Happy Birthday Film Score Click Track!

I’d like to welcome you to the one-year birthday celebration for Film Score Click Track. The blog officially launched on April 14, 2009 (though there are a few earlier posts). Since then, I’ve written 328 posts celebrating the film music of today and yesterday.

This blog has introduced me to some wonderful scores and composers, and hopefully that joy has translated through the words. But, most importantly, this blog has introduced me to some marvelous people from all over the world–you, my readers.

First things first…

You’ll notice that the blog has a new design. It’s an upgraded version of my old theme. Some new features of the site:

• The featured posts that flash at the top of the homepage are all one category. This is the way the theme was designed. I don’t know if I’ll keep it that way or not. I’ll wait and hear feedback from you guys. Since the CD reviews seem to be the most popular posts, they have been given the inaugural position.
• Discoveries have been filed under Reviews, as have subcategories for Books, CDs, and DVDs.
• There will occasionally be advertising on the site. This will be on a trial basis for the moment. I don’t want the site to be crammed with Google ads and banners that junk up the site (and usually don’t bring in ANY money). So if you find the advertising intrusive, let me know.
• You can now easily follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter by clicking on the icons in the header and footer of any page, as well as the sidebar.
• The light bluish-grey background will hopefully be easier on the eyes than the glaring white of the old site.
• After my YouTube debacle back in February (or was it January, who can remember?), all of the videos have been replaced on their respective pages, except one. I couldn’t find the video discussion of Bernard Herrmann’s ON DANGEROUS GROUND, starring yours truly. Oh well. If you come across any other videos that are missing or not working, please let me know.

Now some statistics. Over the past year, 19,053 visitors from 132 countries have visited 28,126 times and read 53,598 pages! I’m certainly not comparing myself to other film music blogs, or other blogs in general, but I’m pretty proud of those numbers. Thank you!

If you’d like to check out the most commented posts, click on the Popular tab in the sidebar to the right (assuming the plugin is working properly). The Top Ten most viewed posts held some definite surprises.

1. CD Review: Fame (I was shocked!)
2. CD Review: Star Trek
3. Mark Isham Is FAME-ous
4. 9 Favorite John Williams Scores
5. Top 100 Film Scores at 100
6. Ballet, Opera or Mutant Kabuki Show? (This was especially pleasing since a lot of time and research went into writing this article about Prokofiev’s score IVAN THE TERRIBLE for Film Score Monthly.)
7. 9 Favorite Jerry Goldsmith Scores
8. Top 10 Film Scores of 2009
9. 9 Favorite Scores of Bernard Herrmann
10. Reader’s Poll: Top 10 Film Scores of 2009

All of this information tells me two things in particular:

• This blog has reached film score fans around the globe, in every hemisphere, on every continent. It’s even been visited from readers in China!
• My visitors like a healthy balance of current and older scores. I couldn’t be more pleased.

Thank you for visiting, reading, commenting, participating, and supporting this very personal project of mine. Art brings people together, and I’m proud to continue this journey with each and every one of you.

To celebrate Film Score Click Track’s first-year milestone, come back on Friday for a very special offer.