I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Court In The Act isn't exactly the biggest blog on the internet. And we don't want it to be, I don't think. For a start, I don't have the time to pursue the advertisement elsewhere that's required to make it huge, nor the design skills to make it catch the eye, nor do I want to pressure that comes from a bigger audience. I doubt we will ever be like Angrychairs or Stonerobixxx. And to be honest, we don't need to be. I don't want to have to post albums I can barely write about because I haven't heard them. All of the music here is hand-picked (almost) and has the author's seal of approval.
That said, we do have some exciting things planned. Whilst it's not necessarily for the expansion, I plan to link to more blogs in the new year - not ones that will drive traffic here, but ones which really do a good job. There's the end of year lists to come, at least from TheBitchfork (I've had a look and it's looking wonderful) and myself (although I haven't begun writing it yet). I'm also always looking for new contributors, at least ones which can add a new angle to the blog. We've had loads of prog and metal, but now we're also getting a look at the popular music scene through the aforementioned TheBitchfork and a look at all kinds of eclectia through pastilhas, as soon as he gets his internet sorted again.
And the focus must always remain on you, the reader. Although this is far from a commercial venture, and never will be, I aim to please, and will always welcome feedback, good or bad (it seems that most of it at the moment is informing me where I've got my facts wrong). If you've already got an album and thus have no need to download it, is there any problem with using the comments section as a forum for its discussion?
Also, unfortunately, the ShoutMix box is going to stop being free for me to include from the 2nd January. Being a poor student, I cannot afford to keep it open (it was mostly spammers anyway), and so the email address and comment boxes will have to resume being the main point of communication for us. However, if you can suggest a free alternative, I would be delighted to hear about it.
The other good news is that the problem of mine that I mentioned in a previous post - hard drive space - is no longer a problem, having received a gift of a hard drive for Christmas. I still only have so much time to listen to music, and limited years of listening experience, so there is a little hindrance there, but I feel comfortable at the moment that I have sufficient new music to upload here to last a long time.
I also feel obliged to tell you that the decision has been taken to largely move to Mediafire for future uploads. I still have some unposted uploads on Megaupload, but having found an upload manager for Mediafire, I am now comfortable that it provides the best balance between ease of upload, ease of download and speed of download. After 7 months on Megaupload, and I still love it as a website, I've decided to take the plunge.
I've been wanting to do some writing about copyright on this blog - after all, a music blog has to worry about intellectual property law from time to time - and with the seemingly unavoidable Stop Online Piracy Act, it seems that Congress has been once again shaped like putty by selfish IP interests. The consequences of this act are dire - indeed, it may make hosting a blog much harder, and may even lead to sudden takedown (which is why I urge you all to follow the Facebook page). However, as a UK citizen I have less to worry about than those who live in America, and it actually removes my liability to my understanding when I upload to an American filehost. So, it's not all bad. Still, I urge you all to fight against extensions and do your bit to stop the disciples of Jack Valenti (fortunately deceased) from getting their way.
After a slightly political angle on that last paragraph, I think all that's left is to wish everybody a belated Merry Christmas and look forward to a Happy New Year!
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