23 May 2021
Dear Friend,
I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for taking time to read this month’s newsletter. To get notified when newsletters become available, please click here.
Personal News
My Personal Update for May is now available. [View] To signup for monthly notifications from me, please click here. To keep up with other news visit AboutGregJohnson.com
Summary
The main focus this month has been responding to a flood of support requests. As a result I’ve spent little time doing anything else. So, there are only a few new posts to the RFL website.
New Articles and Posts
You can see the latest articles, posts and other content by visiting ResourcesForLife.com/new
Heart Songs
I’ve enjoyed sharing music each month through these newsletters. Starting this year, I’m planning to switch to occasionally sharing music through posts on the site, but not as featured items in the newsletter.
In the past, I’d encounter new music while driving and listening to the radio, or at restaurants, or watching movies, or a new TV series, etc. With the pandemic I’m at home more, working more, and not exposed to much new music. These days, much of the music I hear, I already know. It’s not new.
In the past, one of the primary opportunities for me to enjoy music was during my daily workout. I’ve changed my exercise routine and these days go on nature walks without listening to anything other than nature. My work these days requires more focus, or time on the phone with people, so the role of music in my life has diminished.
Because I’m not exposed to music on a regular basis, finding songs to share every month required some additional time in an already busy schedule.
In addition to these factors, the music industry has gone through seismic shifts in recent decades. For many years I used an Apple iTunes playlist sharing feature to share music. That service was eventually discontinued. Other similar services came along, but didn’t last. YouTube has been the most recent service I relied on to share music, but often great music videos are not available months later. Either the artist removes their own videos from YouTube or someone not authorized to share the music is asked to remove it from a personal YouTube channel. Spotify allows for playlists and sharing links to songs, but not all music is available there.
Given licensing and copyright restrictions, I considered using services like Artlist.io as a source for unique royalty-free music that I could share without worrying about it not being available in the future. The music comes with a lifetime unlimited license to use and share through created works. However, the service is expensive, the collection is limited, and it takes time to download and manage the items. I did use the service for a while. Here’s a music video I created from one of the songs I liked. [View]
The Soundcloud music service is a nice way to learn about and follow local musicians and lesser known musicians, but downloading and sharing can be a bit limited, and the premium service is expensive.
For all of these reasons, I’m planning to phase out the Heart Songs tradition.
Thanks!
I want to thank the global team of volunteers, contributors, and workers “behind the scenes” who help make all this possible. I’m very grateful to the many people who continue to uphold and advance the mission of Resources for Life. Thanks again for your support. Please let me know if there is any way that Resources for Life can serve you better.
Regards,
Greg
Greg Johnson, Director – ResourcesForLife.com
Internet: https://resourcesforlife.com/g
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