alexbainter
patreon
Two Updates About Generative.fm
🕑 Added 2020-01-23 04:46:34 +0000 UTCHello again!
I have two things to share today:
1. I just released a new piece on Generative.fm called "420hz Gamma Waves for Big Brain."
2. I'm in the early early early stages of a complete redesign and rewrite of the site.
Let's talk about that second one.
For a while now I've been feeling a bit dissatisfied with the site, both from a design perspective and an engineering perspective. I built the site a long time ago and it used to look very different (back when I was the only user): https://twitter.com/alex_bainter/status/1107155934059642880
Back then there were no tags, no favorites, no sortings, no data, no casting, no timer, and no recording. It's natural for software to morph over time as new features are grafted on. While you do your best to handle changes gracefully, eventually it starts to feel like a game of Jenga that's gone on a little too long. Buttons get shoved into places that weren't meant to have them, old code starts to get in the way, and it feels like the whole thing could collapse at any moment.
On top of that, you and I both have good ideas for new features that I'd really like to add, but the current design and codebase are making that difficult. It's a bit like trying to stack too many blocks on an already-wobbly Jenga tower. This is why I gave up on user accounts.
Right now is a good time for me to take a step back, look at what Generative.fm has become, look at where it's going, and build a new version that can actually support the ways you like to use it and what we think it should do next. It'll be like restarting Jenga with all the pieces back in a nice, stable tower (okay I'm done with the anology).
This will take many months, but I'm looking forward to having Patreon as a resource to help me make decisions and as a place to share updates. Expect to hear more from me. I'll also still be making new music for the site.
Thanks again! Having people who care about this project makes it so much more fun.
Comments
"Let's talk about that second one." mad me chuckle. Great update as always, can't wait to follow along this journey
Thanks so much, that's super encouraging to hear. I appreciate the advice as well; the site is very much is the green and I've also been thinking about growing the audience. Honestly, right now I just feel like it will be more fun to rebuild it. I know it probably makes more sense to grow the audience first so I could have all the time in the world for a redesign, but I think I'd have a hard time doing that when I'd rather be rebuilding the site.
Hey Alex, congrats on your progress so far. Here is my (unsolicited) opinion. You are a terrific composer and artist. The website is great. I'll argue it likely does 95% of what visitors want it to do. Assuming that each user is a generating a positive cashflow (when averaged across your patreon supporters) I think your focus should shift to growing your audience. If you are losing money on your users, perhaps develop a nurture campaign to convert people into supporters or investigate different models that can generate more revenue. I bet there's a path to making generative.fm your full time work within two or three years. Let me know if I can help. :)
