My Music Results for 2024

Posted on January 18, 2025 by Just Chuck

In 2024 I released four songs to the public. I am, for better or worse, a music artist with an EP released. I am a BMI songwriter.  My songs are registered through BMI.  I distribute my music through Distrokid.

This post, and video following, are my 2024 results from releasing music. With Distrokid as my distributor, I am placed in Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, iTunes Store, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio and a whole bunch more.

Distrokid then collects the data and pays me. As you will see, unless you are streaming in the millions, you don’t get much. So here is my data. If you want to see me talk more about the data, watch the YouTube video from my YouTube Music Channel. 

Streams – Total 2,702

Happy Song – 1048

  • Apple Music – 51
  • Facebook – 42
  • Spotify 930
  • YouTube (Ads/Red) – 20

I Want You To Know – 34

  • Apple Music – 8
  • Pandora – 1
  • TikTok – 1
  • YouTube (Ads/Red) – 24

My Retirement Song – 234

  • Amazon Unlimited – 58
  • Amazon Prime – 10
  • Apple Music – 79
  • Spotify – 22
  • YouTube (Ads/Red) – 62

Love Like That – 1386

  • Apple Music – 21
  • Facebook – 44
  • Spotify – 1295
  • YouTube (Ads/Red) – 22

MONEY Made $6.38

Money made by Song

  • My Retirement Song – $2.94
  • Love Like That – $1.64
  • Happy Song – $1.62
  • I Want You to Know – $0.18

Money Made By Service

  • Apple Music – $0.74
  • iTunes Songs – $1.40
  • Spotify – $1.98
  • YouTube (ads) – $0.77
  • YouTube (Red) – $0.15
  • Amazon (downloads) – $0.71
  • Amazon Prime (streaming) – $0.03
  • Amazon Unlimited (streaming) – $0.57
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Vinyl Community Thread – #Winter

Posted on January 13, 2025 by Just Chuck

So, on YouTube there are a number of vinyl and CD “Tags” or “Threads”. These Tags/Threads are lists or questions put forth to the vinyl/CD community that you answer with items from your vinyl or CD collection.

I participate in a number of these. They’re fun, and you learn a lot about people’s passions and collections. It’s a brief look into their collections and many times their music listening room. So I have decided to participate in this recent thread that revolves around WINTER. Show an album or CD that has the word WINTER in it or has to do with WINTER. I picked out 10 albums/CDs from my collection to respond to the thread. Below is my YouTube response.

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1 Year of Retirement – How Was It?

Posted on January 10, 2025 by Just Chuck

After 38 years, 10 months and 20 days, I retired on December 31, 2023 at 62 years of age.  I have now completed full year of retirement and wanted to share how things played out and how I’m filling my time in retirement. I made a YouTube posting for this topic. Enjoy.

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2024 New Year’s Resolutions Report Card

Posted on January 4, 2025 by Just Chuck

Its time to review my 2024 New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve been doing this for a number of years now. I always set some goals for myself that have to do with my personal creative side. These goals are self improvements or creative advancements. I set 5 goals that I hope to achieve. Normally, I’d put out a quarterly review, but I’ve been negligent in that task. So here is my end of the year review and grading.

Resolution #1 CREATE – Write, record and distribute my own song(s) or write my Memoir


SUCCESS! In 2024 I wrote, recorded and released four songs to various streaming platforms and iTunes via Distrokid. I’m happy to say that people, besides my family, have heard my music. People on the other side of the world. I know, I’ve seen the data that is collected by Distrokid. People from Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, France and Italy. It’s just amazing that people elsewhere have listened to my music. I have 2699 streams based on data reported by Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes Music and YouTube Music. That equates to a whopping $6.29. But, hey, I made music, people listened, and I made some pocket change. I have pages on all these Music services and also sell my music on Bandcamp. I have a Facebook page and a YouTube Artist Channel. I should’ve done more songs in 2024. I’m looking forward to doing more in 2025. GRADE A

Resolution #2 Continue to lose weight, another 25 lbs

FAIL. I’m stuck. After getting down to 215 near the end of 2023, I’ve not been able to go lower and have gained 15lbs back, I hover around 230lbs, not a good weight for me. My BMI is still considered obese. So will this be a 2025 goal? It has to be. I need to lose more weight so I can recover from and benefit from possible hip surgery. GRADE F

Resolution #3 One YouTube video per week

PARTIAL FAIL. I started off great. Really into the whole YouTube channel thing, then it started feeling like a job. Every week I was trying to come up with new things to say on camera, and to be honest, retirement life is not that exciting. At least my retirement life. I have hobbies that I’ve blogged about and video taped, but there is only so much you can talk about before you start repeating yourself. It’s the same logic I’ve applied to Twitter. Why would I tweet every day what I’m doing? Who really cares. I recorded and uploaded 34 videos during 2024. Those 34 videos garnered 6,847 views. Two videos had over 1000 views. I ended the year with 116 subscribers. I plan to blog and YouTube post at least once per month. The blog and Youtube postings will probably go hand in hand. Create a YouTube video and post it on the blog as well. That is what I have fallen back to. GRADE D

Resolution #4 Start a side hustle – photography, music, recording, eBay store

PARTIAL SUCCESS. I had high hopes of a photography business doing portraits, senior, baby etc. but that has fallen by the wayside. I have not offered up my recording abilities to any artist or band so no traction on that. I did not open an eBay store but I did create and post Retirement Ain’t Easy merchandise and have tried selling on the YouTube and Blog, so there is that attempt. In the end I released music to Spotify, YouTube music, Apple Music, etc. and people have listened to my music and I have made money $6.29 for the four songs I released. Most of that coming from Spotify streams and iTunes Songs. I’m just happy other people, beside my family, have been listening to my music and liking it. GRADE C

Resolution #5 Blog once per week

PARTIAL FAIL. See Resolution #3 comment. GRADE D

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Album of the Month – Commodores Live! by The Commodores

Posted on January 1, 2025 by Just Chuck

If you had asked me before the summer of 1979 if I was a Commodore fan I would’ve adamantly declared “Hell No! I only listen to rock”. I have since expanded my horizons and enjoy all types of music, rap, country, funk, etc., In the summer of 1979 I was a staunch rock and roller.

So it was somewhat out of character that I took a liking to The Commodores during the summer I spent working at a church resort ranch called Mo Ranch is South Texas. I was working at the ranch as part of a summer youth staff that were appointed from various churches around Texas. I was best friends with Bill who happened to be a member of a protestant church youth group. Somehow I was part of that youth group as well and we were volunteered/nominated for summer jobs by the church preacher, having no idea what we had volunteered for.

We arrived at the ranch in early June 1978 and quickly met the rest of the youth staff and were assigned our jobs. I somehow pulled housekeeper duty (a story for another time). Bill and I had no idea we could bring music but one of the other youth staff, Rick, brought his stereo complete with a turntable and records. He had quite a mix of music. Here is where I first heard the Commodores Live! album and I took a liking to it, so much so that I went out and bought it when I returned home from that summer job.

Commodores Live! Was released in October 1977 and featured some of the group’s hits at the time, Just to be Close to You, Easy and of course Brick House. All great songs that I enjoy listening to anytime. Many times that summer Mo Ranch staff would put on this album and dance around wherever we had set up to party. Yes, we partied at the church resort. We bonded. It was a summer of learning and maturity. I had never been away from home so this was an experience that prepared me for going off to college the Fall of 1979.

Many memories of that summer surface every time I put this album on. For that reason I decided to make it the first Album of the Month for 2025. January 2025 Album of the Month – Commodores Live! By The Commodores.

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2025 CD Tag

Posted on December 27, 2024 by Just Chuck

As a 5th grader (1971) I started buying 45s, you know, the singles, which I still have.

As a teen I started buying vinyl (record clubs anyone?) and cassettes. Cassettes I mainly listened to in my car. I had installed a cassette player under the dash of my Chevy Monza and ran wires to two 9 inch Jensen speakers (bought from Sears) mounted in speaker boxes. I was able to take the speaker boxes out of my hatchback and place on the roof of my Monza for those lake parties us kids participated in.

As an adult I continued to buy vinyl, but when Compact Discs came out, I stopped buying vinyl and switched exclusively to CDs, and sold about half my vinyl collection in garage sales.

Around 2018, I started buying vinyl again but also getting the occasional CD. The last couple of years (2022-2023) it was strictly vinyl. This year, 2024, it has been a mix because vinyl prices have gotten ridiculously high. So I’ve bought a number CDs lately. Some stats – 2021-2024 Vinyl = 103, CDs = 47

So this video is my answer to a YouTube CD tag – a list of questions regarding your CD collection. So, I’m part of a vinyl YouTube community and a CD YouTube community. In most cases that is the same people in both.

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2025 Vinyl Soundtrack Tag for 2025

Posted on December 22, 2024 by Just Chuck

Another Vinyl Tag that lists 13 questions you answer using your vinyl record collection. Here is my response.

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2025 Vinyl Tag

Posted on December 20, 2024 by Just Chuck

It’s time for the 2025 Vinyl Tag, a little early. This video answers 20 questions put forth to the Vinyl Community with regards to their vinyl collection. Enjoy.

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10 Records or Songs That Changed My Life

Posted on December 13, 2024 by Just Chuck

Pretty bold statement that 10 records (12 inch or 7 inch) or songs could change a persons life. So I wouldn’t say changed…. maybe influenced is a better term. These are in somewhat of a chronological order:

1 Gimme Dat Ding – The Pipkins – 1970. This is the first 45 I remember owning. My aunt Inis helped me decipher the lyrics. I was always into deciphering the lyrics so I could sing along to songs.

2 I think I love you – The Partridge Family – 1970. I loved the show and this song. This song brings back memories of my first crush on a girl namesd Melody in St. Louis. We were kinda boyfriend and girlfriend. This song also wanted me to be in a band like The Partridge Family. Still one of my favorite songs today.

3 American Pie – Don McClean – 1971. Another favorite song as a kid. I was 10 our 11 years old. One night my parents let me accompany our next door neighbor, who was a radio D.J., to his radio station and sit with him during his radio show. This was the night shift. I remember him dedicating American Pie to me and playing it while I sat next to him watching how he did his job, I think I fell asleep right after that.

4 Dressed to Kill – KISS – 1975. My first KISS album started a lifetime of fandom. I’ve discussed this album ad nauseam. Big influence on my music taste and life. I definitely wanted to be in a band after discovering KISS.

5 Alive! – KISS – 1975. The live album that started KISS on their road to superstardom. It was also the album that made me want to be a guitar player. I wanted to be Ace Frehley. I had taken acoustic guitar lessons during the summer of 1973, learning the basics and playing folk music. I then begged and got an electric guitar from the Army Air Force Exchange Service catalog for Christmas 1973. I lost interest in the guitar shortly after that until Alive! came out. But still guitar was not a focus until I met my best buddy Dennis in 1977. After that, guitar and music and playing in a band became a focus.

6 Physical Graffiti – Led Zeppelin – 1975, was my first Led Zeppelin album. This was my foray into more diverse and eclectic music. Before this album, I was all about crunch guitars, driving vocals and simple lyrics in the vein of KISS and Black Sabbath. Led Zeppelin opened my eyes to acoustic music and interesting songs with fantasy lyrics.

7 Ted Nugent – Ted Nugent – 1975. This album, bought in 1976, and the song Stranglehold would later be synonymous with my best friend Dennis who was the catalyst to all my music endeavors from 10th grade on. He reignited my love for playing guitar. He taught me pretty much every song I know on guitar. We formed our first band together in 1979. We played in multiple bands over the years. Sadly, he passed away in 2019. I miss him.

8 Wind and Wuthering – Genesis – 1976. Already discussed this album as an Album of the Month. My first concert I ever attended was Genesis’ Wind and Wuthering tour, with my high school best friend Bill. That concert was also the first time I partook of the devil’s lettuce. Sadly Bill has passed away many years ago.

9 Jesus Christ Superstar – 1975. the rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice that has Ian Gillan from Deep Purple singing the part of Jesus. Before this album I would not have considered Broadway music something I would listen to but this album changed that view and expanded my horizons. It is still a favorite that I can listen to at any time.

10 Follow You Follow Me – Genesis – 1978. This song is off the album …And then there Were Three…. The wife and I adopted this song as our love song. We started dating in 1980 and married in 1985. I always loved this song and when my wife heard it, she loved it too. So it became our song.

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Album of the Month – Alive! by KISS

Posted on December 1, 2024 by Just Chuck

I remember buying KISS Alive! while living in Puerto Rico. It was my second KISS album purchased, Dressed to Kill being the first. After listening to Dressed to Kill, I was hooked. I was a KISS fan, and I sought out more albums. Living in Puerto Rico though was a limitation when it came to new music coming out. Puerto Rico was usually years behind getting any new product from mainland U.S. Looking back, I’m still amazed I found Dressed to Kill in a department store right after reading a CREEM magazine article about KISS. I guess getting Dressed to Kill was fate.

Getting KISS Alive! was definitely a highlight of my day. I found it in the album bins at the same department store I had found Dressed to Kill. I immediately bought it. What an album. It was exactly what I wanted to hear. The songs about girls, the raw energy, the crowd, the explosions. The album also introduced me to more KISS songs I had not heard. The album inserts – wow, all the posters. A poster of each member of KISS and a fold out of the complete stage. I was stunned. I wanted to see these guys. I wanted to be these guys. I wanted to buy the other two albums, KISS and Hotter Than Hell, that I was missing.

KISS Alive! was released on September 10, 1975 and I’m pretty sure I bought it, or got it for my birthday in October. It was a double LP with a gate-fold cover that included poster inserts. If you are a KISS fan then you’ve heard the stories about how it wasn’t completely live. KISS used the recordings from a few tour stops, most notably Cobo Arena in Detroit, and overdubbed vocals, guitars and bass to fix any mess ups. The crowd noises were also enhanced to give it that excitement. Many critics point out that it is not a true live album. Doesn’t matter to this KISS fan. It is a great album regardless.

KISS Alive! was such an eye opener. Before YouTube, before the internet, you could only see bands live and there was no way I would ever see KISS living in Puerto Rico, so Alive! was the closest thing I was going to get to see KISS at the moment. I wouldn’t’ actually get to see them until the 1996 reunion tour. The album still brings back memories of listening with my friends and discussing the drum solo and all the great songs. I would pose with my guitar like Ace Frehley or Paul Stanley while listening to the album. For those memories, it is the Album of the Month.

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