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A thread for McGroovin, Smoothly

Guess he's going back to do the rest of the entire dang Undertale OST he hasn't already done.
I don't mind this.
 
A very sweet tribute video for his cat. A good long life and some very cute stories and a cute retrospective edit in here.

 
New video, and it's his first Deltarune Chapter 3 tune.

Didn't, uh, didn't expect him to go with this one first. It's a bit spoilery so behind a pop it goes, but man, he does a great job with it.

 
Was waiting for him to do this one. Deltarune Chapter 4, but not as spoilery as the last Deltarune one.

 
Violentvixen said:
I was shocked to realize he hadn't done Ghost House before. It's perfect.

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I am dying to know how he split up the whistling parts between the two voices, because where do you even breathe in the middle of all that?

Absolutely perfect.
 
The story gets sadder, apparently. He just posted a new video explaining his situation (you all know where to find it if you want) and it doesn't sound great. The jist is that due to increased copyright strikes, the ongoing enshittification of the Youtube algorithm, and an all-time low in Patreon subscribers, his actual revenues add up to an equivalent wage of roughly $3/hour before taxes. He says doesn't use or support cryptocurrency, but sponsored videos are one of the few remaining ways for him to earn a living and keep the channel going, and according to him they were the only company to reach out to him that wasn't selling some kind of AI garbage (he is extremely anti-AI and refuses to promote it in any way). I got the impression that he didn't think it would be a big deal at the time, but he didn't say as much.

So, it's not necessarily an apology, but sadly I believe it as an explanation. It's almost impossible to make a living from any kind of artistic pursuit. Does it necessarily justify making an ad for something that's, to be extremely generous, a grift at best? I don't know. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't understand where he was coming from. I spent a decade of my life recording and mixing music professionally, and I never made more than $20k in a year during all that time. I did a lot of really cool work I'm proud of, and I also did some work that I had to do so I could pay my rent. The parallels don't sync up 100% -- I never had to work for anything/anyone evil, and there was never any public-facing aspect of my job -- but I know what it feels like to make compromises you're not happy about in order to keep the lights on.

I'm pretty conflicted about the whole thing at this point. I feel bad for an artist who now has to deal with a stain on his reputation because he wanted to make a living doing what he loves. I hate that he felt like he had to take money from a company selling something awful. It kinda feels like not only is there no ethical consumption under capitalism, there's no ethical creation either. (This is admittedly a dramatic way to put it, but you get my point.)

I think an important takeaway here is that if you want to see the artists you care about succeed, support them directly if you're able. Patreons, Bandcamp Fridays, buying merch from them at a show, whatever. Putting your money into their hands will always be the easiest way to keep them going.
 
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Yeah, I saw that and he did a fantastic job laying it all out. I'm glad to see all the comments with donations attached. I decided that since I've spent years enjoying his content but never bought or donated anything now was the time to do so. Will I continue to in the future? Dunno. But it seemed like the right thing to do based on what he shared.

It's so shitty that some of these incredibly popular songs aren't even making him $100.
 
Also I haven’t watched the video yet but if he’s dealing with copyright strikes those are complete bullshit, right? There’s no original audio in any of his videos and I’m pretty sure un-sampled covers are never in violation of copyright. Or is it companies complaining about video clips from newer games? Either way seems like some awful nonsense on top of all the other financial shit he’s dealing with.
 
Kirin said:
Also I haven’t watched the video yet but if he’s dealing with copyright strikes those are complete bullshit, right? There’s no original audio in any of his videos and I’m pretty sure un-sampled covers are never in violation of copyright. Or is it companies complaining about video clips from newer games? Either way seems like some awful nonsense on top of all the other financial shit he’s dealing with.
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I went back to check and ugh, YouTube really does make it hard to find stuff now. So linking it here because I don't want to dig around again. I don't think he explained the details of it, maybe it's the game footage too?

 
Kirin said:
Or is it companies complaining about video clips from newer games?
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Honestly, I have no idea. I think you could make a fair argument that his use of game clips falls under "transformative use" but I am not a lawyer by any means.

Violentvixen said:
I decided that since I've spent years enjoying his content but never bought or donated anything now was the time to do so. Will I continue to in the future? Dunno. But it seemed like the right thing to do based on what he shared.
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Just wanted to say you're a real one for making the jump. I'm planning to pick up an album during the next Bandcamp Friday (March 6th, for the curious) for the same reason.
 
Now I feel kind of bad for the shaming comment I left on his Coinbase video. Crypto still sucks and so does supporting it, but the man's gotta eat.
 
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Vaeran said:
Now I feel kind of bad for the shaming comment I left on his Coinbase video. AI still sucks and so does supporting it, but the man's gotta eat.
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I thought this wasn't AI though? He noted this was the only non-AI sponsor he could get. Crypto isn't great either of course.
 
I mean, we all reacted negatively, but none of us knew the extenuating circumstances a week ago either. Do I wish the guy hadn't made an ad for a crypto trading site? Yes. But I hate the fact that he felt like he had to do it to support himself even more.

But also man, if this really was the only non-AI sponsor to reach out, imagine if a company like Supergiant commissioned him to do something from the Hades 2 soundtrack instead. Everybody gets good press, everybody feels great. I feel like there's room for people in the industry to step up here. I dunno, I don't work in PR, but I'd like to live in a world where something like this can happen.
 
Violentvixen said:
I thought this wasn't AI though? He noted this was the only non-AI sponsor he could get. Crypto isn't great either of course.
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Er, sorry, I meant crypto. I don't know why I said AI. Post fixed. Thanks for pointing that out!
 
Vaeran said:
Er, sorry, I meant crypto. I don't know why I said AI. Post fixed. Thanks for pointing that out!
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No worries! I was more concerned that there was some other AI thing going on that I'd missed.

lincolnic said:
But also man, if this really was the only non-AI sponsor to reach out, imagine if a company like Supergiant commissioned him to do something from the Hades 2 soundtrack instead. Everybody gets good press, everybody feels great. I feel like there's room for people in the industry to step up here. I dunno, I don't work in PR, but I'd like to live in a world where something like this can happen.
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True facts. This would be so much better.
 
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