Whenever you comment on music, it’s somebody’s favorite artist, and if the first comment you make is negative, they will be done with you period. You need to build trust before you can criticize.
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I looked back at some other videos in your library and I realized I rather enjoyed the “Why ______ is an amazing bassist” type videos. I’ve actually gone back and watched those many times. Maybe, instead of focusing on these top # vids, start looking at some other famous bassistsises. I know lots of other have done similar things BUT every one of them has a different take and observations on them. Scott, for example, did a Steve Harris video recently as well and it had a whole different angle than yours. Both were endlessly fascinating.
So maybe pick some more basseristas and do some deep dives. Old and new and everything in between: Carol Kaye, “Duck” Dunn, Joe Dart, Bootsy Collins, there is a VERY long list that could give you lots of much more constructive content then these Spotify commentary kinds of videos.
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My thoughts exactly. We need more of those. Might I suggest Justin Chancellor?
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This!
Excellent critique @howard .
After watching the video, I also came away wanting videos about bass in different genres or, like someone else mentioned, a video on how bass could make this better.
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I believe that I typed what I didn’t like on the video’s thread
One thing that I liked was a moment when you added/modified the bass for one of the songs (I don’t remember clearly) some have suggested similar things already, but that’s something that I’d watch, it’s about bass, brings some creativity, might give me some direction, especially if you throw some teaching bits
I normally don’t watch reaction videos 
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I react adversely to reaction videos. I have zero interest in them. 
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I enjoy genuine expert reaction videos…so that would be you as an advanced bass player reacting to the bass in songs you had never heard, then acting as a bass teacher and doing a bit of analysis and then coming up with a cool lesson riff or similar (relating to the technique/style of the bassist you listened to)
the reaction part would be an edited ‘live’ style; you with a bass listening to these songs, listening, reacting, and some further analysis and the lesson riff or whatever could be done at a later point and all edited together
how to pick songs/what kind of music?
preferably famous bassists in popular music you hadn’t heard before…depending on how wide your listening is this could be difficult, but there is probably a few famous bassists through the decades where you only know of the hits and could listen to some deeper cuts that you had never heard before and react
TLDR videos somewhat similar to the thundercat vid (but without the make up a bassline part)
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Would you consider unpacking basslines.
For example the chaotic funkiness of Have a Cigar, or a look at Something or the understated driving in anything ACDC.
Just a thought, some of these may have been done but a Josh perspective would be good.
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Thank you EVERYBODY for your input, I really appreciate every bit of it.
@howard everything you said is ACE, thank you!
Great shout, I love how they talk through songs, great fanboy energy. 
This is what I’ve been leaning towards as I think about this, something more like that saxophone dude you linked, “Bassifying Spotify’s Top 10” with a more playful “let’s add bass and see what happens”, with some bass lesson-y explanation of why I’m doing what I’m doing. Dropping the complaining, genre comparison, and “is bass dead?” angle, and just digging into more listening, analyzing, and bass playing. What do y’all think of that? Clickable @DaveT ?
Another idea - rather than pulling from Spotify’s Top 10, which may be popular but we all know can leave something to be desired, something like “Best of Metal Bass 2023” or “Best Japanese Bassists 2023” where I have an assistant pull a bunch of awesome stuff for me to react to, analyze, and try desperately to play. Would probably involve nagging you all for recommendations too. How’s that sound?
Yes, I want to do more of these! I learn so much from digging into great songs at that detail level.
Would love to, thanks for the nudge!
This is kinda what I was aiming for with this vid, which I had fun with and seemed like folks here felt was more BassBuzz-y: (besides the awful thumbnail lol sorry)
Heard loud and clear! Making a course like B2B is a massive undertaking, and one I’ve been promising I’ll do “someday” for quite a few years now… but I do still want to do it!
Next on BassBuzz: “Josh is Dead???”, addressing the conspiracy that Josh died in 2016 and was replaced by Pete Best masquerading as a bass teacher.
Great point, and I didn’t like that about the ‘is bass dead?’ angle, it created a negative spin on my perception, which is an easy way to say ‘this sux’ reflexively to unfamiliar music. Lesson learned.
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Here’s a recording adding a baseline to a pop song. Something like this maybe when you go through the Top 10 again
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Late to chime in…
FWIW:
- yes, always better to come with a positive angle/spin
- that said, it should be possible to express personal opinions, also critical ones (of course, these are immediately weaker if they come from a place of frustration)
- expressing opinions can lead to (hopefully) interesting discussions and exchange of views
- no reason to sugarcoat everything
- no reason to try and please everyone
TLDR: there should be opportunities to state opinions and do critical assessments to present different (and differing) viewpoints without having to tiptoe around certain topics lest someone’s feelings get hurt.
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This^^^
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Perfect. I’d go for that in a second.
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Including Jazz @joergkutter ?
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Absolutely, @Barney - I know you guys are not holding back 
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How about this idea: Create ONE new lesson, using your B2B lesson plan format (Slow-Medium-Fast workouts, etc.), and post it to Patreon for paying members?
You can post a survey here to find out which lesson topic most folks would like to learn. That way, you are virtually assured of a ready-made set of students willing to pay for it (and your time and effort for developing it).
Inertia is a killer for getting anything done, as any one of us knows when it comes to practicing or doing anything else that’s worthwhile, but takes time/effort.
If you develop one new B2B-esque lesson at a time in lieu of more casual videos, and you get compensated for it via grateful Patreon patrons, it would be a win-win for you and interested Buzzers.
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You post a video of an artist, the YT algorithm puts your video in the feeds of tens of thousands of fans of that artist, who’s first exposure to you is this video. First impressions only come once.
If you have negative comments, you lose a potential customer and don’t get a second chance.
Absolutely you tiptoe around certain topics to avoid hurt feelings. I was my dentists chair yesterday when Faith Hill’s rendition of Joplin’s Piece of My Heart came on. Did I mention how going to double time and switching to major chords in the chorus was exactly the wrong thing to do in such a classic? It’s not a happy bubbly song? No, I kept my opinions to myself because I will be back and I don’t need to come off like a jerk. It’s a small town.
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It’s not that one has to utter one’s thoughts and opinions all the time on all occasions. And, of course, comments come in so many shades and should be tailored to the situation: nerdy comments don’t always fly, mansplaining is not always the wisest move and so on…
Still, you never know what interesting conversation you might have started with your dentist had you made a remark about “interesting choice of harmonies” or some such thing.
I think there are many degrees between making an inquiring, curious, perhaps critical remark and being a jerk about it 
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A reaction video is a different beast. Say you’re a humble reactor and get a thousand or two views every video. You pick the new Babymetal video, post it, the YT algorithm does its thing, and in the first 10 minutes you have 5k views as it shows up in the feed of tens of thousands rabid Babymetal kitsune and megitsune, because all the fan basses have cute nicknames, and hordes descend upon your channel.
There was a reactor last week who posted a negative reaction to Babymetal, and that was soon followed by live streams and big time reactors reacting to the negative reaction.
These hard core fans are like cults (one of the hashtags for Babymetal is in fact #notacult). The YT algorithms push to the fanbase. It’s very thin ice. Proceed with caution. Don’t be negative.
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