My hometown was in Canada's top-ten communities in decline for years. These days, it's got two-thirds the population it used to, the streets are full of deer, and quite a few farmers' fields have turned into forests. Almost everyone my age that I knew moved away long ago. Going back is always shocking.
If they'd just be smart about it. Make the ads in-game. Like a Nike poster on a wall or a can of Pepsi on a table or something. I wouldn't have a problem with that. Making them the entire focus - however brief - just makes me hate them immeasurably.
Another one of my most popular tracks is an atonal hour-and-twenty-minutes of cubic spline curves, granular synthesis, and other assorted noises I programmed in Csound.
I’m in a similar boat, but I never feel fully satisfied to release a song (probably cuz I am a hobbyist and I suck lol).
There's never a better time to put yourself out there! I resisted it for twenty years. My most "successful" release is one of my least polished tracks. I recorded it just out of university on a Pentium with a stolen microphone, pirated software, a freebie guitar, and a ZOOM 505. It's got 4 million listens and is responsible for half my income. By comparison, I've released stuff that I think sounds like it was professionally recorded in a studio that no one listens to.
It's not really just Spotify. I'm a hobbyist music producer. I uploaded my entire catalog through Distrokid about two years ago. Distrokid serves just about every streaming service. It costs $20 a year for the most basic package. I've got ~8 million listens according to Distrokid, and that nets me about $40 US. So, I made my money back. Not bad for 20 years of work. Haha!
I don't really care about the numbers, like I said, I'm a hobbyist. I make music because I enjoy making music. It would never be my career unless I dropped everything and struck out touring trying to make it in an industry that traditionally chews up and spits out hopefuls. I'm not exactly the age or attractiveness that most people expect in a touring musician, either.
That's fair. You can get a closer shave with more passes, but that's hard on your skin as well. I can't stand having too much stubble. It gets to a point where it itches like crazy. I pushed through the itchy phase once, and having a beard was alright, but I got some pretty crazy acne underneath it.
They don't have to be! Dual edge safety razor blades are like $10 for 100. You could splurge ($50 for a nice one, or hundreds for a really nice, probably unnecessarily expensive one) on a nice handle that will last you the rest of your life, or get just about as good a shave with one that costs $10. Heck, if you're lucky you could find some old, nice one at a garage sale that's already been around 70 years, and will easily still be working fine when you're dead. Unfortunately, like just about everything else old and good, they've become a bit trendy, so it might be hard to find deals like you used to be able to.