👋 Hi, I'm Nicholas Roberts. I create and perform music and write this daily blog.

I currently live in Los Angeles with my wife and golden retriever.

Email me: hello@nicholasroberts.io

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It's old news by now that 100,000+ new songs are uploaded to Spotify and Soundcloud every day. And Netflix produces more original TV shows in a year than the entire TV industry did 20 years ago.

Not to mention all the other major streaming platforms also producing at a breakneck pace.

Then there are millions of YouTube channels. And podcasts.

To help combat the noise, Amazon has started placing restrictions on the number of ebooks an author can upload. The limit is 3 per day.

I'm sure you've felt it too. A friend recommends a TV show or movie that you've never heard of.

You think, “I must be out of the loop, right?”

No one can know everything, watch everything. Not even close.

Every day, there's a new sideshow fighting for attention. And occasionally, it breaks through. But only for a few hours. Days if it’s lucky.

Right now, the world is a series of niches. Niches on steroids. Everyone’s got their own lane and their own Top 5.

Unlike TV Guide, which could tell you how many eyeballs were tuning into M.A.S.H this week, there's no chart like that anymore, at least not one that matters—M.A.S.H got over 100 million people to tune in to the finale in 1983 on a single night.

Sure, Spotify has a Global Top 50, but how many of those songs have you actually heard?

A new song from Kanye West, CARNIVAL, is currently number on the Global Top 50 charts on Spotify. It has 6 million streams.

Yes, that Kanye.

Everyone loves a ranking system. A list. To make sure we're not getting left behind.

Businesses love lists because they can show how well they’re doing. How far behind the competitors are. How many hit shows or properties they worked on.

But ratings and rankings miss the reality. It's possible to have a number one song, yes. A number one album. A number one TV show in the world.

But have you heard it? Watched it? Did you even know it was out?

I don't think people care they're out of the loop. Being in a niche is better. Rather than tapping into a cold zeitgeist, people crave community.

And that’s not on a list.

The charts can't tell you about culture. Likes can't tell you about people.

The niche you’re in can feel like the most important place in the world.

And it's not charting anywhere.