Badb: Oathed Devotee Prayer

Fig. 1

Prints

Saw your post about being review bombed for things unrelated to your actual show. I will be starting your podcast tomorrow morning. You don't deserve to have your creative dreams stomped on like that. I hope they grow bored and leave you alone soon.

I greatly appreciate you and everyone else who has given the show a shot as this all has been happening. After speaking with my support system, friends, and the community as I can on this I will continue the show regardless of the ratings it gets. That said, any feedback (big or small) is appreciated and helps make the show better!

PSA for podcast and audio drama creators:

If you publish a new episode of your show and it never shows up on Spotify, *do not panic*.

If you're using any kind of background music, it might've gotten flagged by their copyrighted content scanner. If it has, they do not notify you directly about it. Instead, they will notify your podcast hosting platform (i.e. Buzzsprout, Acast, Podbean, etc.)

If your new episode doesn't show up on Spotify within an hour or two (as it normally does), here's what you should do:

Create a video of your podcast and upload it privately to YouTube.

Check the 'Restrictions' column of the Content page in YouTube Studio. If the video you uploaded has 'Copyright' in this column, something was flagged and this is the problem. (In my experience, YouTube and Spotify's scanners are aligned).

Hover over where it says 'Copyright' and click the 'See Details' button. This will tell you what got flagged.

Confirm whether this content was legitimately flagged or not. If it was (meaning you can't prove that you have rights to use the music), it's time to replace the track and reupload your episode. (You'll still want to do the following steps after you do that). If wasn't, it's time to document why the flagging was in error. In Metropolis' case, we use a lot of pre-1924 music that is in the public domain per Title II of the US Music Modernization Act of 2018. But rights holders are notorious for not removing things that have aged into the public domain from their claims list. That means we have clear rights to use the music (as does anybody: again, public domain!), but we still have to go through the appeals process.

Contact your hosting provider to get the notice email from Spotify Content Protection. You need to ask their support team if they've received an email for your show from Spotify with a Subject line of "Possibly Infringing - Notification Warning - Claim xxx - ref:_xxx". It usually takes about 30 minutes to an hour for them to receive that notification from when the episode was uploaded. Within the email, there's a unique link to appeal the decision. Note that you only get five days to appeal - procrastination is definitely not your friend here!

Use the Appeal Link from the Email to file an Appeal Notice If you click the link, it will take you to a form to appeal the decision not to post the episode. This is where you need to present your case by either that you've replaced the music in question, or that you have a right to use it. If it's the latter - make sure you present the case as thoroughly and completely as possible (with links and references). (You'll also want to confirm that the track that YouTube spotted is the one that Spotify flagged.)

From my experience, Spotify will usually respond 24-36 hours.

If you took the right steps, it'll usually be a short note that they've published the episode and you're in the clear.

Cheers, and happy creating!

Saw this the other day and it had me rolling! But I figured I would share the lyrics to our main theme! You can head over to our Patreon to check them out! Our Patreon is free with only a single "support tier" since we know times are tough and would rather just foster more places for our community to grow!

*grabbing a new audio drama podcast in my teeth and shaking it like a dog with a squeaky toy*

Paper Horse, acrylic painting by Jason Limon

This artist on Instagram

Getting rating bombed on your Audio Fiction podcast for being a guest on another show by a single person over many different accounts is WILD. And so very immature. I just started my show a few months ago and already see in the sparse data I have how much it has impacted growth and discoverability. Kill em with kindness and move on I guess?

Update on the rating bomb for Dead West Podcast

Hey all, so this is going to be my final rant/note/update on this whole rating bombing situation. The situation is still happening with more negative reviews coming in, even today. Please, note, I am in no way mad or upset about this or the results of it, a little hurt sure but I will carry on. I am just writing this as a living record and update for those who have tried helping me out in all of this. This is the work and result of someone(s) who are probably feeling hurt, estranged, and angry at people other than myself, I am just the current target or a fresh reminder of the things they have dealt with directly or otherwise.

I have dealt with cyber-bullying before so this is nothing new. I would be lying if I said it didn't suck and it didn't hurt but at the same time they are clearly hurting so much more that they are going to such lengths. So, I wish them peace and I hope one day they are willing to engage in a good faith conversation about a way forward that uplifts fellow creators and not tears them down. At the end of the day, I have my art and even if it comes down to a 1-star average with the only listener being my best friend then so be it. I will still tell my silly little ghost stories. Thanks for reading! Everything in the attached doc is just for the record and to help me process the last bits of this. Now onto more ghost stories!!!! https://docs.google.com/document/d/11Y3QbkwQBDS7oA_x3G-i4TSyl6LrcCsG1cVpam9wUOQ/edit?usp=sharing

EVERYONE! We hit 100 folks on our Free Patreon, and we're super excited to announce as promised our official art contest! Visit https://www.theredactedunit.com/mrmidnight for more info, and share this with your friends for once voting starts!