Berchem.
Since 25 September 2015, we not only doubled the age of Merchants Of Air, but also our visitor count, or even tripled it. Thousands of pages are being read every day by several hundreds of guests, with peaks up to 2200 unique daily visitors. Apparently, news items from Belgian sludge act AmenRa and American post-rock masters Russian Circles were responsible for these peaks, followed by Japanese post-rockers Mono. That's three peaks, caused by bands from three different continents. Our readers come from all over the world too. I didn't even know that there were 131 countries in the world but we've hit them all.
I don't think this top-5 is a big surprise. United States delivered the most visitors (16.75%), probably because it's a massive country with loads and loads of musicians and fans. Belgium was responsible for another 16% which could easily be explained by our strong will to push music from our fatherland. We have a vibrant scene here, that's true as well. So does France, which comes in third place, a country with a surprisingly varied rock scene. Same goes for India by the way, and even the Middle-East has shown some stunning bands. It's true, music is a universal language, suited for everyone who is willing to give it a shot.
But, as with pretty much everything, there is a downside to that growth. Approximately one in every three reviews causes another review request. Apart from the stuff we get from agencies and labels, more and more individuals seem to find the way to our website and inbox. That inbox is exploding right now. We don't mind but we simply can't keep up with all those releases anymore. We desperately needed new writers, which finally caused the writing-debut of my wife, Eline. She wrote some great reviews for bands like Sophia and composers like Merrin Karras.
We also welcomed Wagner Hertzog to our staff. He contacted us one day, shortly after I was about to give up on finding writers. He asked if we needed anyone and, after reading some of his reviews, I quickly sealed the deal. Currently, Monday is pretty much Wagner-day with all kinds of articles and reviews coming from his hand. I'm extremely thankful for these posts, especially since our other writers had to deal with personal issues, causing them to write less.
Again, I don't mind. At Merchants Of Air, we don't do 'pressure', that's what day jobs and mothers-in-law are for. All our writers are volunteers, I'm the only one profiting from all the millions and millions that come in each and every day. Being a billionaire is easy if you keep your mouth shut to everyone and just secretly spend the money on drugs, hookers and tattooing hamsters. I just let everyone do whatever he can and wants while I publish the whole thing from my yacht in the Caribbean.
Just kidding. We're all poor...
Wagner not only helped us getting through a lot more albums but he also kinda revived the A Small Neat Journal section. With movie reviews, poetry and other great articles he brought a breath of fresh air into Merchants Of Air. Some of those articles inspired me to restart writing some other stuff as well. Not that I had forgotten about A Small Neat Journal but my mind was occupied with something completely different, a deck of cards to be exact.
Again, I don't mind. At Merchants Of Air, we don't do 'pressure', that's what day jobs and mothers-in-law are for. All our writers are volunteers, I'm the only one profiting from all the millions and millions that come in each and every day. Being a billionaire is easy if you keep your mouth shut to everyone and just secretly spend the money on drugs, hookers and tattooing hamsters. I just let everyone do whatever he can and wants while I publish the whole thing from my yacht in the Caribbean.
Just kidding. We're all poor...
Wagner not only helped us getting through a lot more albums but he also kinda revived the A Small Neat Journal section. With movie reviews, poetry and other great articles he brought a breath of fresh air into Merchants Of Air. Some of those articles inspired me to restart writing some other stuff as well. Not that I had forgotten about A Small Neat Journal but my mind was occupied with something completely different, a deck of cards to be exact.
In February, I was doing the dishes when a sudden memory tuned into an idea. Soon after, the first draft for 'The Metal Deck' was designed, an investment was made and a unique deck of cards was born. Merchants Of Air colleague Paul quickly jumped on the wagon and started recording 'The Metal Deck Theme'. Björn also joined in the fun, accompanying me at the merchandise stands at Rodeo Fest. Wouter already joined me at Rock Herk. Most recently, I introduced Wouter (as marketing manager) and Bart (as graphic designer) to a bunch of wrestlers. The Metal Deck became my number one project for a while and, from a certain standpoint it still is. Along with a few friends, I founded Analoch Games. The Metal Deck is our first game and, as a little premiere, two others are currently in pre-production (meaning, we're thinking them out). In its turn, The Metal Deck became the number one ad-provider on Merchants Of Air.
Frankly, I was sick and tired of outside ads, and with The Metal Deck I finally had something to replace them indefinitely. From then on, Merchants Of Air would become completely independent. Everything we sell, we made or designed ourselves. The shirts are printed and shipped by Spreadshirt and we receive a percentage, which gets us through the hosting costs and pays us an occasional beer. Other goodies will appear in our shop as well in the near future, not because we desperately want your money but because we're creative generalists.
Frankly, I was sick and tired of outside ads, and with The Metal Deck I finally had something to replace them indefinitely. From then on, Merchants Of Air would become completely independent. Everything we sell, we made or designed ourselves. The shirts are printed and shipped by Spreadshirt and we receive a percentage, which gets us through the hosting costs and pays us an occasional beer. Other goodies will appear in our shop as well in the near future, not because we desperately want your money but because we're creative generalists.
One of my creative ideas turned into a great way to publish more reviews in less time. In July, we published a first set of "Brieviews", which was followed by twelve others in the next few months. With these, we managed to recommend a lot more albums and ep's. Not only did the writing process go a lot faster, but the whole sharing and social networking surrounding a publication took way less time. Another advantage seemed to be the fact that more people read them because they're shorter, without harming the enthusiastic atmosphere of the reviews. In no time, "Brieviews" became a fixed item on Merchants Of Air. Loads more will follow, that's for sure.
The idea also moved over to the news section on Merchants Of Air, resulting in the birth of 'The Rock 'n Scroll'. Again, these are several news items, pressed into one big article and shared over social networks together. Again, more bands can be recommended to more people because they go over the whole thing instead of that one article. Both these and the "Brieviews" lured a lot more visitors in, not only on the site but also on our social networking profiles.
The idea also moved over to the news section on Merchants Of Air, resulting in the birth of 'The Rock 'n Scroll'. Again, these are several news items, pressed into one big article and shared over social networks together. Again, more bands can be recommended to more people because they go over the whole thing instead of that one article. Both these and the "Brieviews" lured a lot more visitors in, not only on the site but also on our social networking profiles.
Merchants Of Air is on facebook, twitter, tumblr, google+, minds and instagram. We used to be on Tsu as well but that site suddenly closed down. I bet Zuckerberg bought them out. All our profiles gained followers over the past year. We even invented a successful meme, causing a little section called "Funs 'n Puns". It was a rework of somewhat racist meme with parasols (called "umbrellas" by the author). I thought they looked like Sunn O))) so a contra-meme was quickly born. A few days after I first published the picture, I found it in tweets by Consouling Sounds and Southern Lord. Oh, what a proud day that was...
All that meme-creating, Brieviews- and Rock 'n Scroll writing and Metal Decks selling took a lot of time and before I realized it, I'd missed a heap of concerts. Perhaps the 'concerts' section on Merchants Of Air has become the biggest victim of my creative generalism. On the other hand, that makes it a lot easier to pick out the best gigs of 2016 for our upcoming end-year list. Of course, Desertfest is still coming up and a bunch of other gigs are planned for the near future as well. In all, I think making that list is going to cause me a lot of stress again, but for you, dear reader, I will do it.
Because who else would I be doing this for? Donald Trump? Vince McMahon? Kim Kardashian? Rihanna? Screw them, they already have all the attention they need and loads and loads more. I do it for the ones who deserve attention because of their creative approach, their stubborn belief that music is a living thing that comes from the heart and soul of hard working artists. I do it for people like Angelina Yershova, Aidan Baker, James Welburn and bands like Lilium Sova, Hungry Like Rakovitz and Autokrator who do their stinking best to entertain us.
On the other hand, if Vince McMahon ever asks me to write for him, screw you guys... :-)
On the other hand, if Vince McMahon ever asks me to write for him, screw you guys... :-)
Finally, there are a lot of people who deserve a 'thank you'. Our staff of course, and all the bands, labels and agencies who keep on sending us those awesome releases, knowing very well that we can't "catch them all". Finally, I'd like to thank our readers because without you guys, we'd be the literal equivalent of a madman talking to himself. So thank you, come again...
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