Stepping back

Hi everyone. I just wanted to alert everyone to the fact that I've been going through some confronting self-realizations over the last few weeks, some of which will have an impact on the Academy. For those of you that aren't already aware, I played in extreme metal bands for the bulk of the 1990's & DJed in techno clubs for most of the 2000's. I perhaps wasn't always as diligent as I should have been with the use of hearing protection during that period (Note: it wasn't commonly done back then) & I've had permanent tinnitus (i.e. constant ringing in my ears) for around 25 years now. I've also had weaker hearing in my right ear than the left for many years now with a noticeably reduced ability to pick up high end than in my youth. The thing is... lately I've been finding that I'm struggling to hear things when there's any sort of background noise which is a sign that you're starting to have more significant problems &, as our hearing generally starts to degrade at an accelerated rate when we pass 50 years of age, I'm concerned that I could see myself in really bad shape in the next few decades. There's really no doubt that my constant listening to loud metal music is contributing to the accelerated degradation of my pre-existing condition but I find it really hard to properly assess & review releases without having the volume at a reasonably loud level & I'm somewhat addicted to it. My passion for Metal Academy & the various monthly commitments that go along with it also command that I listen to a crap tonne of metal & I have to admit that I'm now questioning whether I should even move away from metal altogether in the interest of maintaining my ability to enjoy music long-term.

So.... what does that all mean? Well, I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this just yet but I've spoken to Ben & we've agreed that I should significantly reduce my Metal Academy (& metal in general) commitments, at least for the immediate future while I take stock & assess my position. In order to achieve that, I'll need to remove myself from our monthly Spotify playlist & feature release initiatives effective immediately which raises the question of whether we want to continue with those monthly exercises at all at this point as they've always been something that was enjoyed by a relatively small portion of our overall membership with little engagement outside of the site itself. What does everyone think? Does anyone have a particular inclination to want to continue driving the feature releases & playlists without the involvement of Ben & I or would you be just as comfortable to do away with them, at least for the time being?

I'm sorry to hear about your hearing problems, Daniel. I support your decision to reduce your time here in the site for your health. However, I really enjoy contributing to the Spotify playlists and feature releases and don't want to do away with them, so I would say yes to continue driving the feature releases and playlists. On the other hand, how would we make that happen without you and Ben? Will we have to create our own playlists and share them at the start of the following month (which would be great because then we wouldn't have the middle of the month deadline and can have more time to edit our playlists)? Will the Horde and North playlist duties be passed down to the more active members of those clans (Vinny, Sonny, etc.)? And someone has to moderate the feature releases list, right? There is a lot to change, but let's hear what the other members think first...

Not much would need to change Andi. I'd simply remove myself & Ben from the feature release roster & each clan's nominating party would simply private message Ben with their feature releases prior to the last day of the month so that he has time to update the FEATURE RELEASE page. With playlists, other members would need to take over the programming of The Horde & The North lists & you'd need to get a Spotify account so that I can share the two lists with you as an additional collaborator. Everyone else currently updates their own lists as a collaborator so we could just keep that arrangement going.

OK, so I'll send the feature release nominations to Ben and continue sending my clan playlists to you. Got it, thanks Daniel.

As I said Andi, you need to get yourself a Spotify account because I'm not intending on continuing to manually upload your playlists for you.

Oh OK. Well I already have my own Spotify account, so updating the playlists myself should be no problem.

To be clear, I’ll still be adding releases to the site and doing all the general admin stuff I do. The site will continue indefinitely.

First of all, I am sorry to read that you are having some health issues Daniel.  I too have slightly damaged hearing and you are right to protect your eardrums as best you can.

Secondly, the playlists as a concept are both rewarding and unrewarding at the same time.  Rewarding because I get to discover some great music in programming the Pit playlist but unrewarding because the uptake on listens is low.  I am lucky if I get chance to listen to one of my clan playlists over the course of a month and equally, staying on top of the feature releases requires me to remember to create the time against a hefty workload, fitness and family schedule.

Although the features and playlists are a couple of things that keep MA a unique experience, I do not believe we have the footprint to justify continuing them.  I say that with a really heavy heart since as a concept I really like the site.  Even if they are only discontinued for a period of time, I sense they will never come back.

There’s no way I could takeover The North or The Horde playlists, as much as I would love to have a run at either, I am barely finding time for The Pit playlist.

In short, as hard as it is to say, I think both the feature releases and playlists should be stood down, even if only on an interim basis.

I'm not up to getting rid of the feature releases and playlists entirely, since those have been fun and rewarding for me in the site. But I understand if you feel that's the way to go for the sake of yourself and anyone else, Vinny. I won't object.

Oh, man, I am so sorry to hear of your health issues Daniel. I fully sympathise as I have suffered with tinnitus for over thirty years, not just from listening to metal at high volume, but also from working in a steel rolling mill in the 80s when health and safety was less of a thing. I find I am often unable to tell what people are saying if I am not facing them directly, which is frustrating, so I understand your decision to protect your hearing.

I agree with Andi that I would love to keep the playlists and features going as they contribute a lot to what makes the site great, at least for me anyway. As a suggestion, how about changing the frequency of the playlists to every quarter, ie four a year, rather than doing away with them altogether. That way, if Vinny is willing to keep going with the Pit then I don't mind taking over the programming for the North and Horde playlists in addition to carrying on with the Fallen. As for the features, again we could change the frequency to every other month.

I think I speak for us all when I say that we apppreciate the amount of time and effort you have put in to making the site what it is, Daniel, and it is a sad day both on a personal level for you as a friend and for the site itself which will be much reduced by your absence. I sincerely wish you all the best going forward with whatever you do in the future.