Nice balanced discussion here, good to see. To quote Ms Mitchell, "I don't know where I stand!"
- As I see it, the main bug bear here is that the board is so busy that songs are flooding the pages. Instead of our songs getting a solid week of rotation where all the regulars can chip in, they drop quickly and that seems unfair. We are more likely to feel bitter towards the fly-by posters because of this. In an IDEAL world, this place should act like a virtual songwriters circle, with an asynchronous delay of upto a week. In these circles, if 8 people turn up, they play a song each and get 7 lots of feedback. Fair as can be! In such a circle, were someone to drop in midway through the session, play a song, take their reviews and leave, such a person wouldn't be let in the next week
The trick is making this, or close to this, a reality on the internet; a place of cold hearts and ill manners. The internet is not governed by default by such good manners. Hell, I have admitted on here to slightly
abusing Google+ and Tumblr for self promotion. The difference is, they are soulless corporate mechanisms. This place means something to "The core" and is closer to a songwriter's circle than ANYTHING else online.
To lose this place to a spamming board would be saddening- Dividing the board down to WIP and finished will spread posts, but will one board simply take precedence? Equally, I am happy to review both types of song, and where they sit is irrelevant to me.
- As Kaf mentioned, having a finsihed/WIP will also beg the question of do we critique differently? I tend to post finished songs, but I am happy, willing in fact for people to pick them apart so I take that feedback for FUTURE songs. Other people want to improve existing songs. I did exactly that this week editing a mix that Kaf mentioned was boomy. So ALL help is useful.
- Payment wouldn't bother me if if was a few quid a month (plus mine would be tax deductable , lol!!) HOWEVER - as soon as a payment sub comes in you have the
risk, only risk mind, of an elitist subsection...
- I wonder if also the fact that no-one has the time to review everyone drops the intinacy of this place? Until about 3 months ago I was able to find an hour twice a week to catch up and review nearly every song. It made me feel like I had "ticked off" my duties on here, and the feeling of completion was nice, that I has "done my part". Now I would need more time than I have, so the sea of bold text is a little disheartening. Is this simply something we need to get past, as the place grows?
- If the ABOVE is an issue, perhaps a simple approach would be to switch the posting spread from one a week to one a FORTNIGHT. I'll admit this is easy for me to say: I post one a month on average. Now, while this may seem limiting, surely more listens will come of each track this way, and it will encourage longer term commitment? Perhaps (optimism here) by somewhat enforcing newbies to be patient, they'll have a better chance to
see what the benefits are of joining in properly?