Rejection And, Maybe, Redemption

I woke this morning to an email from Envato informing me that my recent submission, 'Realize The Dream', was hard rejected. This means that I can't make changes and resubmit it for reconsideration. Sometimes, they'll do a "soft" rejection, where they'll tell you there's a specific problem that you can fix and then resubmit. Once, I got a response saying they liked what I'd done but thought it should be louder. I pumped up the volume, resubmitted the item, and it was quickly accepted. Occasionally, the rejections will include some reason that it doesn't work for them.

Mostly, though, you get a form response:

"This item does not meet the general commercial quality standard required to be accepted on AudioJungle."

Maybe there's something they don't like in the mix, or they think they've already got too much of "that", or something or some other unfathomable issue.

There was a time when I would get very upset about rejections. I tend to emotionally invest myself
in my work, and that may not be the best thing to do. When it's rejected, my first reaction is to take it personally. The same thing can happen if something is accepted but doesn't sell.

Recently, though, I've started to take a different approach. I started going back to items that were rejected by AudioJungle and asking "what can I do to improve them, and maybe submit them elsewhere?" There have been a couple of occasions where I've made some relatively small changes in an item that was rejected, upload it to Pond5 or MotionElements, and it ends up doing pretty well (or at least selling a license or two).

So I went back and made a few tweaks to the mix.

First, there's a synth mallet part, a key element of the track. I was a little concerned even before I submitted the track for consideration that it might be to dated or otherwise out of place. After the rejection, I decided to replace it with a more bell-type tone and set it back a little in the mix. I also wrote a new line for it that I thought would clash a little less rhythmically with the strings.

Second, I reduced the volume on the electric guitars overall, and then pushed the volume of one syncopated line near the end. I also increased the high end in that section.

I made a couple of other small changes, backing off the bass a little and rerecording a bit nearer the end to give it a little more interest leading into the climax. I also punched the strings up a little in spots. Finally, I decided that the tempo at 120 bpm (beats per minute) was maybe a little too frenetic for this track. So I slowed it down by about 5 bpm. I think that gives it a little more 'oomph', especially at the end.

Here are a couple of excerpts to give you a sense of the "before and after." First, a little of the track I submitted to AudioJungle.



Now, roughly the same segment of the track after I tweaked it.



I know the tweaks I described may sound like a lot, but once I had a good sense of what I wanted to do, it didn't take very long at all. "Realize The Dream" is already live at MotionElements; you can check out the complete track here. I plan to submit it to Pond5 later today.

And that is how I try to take lemons and make lemonade. Sometimes, one person's trash can become another's treasure. I hope that will be the case with this track. I still get upset at rejection, but now it stings a lot less.

Changing My Social Media Strategy

Starting today, I've made some changes in my social media strategy.

Effective immediately, I've deleted my Buffer account. I'd started out on the free Buffer plan and found the interface useful. I liked the idea of having a queue where I could arrange my scheduled posts in a certain order at consistent times. So I took the next step and went to their Pro plan.

The Pro plan offered a couple of things that looked attractive. First, the ability to schedule up to 100 posts a day rather than 10 (although I never intended to do more than 20). Second, the analytics. I liked the idea of being able to see, without having to log on to Twitter, what impacts my tweets were having. After a while, I also discovered the content buffer, which offered something similar to what I've been getting from Feedly. (I'm still using their entry-level offering, and will probably continue to do so.) Although there were occasional failures to post, on the whole I thought that Buffer was much more reliable than Hootsuite.

So why did I leave? The short answer is that at the moment I have more time than money. One thing that's hurt all of these services with respect to Twitter is that Twitter now does not allow multiple posts. Looking at my Twitter followers through Followerwonk has revealed that the plurality of my followers are located on the east and west coasts of the U. S. A lot of them are on at the noon hour Eastern Time and at the noon hour Pacific Time.

One of the things scheduling used to allow was to post duplicate tweets at different times of the day. so I would get impressions from West Coast followers who might not otherwise see tweets the East Coast folks would see (unless they hunted for it). Under Twitter's new rules that's now impossible without changing the tweet so it isn't identical. (Of course, that defeats the time-saving purpose of being able to click a repost button that schedules the same tweet for a later time.)

The other problem was a flaw in the analytics. I would post an article, then look back at it and find it had received 30-40 clicks. Stunned, I would find my Twitter analytics and find that it had been clicked once, or not at all. It finally dawned on me that it was aggregating clicks based on the shortened URL across all users' tweets, not just mine. If I wanted to see the reactions my own tweets of the article generated, I ended up having to go back to Twitter anyway. That's something that Buffer may be able to easily fix, and some point they may do so. In the end, I felt that I was spending as much time on the "automated" process than just scheduling tweets in TweetDeck. And Twitter makes up the vast majority of my social media effort.

Don't misunderstand. I like Buffer. I like the interface. It just didn't work out for me. It could be that those who have more money and less time would find their team management and sharing capabilities very valuable (I am literally a one-man band, so I did not try out those capabilities myself.) I suspect the folks at Buffer will continue to improve their offerings, and I wish them well.

So, for me it's back to TweetDeck and live posting on Google Plus, at least for now.

What's Happening: Week of August 6, 2018

To be honest, it looks like a pretty boring week coming up music-wise.

As I write this, I have nothing in the pipeline since I submitted the track "Realize The Dream" to AudioJungle earlier in the week.  Based on their tracking of average curation times I'd say I have 8-9 days left until they accept or reject it. (More on that here.) I have some ideas rolling around in my head, but nothing concrete for now.

I've mentioned the podcast project I'm working on with a close friend. That is stalled for the moment, but I hope we can move ahead on it next week.

My featured stock music item this week is Corporate Podcast Intro 8 (30 Second). This is another bright, upbeat opener for business positive podcasts, presentations and other media. It's also available in 15 second and bumper/stinger versions (no loop on this one, sorry). If this sounds like what you need for your program, I hope you'll check it out.

Meanwhile, I think I'd like to post more frequently here. I'm not sure how long I can keep it up, but there are topics related to what I do (like promotion and so on, plus updates on projects) that may interest you. One thing I plan to address this week is changing my social media strategy (again). Until next time, be well and take care.

In The Pipeline, August 2, 2018: Realize The Dream

I've got a new stock music item in the pipeline. I submitted this one to AudioJungle. It's been almost a year since I uploaded anything for consideration there, and I think both the content and sound quality are good enough to fly there.

The item is a motivational track called "Realize The Dream." In most respects, it's pretty standard as corporate/motivational music goes. However, I've been listening to so much stuff that using the same IV-V-vi-I chord progressions with variations that I'm sick of it. So I decided to spice it up by adding the VII into the mix. Also, I just took advantage of an IK Multimedia deal to get the CE version of Miroslav Philharmonik 2 for less than $40 (US) -- less than $30 after I applied available credits -- and really wanted to use the new string samples on this track. As you can hear from the preview below, they are much more lively and realistic than the ones in the original Miroslav or Sample Tank 3, especially the ensemble staccato strings that I used heavily on the track. Here's that 30-second preview from the 2:48 full track.



The package also includes a couple of loops for background bed use. As I mentioned, I submitted this one to AudioJungle, where the average wait time for approval or rejection is 14 days. In about two weeks I should know whether it's gong there, or if I'll submit it to Pond5 and/or MotionElements.

What's Happening: Week of July 30, 2018

If you read my last weekly update, you know I've been working on creating a podcast with a long-time friend. I'm not ready to provide a lot of details just yet, but I can say that it combines elements of the true crime with the occult and I think fans of those genres will find it fascinating. Also, we plan to start recording episodes next week! I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile . . .

I have a new item in the pipeline. This one is another addition to my corporate podcast intros, and has a more "industrial" feeling for businesses and business journalists who want to set a more traditional tone in their presentation. Like many of my podcast intros, this one will be available in :30, :15, bumper and loop versions. Here's a preview of the 30-second version.



As always, when it goes live, you'll hear about it first on my Twitter feed (available as a link in the top menu). Until next time, thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

P. S. I forgot to mention my featured stock music item this week. It's Making The Difference. I hope you'll check it out!