Would You Recommend Songstuff?

[john]

Hi Gang

 

We want to grow our user base.

 

Please fill in the poll and discuss below…

 

I have some basic questions:

 

1. Would you be willing to recommend Songstuff to your fellow songwriters and musicians? What is the reason behind your answer?

 

2. What would you like to see more of on the Songstuff Community?

 

3. What would you like to see less of on the Songstuff Community?

 

4. Would you be interested in starting or growing the fan base for your music?

 

5. Would you be interested in starting/growing the number of artists recording your songs?

 

I have more questions on specific subjects for later dates. Meanwhile I would be very interested on your opinions. Please answer all. If you are not interested in something, please say why (if it isn’t too personal and you are happy for others to know).

 

The more we as a site know about what you want from Songstuff, about what you want beyond Songstuff, the better the decisions staff make. The more likely future developments will aid you on your journey.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Cheers

 

John

[VoiceEx]

1. Would you be willing to recommend Songstuff to your fellow songwriters and musicians? What is the reason behind your answer?

 

Absolutely! I consider this forum to be THE best of its kind and I'd like for us to have more members! The quality of our community members is second to none, the site's content is excellent, there is a wealth of knowledge and features (which unfortunately most of our members don't use lol ), and our staff is absolutely phenomenal!

 

2. What would you like to see more of on the Songstuff Community?

 

Well, I'd like for us to reach younger members. This place could greatly benefit from some fresh blood. I'd also like for us to have more variety content and I want to see more engaging community activities. I'd also like to see Songstuff incorporate more practical ways to incentivize members to actually participate, and become more involved. It would also be great if more people used their Blogs to make content that's actually interesting! I'd also like to see more hands-on activities and content that includes community members. For example, a while back @john and @Mahesh did a wicked interview! Tell me, why is that not a regular thing? And why only you two? 😅

 

3. What would you like to see less of on the Songstuff Community?

 

I'd like to see less confrontational interactions in the critique sections.

 

4. Would you be interested in starting or growing the fan base for your music?

 

Absolutely!

 

5. Would you be interested in starting/growing the number of artists recording your songs?

 

Hell yeah!

[Jac]

23 hours ago, john said:

Hi Gang

 

We want to grow our user base.

 

Please fill in the poll and discuss below…

 

I have some basic questions:

 

1. Would you be willing to recommend Songstuff to your fellow songwriters and musicians? What is the reason behind your answer?

 

2. What would you like to see more of on the Songstuff Community?

 

3. What would you like to see less of on the Songstuff Community?

 

4. Would you be interested in starting or growing the fan base for your music?

 

5. Would you be interested in starting/growing the number of artists recording your songs?

 

I have more questions on specific subjects for later dates. Meanwhile I would be very interested on your opinions. Please answer all. If you are not interested in something, please say why (if it isn’t too personal and you are happy for others to know).

 

The more we as a site know about what you want from Songstuff, about what you want beyond Songstuff, the better the decisions staff make. The more likely future developments will aid you on your journey.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Cheers

 

John

l think the site is great. l would definitely recommend the site. l too would like younger members to join in on the forum. l can see there is a large membership on here  already the view a lot but they don't seem to participate. They have a lot to offer and l would love to hear their views on music topic's.

l feel the site is not just for seasoned songwriters, l think it's appeal is also for all music fan's as well who's interest in songwriting even at amateur stage but maybe feel intimated and reluctant to speak up.  Why do they not say why that is ?

The site has a lot to offer to that group, but it can only benefit if the younger  member's want it to grow. The younger group of member's have a lot to offer and their wisdom is greatly appreciated by people like myself in the older group.

l never underestimate the wisdom to be found in some 16 yr old's etc in the music industry, but they have to speak up and this site is perfect for it. The music industry is moving at a fast pace and the younger groups need to speak up and have their say on it !!

[Greg M]

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

[Mahesh]

On 2/5/2023 at 4:10 PM, VoiceEx said:

For example, a while back @john and @Mahesh did a wicked interview! Tell me, why is that not a regular thing? And why only you two? 😅

 

@VoiceEx - so much respect to you for bringing that up. Because, f**k yeah! You're right. lol 

 

 

This interview that John and I did was for a podcast that one of my local musician friends did and found our story to be wacky! Haha 

 

But we totally should be doing more of these with more members on here. In a sense, I think it'd elevate the forum experience as well by connecting our community more personally and spark some insightful conversations, along with their work.

 

Though there's been conversations of this before, it'd be soooo good to get some this stuff going. I hope John doesn't mind me slipping this slyly here - we really need to put a call out for some interns soon, at least if to get an extra hand around here with moderation.😅 

 

With just the three of us on staff, we've been quite bogged down by the admin work, moderation and the actual Songstuff business plans and its upcoming products.  We've been seeing so much enthusiasm with the community lately and it's been buzzin'. It's such a great learning space. Although, I've been feeling a lil FOMO myself having been soo caught up with life & work (including the one I just mentioned) that I've not been active around here lately. Heck, it's been a while since I sat alone to write some music or just practice.

 

Sigh I digress but I hope to (and for us as staff to) have more time so that we can focus on some interesting stuff like podcasts, music interview, Songstuff Open Mic live streams, etc which we've been excited about doing. 

 

Will bring this up further with @john over one of the next Staff meetings. 

 

 

[MisterB]

 

On 2/4/2023 at 11:17 AM, john said:

 

1. Would you be willing to recommend Songstuff to your fellow songwriters and musicians? What is the reason behind your answer?

 

I don't engage with other songwriters in the real world and this is the only songwriting forum I'm on, so I guess the answer is no, but not because I don't think it deserves to be recommended, but because I have no one to recommend it to. 

 

 

On 2/4/2023 at 11:17 AM, john said:

 

2. What would you like to see more of on the Songstuff Community?

 

Something you can't really do much about - I'd like to see more engagement in the technical - MIDI and audio in particular, but of course, guitar, keyboard and other tech too.

 

 

On 2/4/2023 at 11:17 AM, john said:

 

3. What would you like to see less of on the Songstuff Community?

 

Nothing. I'm happy to see people discussing things even if I have no interest in them myself. It's great to see a community work together.

 

 

On 2/4/2023 at 11:17 AM, john said:

 

4. Would you be interested in starting or growing the fan base for your music?

 

I'm not really there yet, but ultimately, I think so, yes.

 

 

On 2/4/2023 at 11:17 AM, john said:

 

5. Would you be interested in starting/growing the number of artists recording your songs?

 

Again, I'm not really there, at least on the lyrical side. I have enjoyed working with a few SongStuff members on songs, providing the musical and production side, and would like to work with others too. That said, my time is pretty limited and it takes me a long time to work through the production of a song. That won't change until I retire (another 10 years away!).

 

 

[john]

2 hours ago, MisterB said:

Something you can't really do much about - I'd like to see more engagement in the technical - MIDI and audio in particular, but of course, guitar, keyboard and other tech too.

I agree. I can help here and I know a few members have interests here. Let’s see what we can do.

 

2 hours ago, MisterB said:

Again, I'm not really there, at least on the lyrical side. I have enjoyed working with a few SongStuff members on songs, providing the musical and production side, and would like to work with others too. That said, my time is pretty limited and it takes me a long time to work through the production of a song. That won't change until I retire (another 10 years away!).

When the time is right maybe.

[MisterB]

9 hours ago, john said:

I agree. I can help here and I know a few members have interests here. Let’s see what we can do.

 

When the time is right maybe.

 

 

You know something just occurred to me... I wonder if SongStuff has TOO MANY forums.  It's so spread out that you don't necessarily engage in things you might. I mentioned above about wanting more on the tech side, but you know, I only ever look on the VST/VSTi forum, because that's where my brain goes when I think about these things. That forum is a ghost town.  If this were lumped in with the Music Production and Recording forum for example and the VST forum didn't exist, I'd automatically go to the Music Production forum... there might be more engagement on both sides.  Doesn't just apply to this, but also to all of the forums, perhaps with the exception of the critique forums, which already tend to have quite a lot of engagement, and lumping together might cause some frustration.

 

Going to try and engage on the Music Production forum now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[john]

It’s always a balance point. As a site it offers so much across a lot of areas. Sometimes people have been members for years and they haven’t used our article library or our massive music glossary.

 

There’s a lot to explore. Every once and so often I rationalise the boards down, because we try new boards on member request, and it starts spreading activity too thin.

 

I would also recommend users create an artist or songwriter blog on Songstuff. It’s free and they get pretty good traffic.

[MisterB]

1 hour ago, john said:

It’s always a balance point. As a site it offers so much across a lot of areas. Sometimes people have been members for years and they haven’t used our article library or our massive music glossary.

 

There’s a lot to explore. Every once and so often I rationalise the boards down, because we try new boards on member request, and it starts spreading activity too thin.

 

I would also recommend users create an artist or songwriter blog on Songstuff. It’s free and they get pretty good traffic.

 

Wow, you're full of surprises today. I must admit, I haven't explored the site in depth.  Didn't know about the blogs, or clubs... in fact, I haven't really paid attention to much beyond the forums. Time to delve in.

 

 

R.

 

 

 

[HoboSage]

For those of you who don't know, this is my second go round as a member here. I was a very active member here years ago. and I can't help but be surprised that many of you seem to think that the critique forums here are currently quite "active."  From my perspective, compared to how they used to be, the critique forums seem like graveyards.    Anyway . . . I feel I need to address this from Greg.

On 2/9/2023 at 11:25 AM, Greg M said:

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 am only posting my stuff in the Showcase.  I am not posting my stuff in a critique forum  But, Greg, I am not an "elitist."  I am simply being true to myself.

 

I have been writing, playing, and recording music for a long, long, long time.  When I first joined here, I was just starting to re-engage with music after a long hiatus from it.  All I had in terms of gear back then was a cheap acoustic guitar, a mic, and Reaper to record.  I was still able to write good songs, but my arrangements and recordings were rudimentary.  Over time, I steadily upgraded my guitars, my DAW, my mic, etc.  I'm not in band where I have the opinions of bandmates to consider.  I don't collaborate, so I don't have the opinions of collaborators to consider.  I am now at the point where music, including the recording of it, is something that's solely between me, my muse, and the universe of sounds. I  don't post in the critique forum, simply because I have also come to the point where I can be honest with myself, and know that I sincerely do not care what anyone else thinks of my work.  You think I should change this part of my lyrics?  I don't care.  You think this aspect of my arrangement or this mixing choice I made is problematic?  I don't care.   It would only be counterproductive for me and for the critique forum to post my stuff in a critique forum here.

 

However, if I think I might have something constructive to offer, I will still comment on stuff others post in a critique forum here.  I will also participate in discussions of things here if I think I might have something to contribute.  But, for my work, all I want to do is archive it and share it.  I don't think that makes me an elitist.  I certainly don't feel that way or have that mindset.  However, if John/Songstuff thinks I come off that way and that's not the type of member it wants, that's cool.  I will understand.  Just let me know, and I'll stop Showcasing my stuff. 

 

Thanks,

David

 

 

 

 

[Greg M]

2 hours ago, HoboSage said:

For those of you who don't know, this is my second go round as a member here. I was a very active member here years ago. and I can't help but be surprised that many of you seem to think that the critique forums here are currently quite "active."  From my perspective, compared to how they used to be, the critique forums seem like graveyards.    Anyway . . . I feel I need to address this from Greg.

 

I am only posting my stuff in the Showcase.  I am not posting my stuff in a critique forum  But, Greg, I am not an "elitist."  I am simply being true to myself.

 

I have been writing, playing, and recording music for a long, long, long time.  When I first joined here, I was just starting to re-engage with music after a long hiatus from it.  All I had in terms of gear back then was a cheap acoustic guitar, a mic, and Reaper to record.  I was still able to write good songs, but my arrangements and recordings were rudimentary.  Over time, I steadily upgraded my guitars, my DAW, my mic, etc.  I'm not in band where I have the opinions of bandmates to consider.  I don't collaborate, so I don't have the opinions of collaborators to consider.  I am now at the point where music, including the recording of it, is something that's solely between me, my muse, and the universe of sounds. I  don't post in the critique forum, simply because I have also come to the point where I can be honest with myself, and know that I sincerely do not care what anyone else thinks of my work.  You think I should change this part of my lyrics?  I don't care.  You think this aspect of my arrangement or this mixing choice I made is problematic?  I don't care.   It would only be counterproductive for me and for the critique forum to post my stuff in a critique forum here.

 

However, if I think I might have something constructive to offer, I will still comment on stuff others post in a critique forum here.  I will also participate in discussions of things here if I think I might have something to contribute.  But, for my work, all I want to do is archive it and share it.  I don't think that makes me an elitist.  I certainly don't feel that way or have that mindset.  However, if John/Songstuff thinks I come off that way and that's not the type of member it wants, that's cool.  I will understand.  Just let me know, and I'll stop Showcasing my stuff. 

 

Thanks,

David

 

 

 

 

 

Hi David,

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I made quite lengthy comments about a number of aspects of Songstuff, as requested. You only seem to be replying to one part of those comments, yet your final section here addresses my overall feelings. The main focus of my comments was that Songstuff could be more of a community, with members paying attention to not only their own work, but the work of others, helping aspiring songwriters and performers to develop their skills. 

 

you said that

 

"if I think I might have something constructive to offer, I will still comment on stuff others post in a critique forum here.  I will also participate in discussions of things here if I think I might have something to contribute".

 

This is exactly what I was alluding to, so we don't have a disagreement, and my reference to "elitism" is not aimed at you.

Apologies if you felt slighted in any way

Greg M

 

[HoboSage]

No worries, Greg.  I just wanted to clarify why I am not posting for critique, and I appreciate you clarifying what you were saying.  You were talking about  . . . for lack of a better term . . . drive-by-posters looking only to get without giving back. 

 

David