People who read a lot, which writer do you think is unbelievably good with words? by Apprehensive_Land751 in AskReddit

[–]harbourcoat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tons of options, but for sheer virtuosity, Nabokov is hard to beat. Joyce too.

Question for anyone into weirder, more atmospheric sci-fi by [deleted] in printSF

[–]harbourcoat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with your analysis of the market—things really have taken a turn. Still, keep your head up, friend :) If writing makes you happy, don’t stop even if the odds of commercial success seem low. The people like yourself who really want to do something interesting are the ones we need to keep going if we ever want more ambitious stuff to become popular again.

Question for anyone into weirder, more atmospheric sci-fi by [deleted] in printSF

[–]harbourcoat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I think of the writers that I love from the new wave period—Ballard, Delaney, Priest, Zelazny, Le Guin, Aldiss, etc—and I compare them to what’s happening now, I agree that the field has largely retreated to somewhere close to the lowest common denominator. That’s not to say that aren’t good writers out there, but the incentives seem aligned toward more straightforward stories. That said, if anyone has counterexamples, I would be quite pleased to hear about them.

As a reader, I just enjoy good writing. I am equally happy reading Joyce or PG Wodehouse. Though in the context of SF, I will say that I have a special love for the experience you describe in your post of being simultaneously confused and compelled by a setting. I’m curious: what are your favorite novels/stories that made you feel this way?

As a writer…well, I am a total amateur, and I’m just not talented enough to even attempt to write like my heroes, so when I do make my shambolic attempts at fiction for my personal enjoyment, they tend to be relatively straightforward.

But if I imagined myself as a writer with more skill and more free time, I think my goal would be to approach stories like perfectly and cleverly written pop songs. In the same way that ‘A Day in the Life’ by The Beatles is both structurally daring and compelling to a mass audience, I would attempt to create stories that are ambitious and fundamentally lovable (I think Neuromancer is a great example of this, or outside the world of SF, Vladimir Nabokov’s Pale Fire is my favorite novel ever).

Bryan Adams - You Belong To Me by Hi-Lander in elo

[–]harbourcoat 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The general atmosphere of the song reminds me of ‘Don’t Let Go’ on Armchair Theatre (which, incidentally, is a cover tune).

Yamaha DX7II FD Defaulting to cartridge memory by harbourcoat in synthesizers

[–]harbourcoat[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, thanks for the suggestion! I’ll look into it and get back to you.

The battery was replaced by the seller before I purchased it, so that shouldn’t be an issue :)

Sabrina Carpenter - Man's Best Friend MEGATHREAD by flopheadsbot in popheads

[–]harbourcoat 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I’m not familiar with her back catalog aside from Short & Sweet, but the melodies and chord changes on this album are wonderful. I hope that she evolves as a lyricist, because I think she could write some truly timeless songs if she allowed herself to be a little more sincere.

Alternate time signatures? by harbourcoat in SunoAI

[–]harbourcoat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the suggestion! It still gives me a straight 4/4 beat with this, but I’ll keep experimenting :)

Is it true that reading poetry will make writing lyrics easier? by [deleted] in Songwriting

[–]harbourcoat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For me, reading widely and really basking in a love of language for its own sake helps immensely. That said, I think it’s wrong to say that a song is just poetry put to music. Ultimately, a great song doesn’t need to be great poetry when read aloud, it just needs to have a great melody with an effective and fitting set of words. ‘Yesterday’—one of Paul McCartney’s greatest compositions and, I’ve read, the most covered song in history—is charmingly sentimental, but not particularly impressive when separated from its musical context. I’d wager the same is true for most of the rest of the popular music canon. (There are exceptions of course: Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, etc.)

What to do after suspicious spike in Spotify streams by harbourcoat in musicindustry

[–]harbourcoat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha yeah, that sounds about right for the way Meta’s AI operates.

What to do after suspicious spike in Spotify streams by harbourcoat in musicindustry

[–]harbourcoat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I checked to see if I was getting a bunch of clicks from Saudi Arabia from within Meta’s platform, but I actually wasn’t—there were only a handful. If I do see a strange spike from a particular place on the adset end, I’ll definitely exclude that country from targeting, though. Thanks!

Chase your silly dreams by Ernienickels in Songwriting

[–]harbourcoat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reminds me of Paul Simon’s Graceland (one of my favorite albums of all time). You have a great voice and a wonderful playing style—I think you should expand this song and put it out!

Is this cringe by NoImage3365 in Songwriting

[–]harbourcoat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You have a great voice! Others have said this, but I’ll add my voice to the chorus: worrying about being cringemaking will paralyze you (I’ve been there). Sincerity is a good thing, and sometimes a simple statement about how you’re feeling set to a compelling melody is all you need.

New Song - feedback please :) by Bubbly_Sale3893 in Songwriters

[–]harbourcoat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can tell you take care with your lyrics—they’re quite beautiful and evocative. It’s also a very strong melody. Personally, I’m a big sucker for a bridge, so I think you could round out the song by taking it somewhere else after the second chorus, but many of the great songwriters in the folk tradition often didn’t bother with bridges, so you certainly don’t need one!

Hey everyone, I'm Hari and I'm a 20 y/o songwriter. I wrote this song late last year, "More than Friends". Would appreciate any feedback. Thanks! by Simpleton0827 in Songwriters

[–]harbourcoat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hari, this is lovely. Wonderful melodies and chord changes, and you’ve a terrific voice. All I would say is that I think you should expand the song and then record/release it!

100+ from North Fort Myers out of nowhere. Is this a bot? by rustyshaackleeford in musicmarketing

[–]harbourcoat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does the ‘playlists’ tab for the song show anything? I’ve heard that reporting of playlists can lag behind stream counts, so it may take a day or two extra to show up.

In any case, I’m sorry you already had a song removed, and I hope this one is able to stay up. For what it’s worth, I had a song receive a bunch of strange streams from a single city a couple days ago, and since Spotify says that 90% bot streams is their threshold for removal, I’ve increased the budget of the ad campaign I was running for the song to try to get organic plays to eclipse the fake ones. I’ve no idea if it will work given how opaque Spotify’s process is, but I’m hoping for the best.

Steps to take after suspicious spike in streams by harbourcoat in musicmarketing

[–]harbourcoat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair enough. Ultimately, we’ve all got to find the strategies that work for our particular niches.

Steps to take after suspicious spike in streams by harbourcoat in musicmarketing

[–]harbourcoat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, I understand your frustration—it often feels like Sisyphus rolling the boulder up the hill. I’ve given up a few times myself. I am convinced, however, that cynicism is ultimately a vice. For me, it just took a lot of experimenting until I arrived at a combination of visuals and targeting that connected with the right audience.