ScottipediA

Online album release history

1. He released his debut album Moon Dreams in 2004 at the age of 37, to non-existent notice.  

2. In 2006, he released the sophomore effort record Lakeside Landing, which was again largely ignored.  

3. Then, in 2008, he put out a third collection of songs known as Drive Time Companion, once again to little fanfare.  

4. By the time 2010 came around, he yet again released another album, Sense Of Belonging, that hardly anybody ended up becoming aware of at all.  

5. In mid-2012 Scott made available for sale his fifth full-length LP, Cherchez La Femme, which like its predecessors, was almost entirely disregarded by music buyers.

6. Around about late June 2014, Cooley once again came out with another long-player entitled Used To Be Good Looking, which was heard by a trifling, insignificant number of consumers or members of the music press.

7. In 2016, shortly after failing to achieve any commercial success whatsoever with his last album, Cooley once more decided to write, record and release another new album of new material called Rest Assured that has yet to yield anything even remotely resembling a change of luck in terms of acquiring verifiable listeners.

8. Shockingly refusing to quit, in 2018 Scott dropped another new record, Missing The Boat, that was not only nearly completely overlooked by the record-buying public at the time of its release (and since), but was also a recording that begged the question of whether he was in need of serious assistance from a mental health professional.

Roadmap

Rather than patiently waiting for a lightning strike, Scott's future plans include charging ahead on a road paved with crushed dreams.  Although the failure to connect with an audience of any kind to speak of has yet to deter his perseverance, rumor has it he's considering incorporating increased prayer to a higher power into his pre-release strategy next time and plans to release one more album in 2020 after which if the situation does not improve he will take an extended break.

Notwithstanding his apparent lack of being in touch with reality, Scott has never stopped hoping someone might find out about his music by visiting his website, or by discovering it in one of the online stores, and then purchase it.  With an attitude that simply not giving up will somehow eventually reverse the trend of unsuccessful album releases, Scott continues to look for ways to make contact with the outside world to create awareness of his music with the hope that it might someday translate into increased traffic to his website and increased music sales figures.  The sporadic, free marketing/advertising opportunities he has occasionally found and taken advantage of on the world wide web have not proven to be advantageous in any way, and as a result, Scott has yet to develop much of a following or fan base for his music. 

Through reaching out to acquaintances via social networking, he has managed to achieve some actual awareness of his recordings in recent months, letting them know that they are available both as Compact Discs (CDs) and MP3 downloads, but such efforts have failed to improve the overall fortunes of his work as an independent recording artist.  Similarly, his mailing list is an incredibly small one, experiencing growth at a rate so discouragingly slow that it has proven to be of nominal importance as a tool to increase interest in his music.  As a songwriter and home recording hobbyist who does not perform in public at all yet alone tour, he still continues to offer the mailing list, the "news" page, and his blog for those who want to occasionally learn of his songwriting and recording activities as well as his album releases and locations where they may be purchased in web music stores. 

Despite these efforts, and despite the wide availability and reasonable prices, to date Cooley's entire catalog of released material has been met with almost total commercial indifference.  To his credit, Scott has shrewdly kept his costs extremely low so that his investment in his instruments, home recording equipment and digital distribution has been modest and affordable.

Reception and Audience

"I have no idea why I like Scott Cooley, but I do"

From the very small amount of information received from listeners, a theory has emerged:  It's people with a certain personality type more than anything else who become Scott Cooley fans.  It's mostly the music we're talking about here, not necessarily the person.  The artist.  You may know Scott personally, but take that out of the equation for a moment.

People who are open to trying new things start getting into Scott Cooley's music slowly.  It might start with a recommendation from a person they trust.  Some first impressions are an overall amateur quality, a lot of acoustic guitar, and not the best singing voice.  Getting past those with a little patience, they find themselves appreciating that it's not fake-sounding or overly electronic, and the voice becomes uniquely interesting.  Continuing on with exploring the variety available, some people start to notice they feel better than when they started, but they're not sure why.

Those same people, quite often, are not the types of music fans you would expect to get into this kind of music.  If you looked through their favorite music, you'd be surprised, but they like Scott Cooley anyway.  Just as with any music really, they can only handle so much at a time, and that's why an album's worth in under one hour is just about right.  Favorites emerge that they keep going back to, but some of those mental lists can change over time as more discovery occurs.  The mental lists might even become playlists.  Not expecting to like any of it, they find that they do, but are not able to explain it.  It's almost like becoming a fan was an unconscious, accidental thing they couldn't help.

It has been reported that listening to Scott Cooley makes people feel euphoric.  Fans say that his music makes them feel a pleasurable and intense tingling sensation in the neck, on the scalp, and often traveling through the rest of the body.  The sensation is often followed by feelings of relaxation and tranquility, leaving listeners feeling calm and blissful.  

Seriously, there's some science behind this kind of experience.  The exact psychological and neurological causes are understudied and not yet fully understood.  However, it is believed that the brain regions associated with self-reflection and mind-wandering become active when the mind is at rest, and these include those associated with self-awareness, reward, and emotional arousal. 

Further, it is believed that sound waves from the music help to increase brain alpha wave activity, which is associated with meditative states and relaxation, but also arousal, heightened alertness and emotional responsiveness.  Some individuals are more sensitive to it than others, and those with the personality trait of "openness" are the most strongly affected.  Those who are open to new experiences are most likely to experience mood enhancement, and a feeling of being "in the zone" or a highly absorbed mental state of deep engagement.  Maybe it's the melodies, the instrumentation, the lyrical messages, or his unique voice.  Overall, it's an allure that is appealing and therapeutic, but remains a mystery.

Recommendations occur, and people are not sure if they have room for a new musical artist in their lives.  It's consideration of a potential new relationship in a way.  It can be like saying 'We should definitely make plans and get together some time.' which is the end-of-conversation equivalent to 'How are you?' that likely won't happen.  Expecting some variation of 'good' as a reply, it's rare to get anything more in polite conversation.  Recommenders may even follow up with a re-recommend, a friendly reminder suggesting they really think you'll like this artist, and that Scott Cooley is your kind of music.  Responses happen.

"When I have time, definitely."

“Okay, I’ll see if I can get into it”

"Yeah, I'll try that"

"I'll have to check it out sometime"

"Still haven't gotten around to it yet, but I will eventually"

"Alright, maybe I'll give it a try"

Et cetera.  It's not for everyone.  It's not commercial.  It's not radio-friendly.  It's far from the mainstream.  Drastically different than what's popular.  Not movie-quality.  Different songs mean different things to different people.  It's not so much that you put yourself in Scott's shoes, it's more that you get carried away, lost in your own thoughts somehow.  There are no subliminal messages at unconscious frequencies.  There's just something about the combination of things contributing to the whole that becomes a recipe for improving your mood.  

Or, as the French say:

je ne sais quoi | ZHə nə sā ˈkwä | noun a quality that cannot be described or named easily: that je ne sais quoi that makes a professional. ORIGIN French, literally ‘I do not know what’.