A music selection idea welcomes your feedback

General
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Hi! I’m thinking about an editorial project, an online zine, where I listen to new music, select the artists or songs that I like, and I feature them. It’s a known, even old model, that relies on the subjectivity of human selection.

I say “I” but (if there is interest) the project could include other authors creating their own zines, under a multi-genre multi-style umbrella. However, it should be sustainable with just one zine as well.

I’m not a music critic. I don’t have much time. I don’t have a professional or economic incentive. Why do I think this idea will succeed, and how? Well, I’m genuinely curious about finding new music that I like, and share it with others. It could be fun and rewarding.

And why readers should care? If they love music and they like the criteria of a zine, they will love the music selected for them, and they will know more about the artists behind that music.

The formula zines follow

  • Each zine has one or more selectors, with declared criteria about the types of music featured, and a fitting name. They can choose the language(s) they prefer. English is default but not required.
  • Every month, a new issue features a selection of releases from the previous month.
  • Only social music, from these sources:
  • Only new releases.
  • 100% human selection through personal taste. No ads or promos, no popularity contest, no favors to friends, no self-promotion.
  • The music speaks. Features consist of embedded players with short texts or just a link. The artists contribute most of the words and images. There is little room for the selectors’ ego beyond selecting.
  • Artists may submit their new releases for consideration, readers may submit recommendations too, but selectors are expected to go out there and listen to whatever is being released.
  • The zine and the selection criteria abide by the Social Music Network code of conduct.

In practice

  • The URL of a zine is [NameOfZine].[NameOfProject].org (I have a name and I will share it when I get the domain.)
  • The “e” vowel is strongly recommended in the zines’ names, to follow a humorous consistency. The project name only uses this vowel. Artistic suggestion. :slight_smile:
  • I am starting a zine called “Electre” dedicated to music partially or totally created with electronic instruments. Therefore, it will be at electre.[NameOfProject].org
  • I aim to start selecting music released in August to feature it in a first issue in September.
  • Others are invited to join and create their zines, with the understanding that right now we have nothing, and I have no idea what if anything will be in place in September.

Software

There are several potential candidates, but given the features described below, I think I will play safe and go for a WordPress subdomain network with the official ActivityPub plugin (and tweaks?).

  • The author/s of [NameOfZine].[NameOfProject].org can publish posts autonomously.
  • It is easy to embed players based on external links to social music platforms – we won’t host music.
  • It is easy to embed images and video based on external links to social music or (really) social media platforms – we won’t host media if we can avoid it.
  • It is easy to subscribe to a zine via ActivityPub/Fediverse and email. Other social subscription methods (?) are welcome.
  • It is easy to comment from the Fediverse – we won’t host local comments if we can avoid it. Or should we? To be decided.
  • It is easy to report content allegedly violating the code of conduct (federated comments included), and it is easy to act on these reports.
  • It is easy to submit music recommendations to a zine.
  • To select the music, which music distribution platforms are within scope?

And maybe I should have started by asking…

  • Does something like this exist already? (the closest I’m aware of is https://nham.co.uk/ )
  • Do you think this idea stands a chance?
  • Are you or someone you know interested in creating a zine?
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In case you are interested, we are working on an experiment to make FairPlayer a platform to allow for some of what you are suggesting.

One of our driving aims for FairPlayer is to create a platform that enables listener communities. So editorial content may become a big part of that. We have some wip prototype and are looking for feedback, we will host a videocall on Monday afternoon (2026-07-26 around 6pm TBC) to demo what we’ve done so far, open up possibilities and gather feedback. Might also be a hybrid session Barcelona + online.

Sam from NHAM will be there, myself and others from the FairPlayer team and adjacent projects. Let me know if you want to join. Or if you can’t we can schedule a separate session.

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More context on our Forum (catalan, which I believe you understand) Personalització de Fairplayer - #3 per txels - Desenvolupament - La Instrumental

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Hola @txels! I had this idea in mind for a while but a couple of semirandom events in the past days made put my thoughts in writing and share them. One of these events was to finally put some time to enable my Fairplayer-through-Mirlo connection and sign up on your project forum (and yes, I’m a Catalan speaker as well). :blush: So yes, Fairplayer has already inspired and motivated this idea, among others. I’ll reach out for details about the call on Monday.

In addition to @txels’ reply, there has been more progress today.

I have edited the first post to add the places to scan for new music:

I will start investigating an efficient way to get a queue of new music from each site. RSS? We’ll see, and ideas welcome.

I have updated the first post to also define that WordPress is the default software candidate. There are interesting alternatives (and I just learned about this list of delightful fediverse experience) but they are of course younger and more experimental. I just want to have something robust that someone like me can maintain without much server-side complications. I want to spend my project time with content and people, not with software.

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Good morning @icaria36, I answer you with the help of the softcatala translator :slight_smile:

I really like your idea and it is a good way to discover music, through people who have more time (and sometimes good taste) than you and who do a curatorship.

On the role of Fairplayer within your idea, I see two things:

  1. Fairplayer is not equivalent to the others (mirlo, ampwall, bandwagon, etc.) since it does not have music there, it takes everything from them so the platform of zines that you propose can use Fairplayer to find/index music but I think not as “supplier”.
  2. Fairplayer, beyond being a player who takes music from different sources to make life easier for the listener, is also designed so that small communities or curatorships get their instance and the home page or the one to discover are cured by them.

I believe, therefore, that the new tool can be as one more option, equivalent to Fairplayer, for the social music ecosystem or to integrate certain ideas into Fairplayer. We talk about it on Monday!

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