So, after discovering that my approach to being self-contained on Mastodon leads to me disengaging from the community, I've been on a different instance and I feel more engaged, more part of something. I see other people not being impacted that way - they have their own instance and server but use it to take part. I automatically drift away.
I've started wondering - is that the same with my music? I've pretty much decided to stop using the usual streaming services. Possibly Bandcamp as well, and go with the ‘Be Your Own Platform’ style of running things. I believe in it and this site pretty much does the job.
But as I go down that route, will I disengage? If I do, does that matter? And if matters, does it matter that it matters?
We might see when I release 2 triple albums, the reaction could be interesting! But long term, what might it mean? Keep this site as work in progress, extended things and more than just music while releasing on something like Mirlo? That sort of gives me that connection to a community. Maybe that's the only thing I should actually do, less regular releases through a co-op music shop. The site could go completely on that basis - I can record as much as I want and just listen to it myself. Then do the editing and so on say, twice a year.
Because I don't think I'll get seriously into recording in the standard sense, I enjoy the live recording, being here and now approach too much. Maybe I just do live work and let people record and distribute? Maybe I go back to making the music available for free under CC license? That does appeal, and I could do the ‘raw’ live stuff that way and use Mirlo (or similar) for edited or composed work. Keep a tip jar on this site and charge through Mirlo so I don't have to worry about VAT?
I like Michael Sheen's idea of a not for profit artist. So that sort of thing is also an option. I could focus on the live aspects and channel any profit into good causes. The music is meant to have a positive effect, it could be direct AND financial. I'd need a transparent way of doing that. So, build a funnel site that captures performance, and sends tips to a worthy cause… Hmm