I’ve been keeping myself pretty busy these past couple of weeks prepping for the launch of a new website, Candied Pop. It is a sort of vanity-hobby thing focusing on reviews of albums and singles as well as the occasional interview and likely tirade about the industry from a consumer perspective. The idea to launch came about when I noticed that the most popular content here is the music reviews–they generate the most hits and trackbacks–and I was bemoaning the fact that I write better when I have an editor dropping work off at the last possible minute. Why not put the two together? If anything it will get me to keep my critical writing skills sharp while still having deadlines–labels and AR departments this time–hanging over my head.

The best part of this project has been that the technical matters, for the most part, have taken a back seat to more strategy and business minded thinking; the opportunities for that kind of thinking really have been few and far between since I finished school. At the moment, I’ve got scraps of paper with notes, thoughts, musings, and proto-strategies covering my desk as I try and formulate a plan for the site. Yeah, I’m likely over thinking a simple site but at the very least its giving me something to do other than twiddling my thumbs.

We’ll see where it goes. I’ve got a friend who’s generously jumped in to wrangle new content and tame it in 800 words or less for which I am extremely grateful and excited.  He’ll provide a great Indie foil to my overt Houseness and it’ll be a trip to see what he pull out as essential listening.  I expect to get schooled thoroughly and have fun doing it.