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Retrospective - The past, present, and future of F_M
2 days ago
Hey folks, Puppy here and, well, it's been a bit quiet, hasn't it?
The Present
Life's been busy, folks. Really, really, busy. It seems like every waking moment for me right now has to do with work or adulting stuff. At work, we're short-staffed and under a lot of pressure to perform in a pretty intense environment, meaning when I get home, the brain goes off and the computer goes on. This isn't anything new for me, but in the past, I did have folks helping out around here. Now, about that...
THE STAFF
We're short-staffed here, too. As in, 0 staff. It's past understaffed. The eagle-eyed eagles and, well, other critters with above average eyesight might have noticed the constant begging for volunteers after Jayden left the team. No luck. But, hey, I respect that you all have lives, too. Unfortunately, with Yango no longer able to work on the team either, it's like it's 2013 all over again.
2013 is when I revived this group after a long conversation with the original owner, Asia Neko. Back then, my earliest engagement with this group was via those silly 'pup mixes' of Furry and Furry adjacent music. It brings me back...
The Past
Retrospectively, I'm really happy with what I was able to do here over the past 12 years. Proud, even. If you'll let me take you down memory lane a moment... oh, what am I saying, you're stuck here.
2011
I started making music in this community waaaay back in 2011, a time when fandom music was quite obscure. We didn't have that mainstream appeal: our Pent Up Pups & Russlebucks, our Frizks & Femtanyls. Furry Musicians were, save for a few elites, quite unknown. That one long year of teenage dog-days way back in 0'11 when I was producing regularly was when I found Furry Musicians and even eventually got spotlighted! It was immensely motivating, and I know our more recent spotlights have done the same for new and old musicians alike. But something is different now, and it’s a double-edged sword
The Future
THE BAD NEWS
Every good beginning has an end, eventually, and I can tell, clear as day, that that old book covering 2011 to 2024 has finally reached the back cover. But you all knew that, didn't you? We've not been active since the contest- an administrative disaster, to put it gently. Murphy's Law and Occam's razor meeting in the middle.
The fact of the matter is I can't run this the way I used to, I just don't have the time. So, we're going into hibernation. We're planning Book 2.
THE GOOD NEWS
I can also be a bit clingy. I don't want Furry Musicians to end, but it does need to change. Since taking up the mast as Admin of this group 12 years ago, I've seen the evolution of Furry Music and it's mainstream appeal, and let me tell you, we're in a golden age... it's just that the places to upload fandom music has diversified. This little corner of FurAffinity, it's not enough anymore.
I have ideas. The main one being a reworking of the delivery and services Furry Musicians provides. I'd like to reveal some of my ideas & the conditions for sucess over our annual New Years journal, the one we normally announce the Express Yourself Contest over. Which brings us to the elephant in the room...
The Express Yourself Contest
If I can't find some assistance, it can't go on this year. The plan is, closer to the date I'm going to do a casting call for two judges. The prizes will be different, too. We offered a lot this year to the winners, and some of it stuck, other things, no so much. If you want to offer your services as judge for the upcoming express yourself, please send me a Note.
<><><><><>
That's all, folks. For those who have been here from the beginning, thank you from the bottom of my heart. For those who have just arrived, sorry!
Not an end, not yet,
~Puppy
The Present
Life's been busy, folks. Really, really, busy. It seems like every waking moment for me right now has to do with work or adulting stuff. At work, we're short-staffed and under a lot of pressure to perform in a pretty intense environment, meaning when I get home, the brain goes off and the computer goes on. This isn't anything new for me, but in the past, I did have folks helping out around here. Now, about that...
THE STAFF
We're short-staffed here, too. As in, 0 staff. It's past understaffed. The eagle-eyed eagles and, well, other critters with above average eyesight might have noticed the constant begging for volunteers after Jayden left the team. No luck. But, hey, I respect that you all have lives, too. Unfortunately, with Yango no longer able to work on the team either, it's like it's 2013 all over again.
2013 is when I revived this group after a long conversation with the original owner, Asia Neko. Back then, my earliest engagement with this group was via those silly 'pup mixes' of Furry and Furry adjacent music. It brings me back...
The Past
Retrospectively, I'm really happy with what I was able to do here over the past 12 years. Proud, even. If you'll let me take you down memory lane a moment... oh, what am I saying, you're stuck here.
2011
I started making music in this community waaaay back in 2011, a time when fandom music was quite obscure. We didn't have that mainstream appeal: our Pent Up Pups & Russlebucks, our Frizks & Femtanyls. Furry Musicians were, save for a few elites, quite unknown. That one long year of teenage dog-days way back in 0'11 when I was producing regularly was when I found Furry Musicians and even eventually got spotlighted! It was immensely motivating, and I know our more recent spotlights have done the same for new and old musicians alike. But something is different now, and it’s a double-edged sword
The Future
THE BAD NEWS
Every good beginning has an end, eventually, and I can tell, clear as day, that that old book covering 2011 to 2024 has finally reached the back cover. But you all knew that, didn't you? We've not been active since the contest- an administrative disaster, to put it gently. Murphy's Law and Occam's razor meeting in the middle.
The fact of the matter is I can't run this the way I used to, I just don't have the time. So, we're going into hibernation. We're planning Book 2.
THE GOOD NEWS
I can also be a bit clingy. I don't want Furry Musicians to end, but it does need to change. Since taking up the mast as Admin of this group 12 years ago, I've seen the evolution of Furry Music and it's mainstream appeal, and let me tell you, we're in a golden age... it's just that the places to upload fandom music has diversified. This little corner of FurAffinity, it's not enough anymore.
I have ideas. The main one being a reworking of the delivery and services Furry Musicians provides. I'd like to reveal some of my ideas & the conditions for sucess over our annual New Years journal, the one we normally announce the Express Yourself Contest over. Which brings us to the elephant in the room...
The Express Yourself Contest
If I can't find some assistance, it can't go on this year. The plan is, closer to the date I'm going to do a casting call for two judges. The prizes will be different, too. We offered a lot this year to the winners, and some of it stuck, other things, no so much. If you want to offer your services as judge for the upcoming express yourself, please send me a Note.
<><><><><>
That's all, folks. For those who have been here from the beginning, thank you from the bottom of my heart. For those who have just arrived, sorry!
Not an end, not yet,
~Puppy
I know this is a hard choice, and I am appreciative and thankful that you're able to be so open and up front about how things are changing. Furry Musicians has had to evolve and grow before, and I know it will do so again.
I look forward to seeing your ideas and what things look like moving forward!
May whatever adventure comes next be a successful one. Cheers.