Top 10 Most Read Blogs of 2023

Happy New Year, everyone.  And thank you so much for coming back week after week, month after month, year after year, to read the blog that gets posted on this site every Monday.  I’m equally grateful to everyone who listens to the “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast that has been coming out every Wednesday for what will be ten years next month.  In the case of both the blog and the podcast, I’ve never missed once in posting either one.  I say all that to make sure you know that I write the blog and record the podcast every week because you DO keep coming back to read and to listen, respectively.

Now we’ve turned the calendar over to the very first page of 2024.  It’s fitting that January 1st falls on a Monday since my first blog of each year is always the top ten most read blogs from the year that just finished.

So, to continue the tradition, I’ve compiled below those that were the most read out of all those that were published throughout 2023.

There’s an interesting lesson here that obviously is the power of collaboration.  This was never intended to be a music review blog.  But, when I joined up with One Submit, I agreed that I’d listen to whatever gets submitted to me.  If I hear a song that I like enough to want to put my name to it (meaning, my reputation, by for all intents and purposes supporting the song with a positive review), I’ll do so.  In the list below you’re going to see that six of the ten most read blogs last year were song reviews.  Clearly, it’s the power of having someone else (in this case, the artist whose song I reviewed) promoting the blog entry too.

Nonetheless, take some time to go back through and read these posts that were the most popular out of all those published here in 2023.

10) “It Costs Nothing to Support Another Business or Creator” – This post was written after seeing someone posting about someone other than themselves. In this blog I give a firsthand example of someone using their personal Instagram account to help local businesses and I cite a specific day that shouldn’t be the one in 365 that you choose to post about someone other than yourself.

9) “What Corners Are You Cutting?” – Published just over two months ago, this entry cites firsthand examples that I witnessed relative to podcasts and original music being distributed despite having less than pro quality production.  At one point in this blog, I write that, “Credibility is at stake here, folks.”  I allude to not giving readers, viewers, listeners a reason to stop following you.

8) “Ergo, Bria’s ‘Teeth’ Kept Me Wondering ‘What’s Next’” – Here we go with the first of the six out of ten most read blogs that were song reviews.  In looking at this post I was reminded of how the song hadn’t even come out yet, although I had been able to go to the artist’s YouTube channel and find a video of a live performance of it (from which I grabbed a still image that you’ll see at the top of the blog).



7) “Ariana Colletti Doesn’t Take it ‘Too Far’ – It’s Just Right” – What was interesting about this song review is that I’d just written something about another track by this artist ten weeks earlier.  Yet once again, she was doing too much right for me to ignore this song or pass on it only because I’d done a positive blog “too recently.”  Clearly, she has a bright future and could very well end up in a 2024 blog!

6) “Pleasantly Surprised by “Slow Down” by Heat Above” – If you didn’t read this the first time around (May 15, 2023), here’s a spoiler alert.  I end up revealing that this is a group consisting of members in their teens!  Regardless of their age and that storyline, though, their song was something that did move the needle with me to not mind putting my name to in a review.  Give it a listen and see if you agree!

5) “Don’t Give Up – Someone Unexpected is Waiting to Embrace Your Message” – Back to the typical posts I put up each week (meaning, not a song review), this blog from October 30th encouraged you to not succumb to, “No one cares” or “No one listening to (or reading) what I put out” and I used this very blog (and my weekly podcast) as an example of practicing what I preach.

4) “Commercial Radio Needs to Give ‘Suffocate’ by Rae Lou Room to Breathe and Flourish” – This song review was referred to as “a melodic needle… found in the haystack of submissions.”  Go read it and use the link in there to listen to it to learn why I’d written, “The voice is interesting.  At a time when too many female vocalists are all copying the same sound, the tones I heard on ‘Suffocate’ were a refreshing and inviting change.”


3) “Create the Content You Are Intended to Make” – The final blog of the first month of last year, I (early on) referenced, “a powerful stop-you-in-your-tracks statement.”  It had come from a source that I noted that I rarely ever mention.  I wrote about listening to your gut and that just going through the motions will probably result in what you’re creating just coming out ‘okay.’

2) “No Problem at All with Newest Single from CeCe” – While you could make an argument that this was the second-most read blog because of it having been published way back on February 27, I would argue that it indicates that the artist has quite a following and that her song was/is that good that people continually look for her and it, and thus discover my song review in the process.  Go see what I wrote then.

1) “Bravo, Jesse Felder, for New Single, ‘So Sweetly’” – The number of reads that this blog got blew away all the others on this list, which is fitting because even though I wrote it approximately ten months ago, I remember being blown away by the song to the point where I still can see when I was sitting and listening for the first time and thought, “Why is this being submitted for review?  It’s so good that it’s probably already playing on radio stations everywhere and doesn’t need someone like me to help get attention for it.”

Go read what I’d written about that song – and the other five – and listen (to each) through the Spotify link that I provide (for each one) within the blog post.

After one or more of the above ten posts inspire you, call me with your enthusiasm.  Share with me your ideas, your goals, what you’re excited about for 2024, and sure, your New Year’s resolutions.  I’m proud to say that 2024 marks 20 years now that I’ve been helping indie music artists, authors, entrepreneurs, actors and filmmakers, small business owners, and podcasters from around the U.S.  Take advantage of my experience to benefit your career.  (I’m actually live on the Owwll app right now as I’m typing this blog!)  I’ll look forward to speaking with you.