Hey folks,
Thank you all for subscribing to my newsletter. Like I said in the last State post, this is starting to resemble a serious personal brand and it’s garnering attention in the crowded Substack space—which is a remarkable feat. Whether you are a free or paid subscriber, joined yesterday, or been here since March, thank YOU, for taking What’s Curation? in the positive direction it’s heading in. Okay, let’s get right into it.
1. Change in posting frequency starting August 1, 2022
I’ll be changing from posting daily, to posting twice a week on weekdays. Free subscribers get 2 emails (which may include an essay).
A recurring monthly subscription or a one-time tip on Ko-Fi gives you the cool Spotify/Apple Music playlist of all songs shared that month, as well as additional posts I type up.
If you sign up for a recurring subscription, Substack notices that and makes it easier for people within the ecosystem to find the newsletter under the “Music” category.
2. Essays are a HUGE hit
I wrote 3 essays this month focused on music and life. I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that readership rates have increased by nearly 10%, open rates are up by 4-5%, and I’ve generated a few free subscriptions from those. They took a while to write and edit, but I’ve received some rave reviews in the comments and also on my LinkedIn page when I shared them. Essays will be free to read for everyone, and if you particularly like one, feel free to leave a tip or to share with a friend (or both!)
3. I was a guest in my readers’ newsletters
I reached out to Kevin Alexander and asked if I could do a guest post or an interview. I introduced Kevin’s audience to a breezy Japanese Indie song by an Osaka band called LADY FLASH.
Mark Dykeman reached out and interviewed me over email as part of his new Creative Spotlight series. I am very honored to be the first guest on that series.
Both of these earned me several free subscriptions and if you’re one of those lovely people: Welcome!
As ‘What’s Curation?’ grows, it’ll be interesting to see what opportunities for collaboration present themselves.
4. Bye-bye, paywalls
No more paywalls on free posts starting today. If you know this newsletter adds to your day, help out with a one-time $5 tip on Ko-Fi or a recurring subscription via Substack to also get the occasional paid subscriber-only posts.
5. Tell your friends, your archnemeses, and your cats
I would be happy if you’d like to spread the word about this little newsletter. We’re at 160+ subscribers (yay!) and I’d be happy to onboard your friends and your archnemeses (I’m an equal opportunity player). If you tweet or share to Instagram, email me the shared link by hitting the reply button to one of my posts from your inbox. I’ll feature it in a future post and give you a personal thank you!
❗Last chance to grab July’s playlist!❗
We had some great rock, jazz, lo-fi hip-hop, and singer-songwriter tracks this month.
Click or tap on the coffee mug and leave a one-time $5 tip (or more) in the jar today (31 July) and get the Spotify/Apple Music playlist of all tracks shared in July. It supports my time writing this newsletter.
If you’d like to support me monthly recurring (i.e. set it and forget it), and you’re already a free subscriber, check out the Help section article on how to upgrade.
And that’s 5 months in! See you tomorrow!
-Nikhil.
Nikhil, I’m glad to hear that your audience is growing and that you’ll be doing more essays! My readers signed up for a weekly music news newsletter, but I just asked them today if they’d be okay with me sending more emails (essays) throughout the week, too. The feedback so far has been positive. Onward and upward, my friend!
Interesting to hear that the essays were a big hit! I'm still strugling to try other formats without loosing more subs than usual. Gonna keep experimenting!