Here’s Theprp.com’s Top 25 Most Viewed Stories Of 2023

2023 has finally wrapped and I find myself thankful for that. Continuing an unfortunate trend, this past year once again presented many challenges and far too much stress, although this time of a business nature, rather than a personal one as in the years before.

If you’ve heard of the Canada Online News Act, then you might be aware of the repercussions Canadian content publishers faced (and continue to face) from select platforms in response to that bill.

In April I found the site caught in a pissing contest between the Canadian Government and the likes of Google and Facebook. In turn Theprp.com’s post reach on said platforms got decimated for months as ‘testing’ and sanctions saw 30-40% of Theprp.com’s monthly traffic evaporate overnight.

While a deal was reached with Google in the fall, and numbers have slowly begun to bounce back, the financial sting and stress/anger of being collateral damage took a heavy toll, all for something I had no stake in to begin with.

Onward we march however and Theprp.com will hit its 25th anniversary this coming summer, which is astonishing to me. This was initially meant to be a hobby and a vehicle to spread music I thought was cool.

Of course it evolved into a lot more over the years. It’s wild to think that all this time later, an industry outsider managed to accomplish so much from his bedroom. I’d be remiss to not look back at those who helped establish the foundation though, as Pedro and Defweb and several others were certainly key parts in helping establish what this whole crazy ride has become.

There’s a few irons in the fire to mark the 25th anniversary, which officially isn’t until June, so check back around then. Looking back, I just want to say thanks to all the readers, fans of the site, bands and labels who gave me the time of day and all the artists, companies, etc. who have advertised on the site over the years, keeping this journey in motion.

The goal was never to be the biggest site or a brand. There was never any corporate backing or enough money to go around for all that. The goal was and remains to shine a light on deserving bands that were outside the mainstream and help build them up and spread the word, while keeping fans of heavy music updated with the latest happenings in the scene.

While the more direct approaches to the original goal (reviews, learning curve, etc.) took a backseat as life’s responsibilities stacked up in recent years, that mission still remains the same.

And with all that said, here’s the top 25 most viewed stories on Theprp.com in 2023:

Comments