https://www.exclaim.ca/music/article/dominionated-folds-after-more-than-a-decade
It's a shame to see!
Dominionated is one of the last of the original Canadian music blogs that featured me back when I was starting out. Silent Shout was my biggest support, BlogTO featured me first, but every one of them helped get mine and a lot more Canadian artists out there at a time when blogs had a role in shaping taste.
I don't think we are in a better place with algorithms. Music appreciation is becoming less and less of an active process. There was something special about the search - but more importantly it meant that artists outside the norm had a fighting chance, compared to the engagement model.
Engagement algorithms favour the lowest common denominator and disfavour artists who are outside the norm, something which is compounded by the US tech world's embrace of open hatred.
A blog, at best, could convince you to take a chance on something. It was artistic synergy, writers helping artists and vice versa.
RIP to those days, and may we someday take back music from the tech giants and make it our own.
PS here are a few songs that I actually wrote and released back then, before remaking then as Lady Charles
