[M.D.W.C.]

Doesn’t seem to be a lot happening here.
Does anyone know any other forums?

[Skub]

Get involved and review some songs,then you'll find it's reciprocated. If you properly listen and comment on the music of others,you'll be surprised how much time that takes. You can easily spend hours every week doing that and believe it or not,people do have other things to do in their lives.

Social media has made folk accustomed to instant responses to everything,this is not the same.

There are 26 songs on the first page of 'Finished Songs' alone. If you spend even 10 minutes giving those songs a couple of listens each,that's over 4 hours out of your day. Then you need to keep on top of the new songs coming in every week. Can you do that and juggle a job,family,friends,or life in general?

The forum is more active than it's ever been. You aren't and that's something you can change.

[Boydie]

Well said @Skub

I have noticed that since the pandemic pretty much ALL of the forums that I participate in (not just songwriting/music related ones) have become significantly less active

I put this down to people re-prioritising “real life” - family, friends, work etc.

There does seem to be a bit of a resurgence of late - so hopefully things will pick up again

As far as practical advice to increase participation/responses for a new member....

1 - introduce yourself in the introduction section to give a bit of background about yourself, motivation for writing, and the type of feedback you are after

2 - post links to INDIVIDUAL songs/pieces and reiterate the specific feedback you are looking for

In your particular case, I noticed you just put a link to your Soundcloud and asked for comments. This will never get a good response

You would be much better off picking a single track (that you think is your best work) and posting that on its own and ask for specific feedback

3 - lastly (and not leastly!!) - listen and comment on other people’s work. This forum relies solely on reciprocation- which is why it is not a a paid for “review” service

Dive in and review others - and they will then reciprocate and review you

It may take a few tries - but the the cliche: the more you put it, the more you get out is definitely applicable here

Other similar forums are exactly the same and there aren’t too many other forums in this niche area - and IMHO, there are certainly none that have the range of genres and supportive, knowledgeable members that reside here!

[M.D.W.C.]

Right. Appreciate it!

Did not mean to offend! ✌️

[cowparsleyman]

Right. Appreciate it!

Did not mean to offend! ✌️

Matt, nice to have you aboard, the vibe of this forum has changed over the years, it was a busy forum, but since Covid it has settled down, as the members have I guess. I certainly have not been able to contribute songs, nor review anything as my personal commitments have changed, both in the music and non music arenas.

Be patient, be honest with yourself about your material. If the success of your work is dependant on 20 of us in this forum...well there's your answer.

If on the other hand you are after constructive advice on how to improve, We can help, but not just you Matt, there are others, so as I said before, be patient.

"Number 21 please"

[M.D.W.C.]

Understood.

Yeah I suppose I’ve just been pretty lonely. Im living at home with mom and we’re not getting along too good lately. I’ve been without internet access for most of this year. Any kind of friend I had on my old fb account has since removed themselves except one who is my only fb friend right now who I’ve just recently added back into my life. I don’t feel as close to him as we once were. We were best friends. It’s just hard losing so much trust. I’ve become one of those loner shut ins, that don’t get out enough. Isolation. Families just down the hill, they’ve all been watching me go through my hard time. No sign of help. Lol. Just alcohol. 😀

(Haha… after re-reading that, looks like there’s some kind of sad cowboy song there.)

[Boydie]

Write that song!!!

I really would recommend sticking around...as @cowparsleyman has said, the forum is currently a little “smaller” - but the membership is definitely “perfectly formed”

I think you will find support with your song writing AND a wonderful online support network

[CorkingCrackBand]

Hi @M.D.W.C.

  Just to echo others comments - mucking in, sharing and reviewing ideas/songs is the best way to get going. Being willing to take feedback on board is important - as is working out what feedback you want and is relevant to you. One persons 'too short' is another's 'too long' - you need to decide what you're aiming for and judge feedback within that context. Finding out who you are as a musician is heaps of fun and bouncing ideas around and seeing the reaction they get from different people is great and is what this place is all about. Just remember that the people here are not your audience (of course they could be but that's not why we're here  - they are other musicians with their own styles, influences, reference points and preferences.

Hope to see you around and I'll keep an eye out for one of your songs/ideas in the feedback threads.

CCB