Webpunks from CTRL by MOULE

WEBPUNKS: Soundtracking everyone's part to play in making a better web by using script blockers and spreading awareness about data privacy, encouraging sovereignty over our own data and web experience! It was my #Fedivision2024 entry and ranked shared 13th place out of 72 entries!

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🔊 Stream on other sites: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/moule/webpunks

👕 Webpunks Merch: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/161133726

🎥 Webpunks Cover Art Timelapse: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=UkJUihU6Dqc

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Join the Webellion!

Webpunks was inspired by my own experience and others' discussions on the Fediverse about what Cory Doctorow calls the 'enshittification' of the modern web.

It celebrates the use of what I call 'webpunk' technologies, such as ad-blockers, scripts, and other tools created to bypass article paywalls, subscription pop-ups, and overall create a better experience on the web free from data scraping, trackers, and corporate surveillance. I tried to reference as much of these "annoyances" as I could and jam them into a funky electronic track with a rebellious "punk" edge to it. Though not mentioned in the track, it also celebrates free and open-source software (FOSS) and decentralised platforms such as the Fediverse!

I hope it resonates with your own experiences on this increasingly enshittified web. Here's to a better web with sovereignty over our own data and web experience!

As for its creation, it began on April 20, 2024 to submit for the Fedivision music competition for 2024, and was made to be deliberately shorter than 4 minutes as per the competition's rules. I was reluctant to make this track, given some pretty bad life events, but I pushed on anyway and completed it, as I think will really resonate with discussions I've been reading about the decaying state of the Internet. It ended up getting shared 13th place out of 72 entries!

ttsconverter.io was used to make text-to-speech voices in this track, with words, timing and digital voice effects all by me.

Hadn't I completed this in time for the competition, I would've submitted an edited version of a track I already had. I also had in mind a #RedInstead, autism-activism-themed entry, which I might submit for #Fedivision2025.

I coined the term "Webpunk" along with "Scriptpunk" as alternative words for "Browserpunk" which describes the same idea Webpunks does in a Mastodon post in 2023, but unfortunately it is now lost. The new oldest toot where I first use it is here: https://mastodon.moule.world/@MOULE/111312128702045476

The cover artwork was also very tricky to make, taking almost 12 hours to do. I've been working on adding shadows around each character to add depth to them. Fortunately, I've designed a lot of what I needed for Webpunks' cover artwork through assets made for Dead Internet, Cyber Threat Resistance League, and numerous other artworks.

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Let me know what you think on the Fediverse at https://MASTODON.MOULE.WORLD/@MOULE (or copy and paste @MOULE@MOULE.WORLD into your own instance's search bar), or get in contact via "Contact MOULE" to the right of this page!

Visit https://MOULE.WORLD for all MOULE links!

Tracklist

2.	Webpunks	3:58

Lyrics

Spam, spam, spam, spam,
AI this, AI that,
Scam, scam, scam, scam,
Click all pictures with a cat.

Clickbait, adverts, pop-ups, paywalls,
Bots, bots, bots, bots,
Follow, comment, like, subscribe,
Fake news, link rots.

Mass engagement, trolling, bot farms,
Malware, bloatware, spyware, adware,
Algorithmic social harms,
Thou shalt not repair your hardware.

Turn off ad block scripts and code,
Make accounts, download our app,
Accept these cookies from our partners,
Internet has turned to crap.

(build-up)
Webpunks
(instrumental)

Webpunks
(instrumental)

(build-up)
Webpunks

Pop-ups, paywalls, *swoop* Bypassed.
Clickbait, adverts, *buzz* Blocked.
Fake news link rot *printer noise* Archived.
Bots, bots, *whistle* Stopped.

Spam, spam, *record scratch* Muted.
Malware, bloatware, (Stop right there).
Scam, scam, *phone noise* *scream*
Click all pictures (Going nowhere).

Trolling, bot farms *smashed glass* Blocked.
AI-powered, *phone hangup* Don't care.
Spyware, adware (Go away).
We have the right to repair.

Take our cookies (They taste gross).
Make an account (It's a trap).
Turn off ad block (Stop your tracking).
Internet has turned to crap.

(instrumental)

Thank you for listening. Please buy SuperUltraProMiumGold+ to continue listening.

Credits

from CTRL, track released May 31, 2024

License