Welcome to Only The Host (OTH), a community of independent musicians and artists. Founded in 2022 by John Woodson (the Host), the OTH community began as a small circle of artists who shared  their music and thoughts with each other. Over time the community has grown to include hundreds of  musicians and listeners from all over the world. The community operates on several different platforms and has developed a sort of language of its own which may be confusing for newcomers. This guide should explain things and allow you to quickly start interacting with the community. 

The centerpiece of the OTH community is the Indie Music Hunt (IMH, or simply “the Hunt”), a livestreamed presentation that showcases music and videos from OTH artists. This is shown on YouTube Monday through Friday, usually (but not always) at 2:30 Eastern time (North America). A few hours before, The Host generally posts a link describing that day’s Hunt (along with the start time and a list of some of the artists whose tracks will appear that day) on his Twitter/X account. So the best way to start your involvement is to follow @onlythehost on Twitter/X. Hunts tend to last 1.5 to 2 hours, and are most notable for the diversity of styles and artists played.

Anyone can listen to the Indie Music Hunt; it is completely open to the public. Participation is hashtagged #dothething. The Hunt itself is presented in a video format, mostly involving the Host playing music like a DJ and adding occasional comments. Thus the livestream can simply be listened to like a playlist. However, the most interesting aspect is that all active listeners can and usually do comment on each track as it plays. This is like a live reaction video, with 20-50 people all providing input to each track as it plays. Feedback is mostly positive – a hallmark of the OTH community – but if you ask for constructive criticism you will get it. The live chat also includes plenty of humor and sidebar conversation. This chat is a great way to get to know other OTH artists, see their personalities, and hear the kinds of music they make. Most Hunts are posted for replay on YouTube, so if you miss one you can watch it later.

The community tends toward flavors of rock (everything from acoustic folk to death metal) with a healthy dose of synthwave, ambient, and dance music, but generally no style is excluded. Obscene language can be a barrier, however.

Each Hunt has a different source. Some shows involve music videos, and come across something like how MTV used to be. These “Video Hunts” are usually on Thursdays. Other Hunts involve playlists from specific streaming platforms, like Tidal or Spotify. Bandcamp Friday is popular because Bandcamp doesn’t charge fees on Friday. The Host will announce on Twitter which platform is being 
used each day.

If you have a song on the platform du jour, you may submit it for inclusion in that day’s Hunt by responding to the Host’s tweet by sending a link to the track. Some days are dedicated to specific themes, like Christmas or Halloween music, or highlight special OTH projects (see below). One unique thing is world premieres of tracks that have not yet been publicly released and are being heard for the first time ever on the Hunt. These require advance planning with the Host.

The spirit animal of the OTH community is the Disco Chicken. When a song (a.k.a. choon) is good, it is deemed to be crispy, like a crispy fried chicken finger. Certain specific attributes of a track, such as great riffs, face-melting guitar solos, or specific moods and vibes can be called out during the stream, at which point they will get on-screen video animations. 

A higher honor is the bestowing of the CRISPY designation. Each listener is allowed to designate one song per Hunt as CRISPY. Songs that receive multiple #crispies are recognized with various levels of crispiness. The ultimate achievement for a track is to garner five or more crispies and earn the Gold Disco Chicken Award. These are the best songs that everybody likes. 

Similar is the Team Crispy, which tends to be awarded later in the show after most listeners have already given out their crispies for the day. A Team Crispy is awarded by voting in a popup poll and requires unanimous approval. The most difficult accomplishment to obtain is the Golden Funkbeard Award, which is only given by Uncle Funkbeard to “tracks that bring the funk”; these are generally dance tracks.

The OTH website is a central point for information about the OTH community. Here you will find links to IMH broadcasts, certain OTH artist bios, band and artist reviews, the Host’s blog, and most importantly merchandise for OTH artists and the OTH community itself for sale. The web site is entirely public.

This is where detailed discussion among OTH artists happens. You have to be invited and verified to get access to the OTH discord server, because unpublished material, song stubs, and budding music ideas are often exchanged here. Discussion categories include technical information about recording,
marketing tips, musical collaborations, news about the music industry, general chats and discussions, and group projects.

The projects are ambitious collaboration efforts built around a theme, such as the reinterpretation of Nirvana songs, with many artists contributing. When finished, the results of such projects are often played on a dedicated IMH. You’ll also find certain artist-driven side efforts, such as the Monthly Music Challenge.

The best thing about the IMH community is that members tend to develop friendships with each other as a result of ongoing communication and collaborative music making. Much of that communication happens on social media, with artists sharing each other’s releases and milestones on other platforms. Active members of the community appreciate each other for the marketing multiplier of these posts, and this has been a driver for growth in the OTH community.

Now that you have an idea of how OTH works, you can dive in. Meet people, hear some great music, learn some tricks of the trade, and make some new friends with us.