HOW DOES SOUNDCLOUD.COM ALLOW OPEN ARTIST DISCUSSION?
Forget PM's or Direct sending of messages. Im talking open forum messageboard avatar style. Talking back myspace style. Does soundcloud allow this? And if not what is the reason behind this?
Before we become a members of a music do-it-yourself
publishing website, we normally look for what suits us best right?
This could
be:
- Is it free?
- How much webspace do I get if it’s free?
- What genre images do I see the most of?
- Do they have charts?
- Do they have forums?
- Can I make money here?
- Can my music fit it, and will I get downloaded?
If I missed anything please add. But I think most
importantly the key thought that runs through our heads before we decide on selecting one of
these music-publishers is: ‘what kind of feedback will I get for my music?’
capeesh!
Here are some of my initial thoughts on soundcloud.com that
I made not of:
“Just went to soundcloud. Will be taking pop-corn and the
granola bar later. Ok so they have groups, but within the groups the best you
can do is compile tracks or ask users to upload their stuff. No commentary section within the group. In
fact all commentary is done via the song itself, the wave form just hangs in
the air, and everything revolves around it.
I tried dashboard, and it just leads to my profile and
settings. Follow me, follow them, like this, play that. I don’t know where can
I ask question? Where can I interact etc?”
Seems like what I was looking for was an open forum to
interact. Must be the soundclick in me, and I am sure soundcloud is probably trying
to avoid what happens in open-forums by way of insults, misunderstandings and
more talk than music. Judging by the actual showing of the waveform for each recording or track Soundcloud is a music does the talking kind of site I gather. But music needs to talk back, it was just strange to me
that even on the groups (I was thinking YAHOO groups), there was no facility to
have discussions on uploaded tracks that fit into a collective.
Is there an arena or facility on soundcloud to let all that are followers know that you will be coming up with new tracks,
promotions, tours or do they leave that part to the embedding of facebook/twitter
links?
In saying that, they do have an email notification of the
track, but even then is it like facebook where you get updates and or
notifications of what others have said on the track (you are following).
Giving feedback on most of these sites are an act of free
will most times, sometimes are done with the intention of getting some back,
sometimes are done on the more popular bands/acts/musicians to get attention
and sometimes are done to give back.
Most of the feedback I read, (and you only have to go to the hottest
trap records on soundcloud), are ‘good
bass man’, ‘killer tune,’ ‘sick innit,’ totally awesome, and for the most time
even lack the creativity that is used in comments on favourite dubstep tracks
on youtube or for an Amon Tobin tune.
Soundcloud for its part does mention in one of their title
pages that feedback should be more than just praising of the bass, or the
guitar or whatnot, but should be more explaining why you found the instrument
to be special, important and what made you like it.
This is commendable, on Soundclouds part. But they don’t as
far as I have seen do much functionality-wise to encourage this kind of
feedback, and at the moment there is no message/comments board to view.
Though they have groups (I recently joined Ambient Drum and Bass), how can artist talk back to each other in front of witnesses? They
haven’t got community forums like soundclick.com, classified sections like
artistserver, message boards, no platform to discuss that I have come across
so far. And trust me as a fan of 1UDREAD and recently joined the ambient drum
and bass group there I think there must be a very, very good reason for this.
Rae burnz
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