Classical Intros on 8tracks

I suddenly developed a desire to produce single-composer samplers of about 90-100 minutes' duration and inflict them on the world in the form of 8tracks mixes. So far there's a couple each for Beethoven and Mozart, and also some for Bach, Schubert, Brahms, Debussy, Mahler and Sibelius. You can find them on my profile page. Those are the composers that informally top the list of favourite composers from my TalkClassical polls, of which I have said nothing on this blog. I really should do a set of posts on those polls, shouldn't I, but in the meantime some findings are here.

So far, after a few weeks, the 8tracks nixes haven't quite set the world on fire - not quite the right audience, really - but I'm intrigued to find that Mahler's had the most plays and likes (25 and 5, respectively). Are people specifically looking for Mahler, or was it the "symphony" tag that did it? I've added that tag to the unsuccessful Sibelius mix (1 play, 1 like!) to see if that makes a difference. More mixes to come, hopefully.

In a post about 20 months ago, I examined the success or otherwise of the mixes accompanying my (alas, currently dead-in-the-water) History of Classical Music through Recordings. It seems like a good idea to see where things stand now:

The October 2014 listens/likes in parentheses are followed by the July 2016 figures.

Part 1. Gregorian chant - (2,971 / 211) - 4,002 /250
Part 2. From chant to polyphony - (1,227 / 126) - 1,812 / 167
Part 3. Troubadours and trouvères - (464 / 56) - 771 / 76
Part 4. Troubadour influences - (243 / 27) - 328 / 38
Part 5. The 13th-century motet - (432 / 38) - 915 / 55
Part 6. Ars nova - (1,478 / 74) - 1,953 / 95
Part 7. Trecento Italy - (1,745 / 108) - 2,392 / 147
Part 8. Medieval England - (447 / 44) - 576 / 49

Part 9. The Burgundian school - (205 / 10) - 271 / 21

Part 10. Into the Renaissance (not done) - 1,015 / 38

The final mix has done well; again, maybe a tagging issue? Fascinating how parts 4 and 9 in particular have fared so poorly relative to the others.