Monday, August 24, 2009

Dog Log



The online media thrives on its reader feedback - or so one would have thought. Readers' comments generate hits, which in turn attract advertising revenue. But one's comments - often innocuous- occasionally fail to make it past the moderator on duty. Complaining is pointless - and may lead, one suspects, to being systematically blocked.

This post is where I will log - without criticism- - all the instances when a comment of mine has failed to appear.

1. Times OnLine 23/8/2009 Britain's best selling singles ranked by beats per minute

sciencebod - August 23, 2009 Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Well, I don’t wish to be the party pooper, but this is at best incomplete research. It merely suggests that chart-topping singles need to be somewhat up-tempo, which will probably come as little surprise. Indeed, the arbitrary lower cut-off point of 85 beats/min is questionable, given that some 13 or so hits fall below it, which is more than a quarter of the total.
To put things in perspective, we’d need to see the distribution for a selection of also-rans. Who’s to say that a preponderance of them are not extremely (excessively? painfully?)up-tempo?
Conclusion - a reasonable up-beat tempo is needed for No 1 success - itself no guide to melodic or rhythmic quality. In other words, a good tempo may be necessary but not sufficient for chart success.

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