Is it just a load of stores/shops immediately switching to generic xmas playlists after Halloween? To me that's the only reason I could see there to being a sudden spike. This song is bound to be in most of them. But we'd also need to track other popular xmas tracks.
(I know there used to be significant music licensing issues about what music could be played in a store, to the public. Don't know if there is some special Spotify business account now?)
As a person who's not into the table top games, but loves the lore.
I watch/listen to a few channels:
WesHammer - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSDj6ttwzj2sr464jDdg_pA
He does a short introduction (on camera), then the rest is audio with relevant artwork and some video from the games.
Aside from the usual deep-dives into the various factions and popular characters, I enjoy his Grim Dark Story Hour vids. These focus on creepy (horror) short stories from random Warhammer books, where Wes does some voice acting as well.
The Sleepy Hollow - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC86zNGwCUt5gBnizRSWSLuA
Warhammer lore (and game lore). It's meant to be for helping people get to sleep. But I listen to it during the day. If you do use it for sleep, watch out for the super loud Youtube ads that play in the middle, if you don't have Premium or use Peertube.
There are a lot of other Youtubers that do good content as well, like Arbitor Ian etc.
The top two are my recommendations.
I thought my external drive had failed after about 1.5k hours of use. It would stop working sporadically, until it basically wasn'tbeing detected. Tried different cables and various other things. Turned out it was the daughter board that was failing. Swapped that with an old donor external DVD drive, and it's happily working again.
Obligatory link - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_finger
Don't let a Seal bite you.
"Seal finger was first described scientifically in 1907. It can cause cellulitis, joint inflammation, and swelling of the bone marrow; untreated, the course of "seal finger" is slow and often results in a thickened, contracted joint. Historically, seal finger was treated by amputation of the affected digits once they became unusable...."
1 - 100% chance of a metallic taste, that lingers after use. 3 as well probably.
4 is the only practical option, just need to use it with your left hand.
In case a few haven't seen it, the link to the great video -
"I'm scared of rollercoasters. Can I get over my fear?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BdZPFzH2JY
I did return to my old flac and mp3 collection. Got Foobar working again, found a nice skin and I'm rediscovering music that I that skipped over. I buy second-hand CDs when I find them. I've managed to get a digital copy of all my favourite albums and tracks.
I will keep Spotify though. A long time ago, I got friends to share their Discovery and Release Radar playlists. With my own, I have a nice spread of recommendations.
I need regular new music. Call it a search for unexpected dopamine. Spotify still picks new tracks that I really like. I also like Spotify Connect and the easily shared collaborative playlists.
The UK has less alternatives for music discovery. I don't like Radio, way too much talking and ads.
I've got rid of Netflix, Prime. I'm getting Disney+ for free at the moment. Back to physical for film and TV.
For now, Spotify recommendations is worth the cost of entry.
I think it will be a custom build next time. I'll still use the old one just for backing up photos from my phone.
Do want something that's quiet and sips power when idle, but can easily transcode any content when needed.
True. When I first started experimenting with the NAS to stream home media, Video Station worked fine. And I could also access content outside of the home network without messing about. Obviously Jellyfin, Emby, Plex are better.
I made the mistake of buying one where the ram couldn't be upgraded. 2GB is a joke. Had to send it back.
Starting to think that companies are all competing on a secretive Achievements Global Leaderboard.
Synology finally unlocked: "Hubris - only 99% of other large corporations have achieved this".
I have an old Synology NAS; which i was considering upgrading.
But...
Yes the software is easy and reliable to use, but the fact that I only need to interact with it a few times a year, means it's no longer a selling point for me.
True. All I can think of is that before it gets to Halloween shops have sold off most of their stock and are in the process of getting all the Xmas stuff out. I've been places where they have a Halloween and Xmas mix of songs.
I'm not ruling out that a few hundred thousand completely random people around the world all decide to listen to Xmas music around the same time. I just think it's more likely businesses switching to seasonal music as early as possible, and streaming Mariah Carey 20 times a day, causing the big sudden spike.