NJArts.net celebrated its 10th anniversary, Sept. 15.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of NJArts.net (which took place on Sept. 15), I am sharing, on Facebook, the 25 posts of ours that have been seen the most, over those 10 years, with some comments about why each one of them did so well.
I have been sharing one a day; I started, Sept. 15, at the top.
In this post, I will share the links, and my write-ups, adding them as they are posted (so this post will not be complete until Oct. 9.
Here are the posts:
1. The Beatles’ most misunderstood song: ‘In My Life’
This post on The Beatles “In My Life” — which I got the idea to do when reviewing a production of “My Very Own British Invasion” at The Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn — is No. 1 by far, with more than 136,000 “hits” since being posted in 2019. And it is still going strong, generally getting around 50 hits a day with no promotion at all. I guess people keep doing web searches for this song, trying to learn more about it, and this post keeps on coming up.
As a general rule, I have found that posts about The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen do very well — in part, I assume, to the well-developed internet fan networks devoted to sharing any and all news about them.
Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty and others perform at a party in 1995.
2. John Stamos shares private video of Fogerty, Springsteen performing at 1995 party (WATCH HERE)
This post probably took me about five minutes to write. I was just, basically, sharing a cool video I came across on Facebook. But note the date — April 9, 2020. People were at home because of the pandemic, not knowing what to do, and spending a lot of time on their computers.
2020 remains the best year for traffic, ever, for NJArts.net, for that reason. (And our worst year for advertising revenue, since most of our advertisers are arts venues, and they suspended their advertising because their shows were cancelled or postponed. Some sites have all the luck.)
3. Who’s who on Bruce Springsteen’s current E Street Band tour
This post, from February 2023, is very basic. Bruce Springsteen was starting a tour, and people were wondering who was in the expanded version of the E Street Band that accompanied him. So I put together a post identifying everyone, and giving a little information about them. The post has received steady hits daily since then, especially when Springsteen has a show and people, presumably, do a web search after it, trying to figure out who they were seeing.
BUCKY PIZZARELLI
4. Legendary guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli dies at 94
Bucky Pizzarelli is not the most famous musician that NJArts.net has posted an obituary about. But I believe this was the first public notice of the death of a musician who was widely loved and respected, especially among New Jersey music fans. And it was posted on April 1, 2020: As in the No. 2 post, above, the increase in web traffic, due to people being at home and watching the Internet closely, had a lot to do with it being so widely seen.
5. New fan-made documentary explores Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’ triumph
Dennis Laverty is an amateur filmmaker who makes thoroughly detailed music documentaries, using previously available but often rare film and video footage, photos, newspaper clips and posters. He does not release these films commercially, but makes them available for free on the internet. This June 2021 post, about his two-part, seven-part exploration of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” Era, is fifth on our most-seen list.
CONTRIBUTE TO NJARTS.NET
Since launching in September 2014, NJArts.net, a 501(c)(3) organization, has become one of the most important media outlets for the Garden State arts scene. And it has always offered its content without a subscription fee, or a paywall. Its continued existence depends on support from members of that scene, and the state’s arts lovers. Please consider making a contribution of any amount to NJArts.net via PayPal, or by sending a check made out to NJArts.net to 11 Skytop Terrace, Montclair, NJ 07043.
