2024 Preview

A brief look at structural and content updates coming next year.

I had no idea what to expect when I launched this newsletter in the spring of 2023.

I wanted an outlet where I could share great music with like-minded audiophiles and enthusiasts online. Based on my ambitious annual music listening goal, I knew I’d have plenty of material. What I didn’t anticipate was how positive (and immediate) the response would be.

In a little over six months, my newsletter posts received several thousand combined views, many of which came courtesy of the Substack community. To say I’m humbled by the results and appreciative of those who have reached out with positive comments would be an understatement.

I know your time is valuable, and for you to spend even a handful of minutes with my content as part of your daily routine means a lot to me. To everyone who’s read, shared, and contributed to the growth of this newsletter in 2023, I have two words for you: THANK YOU!

If you haven’t subscribed or know someone who’d love a daily dose of music recommendations, I’d love it if you’d consider joining the community or sharing with your network.

As I look ahead to 2024, I wanted to share a preview of some changes coming to Daily Music Picks shortly. Most are minor optimizations, but there’s one massive decision I wanted to flag off the top.

Starting in January 2024, all DMP posts will be free to access

After researching what other creators are doing and thinking about different configurations, I can’t in good conscience gate any of my posts behind a paywall. I’m not in this for money, and honestly, I don’t want to set financial limitations on anyone’s reading experience.

In the future, every post, including the long-form lists and deep-dive essays, will cost $0 upfront to access.

Instead, I’ll be switching to a donation model for anyone who wants to (and can) contribute a little extra to the newsletter’s growth trajectory. It’s greatly appreciated if you can, but totally not an obligation. If you fall into the latter category, you can help boost the newsletter’s visibility by sharing it on Substack or social media.

Moving forward, the only difference between regular posts and long-form write-ups is you’ll have to be a subscriber to read the latter in full. In light of eliminating a paid tier, I think it’s a fair trade-off.

Content Improvements Coming in 2024

In the next few months, I’ll also test-drive some new content formation and syndication tweaks to the existing release schedule. Subscribers will still get a fresh post every weekday but with the following new additions:

• A fresh long-form post (1000+ words each) every second Wednesday. This includes record collector lists, album deep dives, and more.

• A new recurring segment I’m calling “Fun Song Friday”—the title says it all with that one.

• Monthly playlist that will share my favorite music, both new releases and classics.

• New DJ sets that I’ll record and publish from my home studio—toying with livestream options, but more to come on that down the road.

• Additional audio content may be coming down the pike if time permits … I’ve gotten lots of requests for interviews or a full-on podcast, but bandwidth will dictate whether that becomes a reality.

I’ll share more details about these new segments as they become available. It’s all in an effort to keep things entertaining for you, the reader, and me, the guy crazy enough to type it all out.

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Again, none of this is possible without support, and I want to sincerely thank you for making this newsletter part of your days, weeks, and months in 2023. I can’t wait to continue sharing great music in the new year and growing this community even more.

Before you go, if you haven’t checked out some of this year’s most popular articles, here are some handy links to add to your holiday reading queue:

• The 50 Best Albums of 2023 You Should Listen To

• 10 Guilty Pleasure Albums You Should Know Are Secretly Amazing

• 10 Prince Albums Every Record Collector or Audiophile Should Own

• The 10 Rolling Stones Albums Every Record Collector Should Own

• Top review: “Quadrophenia” by The Who

• Top review: "Outlandos D’Amour" by The Police

• Top review: “Dummy” by Portishead

• Guest Writer Week: “Breakfast in America” by Supertramp (written by MJ Hiemstra)

• Guest Writer Week: “Exposure” by Robert Fripp (written by

  Ian Sharp
  )

• Guest Writer Week: “Iron Maiden” by Iron Maiden (written by

  CJ Kaplan
  )

• Guest Writer Week: "Painful" by Yo La Tengo (written by

  Kevin Alexander
  )

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Cheers, and all the best for the year to come!