DEC. UPDATE: Patreon Changes, Live Shows, and S**t Happens

Hey guys! I just wanted to make this to address a couple things that have been happening behind the scenes and with Patreon itself.

First off I hope you enjoyed my original tune I uploaded last weekend. As you can probably tell from the song, things have been kinda rough the past couple months (my girlfriend signed me up for therapy so we'll see if that helps!) Aside from the YouTube stuff I've already talked about on the channel, I had a project blow up in my face. The silver lining is the right people know what went down so we'll see what happens going forward. Anyways I ended up writing and recording 3 tracks for a game. I'm gonna ask the project lead if they're cool with me posting them here at some point so you guys can at least hear it.

Second big thing is the whole Patreon fees stuff that's been going down. For those who aren't aware, Patreon is adding a 2.9% + $0.35 to all pledges starting mid December. Here's the link to the full article if you want all the details.

https://blog.patreon.com/updating-patreons-fee-structure/

So as you can imagine a lot of people aren't happy with this change (myself included) and honestly the part that sucks the most is the lack of communication with the creators. Patreon talks like it's the solution to all the crap on YouTube but then they come out and make a change exactly like YouTube. So there's been a mass exodus of patrons. Some hit worse than the others. I only lost about 10 but others lost over 100 in some cases. If this is your first time hearing about this and decide to leave I totally understand. No ill will towards you and thank you for supporting the channel for as long as you have! If you're still sticking around through this crap thank you as well! Your pledges make up about 1/3 of my income every month! Without you I probably wouldn't be making music as a career! Now if you're planning on leaving but still want to support me the best way is to buy a song when it comes out on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, etc. I consider the $1 tier to in essence be almost like a "pre-order" of the song for that week. 

Alright moving on to positives, Epic Metal Covers, Vol. 2 is coming to all the major music platforms and my Bandcamp pretty quick! I know there's been requests to get more of my music up on places like iTunes and Spotify so when it seems like a good time I'll put up more volumes! The thing is with cover songs is you need a license for it if you put it up for sale. Distrokid has a flat rate of $1 a month to take care of everything which is nice but I just uploaded my 200th cover to YouTube a couple weeks ago. If I uploaded everyhing it would cost me $2400 USD ($3000 CAD) to keep it up every year not counting new covers. Long and short, if the previous "Greatest Hits" album does well financially, then I'll upload another one.

Also looking forward to 2018, I'm planning on doing "Live Shows" on Twitch. I'm investing in all the equipment I need to to make that a thing so it's not just me sitting in a chair playing along to iTunes. Plus if it turns out well I'd like to take said live show to cons and the archived Twitch streams would make a great example of what organizers can expect! More info on that in the new year!

Finally things are going well with the other game I'm working on "The TakeOver" I just finished up 2 tracks I'm really happy with and If I can get approval from the team, I'd like to post some of the music to YouTube! It's been really fun experimenting with other genres besides just Metal and helps keep the creative juices flowing!

I wish all of you the happiest of holidays this season! I know December can be rough for some so I hope if nothing else my music puts a smile on your face for a bit! It should at least get you worked up like that last song! haha!

Rock on, peace out, see you next time!

LV