2010 State of the Blog

Well 2009 is winding down, and that means its time for me to once again reevaluate where I stand with this blog.  Do I continue as I did in 2009, or do I go full-speed like 2008?  Do I quit?  Unfortunately, 2010 has no road map.  I have no goals set, as I have for every other year of Audio Overflow's existence.  But before I get into where this blog is heading, let's look back at 2009.

Back in late 2008 I decided to stop blogging on a daily basis.  This continued into 2009, a year in which I only posted 75 updates to the blog.  Despite this, 2009 was Audio Overflow's most-successful year to date as far as web traffic is concerned.  In fact, over 50% of Audio Overflow's traffic (from 2006 on) came this year.  A big part of that was the 29 in 2009 series, which kept people coming back every time a new update came around.  Then my Best and Worst of '09 lists also helped give the blog the biggest month in its history.  Big reviews like The Decemberists' Hazards of Love didn't hurt either.  Of course, the biggest source of traffic this year was Audio Overflow's archives, which now feature 3 years' worth of articles, lists, and reviews.  Put simply, Google has been good to us (or, um, me).

But enough about 2009.  2010 is just a few hours away, and while I don't have any long-term "goals" for the year, I do have some promises. 

• More Reviews  |  Honestly, 2009 was a pretty piss-poor year for Audio Overflow's music reviews.  Not counting the 29 in 2009 series, I only reviewed 8 albums this year.  Weak sauce.  So in 2010, I promise to bring more of the in-depth reviews that you've come to expect of me in the past.  The first one is coming up next Tuesday, January 5th, and it's sure to be a fun one (in more ways than one).
• More News  |  Audio Overflow has never been a big "news" blog.  Other blogs post several news updates a day, but I've always been focused on making Audio Overflow about original content.  While that will continue to be the focus of the blog in 2010, regular news updates about my (and your) favorite artists are to be expected.
• Twitter Integration  |  I honestly think Twitter is a fad (despite what everyone is saying), but that won't keep me from utilizing it to make this blog better.  My plan for the @audiooverflow Twitter page is to make it a quick source for Audio Overflow updates.  As of right now, all posts on the blog are automatically tweeted with a link back to the blog.  I'll also be using Twitter to give you updates as to what I'm listening to, blog contests, artist updates, etc.  So if you haven't started following @audiooverflow yet, now'd be a good time to start.
• More Features  |  29 in 2009 was a huge undertaking for me.  I wouldn't plan on seeing anything of that size for a while, but I can guarantee that 2010 will see the return of some of the old Audio Overflow features that you used to expect.  That includes, Top 5 Fridays, Random Rants, Retro Reviews and probably a few new ones as well.

Whatever 2010 brings, I can certainly guarantee that it will be a much better year for Audio Overflow.  Promise :)

--Cale