Boiler Room

Boiler Room Substack explores the multifaceted landscape of New Zealand's entertainment industry, with a special focus on music festivals, concerts, and local music scene challenges. It delves into media and tech influences on entertainment, critiques industry issues, and shares personal experiences related to music and cultural events.

Music Festivals Concerts and Performances Media and Entertainment Industry Technology in Entertainment Music Industry Challenges Event Reviews and Critiques

The hottest Substack posts of Boiler Room

And their main takeaways

How do you find new music when no one writes about it anymore?

117 implied HN points • 25 Jan 24
🎶 Music
  1. Finding new music through algorithms may not always work well.
  2. Traditional music journalism is facing challenges, leading to a decrease in coverage.
  3. Discovering new music can still be done through friends, personal recommendations, and alternative methods.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Something strange is happening at JB Hi-Fi.

117 implied HN points • 23 Jan 24
💼 Business Retail
  1. JB Hi-Fi's growth is linked to the resurgence of vinyl sales.
  2. The chain's unique approach to retail, offering a mix of vinyl records and tech gadgets, is attracting customers.
  3. Their expansion plans include opening over 20 new stores, doubling their presence in New Zealand.

A chaotic week week of concert announcements.

78 implied HN points • 08 Feb 24
🎶 Music Concerts
  1. A busy week with many concert announcements including Take That, Trevor Noah, Gym Class Heroes, Nothing But Thieves, Xzibit, Tenacious D, SZA, and Ben Howard.
  2. Demand for post-Covid live entertainment is high and events are picking up after a slow January.
  3. Interactive music recommendations format with five songs to listen to and discuss for weekend discovery.

Laneway has levelled up.

78 implied HN points • 06 Feb 24
🎶 Music Festival Live performance Music Industry
  1. Auckland's Laneway festival has grown bigger and better than before.
  2. This year's Laneway event featured new and exciting acts, attracting a larger crowd than ever.
  3. The festival's success shows it has firmly established itself as a summer staple, rivaling past music events like the Big Day Out.

My neighbour from hell, part two: It gets worse.

78 implied HN points • 18 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture
  1. The neighbor was playing music loudly to make the author move out.
  2. The situation escalated with things like poisoned lawn, police involvement, and curses.
  3. The author had to be cautious about sharing the story due to legal concerns and ongoing issues with the neighbor.

Everything is broken.

176 implied HN points • 26 Oct 23
🎭️ Culture Music Journalism Emotions
  1. The post highlights that everything is broken and discusses a plan to address it
  2. The author acknowledges starting on a negative note but promises things will improve
  3. The post mentions frustration with the state of local music journalism and gives a nod to Mark Rebillet

Tragedy hung in the air at the Foo Fighters show.

58 implied HN points • 21 Jan 24
🎶 Music Concerts Artists Emotions
  1. Tragedy was felt at the Foo Fighters show due to the recent passing of their drummer, Taylor Hawkins.
  2. Dave Grohl and the band honored their late drummer by performing the first song he ever wrote at every show.
  3. The emotional impact was visible as the band's replacement drummer wiped away tears during the performance.

Am I too old for music festivals now?

39 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
🎶 Music Music festivals Concerts Music Events
  1. The author questions if they are too old for music festivals, mentioning awkward conversations about their age at a festival they've been attending since their 30s.
  2. Attending music festivals continues to make the author happy and is a significant part of their life, although they are unsure about the right age to stop going.
  3. The post reflects on the joy of festivals, encounters with strangers questioning age appropriateness, and the author's love for music events despite concerns about aging.

A desperate, painful search for two SZA tickets.

39 implied HN points • 09 Feb 24
🎶 Music Concerts Tickets Stress Events
  1. The author shared a stressful experience of trying to buy concert tickets for a SZA show.
  2. Despite facing challenges and uncertainty, the author persevered and managed to secure tickets in the end.
  3. The process of buying concert tickets online can be overwhelming and frustrating, leading to unexpected issues and difficulties.

How close are we to losing bFM?

117 implied HN points • 18 Oct 23
🎭️ Culture Media
  1. Media organizations are at risk of closing down permanently.
  2. bFM is facing challenges like worn-out equipment and limited resources.
  3. The staff at bFM face difficulties such as sharing a small fork and lack of basic supplies.

Why do people hate the new Sky Box so much?

39 implied HN points • 15 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Tech
  1. People are hating the new Sky Box set-top box released by Sky TV
  2. The launch of the new tech product has caused big problems instead of being a celebration
  3. There is interest in understanding why users are dissatisfied with the Sky Box