i think we've all heard rumours of just how widespread the "buy fans" industry is on social media, but on soundcloud they've taken it to a different level. i'm actually getting spammed to buy likes, and i can't believe that's possible without some help from soundcloud.

well, the business models on these sites are notoriously bad. could they make money by selling likes? it might be the only way they're making money.

as mentioned, i've really tried to avoid soundcloud. i'm using it to hold lo-fi demos. i'd never upload anything finished there...

this is what i got spammed with:

https://soundcloud.com/jake_pk

open spamming suggests to me that the industry is working in plain view.

i mean, i'd never buy likes. it's pathetic. a non-starter. but it's actually not something that would help me either, as i'm more interesting when i'm obscure. if we want to talk venn diagrams, my intersection with popular culture is pretty much zero. it doesn't really matter how much i spend on buying likes or other kind of bullshit promo because what i'm creating is inherently revolting to anybody with a follower mindset. to me, buying likes is like trying to market tampons to teenage boys......it's floating a product that is entirely useless to that market.

i'd go so far as to argue that the type of person that is going to listen to my art is almost certainly going to use ad blocking software.

chances are you missed the joke from pat sajak.

i'm hoping he keeps it going, by calling his detractors jewish nazi pedophiles.

i have to admit it would be fun to storm a police station and make the pigs squeal. yet, that's just a twisted fantasy.

it's not clear to me where the people in between stand, but these are police state tactics that have the potential to completely undermine the government in kiev. it doesn't really matter what the law says.

....and that remains the only message that vice is succeeding in getting across: the conversion of ukraine from a failed democracy to a militarized police state.