Channel Update: Retiring "The Bin", New Scoring System, Etc.

Hello y'all!

Still working at getting the next longform (CURSE of the Best New Artist Grammy '90-'94) out. We're in final edits now, so we're still looking good for March. But I also wanted to throw some announcements out there and I just wasn't sure how to do it in a non-awkward way (especially since this is a vid I should have gotten done in like... January.)

TL;DR version: 

- "The Bin" is retired, but I'm not taking requests anymore so it's a moot point.

- You probably already noticed, but I switched single review scores to a 1/10 scoring system. We're gonna stay that course (and numeric scores are dumb so don't take things that seriously.)

- Video releases are going to continue on a more "when it's done" basis. 

The fuller version"

- THE BIN:

Yep. We're retiring The Bin. Honestly, I'm not sure the bin was ever a GREAT idea (it's caused about as many headaches as it solved frankly), but The Bin was originally put in place because people would "troll request" certain artists or just request boring, bland artists that gave me nothing to talk about so that was more in place to stop that from happening. Since I don't take review requests anymore (and for the foreseeable future) The Bin is kinda moot at this point, so it's "retired". Since I haven't taken requests in a good long while it's been kinda unofficially retired for a while now, but now let's hammer it home. 

Though please don't forget, it is still my channel and I make the content I wanna make, so if I don't feel like talking about an artist or giving them any attention... I'm not gonna. Simple as that. 

- THE NEW SINGLE ALBUM REVIEWS/SCORING SYSTEM:

I apologize if this is a little redundant, but I really wanted to focus more on getting videos OUT then ramble on about particulars that probably "explain themselves", but if you've been watching the new single review videos, you probably noticed a whole new style and rating system.

That's absolutely on purpose. One thing I spent a TON of time on during my "hiatus" last year was streamlining my video making process to make things much more simple and less draining. That included a new set, new equipment, new way of shooting, the works. And as a result, making single album reviews is MUCH less work.

I no longer have to dig up band footage (which the pandemic has made hard to track down and bands are copyright flagging or just taking down a lot of footage like that regardless), tons of assets, sound effects, etc. It's a much simpler "talk about the dang album" format. Bells and whistles are gone. Which... I do kinda miss because I have bad ADHD and stuff like that helps me pay attention. :P 

But since things are simpler, the new single album reviews are much easier to make. Outside of listening and processing time, I can write, shoot, edit, and release a single album review in one day or even one afternoon if it's not too crazy.   The single album reviews were always meant to kinda help ease the "wait" between longform vids, but now that they don't take an age to make, they can serve that purpose again. I did end up missing talking about new music while I was on that hiatus and after a few months I realized I did want to come back to that. I just needed a way to do it that wouldn't kill me. 

Again, thanks for your patience, and thank you for supporting those new vids. Again, they aren't REPLACING longforms or anything like that. It's just a nice thing we can do here and there as well.

You also probably noticed I'm not reviewing things on a 1/5 scale anymore either. Yeah, that's also intentional. Even though I don't really care that much about numeric scores, having only 5 number left things without a lot of wiggle room. So

A) It's a 1-10 scale now. 1 being worst, 10 being best. Zero's CAN happen, but remember it takes A LOT for me to give an album a zero so I wouldn't count on it happening anytime soon... at least I hope not. :S

B) There are also "ranges" within most scores. I haven't scored too many albums as just a 7 or just a 9 or whatever. I'll usually say "Light to solid 7" or "Strong 8 - Light 9". Again, a lot of times giving an album a dead solid number just... doesn't feel right. (I mean, look at what happened with the latest Algiers record. I felt funny giving that numeric score at all!) So I'm just straight up going to put most albums in a "range".

That range is thus:

- Light (at the low end)

- Solid (in the middle)

- Strong (at the high end)

So if something is, for example a "Strong 6 - Light 7" it's probably safe to gauage that it's "maybe mediocre, but bordering on decent" or "Solid-Strong 9" would imply "it's great, bordering on brilliant" etc.

Again, it gives us more flexibility to work with and oftentimes an opinion on a record can't really be nailed down numerically (see Algiers again!), but I like the idea of having breathing room with a lot of these scores, and again, I want to emphasize:

SCORES ARE JUST DUMB FUN! DON'T TAKE THEM THAT SERIOUSLY!

Scores are always subject to change, and if you're gonna get huffy about something as insignificant as a score... then the score is a zero and I gave it because your dad gives mediocre head. >:3

...ahem, anyway...

- RELEASE SCHEDULE GOING FORWARD

I mean... I've always played fast and loose with my release schedule, I've never been consistent and the few times I've tried have never gone down well. I just wanted to emphasize that I'll be releasing videos entirely based on my availability to do so. Probably not news here, but I wanted to drive the point home. I tried to do "One vid a month" during the hiatus and didn't even come close. But that was honestly for the best as the last thing I needed to do was overwork myself.

I'll be releasing longforms and single album reviews basically... when I can do them.

I would love to tackle things timely or cover stuff that EVERYONE wants me to cover, but sometimes y'all that just might not be possible. This isn't my full time job and I don't ever expect it to be, so please understand that my availability isn't infinite and my energy is not inexhaustible. I love making content for y'all but I have to look out for my own health first. I'll do my best to keep y'all updated if something big knocks me off schedule, but I appreciate your patience and understanding during times where that might not be possible.

And... that's basically the gist of it. Again, probably not a ton here that you didn't already know about, but I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to put it on the record. Again, still working on single reviews, the next longform, and I'd like to get more into livestreaming again sometime in the near future as well, so stay tuned for all of that.

In the meantime, thanks again for watching, thanks again for your patience, and I'll see ya when I see ya.

-Crash