http://soundcloud.co m/awakeng http://www.youtube.c om/user/CloudPulse
Age 32, Male
IBM
Dubuque, Iowa
Joined on 12/11/05
Posted by Rawrthaas - June 24th, 2008
I need somewhere else to submit music. Somewhere where you may actually get a decent response, and there is no zero voting.
Zero voting isn't that much of a problem. But lately, this place has gotten worse. I just think it's in my best interest to go somewhere else soon.
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ph idk... myspace?
I think people shouldn't be able to vote unless they review first.
Better Community? Where else do you plan on posting?
Myspace is not helpful for being found at all. It's overpopulated for one and almost impossible to get listens or friend requests without already previously being a recognized artist, or going to search out on your own. I bet you can look at your audio submissions each day and see that your listens counts thave rised..On myspace? Rarely happens. Besides, all the criticism they give there is "hey i like your new song!" and that's pretty much it. NG generally gives out more helpful advice, even though a lot of the reviews are short.
And plus, that community is more directed towards mainstream sounding music like what you would hear on MTV. NG moreso likes EDM, so if you're making Trance and Drum and Bass this is a good place to submit.
Soundclick and PureVolume are the same. Mainstream styles are the focus, and they are larger than here and harder to get noticed on. And you won't find any criticism other than vague advice "I like/don't really like". Once again.
Garageband.com I can't say, but I'm sure Imeem, facebook, ilike, all those mainstream apps won't get you the same type of views that you would here on NG.
Slicethepie might be a good place to get some reviews, but again, I wouldn't be able to say how good the reviews are because I haven't signed up there or seen any of the reviews.
Maybe if you're just looking to build a fanbase that would be a suitable place. If you want criticism to help you improve, maybe a smaller community/forum focused on the styles you produce music for would be better. But in short, NG is probably the best audio place in the spectrum of large websites. it's easy to pick up a review, download, or favorite from just submitting a track and being on the top 30 recent submissions. People will search for keywords, see your name and listen to your music. Also, you have a chance of getting used in flash submissions, which can generate even more popularity. How many people do you have on your favorites list? do you think you would be able to rack up the same number at another site?
Regarding the top 5, I'd have to disagree with you there. I can look at the top 5 this week, and we could probably come to an agreement that those are well produced and composed tracks that deserve to be there. I seldomly see a track with sytrus presets on the top 5...seldom.
Of course luck is a factor, but I've never seen a downright shitty submission make the top 5. Some of them have some type of value to it which a significant amount of people can enjoy. And some unnoticed (but good) artists have made the Top 5 by luck, but also skill, such as Nubbinownz and Oscillist.
Of course, not all the "good" artists will get noticed. That's just life. You seem to be frustrated with the fact that general NG audience's taste does not cater to your style. What's wrong if a sytrus preset track reaches the top 5? There's no quantitative scale on determing how good or bad a piece is- if enough people enjoyed the track to vote 5 on it, and the score places where it's at that's all that matters. That's how the system should work, it shouldn't be graded by a bunch of elitists or experienced musicians. Newgrounds is a place for everyone. BTW, my track "Quantum Laboratory" made the front page of NG, and it was made all using sytrus presets and FPC drums (with slight tweaks) and nobody noticed or bitched about it. Use presets as a tool, not something to stray away from. It's better to use a professionally designed texture than a crappy synth you made is going to hinder your compositional abilities. That's just part of music.
Regarding the zero voting, you've been here long enough to know that if you review other people, they will come back to your page, and if your stuff is good (which it certainly) is your scores will raise, and the zero voting effects will flush away. It takes patience, but your music will indeed surface.
Speaking of not recieving reviews- I've been listening to your work, and I notice that you seldomly respond. When I see people not responding, I very, very rarely decide to write up a review. I just think to myself if someone's not going to appreciate my effort in actively listening to their song and writing an extensive review, why should I even take the effort to bother? If you responded and thanked people for taking the time to listen to your work, the comments you recieve will increase. And keep on reviewing too- I have 33 fans, probably an average of about 13 reviews on each song, and I can guarantee you I WOULD NOT have even half that if it wasn't for writing helpful reviews and staying active in the community. (I haven't even asked a single person to personally review or check out my music) 154 reviews and 3 BBS posts for being here 2 and half years is not very much.
Whatever you do, please link me to where you're going to upload your music, because I enjoy your stuff a lot. Well, good luck! and sorry for the long rant.
Hah. Thanks for the long response. Maybe I need to do my part and respond. Maybe I need to get myself known better.
Maybe I am taking this stuff too seriously either way. Making music is really only a hobby. I probably won't get anywhere with it in the long run. Who knows. I don't. Maybe I should be more casual with this stuff. Just submit songs, and get on with my life. Wait, isn't that what I already do?
Maybe this news post was an unnecessary bout of frustration.
Also, when I said the sytrus preset thing I wasn't referring to songs in the top 5 (i didn't mention anything about the top 5), I was referring to people who receive a lot of downloads and reviews for such songs.
Thank you for the input.
edit: i do have an old account with 236 posts. I posted on it when I was like 12 lul.
and btw, no one cares about "user of the week" rofl.
A while ago it got me a LOT of downloads and reviews when I got it. It was a whiiiile ago though.
Phillyman
So because people vote zero's on songs makes NG poop? I think it's good to have a 0-5 rating system so you get rid of the shit no one wants.
Rawrthaas (Updated )
Perhaps you missed the part where I also said "where you may actually get a decent response"
The system itself is fine. The community is more of the problem. When songs are first submitted they are so vunerable to be zeroed and it will never have a chance to be looked at. For example, Guy submits a good song. Guy B submits a piece of shit. Guy B is an asshole, while Guy is an honest man. Guy B zero votes Guy's song, and his song is pitted forever with a lousy 2.44 rating, even though the song is pretty good.
Also, getting yourself known on Newgrounds is pretty much all luck. That really sums this place up: luck and submitting at the right time. See, I have been here three years. I have seen newgrounds change, people come and leave, etc. Over this time I've sort of built my reputation amongst those who have been here a while. While my involvement in the community is minimal, there are people who have no community involvement yet they get diamond tracks because they submitted at the right time, and luck (User of the week).
There are some people who have achieved this, and so don't even deserve the recognition. Their stuff is such bullshit I can't believe how people can "ZOMG ORGASM" over it. Fuck that. Just a bunch of Systrus presets and out of the box samples. Get the fuck out of here with that noise.
Then there's people on here that are really really good at production (there's a lot of them on my favorite artists list), but they get about 1 or 2 reviews per song. What the hell? If people aren't going to appreciate a good song, why bother anymore?