What is MOSS?
MOSS is a selection of songs about a topic (usually 3 for each issue), accompanied by text and links. More informations about the format and the concept are available in the Manifesto. MOSS is published biweekly on wednesday, at 9 am CET.
Who makes MOSS?
Sergio Messina.
How can you follow MOSS?
You can subscribe to the RSS feed, get updates through the MOSS mail subscription (there's a form in the fo do it soter), or follow the author's Facebook page. iPhone and iPad users can add a MOSS bookmark to their home page (it appears as an app): in Safari, select "add to home screen".
What are the icons next to the links?
It's a code to help you navigate the links.
A link with no icon means it's a text page, usually Wikipedia, or an artists' official website (unless otherwise specified).
A link with ♾ means there is an actual video to watch (videoclip or live performance).
A link with ☊ means it's a YouTube video with pictures, only linked for the audio part.
Who is behind MOSS?
Just the author, at the moment. But a future endorsement, sponsorship, or even a collaboration with a company or service provider is certainly possible. MOSS is a cultural endeavor, an occasion to play (and write about) unusual music, a media experiment, and an attempt to define, and perhaps broaden, the notion of how to write about music in the digital age. MOSS is an independent service, not affiliated with any internet company. The website has no advertising, serves you no cookies (but the social networks widgets do), and does not collect your data.
How about copyright infringment?
MOSS is not against copyright, and does not mean to infringe it. On the contrary: it aims to recirculate older, or forgotten, or obscure and unusual music, and to highlight interesting non (or no longer) mainstream authors of the past and the present. The © of MOSS is by Sergio Messina for the written parts, and by the respective authors and right holders for each song, published here for educational/demonstrational purposes. Visitors are encouraged to buy the songs: below each track there are direct links to major digital stores. The music files streamed from this site cannot be downloaded or linked.
Is MOSS' format the same of Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour?
Similar, as any themed musical selection, but adapted to a radically different medium. In MOSS, each song has an accompanying text, (often a small essay) and relevant links to covers (or originals), live versions, related websites and Wikipedia pages. The songs can be browsed by theme or by music style, and issues can be shared. Obviously, being compiled by someone else, the musical genres will be very different in time, style and geography.
How can you support MOSS?
You can help immensely by sharing the home page (through the general share buttons in the footer) and the single issues (using the dedicated share buttons at the bottom of each issue) on your favorite social media. Thank you in advance.
More support?
At the present time, all expenses related to MOSS are covered by the author: bandwidth, website maintenance and content production. If you like it, you can support MOSS by subscribing. Subscriptions start at 5 € per year.