a-Tunes News: 5 Years, So Where Do We Go From Here?

Last week, a-Tunes quietly passed a significant milestone. We turned 5. In 2008, this blog was started to showcase and feature Asian-American artists. It evolved from a few posts a month by yours truly (GT), to a daily news site by a team that has grown, shrunk, and changed over the years. (Shout out to Music4UrSoul for her support from the beginning).

In those 5 years, it was a bit harder to come across content. Youtube musicians were starting to gain mainstream recognition and they eventually started stepping out from behind the webcam lens and covers of well known hits, and started writing, recording and sharing their own original material and touring the nation and world over. Several acts have signed major deals, had their music placed in international commercial campaigns, and performed on live television. It’s been incredible to witness first hand and have the privilege to interact with many of these artists.

Along with Youtube, folks began to interact with their favorite artists on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and most recently, Vine. Keeping up with your favorite artists no longer meant Googling their name to see what pops up, because now independent artists have more control and reach with their voice than ever before. It’s easier than ever to pick and choose who you want to listen to and keep tabs on.

Which is why, after much deliberation, I’ve come to the conclusion that a-Tunes.net, as it exists, isn’t nearly as useful as it used to be. In trying to keep up with sharing on the growing number of artists, we’ve had to trade off the quality of our posts to provide the quantity. And to be quite frank, you don’t need us to help you keep you with Asian-American artists, once you find ones you like, you subscribe to them, you “Follow” them, and you “Like” them. And that’s why we aren’t going to focus as much on the breadth of it all, but rather we’re going to focus on the depth.

We’re going to be more selective about who and what we write about, but more diligent in providing you with something unique. We aren’t in the business of rehashing press releases any longer, rather we’re going to be more open, honest, and at times critical, of those we cover. Ultimately, we want to support the Asian-American music scene the best way we can – by being transparent and invested in everything that we share with you.

So what does this mean? I’m going on a brief vacation, but once I return, posts will likely be less frequent, and we’ll begin to shift away from sharing news for the sake of sharing. We’re going to offer our opinions, insights, and thoughts to foster discussion, rather than sticking to sheer lukewarm press information. We’ll begin to focus more on interviews, vlogs, editorials, and more, to bring you content that can’t be found elsewhere. And we welcome you to agree or disagree, love or hate what is to come.

We’ve seen the stable of artists grow over the years. Now it’s time to nurture and interact with the community that supports it.

Thank you so much for an awesome 5 years. We wouldn’t be here without our artists and the fans. Here’s to another amazing 5 years together.

-GT