is there any etiquette on here?

[Flash Harry]

I have been toying with the idea of a Songcrafters podcast. I think that Internet radio may be a bit ambitious, we have some great music and a podcast could attract some interest.

We don't have advertising on the site (even for members gear for sale and certainly not for material or merch) and maintaining a radio presence will add to the costs of maintaining the site. I'm not comfortable with the commercialisation of what we have.

That said - a monthly podcast of 60 minutes or so showcasing the new music of the month could be possible if others were prepared to contribute.

[Mike_S]

Strange, but only the other day as I was listening to a blues radio station that I listen to while working, I thought a Songcrafters Radio station would be very cool with a selection of the best music playing. Obviously would require someone with the time and will to do it though.

But definitely there is so much good stuff on here and the unique side to the site is the variety and creativity of musicians free of any restrictions just doing what sounds good to them... and you can hear it in the songs. For sure a lot of the stuff on here is deserving of a wider audience.

[StephenM]

I have been toying with the idea of a Songcrafters podcast. I think that Internet radio may be a bit ambitious, we have some great music and a podcast could attract some interest.

We don't have advertising on the site (even for members gear for sale and certainly not for material or merch) and maintaining a radio presence will add to the costs of maintaining the site. I'm not comfortable with the commercialisation of what we have.

That said - a monthly podcast of 60 minutes or so showcasing the new music of the month could be possible if others were prepared to contribute.

I hear you...contribute like as far as music or money?  I know there are lots of people who would love the music I hear on here....

[Hook]

Thank you Kenny, nail-head.
Love the podcast idea...many ideas floating around in my head. Revolving songcrafter hosts? Live showcase/interview? Video companion? I know nothing of podcasts but I do have an old contact that used to book me who now does them full time and teaches seminars. Interesting idea?
Rock on!

[Frank53]

Just another comment on etiquette...
In my past life here, I would always thank everyone for their comments, as I felt it was the polite and thoughtful thing to do. Since my return I am more hesitant to do so, as I sometimes feel like I am just bumping my own song back to the top. I know people (not here) who would intentionally reply or add comment to their song posts for that very reason. I'm probably just being to self conscious, but there it is. 

[Ferryman]

I think the podcast idea is brilliant, but the obsessive compulsive in me is already worrying about the logistics, like the varying "hotness" of all the recordings here. Someone would have to do a bit of mastering to every track to equalize the levels at least. If we could make it work I would be happy to contribute in some way shape or form. Of course we would not be able to play any covers due to copyright issues which would rule out those folks who only/mainly contribute cover songs. 

Just another comment on etiquette...
In my past life here, I would always thank everyone for their comments, as I felt it was the polite and thoughtful thing to do. Since my return I am more hesitant to do so, as I sometimes feel like I am just bumping my own song back to the top. I know people (not here) who would intentionally reply or add comment to their song posts for that very reason. I'm probably just being to self conscious, but there it is. 

I know I have been a bit guilty of this in the past, partly because I do like to engage in discussions about songs and also because I produce so few songs that sometimes my stuff gets buried quickly. I also genuinely like to thank people who take the time to comment. What I do now is an occasional "collective" thanks comment (as that seems polite) and then a direct answer if people have specific questions.

It's a difficult balance. Being a reserved English chappie I hate the idea of offending anyone.....

[Greeny]

Just another comment on etiquette...
In my past life here, I would always thank everyone for their comments, as I felt it was the polite and thoughtful thing to do. Since my return I am more hesitant to do so, as I sometimes feel like I am just bumping my own song back to the top. I know people (not here) who would intentionally reply or add comment to their song posts for that very reason. I'm probably just being to self conscious, but there it is. 

Yes, this is a tough one. I tend to only comment on my own song-threads if there's a specific question or some ongoing banter. But it does seem impolite sometimes when someone has taken the time and effort to write a really detailed critique or review. I think deliberate self-bumping would be noticed though, as it tends not to happen very much.

[64Guitars]

Just another comment on etiquette...
In my past life here, I would always thank everyone for their comments, as I felt it was the polite and thoughtful thing to do. Since my return I am more hesitant to do so, as I sometimes feel like I am just bumping my own song back to the top. I know people (not here) who would intentionally reply or add comment to their song posts for that very reason. I'm probably just being to self conscious, but there it is. 

We don't have a strict policy on 'thank you' posts but I think they're best avoided. The best way to thank people for commenting on your songs is for you to comment on other people's songs (and not just the people who commented on your song). That will make the site better for everyone. 'Thank you' posts shouldn't be expected, so no one should feel offended when they're not thanked for their comments.

There's a thin line between being polite and being annoying. The worst case is when someone feels the need to post individual 'thank you' messages for each person who commented on their song. In other words, if 8 people commented on their song, they'll post 8 separate 'thank you' messages in the topic. That just clutters the topic with unnecessary replies that aren't of interest to anyone except perhaps the commenter they're directed at. If you must post a 'thank you' message, please do it only once per topic with a generic "Thanks for the comments everyone" or something like that. Don't post individual 'thank you' messages. And if more comments are posted after your "Thanks everyone" message, please don't post another 'thank you' message in the topic. The one 'thank you' is enough as we'll assume it applies to future comments as well.

I think we should try to make our replies interesting to everyone, not just the single person that they're directed at. For example, if Fred writes "Great song. I love the strings" and you reply "Thanks Fred", then your reply is only of interest to Fred. But if you instead replied "Thanks. I used the _?_ patch of the _?_ string library", then that's new information which is potentially of interest to everyone. So let's avoid 'thank you' posts that only say "Thank you". They're of no interest to anyone except the person they're directed at.

Any reply to a topic marks the topic as unread. So, for those of us who keep up with the posts by using the "Unread posts since last visit" or "Show all unread posts" features, 'thank you' posts are particularly annoying since they mark topics unread when we've already read everything in the topic except the 'thank you' message. For example, if I click on the 'Unread Posts' button at the top of the page and it shows me that I have 16 unread messages, I'll be annoyed if many of them turn out to be 'thank you' messages.

We won't go as far as banning 'thank you' messages, so if you choose to continue posting them, it will be allowed. But I hope that everyone will consider my comments in this message and choose to stop posting 'thank you' messages unless the "thank you" is merely part of a comment about something that's more interesting to everyone, such as my strings example above ("Thanks. I used the _?_ patch of the _?_ string library").

By the way, Frank, although I'm replying to your comment, this message isn't meant to be directed at you specifically. When I use words like "you" and "your", I'm referring to everyone.

[IanR]

As someone who floats in and out a bit, the only thing I can do is post more often. However, life gets in the way at times.

I do post more often when I have a new song in the list because I am keen to see who may have noticed my song. And I try to pay back Songcrafters by commenting on other songs and providing feedback and answers to questions.

I've been around here for more than 10 years and I would say that my profile is modest. There certainly are a core group who post very often and they are generally the ones who impose the rules around etiquette. I tend to do what I think is fair and within my ability to right by others in the time I have available.

Unless you really piss people off by being selfish and silly, there is very little risk of attracting any negative feedback regarding posting behaviour.

Ian

[Mike_S]

I think the etiquette seems to kind of sort itself out as the vast majority here seem to understand what constitutes basic decent online behaviour, so we are pretty lucky in that regard. Most of it would be fairly common sense I think. Posting loads of stuff but commenting very little on other folks stuff would be a bit out of line, but again I think most of us realise that.

The other thing that I think is a little bit of an unwritten law in Songcrafters, but I could be wrong is commenting negatively on a track is to be avoided. This site fosters and encourages each others journey in music and we are all travelling different paths in that regard... little production help / tips and advice are welcome, maybe song structure tips, things like that. But I think generally the longer you are a member the more you get a feel for the type of commenting that is useful/acceptable/nice to hear, etc. You will get a feel for each persons personality through their comments... and how to interact... each of us is different after all!

But having said all that I see very little in the way of bad etiquette on here which is brilliant.