The September 2024 Chart
The top ten tracks for September 2024 from Wud Records have been published in a new compilation at SoundCloud.
However… there is a certain proviso to all of this. In much the same way as all social media platforms become ever more strangled under ever tighter controls, so too is the data from streaming services more vague and less complete. The quality of data from some platforms has now become somewhat downgraded and we have been forced to calculate the chart this month using a different system. Fortunately it seems to work quite well and gives a good reflection of what has been popular. Thank goodness for the Statistics module at university!
The latest system is based upon general tendencies and trends that have occured over the last calender month as well as some of the specifics, where they are available. These have been amalgamated together to make the new Top Ten. We shall elaborate further with regard to each platform where our music is represented.
Bandcamp Is the Best Platform for Artists
We believe that the stats we see from Bandcamp are perfectly accurate, just as SoundCloud‘s used to be before they decided to downgrade everything to their new and not especially wonderful ‘Insights’.
If you are not yet a member of Bandcamp, we strongly suggest you sign up. Do it now! It’s free to join.
If you are an artist and want to sell your music and merch, there is no better place on the web to do so. If you don’t believe us, check out any search engine to see what other artists have to say. Bandcamp are simply Numero Uno. Finito.
Consider also this. There is always a danger that streaming services might remove music or artists from their platform (e.g. the recent dispute between Universal Music Group and TikTok), or the platform may even cease to exist altogether. When you subscribe, you don’t own any of the music! You’re just renting a bit of bandwidth on their distribution service, most of the revenue from which goes to big corporations rather than the artists you love. It’s a terrible business model for artists and fans alike.
To avoid having the soundtracks to your life erased, we strongly recommend buying physical media and downloads so you can listen to your favourite songs whenever you wish. You know it makes sense.
Whilst several music platforms offer music downloads, they all charge a lot more and take a much bigger percentage of that higher price then Bandcamp does.
This means that you pay more, the band receives less, and a big greedy corporation takes a big old chunk of the money you paid to support the artist all for itself, just because it can. It’s a lose-lose situation, unless you happen to be a big greedy corporation who can rip people off however the fancy takes them.
Buying music from Bandcamp will cost you less and support the artist more. About 80% to 85% of what you spend on Bandcamp goes directly to the artist or their label, and is paid daily. So it’s always a good idea to download from Bandcamp whenever possible as they are the best site for supporting artists. You can even pay more than the asking price for music on Bandcamp if you wish to add a little extra support for the artist.
HearThis
We are considering moving all of our SoundCloud music to HearThis because we rather like the platform, even though it is less than 5% of the size of SoundCloud. Their MD has promised us personally that his company will not ride roughshod over its userbase without any warning at all in attempts to cut costs, and that is rather appealing.
We’ve had plenty of issues and arguments with SoundCloud over many years, such as our disabled messaging for allegedly ‘spamming’ other artists there, who we dared try to inform about being included in a Musical Discoveries compilation. It would have probably been fine if we’d supported a bunch of major hiphop stars, as that is what SC loves best, instead of the multitude of curious and largely undiscovered wonders we try to support.
More news on this will follow in the future.
SoundCloud
In the last few months, SoundCloud have decided, in their seemingly infinite wisdom, to downgrade their excellent ‘Stats’ for premium users (such as ourselves) to something completely and unbelievably dreadful that they call ‘Insights’, which are surprisingly uninsightful despite the profoundly misleading nomenclature.
Somebody at the company thought it would be a good idea to take a system that worked spectacularly well in real time, and replace it with another that is riddled with inconsistancies and errors. One can even observe the data changing right before one’s eyes! Even some of the most basic functions, such as choosing particular date ranges, no longer works properly. Which idiot thought this was a good idea? In our organisation such sabotage wouild mean instant dismissal. “Put your keys on the table and close the door behind you.”
Whilst we do not fully trust the information we get from SoundCloud, we have to concede that there has been an improvement in data quality recently. Perhaps one day the new ‘Insights’ system will even be as good as their ‘Stats’ system was, but we shall have to wait and see.
Why on earth people have to do these things seems utterly bewildering, but there we are. It has been done, and there is nothing we can do, apart from write monthly emails of remonstrations and complaint, pointing out specific errors and inconsistencies within their system, only to receive an AI generated response from a bot that has failed to understand our email and might indeed be answering somebody else’s. Customer service was never really one of SoundCloud‘s strengths.
This is the world we live in today. All social media has been tightened and downgraded and it’s becoming ever harder to use any of the platforms, with ever diminishing rewards for anyone bothering to fritter away their precious time doing so.
Shitify
The data from the Wud Records Snotify for Artists pages covers everybody at that platform on our label. We also use the Snortify data from our distributors CD Baby and Soundrop.
Truth be told, we dislike spotify rather intensely right now. Not only are they tardy regarding supplying their stats, they have also implemented their most hideously egregious policy so far from 1st January 2024.
Spotify have chosen to take all of the revenue generated by any track having under 1000 streams and redistribute that revenue to the people who have the most streams, such as drake, kanye, taylor and so on.
Read about it here: https://blog.discmakers.com/2023/11/spotify-royalty-theft/
This isn’t just theft, it’s an absolute disgrace. Whoever thought this up should be ashamed of themselves and publicly rogered with a wire brush. Size four.
As such, we are considering boycotting spotify entirely. More news on this to come at the end of 2024.
Should our music achieve more than 1000 streams per track, which is highly likely over the course of a whole year, that means we are in effect stealing somebody else’s royalties when we are paid.
Just because a creative person achieves under 1000 streams for a song doesn’t mean we have the right to take their royalties. They probably worked just as hard as we did to make and release their music. They are no less deserving of their royalties than anybody else.
The whole thing is mucky and bad and makes us feel dirty for being paid not just our own royalties, but those of people who were unable to make the cut. This is just so wrong. It’s a proper mess.
Deezer, Tidal, YouTube, Amazon, Apple Music, etc.
We are now using data from our distributors for streams on platforms such as YouTube, Deezer and so on when reckoning the monthly charts. Unfortunately the data arrives several days late, so we only use it to extrapolate general trends.
The data for these services filters through to us via our distributors, although we are not very trusting of it. At best we can get a general feel of what is going on across all of the streaming services this way.
In Conclusion…
Previously the algorithm we used gave greatest weight to downloads and reposts, then likes and comments (active engagement) over plays (passive engagement).
If somebody actually pays to download something, they must have liked it! Our artists and ourselves are always very grateful to our supporters in this respect. It genuinely helps keep the fires burning and the wheels turning.
When somebody reposts a track, that gives it the opportunity to be heard by a potential new fan. This is always a tremendous help for creative souls. It enables that track to be discovered and enjoyed by the community of the person doing the sharing, which can generate new fans.
A ‘like’ is nice, but reposts actually helps the artist reach a bigger audience. You create the chance for that to happen. Recommending a song costs you nothing at all and can be a massive help for an independent artist. Why not do it now?
How Did We Calculate The September 2024 Chart?
We have combined the stats from the general trends and tendencies from all of the services mentioned above. Each platform is represented and results from each are weighted and added together. Archive tracks and bonus tracks are ignored. The feedback from people who clearly didn’t listen to the music is now rendered insignificant.
Only you, the listener, can influence our October 2024 chart. So if there is a song you particularly like, keep playing it! Leave a comment, repost it, share it to your social media feeds! Download it from our Bandcamp! Add it to a playlist! It absolutely can make a difference.
Thanks For All Your Help!
Massive thanks go out to everybody who helped to support all of us during September 2024 by listening to, commenting on and reposting our bands’ tracks on SoundCloud, Bandcamp and elsewhere.
All the wonderful fans of our bands who supported us with downloads from Bandcamp are especially appreciated. You genuinely help us keep the fires burning and collectively we thank you for that most graciously. May you be blessed by the gods of rock n roll! :)
We would also like to say a special thank you to all the splendid people on Twitter and BlueSky who have been enjoying and reposting our tracks to their followers. All the support and positive feedback has been incredibly heartwarming for us all. It makes our endeavours here feel worthwhile.
Thank you very much to everyone who bought items from our merch store. Anyone who shares a photo of themselves with their Wud item on social media will receive an extra goody from ourselves once we have seen it and shared the photo on to our community as well.
If you buy something cool from the Flicker merch store, or the Dark Company merch store, we shall also send you an extra goody if you show us a photo of yourself (or friend, or environment) on social media with the item you purchased.
Last and by no means least, we would like to say thank you very much to all of the splendid people who have been buying us coffees at BuyMeACoffee. It’s very kind of you to help us out. All of these things absolutely contribute to ourselves being able to keep going, and spend more time making beautiful music for you to enjoy. It is truly appreciated very much indeed.
Who’s In The September 2024 Top Ten?
Pok the Bard
Congratulations to Pok the Bard! We have started to release his Anthology album’s tracks to SoundCloud (as mentioned in this News post) and doing so has made a big impact. Pok has claimed three of the top spots on our new chart.
Staying at number one for a second month is Pok’s newest release, Don’t Let It Pass You By. This is such a wonderful cheerful song with a strong positive message. It can bring a smile to the lips of the glummest and most grumpulated miseryguts you know. It would probably help if they like rock music, especially of the hard, classic, blues, country or psychedelic varieties.
Don’t Let It Pass You By may start with a gentle introduction in A major, but then it really kicks in hard when the song proper begins and the key changes to E major. There is plenty of Ibanez Roadstar guitar goodness across the mix, as well as some organ and synth, not to mention the tastiest rhythm section on the planet right now in Maxx and Sven to invigorate your dancing shoes.
Don’t Let It Pass You By is a very historic song, going right back to the early days of Laughing Sun in 1985.
We are very pleased with the latest version of Don’t Let It Pass You By by Pok. There is so much to love about this we recommend you just listen to it yourself, which you can do by clicking here.
Down from number six last month to number seven is The Lecher. This was recently remixed and remastered and sounds a whole lot better than it did before.
The Lecher is in the key of E major and shuffles along at a suitably creepy 88 BPM with a 12/8 feel. The song was composed by Pok, who created the riff, and there were likely others involved in its creation as well, such as George, Roy Brimblecombe and Dick White during the days of Achilles Heel, when they were all pupils at The King’s Grammar School, Ottery St Mary, in 1982.
The Lecher was actually inspired by one or more of the teachers at the aforementioned school, which had rather an abundance of beautiful young maidens. Exactly which teacher (-s) would have been the main inspiration for The Lecher is now lost to the mists of time.
The Lecher is a deliciously expressive piece of music that captures, with considerable style, the essence of a lecherous schoolmaster going about his daily business.
Essentially the song is a truly awesome riff and lots of jamming, and the result is just fabulous. It was the first finished and released song for Pok’s Anthology album.
Falling from number three to this month‘s number nine is Wear a Feather in Your Hat by Pok. This awesome song tells a most extraordinary tale about a group of travellers in the USA in the 19th Century and a man with purple skin. This really truly is a musical delight and the tale has the most peculiar twist at the end.
Pok plays three guitar parts on his beautiful Gretsch acoustic – one left, one right and a lead part. The lead part was recorded all in one take, and it was the first take. The man’s skills are often under-rated. Maxx and Sven do a fabulous job with the bass and percussives, as always.
Wear a Feather in Your Hat first appears on the Indeed recording by Laughing Sun. The lyrics even say “You can be a man of Wud or you can go insane!” – which seems a relatively easy choice to make.
We probably ought to add that back in 1985, when Pok wrote Wear a Feather in Your Hat and used the word ‘man’, it was widely understood to mean ‘woman’, and indeed ‘everyone’ as well, in an all-encompassing and friendly way, rather than today’s necessity for lengthy politically correct pronoun conjugations and configuarations.
Flicker
Flicker enjoyed a good month in September 2024 as they achieved two entries on the new Wud Records chart. Both tunes come from their incredible 2002 album At Least 1000 Words.
Moonpath is a beautiful melodic progressive rock instrumental with impossible hybrid harmonic guitar chords that require tentacles rather than fingers to play. It has risen from last month‘s number four to this month‘s number two.
Moonpath was composed after looking out to sea at Sidmouth beach on the night of a full moon. George plays the guitars using the Ice Maiden, and the bass using the Plank. Dave plays the drums and the djembe.
It is always a popular SoundCloud tune and is usually not far from the top ten in the months when it doesn’t find representation.
Farsight by Flicker is a re-entry at number five and makes its first appearance since June 2024. Farsight is a delightful and whimsical piece of music, progressive rock or perhaps even indie jazz in style, highly melodic and decorated with samples from Captain Kirk’s USS Enterprise, cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew and the religious guru Maharaj Ji, among others.
Farsight was originally an Ug Brothers creation that came about very late in that band’s existance, and didn’t make it to a live show before they folded in 1995. For the full backstory, we recommend the tune’s page at the Explicit Music website.
Dark Company
It has been a very good month for Dark Company across all of the platforms we use, ending with them achieving three songs in our newest monthly chart. All three come from the groundbreaking 1993 album Rage in Heaven, which features the hit European song Medicines.
Sacrifice, the opening track on Dark Company‘s Rage in Heaven album, is a re-entry at number three on the new chart.
Sacrifice is always a popular song and breaks back into the top ten for the first time since November 2022. If our charts were 20 songs long, it would have charted many times in the previous two years or so.
Sacrifice is an alluring and curious mix of progressive rock, trance and rap. The genre-bending nature of Sacrifice has helped it appeal to fans from multiple musical subcultures over the years.
Climbing up from number five to number four is Spoiler, from their fabulous Rage in Heaven album. We were so surprised when we found that Spoiler had never charted until last month that we checked the records, repeatedly and meticulously. Eventually we concluded that it did indeed seem to be true that Spoiler was a new entry.
In this instance, Spoiler refers to looking at the end of the story before reaching it, rather than something to aid the aerodynamics of a car. It has the most wicked funk bass you will ever hear from the master Jeff Willmot, as well as some improbably unplayable guitar shredding from George in the solo. Pete’s lyrics are esoteric, allegorical, and relatable.
The beats from this were used by Jeff as the basis for a number of his dance tracks, and the file in the Atari Cubase was called BEATS4IT.ALL, which seemed appropriate. Spoiler has been very popular across all the platforms where it can be found and it is truly the biggest surprise it has never previously hit our charts.
Another re-entry, following a long absence and frequent appearances in the eleven to thirty range of our charts, is another great song by Dark Company. Last Train to Heaven finally makes the top ten once again, at number ten. It is the song’s highest position since July 2019.
Last Train to Heaven is the closing song on Dark Company‘s Rage in Heaven album. What we love most about this song is that it works so well with just acousitc guitar and voice as a campfire song, or piano and voice in your home.
Pete’s wonderful allegorical lyrics are a similie for the passage of life and death. There is a distinct train-like feel to the sound, with the acoustic guitar and full-scale harmonica adding vast atmosphere. The groove is a mixture of house, reggae and some strange and wonky form of acoustic rock, which Dark Company have called hobo rock. One of Pete’s favourite movies was the classic hobo film Emperor of the North Pole and he mentioned that he drew some inspiration for Last Train to Heaven‘s lyrics from that film.
The Bastard Sons of Dennis
The Bastard Sons of Dennis enjoyed a good month on the chart in September 2024, claiming two of the ten possible positions. Both songs come from their fabulous Cosy Lube Turtle album.
Since the studio upgrade early last year, we have been working on improving the sound quality of everything we released in the last few years. Fans of our gruesome twosome can expect some exciting news regarding this album fairly soon. We are waiting on just a single file before making a big announcement.
A progtastic full-band mini-album by the dynamic duo is also in the early stages of finalisation.
Sadly we tend to feel that further recordings of their many remaining Blue Oyster Cult covers seems an unlikely prospect. This is mostly due to “discommunication, disorganisation and general untogetherness”, as the legend who is Paul Bateman once said of them when they were in Rough Terrain.
After three months outside the top ten, this month‘s number six song, Astronomy, is a profoundly beautiful and haunting creation. It was composed by the Bouchard brothers, Joe and Albert, and Sandy Pearlman. It is the final track of Blue Öyster Cult’s 1974 Secret Treaties album, and an absolute masterpiece of progressive rock composition.
The version of Astronomy by The Bastard Sons of Dennis is more produced than their live performances. They would often end a show with Astronomy, introducing it as a song that was famously covered by Metallica. “We wrote it, of course; ahem, cough…” Chuck would quip.
The other song from The Bastard Sons of Dennis is a re-entry at number eight. This is the penultimate song from the Cosy Lube Turtle album by The Bastard Sons of Dennis. She’s as Beautiful as a Foot is another Blue Öyster Cult cover, which originates from the Long Island quintet’s 1972 eponymous album, Blue Öyster Cult. The original version is highly psychedelic.
When covered by The Bastard Sons of Dennis, Chuck tunes his guitar to DADGAD. The twinkly noises at the beginning are created using an old computer fan and its assorted janglesome danglesome appendages. She’s as Beautiful as a Foot was often performed first in a set of Bastard Sons of Dennis songs, due largely to the tuning.
* None of our other acts made it onto the September 2024 chart. *
Listening Options
If you prefer to listen right here at the Wud Records website, you will find that it is the new default music player. You will find it on all non band-specific pages at the site, including our Links collection and homepage.
Each of the previous charts also has its own page in the charts section of this website. If you would like to see all our old charts, or for any previous month you are especially interested in, all of them can be accessed easily by clicking here.
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