Back on May 11, So Many Roads To Ease My Soul celebrated 3 1/2 years of sharing the best live tunes with its audience. Having hit that milestone, I figured I'd share some thoughts and reflections with you on my experience over the last 42 months.
THE GOOD
For the most part, its been a great 3 1/2 years. I've enjoyed writing each post, sharing some rock history and personal experiences with you along with the music. And the response has been great - so many folks have shared wonderful comments and been so thankful for the music. Those kind words are what's helped keep me going, even when we had disasters llike Megaupload going out of business, resulting in over 500 links being deleted. I've made made friends along the way, kindred souls who share a love of great music. To the loyal folks who visit this site - some 500 a day, almost 2.5 million in total - my thanks for all your support, encouragement and kindness. You're what keeps me going - stay tuned for even more great music in the months ahead.
THE BAD
While its been a great ride, its not always been easy. So Many Roads has had bumps such as the Megaupload debacle, the day Mediafire deleted all my links, and the changes in policies by Rapidshare that made hundreds of links unavailable. I've had notices from Web Sheriff requiring us to remove shows for supposed copyright infringement. And I've had folks who forget basic courtesy when they ask for a re-post of a dead link. Is it really to hard to write something like "Could you please report this show, I'd appreciate it as opposed to simply writing "Dead Link". You can guess which of the 2 I''ll be re-posting first!
THE UGLY
A small percentage of the folks who visit this site clearly are oblivious to what it takes to run a place like So Many Roads. They also seem to forget its all free. Their comments, some samples of which are below, reflect a self centered nature that is the antithesis of what we stand for here at So Many Roads:
- I don't like _______ (fill in band name) - why bother to waste your time posting their crap music?
- I don't like _______ (fill in host name) - why can't you post links of 4 or 5 hosts so I have a choice of where to download?
- I asked you to re-post a link earlier today - why isn't it up yet?
- You said _______ (fill in name of show) is a soundboard but I know its not. You clearly don't know what you're doing.
- You don't post often enough - why can't you post 3 or 4 shows a day like other sites.
- I don't like any of the music you post! Please post other bands instead!
- I like _______ (fill in name of blog or site) much better than yours - they post better music and use better hosts.
Fortunately, the type of comments above are few and far between, but they still are ugly and every now and then get me down. To the folks who like to complain, please remember:
- This site is free
- This is a hobby - not my life - I have a family and a job that come first
- Since I have a life, I simply do not have the time to upload shows to multiple
hosts.
- Since I have a life, I have limited time to post.
- I make no money doing this - its a labor of love
- I share music because I want to, not because I have to
- I do the best I can - when this becomes a chore or too many folks start to complain, then I'll just stop
SUMMARY
yes, we've had both bad and ugly moments here at So Many Roads since we launched on November 11, 2009, but the good - and great ones - far outweigh those. Thanks again to all of you who have supported this site for the last 42 months. Because of you, we're going to keep this place going for a long time to come!
Enjoy the tunz!
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