It’s not often the news is all about us here at auspOp, but we’re making an exception for ourselves today.
May 28 this year will mark the site’s 14th anniversary. 14 years since I created a site (on Kylie’s birthday, no less), the sole focus of which was to promote, celebrate and enhance the wonderful world of pop music here in Australia.
From humble beginnings, it grew – and continued to evolve into the site you see today; a vehicle for Australian pop artists to get the publicity and column inches that seldom come their way in the mainstream media.
There have been many memorable moments along the way, innumerable interviews, live reviews, giveaways, thousands upon thousands of hours committed (and thousands upon thousands of dollars to boot) to ensuring the latest pop music news was delivered right here to you.
Almost 18,500 stories published over the course of 14 years, more than 18,300 of which were penned by yours truly.
In the worlds before auspOp, I was volunteer Music Director for a community radio station, notching up 11 years in that role, making this year the 25th anniversary of dedicating my time to the enhancement, promotion and celebration of the Australian Music industry. Quite the milestone.
But it’s on that milestone that I’ve decided it’s time to call time. My paid work away from the site is pulling ever greater focus of late and I’ve found myself having less and less time to contribute to bringing you the news and articles you deserve.
I’ve consulted with current site contributors Brad and David and we’ve come to a collective agreement that it’s time to bring the site to a close, on its 14th anniversary – May 28, 2022.
auspOp, with its 18,500 articles, will continue to be here online for a number of years to come, but it will no longer be updated with new stories and articles from May 28.
The social media accounts will continue to operate whenever there’s exciting pop news to share.
I’ll still be popping up a Fresh Friday Foursome on Instagram each week and there’ll still be posts to take a look at there.
I’ll also still be updating and refreshing the Spotify playlists HERE.
So by all means, go and give us a bloody good follow at FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER.
We’ve also got a (now private) Facebook group so that you can continue to liaise with us directly, share your pop highlights and continue to keep the pop conversation going. It’s right HERE.
My personal big thanks to four fine gents who’ve been incredibly supportive over the 14 years; Brad, Brad (yes, there were TWO!) and David with their contributions ON-site and the awesome Luke, who beavered away behind the scenes to ensure the site was always looking its sharpest. All of us have done it purely for the love.
I can’t begin to thank YOU for your support and your loyalty to the site over the past 14 years.
It’s been a crazy ride. A busy ride. But on the whole, an enjoyable ride.
So we have one more month left together.
But as Nelly Furtado sang in her 2006 single, “All Good Things (Come To An End)”.
Big love. 🫶 Damian @ auspOp
Australia's first stop for pop!