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So, when will TA finally bite the dust? (pg. 4)
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| Bierheld |
| No one's ever been an to me here even when I was new. If you're a ty user then you'll get to hear it just like on every other forum, and even then you're a if you leave because of that. |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by Bierheld
Yeah I'm trying to remember which users we lost that were worth a damn but I can't think of many. There's Chimney, EZ, pozz. What else? |
As much as we quarreled, pre-sex-change A. Vana brought an awful lot to that forum. We've lost the likes of bas, RJT, shaw, jupiterone, seppuku, Gauss, Tangil and loads of others who only post once in a blue moon now. Not necessarily fascinating, scene-stealing posters, but people with solid tastes and opinions that didn't revolve around the same narrow spectrum. |
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| Bierheld |
Yeah I think he/she was a brilliant contributor but I thought she'd been gone for longer then two years now which is what woony was focussing on.
In any case, losing users is a given for any forum. You need a constant supply of freshmen to keep things going. It's pretty clear this site has nothing to offer any more to modern music lovers and club goers. |
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| Mr.Mystery |
| Who here listens to recent trance music and has something interesting to say about it? |
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| Bierheld |
What I really wish they'd do is clear out all of the dead subforums.
They should clean out DJ promo as well, or at least make a separate section for contributing members. It's so annoying to use right now.
Then there's the countless advances in webdesign that could be incorporated that would help things along, but that's probably too much to ask for. |
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| Swamper |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sykonee
Difference there is the fitness community is mostly united in their interests (peak physical conditions), even if some disagreement may exist on how to achieve them. It can cultivate a large community that way.
By contrast, the 'EDM community' (re: followers of electronic music of any sort) is incredibly fractured, many forming their own scenes that caters to their particular tastes. TA's no different in that regard, though the community that's come to inhabit here has changed quite a bit from the early days. Big business may try to create a unified community at large, but as it hasn't happened in 20+ years of 'EDM culture', it ain't happening at all.
That all said, I still come back to TA's forums because, somehow, someway, it's cultivated a community that's remarkably diverse in interests, all things considered. |
Yup.
A large part of TA's success was that in the early days (2000-2005+) you had to really be into EDM to sign up/participate in the forums. Music (dj mixes/sets) were hard to come by, IDs were difficult to get, and watching video (of events) or music videos was a chore in codecs until sites started using Flash. Yeah, for years the search terms "trance download", "trance music" and "trance music videos" brought in a ton of traffic because I was in the top 2 for those. Before I had TA I registered UnknownTracks.com because I wanted a forum just based around IDing music... but then I quickly changed my mind. I registered edmaddict.com in 2003 thinking of changing the name of the site one day because while Trance is my preference I was also always into Techno/House as well. It always bothered me that TA didn't have more of a generic name to encompass the other genres but after I got this place up and running I didn't see an easy way to switch to something else.... and besides, I figured, Trance is the entry point into EDM for most people and it seems to also be what gets peeps most passionate (and thus willing to write reviews/post pictures/etc.)
I struggled for a long time with MP3 legalities and other headaches in those first 5 years... it was difficult at first to keep the place running (I had to learn linux/php/apache/etc.) and to cover costs but once I figured out how to navigate the bull it was painless. Napster, Myplay.com, Audiogalaxy, FreeDiskSpace.com and the dedication of most of the moderators played a big role in keeping this place afloat. Also, the event listings have been a big thing that keeps people coming back - the Toronto Event listings started in 2004 and it took years before I added the other areas (regret that).
2006 was the peak year for TA forums - in terms of posts - it was also when I had offers coming in to buy the place -- in hindsight I should have probably sold but I couldn't predict what was coming. When facebook became popular (in 2007) that's when posts started to drop as a whole. The UK and Dutch areas of TA used to be the busiest but around this time they died out and California/New York/Toronto became the popular regional areas.
What do we have today? Well ,the (vast) majority of new generation North American EDM fans (the neon kids/"YOLO"s/Mollyheads) are too busy with Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/etc. to care about forums much less write a lengthy review of their night out! (I take some of the blame in this as TA doesn't have a mobile version). They also come into the scene at a great time (in terms of availability/exposure) - tons of music festivals -- easy access to artist interaction (fb/twitter) -- and tons of digital media to go with it (youtube/soundcloud/mixcloud/beatport). No longer is it a chore to seek out EDM (well, it still is for 'good' EDM) but this stuff is being pushed out and marketed all over the place.
I look at other forums that have come up over the past few years and they're all barely off the ground (unless someone knows one I haven't found yet). If I type EDM forum into google TA comes up first.
| quote: | | Then there's the countless advances in webdesign that could be incorporated that would help things along, but that's probably too much to ask for. |
What would you like to see that isn't here? |
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| AlphaStarred |
| quote: | Originally posted by Swamper
...Trance is the entry point into EDM for most people... |
Definitely. I don't see a reason to bash users in MD and call them narrow-minded just because they're (still) into Trance, while others have moved on to other styles of EM. Remember, you were also once a trancehead. |
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| Redd |
| quote: | Originally posted by AlphaStarred
Definitely. I don't see a reason to bash users in MD and call them narrow-minded just because they're (still) into Trance, while others have moved on to other styles of EM. Remember, you were also once a trancehead. |
you've been gone too long. the bashing isn't of people just getting into edm/trance. |
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| AlphaStarred |
| quote: | Originally posted by Redd
you've been gone too long. |
True that...
Who else is getting bashed, just out of curiosity? |
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| Lunar Phase 7 |
| quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
Music Discussion has seriously regressed in the past few months to a hive of ignorant and small-minded morons. |
You ought to know you bought it! |
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| Bierheld |
| quote: | Originally posted by Swamper
What would you like to see that isn't here? |
Depends on were you want to go. If the traditional forum is still the way to go there are a lot of very common features that have been overlooked for this site.
The main things:
-Quickposting - The abilty to leave a comment without leaving the thread and having to reload the entire page by having a comment box at the bottom of the page.
-Posts as separate dynamic objects, which can be refreshed without reloading the page. In other words an auto update function making it easier to follow a thread.
-Non intrusive pop-up notifications that can pop up at any time while browsing the site, both for quotes and PM's.
-A simple way to track topics you've posted in or follow topics you're interested in. Like a custom home page sort of thing. Although I guess this community isn't really big enough to really make this a necessity.
-Better Youtube integration, there are ways to embed the videos without it resulting in massive bandwidth killing threads that have you loading tons of youtube players you're never going to listen to. A simple clickable thumbnail and title that loads a pop-out youtube player would do the trick.
If you really want to win back the facebook crowd though you're going to have to go further then that. The possibilities are endless, look at the way these new social media are integrated with each other and how easy it is to find content there. Imagine if every user here has a profile that shows what music they listen to, what events they attend, what reviews they posted. Imagine seeing someone randomly reference an artist and being able to find out who that artist is, what his music sounds like and were he's playing all within a few clicks. It's all possible, but it requires a radical departure from what this site is and I wonder if anyone that's here now really wants all that. |
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