All three platforms work the same way
Nashville
Before I joined Medium, somehow I ran into a few articles and TV clips about amateur country music artists finding their dream in Nashville, Tennessee, the capital of country music.
These country music acts will not find their way to the Grand Ole Opry just yet. They must enhance their skills and reputation — by playing in the many bars in Nashville.
The acts must prove their worth to the bar owners by filling the bar with people. If enough people buy the cover charge, drinks, and meals, the artist will be invited back. And the artist earns a reputation to be hired by other bars.
So the country music act has two jobs. First is to make great music. Second is to convince enough people to come to the bar. So the act is a consummate marketer, using whatever it takes to get people in the bars. Of course, traditional posters on poles and handing out flyers on the street become part of the game. Today, there are email lists to work and social media to message. Get a long list of contacts. Get enough of those contacts to fill the bar, and later you get another shot at the stage.
So who is coming to an amateur country music shows?
First there are the loyal fans of the act. However, the artist is not popular enough to have lots of loyal fans. Nearly all of the bar’s customers come from other sources.
Second, there are the Nashville locals looking for a night on the town. They enjoy the music and probably don’t care who is playing. They have seen many acts come and go.
Third, there are the tourists. A night in the bar is cheaper than a ticket to the Grand Ole Opry — and sometimes the music is just as good. And if the music is not that good, the tourists move to another bar.
Last, there are the aspiring country music artists: singers, musicians, songwriters, and agents. The event at the bar becomes a networking opportunity. A singer never knows when she might need a new drummer or steel guitar player. Making these contacts in the bar helps keep the dream alive. Bands are formed, broken, and reformed. Very dynamic!
Reading between the lines, I gathered that at least half of the bar’s customers come from this latter group: the actual practitioners of country music. So when an aspiring country-&-western act is promoting itself in Nashville, it must target fellow musicians into the bar — to spend a little money to keep the bar owner happy.
So this sets up a quid-pro-quo arrangement between the practitioners. There is an underlying understanding that “If I come to your act, you must come to mine.” One week, an aspiring star may be on stage. Next week that aspiring star will be spending money at the same bar returning the favor to other aspiring starts that showed up the previous week. Failure to play this game means not getting enough customers into the bar and not being able to find a stage later.
We could argue that these country-and-western artists are networking to support each other. But the reality is that only a handful of practitioners will find success. One practitioner’s success means one fewer opportunity for the other aspirants. So any support is grudgingly given, mostly to play a game of “see and be seen” to move ahead.
Medium
When I joined Medium in 2019, I could see there was a lot of Nashville happening. Writers were informally exchanging favors: follow-me-and-I’ll follow you. Or read-my-articles-and-I’ll read-your articles.
I too have played this game. And, I have to admit, I want “to be read” more than “to read.” We are motivated to leverage our favors so that we can spend more time writing than reading.
Unfortunately, I have not developed a consistent and loyal following that will guarantee me at least $5 for every article I write. You see, I have a topic that is outside the Overton Window, which is an alternative democracy. My six years on Medium proves this topic is unpopular, no matter how well I dress it up or how well I play the Nashville game.
For example, here are two articles I wrote in mid-February
Was Election 2024 Stolen?
One is explaining a feature of my alternative democracy. The other is a sensationalist lure. I think you can tell which article earned $5.38 and which article earned $0.07.
Even though the luring article dovetailed into introducing the alternative democracy, that dovetailing did not find any new inquiries, let alone fans. So this technique has not earned the attention that it should be getting in these crazy political times. Nope, I and the TDG are not popular. After six years!
My critics will claim that I’m like a heavy metalhead musican trying to find stages in Nashville. I am not providing the music the Nashville crowd wants to hear. I need only change my main topic, and more people will read my stuff.
But if I do that, we won’t get that new democracy, will we?
Substack
I joined Substack in mid January. I did not have high expectations. If I can not break the Overton Window in Medium, I will not likely break it in Substack.
So I have been repurposing my recent Medium articles. My objective is to make a little noise with the least effort. When I put my recycled article up, I take a little look around my little corner of Substack. Then close the Substack tab. Maybe 15 minutes a day.
My Substack articles get an average of seven views. Not much, but these readers learn that Dave Volek is about building a new democracy. These readers then make their decision whether this new democracy is worthy of an investigation.
After 63 articles and 460 views, I have only four Substack subscribers.
Three of them came from somewhere else than my brilliant ideas on Substack.
Mark R Hunter is an aspiring novelist from Albion, Indiana. I have read several of his books, nice easy reads with great plot lines. I recommend his Hoosier Hysterical which is a fun way to learn history. Mark helped me write my first TDG novel.
Francesco Rizzuto is an obtuse political/society/history writer I met on Medium. He will offend everyone, but he is saying things that need to be said. Currently he has a Substack called Zone of Sulfur, which will challenge your thinking. This stack is no echo chamber (except for himself). Francesco has earned the title of #1 TDG fan. He has probably written 10 articles about the TDG, in his unique off-the-wall way. He is often commenting and re-posting my work.
John Polonis is the editor on the Medium pub The Political Prism. This pub has well written political articles that go outside the usual “basket of deplorables” and “do-nothing-Democrats” rhetoric. When I have a political article that is not so TDG heavy, I offer it to John, and he usually accepts it into his pub. John is now working Substack, and we somehow found each other.
The fourth subscriber, Gail, is my only true Substack connection. But she has not offered any hearts, restacks, or comments to my articles. Methinks she was only playing the Nashville game, pretending to like my stuff hoping I would subscribe back and read all her stuff. Nope!
I have seen familiar Medium writers on Substack. I could do the Nashville exchange again, but I’m already reading more of their stuff than they are reading mine. In fact, they are not reading me at all. Nope!
I still value the education and entertainment I get from Medium. When preparing this article, I realized that Medium has actually saved me a lot of money in subscription fees and annoying advertising to keep me in touch with the world. So I will continue with recreational reading on Medium. But to do the same on Substack; nope!
BTW, I regularly read about 20 writers on Medium. I don’t think they are interested in my work, but I still enjoy their insights.
Anyways, I now have 63 TDG articles stored on Substack. Maybe someday, one Substack reader might realize American democracy really needs to be replaced — and there was a crazy Canadian with an interesting solution on Substack.
To Follow or Not to Follow! That is the question.
On Medium, you can follow me or not. On Substack, you can subscribe to me or not.
If not, then the best you should hope for is to watch the same circus that has been playing for the past nine years. More likely, this act is going to get worse. Your choice.
But no more Nashville games from this writer!
Published on Medium & Substack 2025
Solving the Mystery of the Major Scale
