And Finally Artist News Digital Labels & Publishers

First ever World Motern Day celebrated across the globe

By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 3 June 2015

Matt Farley has written, recorded and released over 17,000 songs on Spotify and iTunes through his Motern Media label under various names since 2008. And yet, despite being named one of CMU’s artists of the year last year, he remains on the fringes of the music industry, just about scraping minimum wage from his work.

This is why Farley has declared 3 Jun World Motern Day, which he says is “a foolproof plan to make $1 million”. All he needs is a few hundred thousand people to listen to his entire eight hour Official Motern Media Playlist on Spotify to achieve this goal.

“On the most practical level, the aim is to earn me some money”, Farley tells CMU. “I’ve managed to record 17,000 song while still working my ‘day job’ 40 hours a week. It’s exhausting! I’d love to be able to just make music full time”.

“But it’s also an attempt to get people to sit down and experience the best of my music”, he adds. “I’m incredibly pleased with all 300 songs on the playlist. I think anyone who listens will be pleasantly surprised by my output. Turning it into an event is a way to get people to give the music a chance”.

Of course, you may be wondering why you should join in with World Motern Day. Farley’s answer is simple: “Because listening to all 300 songs is like a badge of honour. You can brag to your friend, ‘I listened to all 300 hundred songs on World Motern Day!’ The music is seriously great! The songs are funny, strange, interesting, surprising. Plus, it’s a chance to celebrate a truly independent artist. All of these songs are literally homemade”.

As for how to approach the playlist, that’s also easy: “I recommend that people listen to it in order. I’ve put some thought into the sequence. It starts with ‘My Goldfish Dead’, a groovy tune about a dead goldfish by my original band, Moes Haven. It’s a great introduction to my style and subject matter. Then the playlist flows smoothly into subsequent songs. But, also, they’re all great. So playing them on shuffle can be fun too!”

Farley does of course recognise that there is the possibility that he won’t achieve the ultimate goal of making $1 million from Spotify in one day. There is a lower target for the day too, he explains: “If the first song on the playlist doesn’t get 2500 plays on World Motern Day, I will punish the world by taking a month off from Twitter, Facebook, my podcast, and even the phone calls I get from people who hear me singing my phone number in my songs! After the month off, I’ll double my efforts, creating more great songs that I can add to the playlist”.

“If I reach at least 2500 plays for the first song, then I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing”, he adds. This may seem like a win-win whether you listen or not, but Farley has previously said that if he’s not making a living from his music by 2018, he will retire. And that is a win-win for no one. So readers, please clear your listening schedule for the rest of the day and press play on track one of this 300 track extravaganza.

Also check out this excellent and entirely factually correct song too.