fresh paint
i started this blog in 2012. last night i updated the design for the first time.
while the former theme was easy to use and self-sufficient, it was also dry and uninspiring.
further, there were non-trivial bugs that literally deleted entire paragraphs of content during composition. as a result, i have 14 unpublished drafts where the full piece wouldn’t save. yikes.
anyway, here are a few more updates beyond pretty pixels.
page speed
minimal sites don’t suffer from slowness. that said, faster is always better.
here’s my old site — 2 seconds page load.
and here’s the new site, a whopping 2.16x faster.
reading experience
we’re now equipped with embeddable code snippets, social share buttons, a like counter, and better quote handling.
“the problem with quotes online is you cannot confirm their validity.”
–Abraham Lincoln
bells and whistles
i’ve always preferred the look of images with drop shadows, but never knew how to make them.
with the help of this guide i wrote a script that automates their creation.
adding drop shadows to my uploads is now as simple as running “shadow {{ filename }}” from my terminal. #winning
mass communication
finally, i revisited how i communicate email subscribers.
currently, all new posts land in your inbox the morning after publication.
the emails are simple, and the content is inline.
while this is decent for plain text newsletters, it doesn’t work with rich media, something i’m planning to incorporate.
to address this, i’m following bryan harris’ guide and switching email providers. in the meantime, i’ll be sending OG style BCC from my personal Gmail.
summary
- ryanckulp.com 2.0 is faster and sexier.
- if you’re still here, keep reading for a more important update.
new deal
last month i tweeted about my company. it’s a textbook rationalization of my failures as a musician.
i used to play in a rock band. i still do pic.twitter.com/4IOzRr2lGL
— ryan kulp (@ryanckulp) January 15, 2017
are websites and computers the same as stages and mosh pits?
no.
then why can’t i play in a rock band again?
so here’s the deal — i’m shifting focus to music.
next month, for my birthday, i’m recording an album in atlanta at Spotlight Sound Studio with producer Jason Andrews. jason has toured with or produced dozens of artists — everybody from Jay Z to the Plain White T’s.
not only am i stoked to work with him, but also the special guests stopping by who will add their own style to the production.
naturally, this focus on music brings with it a fresh set of ideas and projects to write about.
you’ll see this represented on my blog in the following ways:
- essays about music entrepreneurship and the broken arts industry
- videos and recaps of live performances
- audio and unreleased songs you can listen to
- photos that document my upcoming studio sessions
what i won’t do is ask you for money, because there is no money in music.
note: if you’re a tech bro who is disappointed in this decision, i encourage you to stick around for 2 more posts.
what you’ll find is that i’m going to write about growth hacking the music industry.
topics will include:
- booking shows with web scrapers
- setting up A&R meetings through cold email
- writing code to send text messages to fans
- … and more.
from my research (18 seconds on google), there’s very little marketing content for musicians. there is especially little (none?) for musicians who know how to code.
this blog will fill that gap.
beginning today, my wager in the music industry will be a test tube.
i’ll be composing, recording, performing, and then writing about everything i experience.
at the very least, artists will learn what not to do. at best, they’ll find success sooner.
bottom line
the worst thing that can happen to me is i go broke and embarrass myself. but i’ve been doing those things intentionally for the past 5 years anyway.
and although most investors are retards, this guy says it best:
Believers make more money than skeptics. Loss aversion makes less sense when you can create things from scratch.
— Garry Tan (@garrytan) February 22, 2017
i create things from scratch. sometimes they pay me. it’s what i do.
if you’re on board, please show your support by sharing this post with 1 friend.
thank you.
ryan