Having only been reviewing new releases for a little over a year, it has been interesting to me to find out just how much music is out there nowadays. For as bad as the music industry has become, it has created a new culture of DIY bands. Bandcamp has certainly been a huge factor in helping fledgling artists get their music out on the internet. And with all of this music, it has allowed sites like this one to multiply like crazy. But it makes me wonder, are there enough fans to listen to it all?

Considering the amount of music that I listen to on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, I know sometimes it can be hard to find the time to listen to it all. But I do it because I am trying to assist bands in getting their albums noticed by prog music fans. But do the fans want all this new music? Too often, I’ve seen fans stick with artists they already know and not really bother enough with the unknown. That makes sense because it’s certainly easier to do that.

As a reviewer, it’s easier for me to review an artists if I am familiar with them already. But what about the unknown? My motivation even before doing this site was that I love new music. I love the discovery of the next great artist or album or even song. Why limit myself to bands that I know? At one point or another, we had to try out each artist that we know currently. Why stop?

Is it overwhelming for music fans? Is there actually too much music for them to take in? Are people being snobs to indie artists? There are so many indie prog bands that I know are just as good as the major established bands that it drives me nuts when I see that they barely have 100 likes on their Facebook page or that people ignore Facebook posts that I make on their behalf. Just because these bands aren’t signed or aren’t named “Steven Wilson” does not mean they are substandard.

Yes it’s frustrating for me, the middle man. I can only imagine how it feels for the bands out there who work so hard and get so little in return. But for me, if ONE person says to me “hey thanks, I love that band,” all of what I do is so worth it. So maybe there is “too much” music for some people but I think many people can always handle as much music as fits their taste. This means that I am not going to stop trying to match the music to the music fan. I know you’re out there.