Hear Me Out: What to Expect When You're Not Expecting

So, here we are again.

Another year (damn, another decade) is here, and once again I'm writing out an "I've been bad at this" post. You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd assume that my heart just wasn't into this thing anymore and be using this space to announce the closure of Sound Bites.

To be honest, that's something I've seriously considered over the past year and change, as it always seems like I've been unable to keep up with things around here for one reason or another (and, if I'm being totally honest with myself, most of those reasons = laziness). One thing leads to another and, before I know it, I'm behind by 30-50 reviews and the only way to chip away at the backlog is to summarize albums that talented people put a lot of time, care and hard work into with a haiku. While I did receive some positive reinforcement for doing that, something about it just doesn't feel right to me.

Therein lies my dilemma; I want to put careful thought and sensible reasoning into my reviews, but when the releases start piling up and I let the queue get out of control, it's easier to not do a review at all than to play catch-up.

So, over the course of the last few months, I've had to do some soul searching of sorts. Do I shut the whole thing down? Do I stop doing reviews, and turn this place into some kind of clickbait purgatory, where I post random lists and hot takes? The idea that almost took enough traction to justify a pivot was a Hall of Fame, where I'd only post about albums from the past that I considered to be classics and give them a pedestal from which to look down on other, not-as-classic albums. However, I decided that turning Sound Bites into a nostalgia hole wasn't really all that exciting a prospect so, while I haven't written off the idea entirely, it certainly won't be what I want this blog known for.

At the end of the day, the problem is me; I've been too lazy to find the time for this, and that sucks because I've seen readership plummet over the past year. I'm blown away that I've passed 90,000 total page views because that's amazing for a small passion project with little to no promotion, but it's harrowing to see average monthly views drop from 1400 (2017) to 1100 (2018) to 357 (2019). In fact, the numbers are even more troubling considering that I only managed to draw only 549 total views over the entire second half of 2019. To be clear, and to reiterate, I know that the problem is me; if I can't be bothered to post more than twelve times a year, how can I expect anyone to stick around to see what happens next?

The good news is, I'm working to change this terrible trajectory. I'd be foolish to promise content at the same clip some of my more experienced followers were used to back in the good days, but I can damn sure do better than one post per month. So, if you'll allow me a little leeway to work through it, over the coming weeks I'll be tinkering with the way I do things around here. There will be reviews, and there will be opinion pieces, and I'll be screaming at myself to get back on this keyboard more often because I want to believe there are still a few of you who will read this and want to read more. Then, once I figure out the right balance that keeps me motivated and you informed and/or entertained, my vision is a Sound Bites where new articles and reviews are something you can expect to see on a regular basis again as opposed to short bursts of content separated by months of silence.

This blog and its readers, what precious few are left, deserve much better than it's gotten of late. It's my duty to not just blow the cobwebs off, but to truly bring it back to life. I will do my best not to let you down.