2024 Summary of the Reviews:
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Review production at Filmtracks in 2024 recaptured the pace of 2021 and 2022 thanks to my flexible and remote day job schedule, along with an eyesight scare early in the year that prompted me to redouble my efforts to write a series of reviews that had long been on the to-do list. Thankfully, the retina in my one useful eye stabilized throughout the following months, and the overall number of reviews written during the year was the most for the site since 2010.
All-new theatrical and streaming film score coverage remained steady in 2024, the site's goal of 40 to 50 such reviews met. Also hitting the target was the number of re-writes of older reviews to account for new score albums. In both cases, the site actually exceeded its goals for the year by a modest amount. Rebounding were the new reviews of older scores, wrapping up the prior series of coverage for popular scores and films not yet featured and moving on to tackle the long-overdue project of filling out the filmographies of top composers. The series for John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, and Danny Elfman are done so far but not all debuted.
Filmtracks has enjoyed several years of steady coverage, with no significant break in new reviews since early 2020, and I've also kept up with the re-releases to add onto older coverage as well. That equation will shift in 2025, as the mayor of Seattle has mandated a return to office this month for those of us that work for the City. Although my Digital Engagement team in Seattle IT has proven itself for five years as a group that thrives on remote work, exceeding expectations consistently and winning awards, the mayor is now forcing us to resume our long commutes. In my case, that means three hours of commuting during in-office days.
Because I'm now losing those hours to navigate my way to downtown Seattle, there has already been less time to write for Filmtracks in 2025. The commute, which involves ferries and busses, is exhausting, and the amount of threatening and dangerous activity along my walked route in downtown Seattle is much worse now than it was pre-pandemic. Not only does Filmtracks suffer because of this mandate by the mayor of Seattle, but I fear for my safety. The commute's length and stress thus leave me too tired to write for Filmtracks on most evenings. As such, readers of this site should expect fewer new reviews of older titles to be written this year.
The all-new reviews of older scores remain purely discretionary, and the site's goals for 2025 have been reduced to account for my more limited time available. In recent years, Filmtracks has averaged 45 new reviews of current scores and 35 re-writes of older reviews per year for a total of 80 "touches" of reviews. Those goals will be reflected in 2025. (Fourteen re-writes are already scheduled.) Although 77 all-new reviews of older scores were written in 2024, the goal for that group this year is reduced to 30, making for a sum of 75 new reviews overall as the target. Total "touches" of the reviews would then equal 110, down from 163 in 2024.
By the numbers:
2024 Goals:
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New Reviews of New Albums: 40
New Reviews of Old Albums: 15
Re-Writes: 35
2024 Final Stats:
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New Reviews of New Albums: 48
New Reviews of Old Albums: 77
Re-Writes: 38
2025 Goals:
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New Reviews of New Albums: 45
New Reviews of Old Albums: 30
Re-Writes: 35
2024 Summary of the Overall Site:
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Once again, almost all of the non-review maintenance of Filmtracks in 2024 involved server-related work with no visible component for readers. A few changes were made to the logic of the composer tributes, mainly to accept rejected film scores in the main filmographies. Updates to the configuration of the security certificates and firewall cleaned up nagging issues with social media links to the site and robot behavior. The ratings booths are undergoing a change in logic on the back end to help better manage bogus voting, though that hasn't been a significant problem for years; those changes are mostly to ease my maintenance schedules.
The steady review coverage since 2020 has yielded a long-term increase in traffic, aside from some hiccups with Google's indexer in 2023 due to the site's adaptive layout scheme. Some of the new reviews of older, popular scores have begun to show long-term benefits to traffic as well, particularly in the added Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer reviews. This work is beginning to pull in visits from the mainstream that far exceed those by the site's regular readership, which was the original intention in reviewing those titles.
The site's financial situation was stable in 2024, with a significant increase in reader donations covering costs that remained the same during the year. A handful of readers stepped up to support the site like never before, and that help is greatly appreciated. Since a few record labels, led by La-La Land Records, decline to supply their products for coverage, those costs have remained persistent. But Filmtracks required minimal subsidization to break even this year, and it's my hope that the advertisements on the site can be eliminated at some point in the future if this assistance persists.
Participation on the Scoreboard is steady, though there is an increasing number of visitors to the forum that read but do not post. These regulars should expect no major changes at Filmtracks in 2025, though a re-working of the composer tributes, including the addition of entries for John Powell, Michael Giacchino, Brian Tyler, and others, is scheduled once the templates are revised. On the side, my family continues its forestation work while also battling local violators who have little regard for their environmental impacts. Regardless of what happens at Filmtracks, it's the work fighting climate change that will count the most in the long run.
Best wishes to all in 2025, and enjoy the new coverage that awaits!
Christian
