Newspaper Music

For quite some time now, I've been making Spotify playlists of songs mentioned in or inspired by articles in the magazines and newspapers I read. The practice might date back to my Media Diet email newsletter, seems to have become more formal and frequent in 2021, and became much more important and interesting to me when I moved to Portugal late last year.

After relocating, the effort served a three-fold purpose. In addition to reading Portuguese newspapers such as Correio da Manhã, Jornal de Notícias, Público, Expresso, Correio do Minho, and Diário do Minho, and magazines such as TV 7 Dias, TV Guia, Sábado, and Visão for local, regional, and national news, as well as learning the language, it also offered a crash course in Portuguese popular music—past and present. Portuguese newspapers and magazines do a good job covering local arts activities, including upcoming concerts, festivals, and other events—with a strong focus on Portuguese musicians in addition to touring international acts.

When compiling the playlists, which can take some time, I apply several "rules." If a song isn't named explicitly but a musician or musical group is, I pick one of the most-played songs on Spotify—unless I've previously included it in a similar playlist. If a song is named explicitly by title, I include that song—even if it results in including more than one song from a particular musician or band. Otherwise, I try to include one song per musician or band (or composer, in the case of classical music). I tend to try to include album cuts rather than single edits, live versions, or songs from best-of anthologies or compilations, though I sometimes rely on such records for expedience. And if a song has been remastered, I try to include the most recent remaster. That might seem like a lot of hoo-hah, but I think it results in me including a definitive version of a song. Whatever that means.

If I can't find a musician or band—or if I'm unable to determine which musical group is the band in question—I exclude the track, so not everything covered by the press ends up on the playlist. And when I finish the playlist, I share it as an Instagram Story. I don't really pay any attention to whether anyone else saves the playlist in Spotify, which seems the strongest signal indicating that others are also listening.

While compiling the most recent week's playlist—Newspaper Music: Week of July 20, 2026—which I finished yesterday, the enormity of the task and result struck me. (It makes sense that I've taken a couple of months off!) This week's playlist weighs in at 375 songs, or more than 24 hours of music. That's a far cry from compiling a 60- or 90-minute mix tape. 

I've already stopped doing this on a weekly basic—I don't always read all the papers and magazines every week, there are other ways to spend time in a new country, and, more importantly, I don't always listen to all of the songs and pieces myself. So I'm going to institute a new rule: I will compile the next Newspaper Music playlist once I've listened to all of the most recent playlist myself. I've been missing out on the true value of the musical education component of this practice: Experiencing the actual music.

If you'd like to check out some of the other playlists I've compiled along these lines, here are some additional links:

Media Diet 20210619 | Media Diet 20210905 | Media Diet 20211009 | Media Diet 20211205 | Media Diet 20220312 | Media Diet 20220416 | Media Diet 20220522 | The Week That Will Be 20220621 | Songs of the Weekend 20230409 | Week of 20241104 | Week of Feb. 3, 2025 | Week of May 12, 2025 | Week of Dec. 22, 2025 | Newspaper Music w/o Jan. 5, 2026 | Newspaper Music: Feb. 16, 2026 | Newspaper Music: March 23, 2026

I believe you can access even more playlists here.

Notícias de Pfandom #4 (agosto de 2026)

The fourth issue of Notícias de Pfandom was distributed yesterday. It's available at https://tinyurl.com/Pfandom-4.

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A quarta edição do Notícias de Pfandom foi distribuída ontem. Está disponível em https://tinyurl.com/Pfandom-4.

From DVDs to Streaming

Among the film-related belongings I brought with me when we moved was a small stack of DVD and Blu-ray inserts that promised a digital copy of the movie in addition to the physical media purchase. Even though I've acquired quite a library of DVDs and Blu-rays over the years—all denuded of their cases and nonessential inserts (I kept booklets and more informative inserts) to be stored in binders, which take up much less space—I apparently never sought to claim such digital copies, relying instead on the physical media itself, or streaming services. Regardless, I kept all of the inserts for potential future use.

Rather than just recycle the inserts unused at this late date, I decided to see whether they still worked. In some cases, I might have acquired the DVDs and Blu-rays a decade and a half ago, so it was an interesting experiment. There were just more than 20 such inserts. Apparently, such redemption codes were more commonly used with Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD releases rather than DVDs

In some cases, the URLs on the inserts no longer worked. In other cases, the offer had expired, which makes sense given how long I've had these. In one case, the service—Disney Movie Rewards, later renamed Disney Movie Insiders—has shut down. Launching in 2006 and rebranded in 2019, Disney Movie Rewards was shuttered in late 2024 after almost 20 years of operation. That, too, makes sense with the launch of Disney+ in late 2019.

But many, perhaps most of the insert URLs and codes—long alphanumerical strings, all—still worked. I ended up parceling out the redemptions across several streaming services. Most of the codes that still worked went to Google Play if it was an available streaming service. The next largest set went to Fandango at Home, if Google Play wasn't offered. And one movie, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, landed in Movies Anywhere, if neither Google Play nor Fandango at Home were available options. I created new accounts for Fandango at Home and Movies Anywhere because I hadn't used the services previously.

(Interestingly, for at least one of the URLs that didn't work—but not for Disney Movie Rewards—I could still redeem the code via Movies Anywhere. I'm glad I tried!)

I still own the DVDs and Blu-rays—physical media remains the most secure way to retain ownership to the media you buy—and will likely turn to them first as I watch my way through my movies before releasing them to friends, family, and the wild. So I've yet to experience accessing or watching the movies that now reside in my Google Play, Fandango at Home, and Movies Anywhere libraries. Having redeemed the codes on the Web using my laptop, it's clear that I can watch the movies on my MacBook, and I've used Google Play before, so I have a sense of what that experience will be like.

But it'll be interesting to see whether it's worth downloading the Fandango at Home and Movies Anywhere apps—I presume they exist—to my television. I now have two movies available on Movies Anywhere, five on Fandango at Home, and nine in Google Play.

Perhaps more interesting, we'll see how many times I want to watch Gods of Egypt or Infernal Affairs.

Notícias de Pfandom #3 (julho de 2026)

The third issue of Notícias de Pfandom was distributed several days ago. It's available at https://tinyurl.com/Pfandom-3.

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A terceira edição do Notícias de Pfandom foi distribuída há poucos dias. Está disponível em https://tinyurl.com/Pfandom-3.

Announcing: Notícias de Pfandom

If you're interested in science fiction, fantasy, and horror literature, movies, and television, fandom, comic books (banda desenhada or bandes dessinées, natch), and roleplaying games—and you're interested in the country of Portugal or speak and read Portuguese—you might enjoy my recently launched newszine Notícias de Pfandom. There've been two issues so far, and we'll publish monthly.

Issue number one (May 2026)

Issue number two (June 2026)

My co-editor for this project is one Álvaro de Sousa Holstein, who published the first sf fanzine in Portugal in 1983. His article, "Science Fiction and Fantasy in Portugal," which I printed in translation in The Stf Amateur #3, was a formative influence on my initial understanding of the history of the genres in the country. The piece provides useful context.

And if you'd like to receive Notícias de Pfandom on an ongoing basis, just let me know, and I'll add you to the distribution list.

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Se se interessa por ficção científica, fantasia e literatura de terror, filmes e séries de TV, fandom, banda desenhada e jogos de role-playing — e se interessa por Portugal ou fala e lê português — talvez goste da minha revista recém-lançada, Notícias de Pfandom. Já foram publicadas duas edições e a publicação será mensal.

Edição número um (maio de 2026)

Edição número dois (junho de 2026)

O meu co-editor neste projecto é Álvaro de Sousa Holstein, que publicou a primeira revista de ficção científica em Portugal em 1983. O seu artigo, "Science Fiction and Fantasy in Portugal", que publiquei em tradução na The Stf Amateur #3, teve uma influência formativa na minha compreensão inicial da história destes géneros no país. O artigo oferece um contexto útil.

E se quiser receber as Notícias de Pfandom regularmente, basta dizer-me e eu adiciono-o à lista de distribuição.