#24 - Why so many newsletters and how to manage the flow

Many of you enjoy seeing the increase in our newsletters and some don't.  Here are some tips how to manage the flow of newsletters and what to sign up for to get more or less.

We have over 35,000 people subscribed to our newsletters who are interested in high resolution music, DSD technology or the abstract interests that I sometimes talk about in recording, gardening or general observations about life in today's world.  Last year we discovered that many people were signed up to receive new music information but were not interested in the technology of today's production -- and vice versa.  Those people often unsubscribe to one newsletter with no way to stay signed up to the other.  To fix that, we created two lists -- one for DSD-Guide/technology and one for Blue Coast Records and Music.  That meant we paid double to hold 70,000 subscribers on both lists.  That translated to hundreds of dollars every month of additional expense.

When the pandemic and lockdown hit, our recording studio services stopped, download purchases slowed as well.  Everyone was understandably conservative with their spending.  We needed to cut back as well.  That's when I created "Cookie's Corner".  My thought was "if I send out 5 newsletters a week, people would unsubscribe even faster and we would pay less money per month to keep the newsletters going."  WRONG!

It turns out, we did upset a few people..  but the good news was music lovers began buying MORE MUSIC DOWNLOADS!  Wow... had I known that  year earlier, I would have started writing more frequently last year!  :)  Cookie's Corner has turned out to be a surprise hit and gives me more to write about.  We plan on spinning that out as a separate newsletter, more text oriented and personal as it's been.  The column will reside on Blue Coast Music the hope being that those wanting the 'community experience' on less frequent schedule can have their cake less frequently... or in this case have the "Cookie" less frequently.  Sorry for the bad joke. :)  So please endure until the announcement in July when we split out Cookie's Corner from Blue Coast Music.

Remember... you can always unsubscribe at the top of each newsletter if it gets to be too much.  And, you can re-subscribe to get the newsletters again.  Or write to us directly as some do.

Here's an overview of how we current work with our newsletters...

Blue Coast Music  --
If you've signed up for downloads or free products you're automatically setup to receive Blue Coast Music newsletter and Blue Coast Records newsletter. What's the difference?  Blue Coast Music features all the music we offer.  Blue Coast Records features only the music I've recorded for Blue Coast Records.  You'll also receive Cookie's Corner. These each get sent about once a week.  For signup go here.  
https://bluecoastmusic.com

DSD-Guide --
If you've signed up to receive DSD-Guide or free downloads, you'll receive DSD-Guide about once a week.  We feature articles from prominent engineers about recording in all formats, interesting news on high resolution audio, science of sound, etc.  We hope to expand this one day to The Sound Network.  For signup go here
https://dsd-guide.com

How to manage receiving the newsletters without unsubscribing...

Some email programs allow you to automatically archive the emails when they come in.  That way, you can look at them in one bunch -- once a month or once a week. 

Gmail and other programs allow you to filter in various ways so that you can send the newsletters to trash automatically.  Usually, the trash doesn't delete for 30 days.  You'll have a month to go to your trash and read.  This is what I do to most of my subscriptions.  Then I keep my inbox relatively simple and look for articles in the trash on a daily or weekly basis.

Unsubscribe always works.  It's at the top of each newsletter.  You can always resubscribe.

One last note... if you miss the newsletter and don't open, it comes again 72 hours or more later (usually in the late afternoon Pacific Time) to those who did not open the newsletter.  It doesn't go to people who have opened it the first time.  This seems to be a great help with so much mail coming.  Those that want to read can.

If you have any tips how you manage your newsletters, let us know!  Send us a message directly or comment in the disqus below.

Have a wonderful week!

Cookie Marenco
Founder and Producer
Blue Coast Records and Music