ReverbNation . . .

[64Guitars]

Since I joined Soundcloud I've had a total of 507 plays of my songs.  I joined Alonetone later and my play count there is currently 13,786.

I wouldn't worry about numbers if I were you. They really don't mean much.

What is a "listen"? I'd say it's when someone plays your song from start to finish and gives it their full attention all the way through. By that definition, it's absolutely impossible to count listens. The web site cannot determine if the "listener" is actually listening. He may have gone to get a cup of coffee, answer the doorbell, gone to the bathroom, etc. He might be talking on the phone or reading something and paying no attention to the song. Or he might have removed his headphones and/or turned off his computer's speakers. The web site also can't determine if the listener played the song all the way through. They could have clicked on the link to play your song, then immediately clicked Stop. All that web sites can do is count the number of times a file is accessed. But that's meaningless because a file can be accessed in many ways that don't involve listening. For example, web spiders can access your files. Or someone might click on your song by mistake, then immediately click stop when they realize it wasn't the song they'd meant to click on. That still counts as a "play", even though it only played for a second or two and no one was really listening.

On your home page at alonetone, you'll see a "Recently listened to" list. These are the songs that you've "listened to" at alonetone, with the most recent at the top. Try this: Go to the alonetone home page and listen to one of the songs in any of the lists ("Latest uploaded", "Currently kicking ass", "Recently favorited"). Listen to it all the way through, then click Stop immediately. Now go to your personal home page at alonetone and look at the "Recently listened to" list. You'll find that the song you listened to is at #2 in that list. The song at the top of the list (supposedly the last song you "listened to") is the song after the song you actually listened to, in which you immediately clicked Stop (so you didn't listen to the song at all). That's because there's no way to listen to a song all the way through without also starting the next song. Even if you immediately click Stop, the song is still counted as a "play". Everyone's play count at alonetone includes these unintentional plays of songs that they never actually listened to at all. So the count is meaningless.

How many "plays" from your play count at alonetone (or any site) are actual listens? It's impossible to know but I suspect that the number is much lower than you might think. Many of them could be from people who listened to the song before yours, then clicked Stop. Many more could be web spiders, accidental clicks, etc.

The only count that is somewhat meaningful is the number of comments. And even that should be taken with a grain of salt. There's no way to know if the commenter listened to the entire song, half the song, or 10 seconds. Or maybe the commenter didn't listen at all. A lot of people comment on songs primarily because they hope that you'll reciprocate. So, if all they're interested in is getting comments on their own songs, they might post comments on other people's songs without actually listening. I think that's despicable but I'm sure that it happens.

I say don't worry about trying to measure your success. Just make music for yourself. You are the only critic of your music that you can be sure is 100% honest. Any feedback you get from others, whether by web site statistics or comments, is inaccurate and untrustworthy, and possibly downright misleading.

[Flash Harry]

(Boys you don't need that kind of woman, no good with come of it  )

Can I find that out for myself please?

[Hilary]

You're getting distracted boys . . . can you focus please. ReberbNation vs Soundcloud vs Alonetone - it's all about the music!

[Hilary]

Can you link songs directly from Alonetone to Songcrafters, like you can with Soundcloud?

[ODH]

Can you link songs directly from Alonetone to Songcrafters, like you can with Soundcloud?

Yes.  There's an button above with a speaker on it, the tooltip says 'stream a single mp3'.  Click on that.

Code Select Expand

[singlemp3][/singlemp3]
In alonetone go to the song page, view more then select the text string in the 'direct download link:' box.  Back in Songcrafters, paste that string in between the square boxes

Code Select Expand

[singlemp3]http://alonetone.com/odh/tracks/venus-in-furs-velvets-cover.mp3[/singlemp3]
You'll get the song in the normal player, like so.  It'll play through into the alonetone site.

Time:

0:00

Volume:

50

0

 Stop   Play   Pause   Vol   Vol   Mute   Repeat   Download

[Hilary]

Thanks Nick

[Hilary]

Done - thanks

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=19950.msg245098;topicseen#new

[AndyR]

Interesting reading what people have said about the different places.

I like Alonetone a lot. But just like anywhere else, one doesn't get many plays there until one has raised one's profile...

That means listening to other people's stuff, and commenting on it when you like it. People notice you if you're visible, that means listening (logged in) and commenting. Check it out - try listening a bit, find something you like and comment. I can almost guarantee you that when you check your own listeners stats that you'll find that they've given you a go because of it.

I was on soundclick for a while, and I suspect that that worked the same way, except I didn't like it, and never got into it. It seemed kinda intrusive when some nutter made a lame attempt to attract my attention to listen to their stuff (that I'm not into).

I like how alonetone seems a bit more impersonal. You chuck your stuff on there, people make comments if they feel like it, no-one owes anyone anything.

If you want "lots" of plays, then you have to join in a bit... but if that doesn't worry you, then you don't have to. It's just a cool place to host your stuff and send your friends and relatives to - no ads, no pop-ups, no need for them to look at anything other than the link you give them.

Oh, and btw, when you host a song there and link to it from elsewhere, all the plays count (although not as heavily as "logged in member" plays and comments if you're interested in the "ass kicking" on there) So every play from here ends up over there

But, unless it's a universally recognisable "good listen" that one or two members happen to pick up on the moment you post it, a song will NOT market itself over there. Just like anywhere else, you need to market yourself a bit if you want people to notice you. It also helps if you put something in the "About" of the song, and the "About" on your profile.

One word of warning, though, in case you haven't noticed it - some of the site is "broken" at the moment. He completely replaced the back end a few weeks back and is currently debugging it. The "Favourites" is not working at the moment, which is a bit of a bugger, and your personal song stats are not displaying either (on your Tracks sub-tab). Favourites is undergoing fixing at the moment, I understand, but song stats are unlikely to be fixed in their "old state", he's going to replace them with "better".

Another thing, it is NOT the community that it was a year or so ago. A lot of regulars have drifted off for various reasons, although some seem to be coming back. It's not quite the jolly place it was, but I think it's growing again .

Anyway, I tried soundclick, didn't like it, I didn't seem to have control over my own destiny and I didn't want to get involved. AT was recommended to me by someone on here, and it attracted me because of the "are you prepared to give your music away for free so that people actually hear it?" approach. I've looked at Reverbnation and Soundcloud, and they look to me like different flavours of soundclick...

Besides, I want to keep all my stuff in one place and not have to worry about updating several places at once. And if I ever want to remove it from the web fast, I know I can do it with AT. If AT "dies" I might reconsider, but for the moment, hosting my stuff there and linking to it from here and various other places suits me fine.

Oh, nearly forgot: what 64 says about "plays" on AT is true - if people are listening to you off the main pages. I can only speak for myself, but that certainly isn't my listening pattern. It doesn't seem to be the listening pattern of most of my listeners either. Most of the time I will play a song off its own page (so I can read the About and any comments), or if I'm into the artist at that moment and want to listen to several, I'll play them off their own track lists. Otherwise, in catch-up mode, I'm listening my own Tracks From Those You Follow" list ... folks I've already indicated I want to hear everything new from.

I tend to deliberately avoid pressing play anywhere where I might get hit by some crazy sh1t I wasn't looking for in 3-5 minutes time!

I suspect many of the other AT members do that most of the time. I usually know a song exists (either I've heard it before or I've got the email to tell me it's new), and I go looking for it. But if I'm listening in the background, yeah anything goes, but a play's still a play (even if I went "OMIGOD WHAT'S THAT NOISE!!!" and switch it off quick )

[Hilary]

Oh thanks Andy. I like Soundcloud (it's kind of old fashioned and I like that) but the main problem with Soundcloud as far as Songcrafters is concerned is that some of the links won't play (via ipad and iphone etc).

I like the idea of hosting all my stuff via one site and linking it to various places as it's easier to control. I'm not looking to raise my profile, as all the songs I post are just for fun, so I'm not looking to market myself. I've taken the decision not to post any of the comedy stuff I am gigging with on the internet - some do and some don't - I don't (it's personal choice and quite specific to my own circumstances as a stand-up comic, I believe).

So, I'm giving Alonetone a go . . .

[AndyR]

Are you on twitter? One thing AT won't do at the moment, which soundcloud does do rather nicely, is integrate into tweets. When I post a link to a song in a tweet, someone has to follow the link off to the song page on AT to listen... at least they get all the lyrics and waffle... but with a soundcloud hosted song, it plays there in the tweet.

I'm assuming facebook is the same (but I don't know nowt about facebook!)