1. Would you be willing to recommend Songstuff to your fellow songwriters and musicians? What is the reason behind your answer?
I do recommend Songstuff quite regularly to other songwriters I come across. i have been in a community called Drooble for quite a few years. It's having bad times at the moment, but was set up to bring musicians and writers together, although there wasn't a lot od critiquing, it was often just supportive comments. Songstuff is much better for helping to develop songwriting skills, in my humble opinion
2. What would you like to see more of on the Songstuff Community?
I like the way that the critiquing is kept separate on Songstuff, but I would like to see a more general discussion page pushed a bit more, which might help to bring out more members of the community. I know that there is probably something like that somewhere on Songstuff, but sometimes it feels so dispersed that I tend to stick to critique pages.
When I first joined, I felt as though I was being put in my place a few times by more established members. One of the sections that allows you to post your best recordings seemed to dominated by a few individuals who I didn't tend to come across elsewhere, and the songs are not open to critique but often don't seem to have been posted elsewhere. A bit elitist.
I think that it is a bit unfair to exclude people from posting songs simply because they don't have access to top quality recording equipment. I went through quite a lot of those songs when I first joined, and I didn't think that a lot of them were any better than some of my songs, they were just better quality recordings.
Maybe there could be another page for artists to post songs that, although not brilliant recordings, meet a specific level of recording quality. Then you might see a lot more of the songs that go through the development stages on the critiquing pages finding their way onto a page for finished recordings.
I suppose that another thing that I enjoyed on Drooble was having staff / administrators who occasionally led discussions on the main pages to try to encourage more members to participate in discussions. not just about songs and music, but about equipment, recording techniques, strings, plectrums, software, DAWs
Also posing challenges, as you have done recently, for song writers to push themselves a little bit. Like giving the first two lines of a song and asking members to write the rest of it with a specific structure in mind, including numbers of verses, choruses, bridges, bars, time signatures etc (but start off easy), Or provide a chord sequence for the first verse, or write a song with a three line structure, anything to create more interest.
Also, there could be a lot more collaboration on the site. I know that you have a section for collaboration, but I think that this could be something that could get more encouragement. I have collaborated with 6 or 7 other musicians over the last few years, some more successful than others. It does lend itself to international mingling, as tracks and stems can be sent to other countries. I now have an old friend who I collaborate with regularly. It is a lot more enjoyable than working alone.
3. What would you like to see less of on the Songstuff Community?
I don't think that there is anything I would want to see less of on the site. However, if you are successful in growing the site then there may be a growth of obnoxious characters. What can you do?
4. Would you be interested in starting or growing the fan base for your music?
I have just signed up to Distrokid which circulates my finished songs to Spotify and other sites so, yes, I am interested, but it isn't a deal-breaker.
5. Would you be interested in starting/growing the number of artists recording your songs?
It would be nice to get other people recording my songs. I have had a couple of musicians do this over the years, as far as I am aware. I would settle for somebody with a great singing voice. Me and my old friend can do most things between us, I do the singing but I'm not the best, so a decent voice would make the world of difference.
Just a few thoughts