Gannon wrote:

If the track was available for download somewhere I'd link to it, good idea? It might take traffic away from here.

Could bring them here, too. [artist name] + free download is a popular google search, I'd warrant. I know my blog gets a few hits that way; which often surprises me because I wouldn't have thought I'd be that high up on the google rankings. (No, I don't host - only link to free and legal ones).

Last edited by Gone Wishing (2010-05-06 04:52:08)

OK, think I'm gonna get this started this week and see if I have the momentum (I've certainlly got the tunes) to carry it forward every week. I'm gonna keep it forum side for the now and open a new forum in which replies to my post are allowed, but no new threads by non-administrators. One intro post (which I'll stick if I can - dunno if our forums have the facility), and then a new thread for the first submission. Needless to say it will be entirely subjective, wholly bias. I also intend for it to be more conversational than my reviewing style. You may have noticed (probably not) that I never reference myself in my reviews magazine side (no "I"s, "me"s, "my"s etc) - that is personal choice, as will making this exercise less formal be.

Dunno if the podcast feature is available forum side (I doubt it), but won't explore it for the now. I'll post purely text as again I'm not sure if our forums can cope with photobucket-style insertion of images (anyone care to try and find out?). I'll post a few relevant links if available too, inc one to the mp3 if it is freely and legally availble (and more crucially easy to find - I'm not trawling on your behalf!).

Wish me luck. Feedback very welcome.

Hopefully all of the following will be supported...

Plain image:



Gif:



Clickable thumbnail:



Clickable image linking to another site (well, in this instance if you click on it, it should take you straight to the latest review):




Edit: Sweet - cue a "what's your favourite album art?" thread...

Last edited by Gone Wishing (2010-08-05 09:23:51)

I can see the four image files

No problems... Although, this now gives me the option of including any number of my private collection of smilies.

Most of which are ninjas.

Gannon wrote:

Feedback welcome.

Oki - all is (obviously, I hope) intended to be constructive, and all is personal opinion - which exists somewhere outside the realm of right and wrong, as I'm sure we can all appreciate.

A feature like Track of the Week is probably best served by having a definitive purpose, which closely resembles, but is not quite the same as, a theme. As its primary function is to highlight, bring attention to, and encourage listeners to seek out, new (to them) music, I like it in that sense - and, as indicated, both times I've gone off and grabbed the available tracks.

If I was going to implement one  - heh, the "how I'd do it so much better than you" bit; I don't mean that at all; just throwing up some ideas after a bit of musing - I might consider having either a running or rotating theme(s): best of what you can find free on the net, or for a more refined version/s - best of the independent, home-recorded stuff, best of the net-labels, cycling through decades or music styles...even producers; whatever it is you find yourself delving into or paying attention to on a regular basis. Or even something random every week as I think it's about placecard holders- they appeal to people because they can begin to get a sense of what  to expect in a way, while still leaving the way wide open for what actually gets put underneath. That sort of thing also promotes and invites further discussion because while it's still primarily about your perspective and opinion, there's more there for people to contend with on a general level. (i.e. "Finest example of [insert something or other here] from [same deal as before] I've unearthed this week" is likely to get people going "oh, really?"

It depends on how much input and response you want back from each post - whether your intention is to just point people in a direction, or whether you want them to come back with commentary and directions of their own.

If it's the former, a bit more like a weekly recommendation, I'd suggest it would work better mag-side, where the option to comment is available, but invitation for discussion isn't as implied as it is being forum-side. (RCRD LBL and some other sites allow their tracks and downloads to be embedded as HTML, I noticed, so you wouldn't necessarily need to send them away from [sic], either - and there's always the option of YouTube, which can also be embedded, on the proviso the respective vids have been uploaded by the copyright holders and have allowed embedding, I assume).

As an aside to that, just at the moment with regular posters being a little on the low side, individual discussions tend to reach their end pretty quick. As I've not been entirely sure what level of input or response you're looking for, I've primarily left it with a simple nod of approval for the tracks - one a little more enthusiastic for the Evangelista one.

Anyways...there might be something in there useful to the direction you want to take it.

Last edited by Gone Wishing (2010-08-19 03:29:27)

Perhaps "theme" was the wrong choice of word when I mentioned placecard holder - "name" would be more appropriate, to kind of give it a definitive sense of where it fits in, in your own scheme of things.

I'm not really sure how to properly convey what's running through my head - concept is there, words aren't. What I meant with the random placecard holder is that it needn't alter the tack you've been taking, it actually alters more the reception it gets.

I guess maybe if I use an example?

My Favourite Track This Week

as opposed to

I Never Thought I'd Like Unholy Hateful Black Pentagram Metal, But This Track Changed My Mind

The bonus to that is that titles are more google-able than content of posts, or so I've noticed when I google for stuff. People (I think anyway) are inclined to see that sort of thing and wonder what it's all about, and may be encouraged to join the discussion if the name (while still containing the necessary "you" element) is also relative to something they know about; which doesn't necessarily have to be the genre, perhaps just the experience of having their mind's changed about a certain type of music.

The reviews that have accompanied the tracks are informative in regards to the music itself, no doubt, and again they've piqued my interest in the music, but if it's also about favourites as opposed to simply putting forth a recommendation, I suppose what I'm saying is there's room for more personal - perhaps unquantifiable - reasoning behind why you like it and/or why other people should check it out; if they're your personal favourites, I'd like to understand or get a sense of what made them so.

Hope that makes sense, I don't want to misunderstand where you're coming from or where you're going, lol. o_O

Re: drawing more members, I've started taking a slightly more active role elsewhere with some of my online presences, so to speak (Lord  help me I even have a darn Twitter account now - I signed up for a free song, the preview single from Android Lust's latest several weeks ago). I'm still nutting it all out, but I've been maintaining links to here so hopefully if I get all that going right I might catch a stray or two. XD).

Gannon wrote:

And I'd love to make them a little more personal, somewhere between review and blog, but I'm struggling a bit to be honest.

I would be loathe to make an off-base assumption, but maybe it's just cos you don't know you know how

but

Gannon wrote:

Sealings. Sealings. Sealings. Sigh, Pinglewood, you are too kind to me. If I had a boyfriend, I'd wish he were dead too.

^^ You obviously do.

Urk - don't inspire me to issue a motherly tsk, I will be most unimpressed if I do since I'm not old enough.

I dunno, I guess it's easy for me to say, since I primarily write from the "I" and so on, but I don't reckon you need to consider it two voices, it's more just saying 'I like because...', instead of 'you'll like if...' - they can be the same reasons, even.

Anyway, I just read the latest installment - haven't gone out to check the song yet, but I liked the post.

I think if an image is available at the bands website or myspace it's okay to use providing we don't pass it of as ours. We're not making money out of the image and it's an image that's already 'out there' so to speak. if I know the photographer I'll credit them. And if anyone gets really moody about something then i'll take it down. But it seems unlikely. We're giving them coverage. It's a win win.

Actually I visit the site almost every workday at lunchtime and I didnt notice the ebooks forum until this week, too.  So dont feel bad.