The Tuesday DiScussion: DiScuss DiS!

or just any at all for Bristol

More options on band profiles? Like the fans can vote for favourite songs or leave comments or recommendations for people who want to get into that band/musician.
An option to go through gigs a month at a time, going through week by week can take its time.
An option for users to create new band profiles- this COULD be open to abuse admittedly but could help with more local bands, etc etc.

to hide/collapse the messages that were there last time I looked on the boards/comments.

Slash/slash.

http://web.archive.org/web/20050127152633/http://drownedinsound.com/

just seemed more drawn to the content when it was like that

the listings section is pretty useless for finding what's coming up in Bristol and probably a lot of other cities.

...all the time!

bring back demo reviews - appreciate they take time and content away from "proper" reviews, and you must receive 9 cack demos for every 1 thats good, but I discovered some good stuff through the old demo reviews

...it Mr. Mike_Diver!

I'm not sure it's worth it, if you have metacritic already, why bother?

Perhaps some writers on dance and hip hop? It's a bit under-represented.

Maybe have a featured new band every week, or something along those lines. Currently, I'm reading every review of bands I haven't heard of, in the hope of finding the jem.

With hundreds of contributing DiSers I presume ready to contribute and regularly update and many such as me very willing to update listings for our home town/areas, I think it would work. Sabotage is always the danger but to be honest a) who would sabotage gig listings? b) the potential benefits outweigh the risks.

Maybe also some sort of news ticker of very new news? With clickable links like the BBC News front page?

It would improve "capacity" i.e. how many stories you could fit on the front page for a start, just a thought.

so, let's say better listings and demo reviews

The best part of the site is discussion and user contribution. People like the idea of being able to "make a difference".

I like this site over other sites because if I go to somewhere like say...pitchfork and they review and album I really like and basically say: "It's shit", then there's nothing I can do about that.

However on this site I can comment the review, saying why I disagree, or I can write my own, and give my own rating, and I can rate the band myself.

It's good to know that, say for example Raz has reviewed the latest Bronx single and says it's a bit boring, 4/10 etc, that I've commented it saying how I think it's actually one of their best tracks. This makes a difference I think. People DO read the review comments. If someone was reading that review thinking "Meh I like them, dont think I'll bother with this one then..." and then see my comment and decide otherwise, then it could make the difference of them finding new albums/bands/tracks they love, or not.

To expand on this I think that there should be an "average user rating" for whatever is being reviewed. It's all about people being able to give their feedback and "make a difference", the interactivity. I know we can rate bands, but what if I think a band are ace and then all of a sudden release some shit song? Or have 2 albums out, one ace one 10/10 and one crap one 1/10? That doesn't mean I think the band are somewhere inbetween as a 5/10 then...

Maybe for the news their should be like a "small news" that doesn't really fit in with the main news. Maybe from sources such as band websites or myspace bulletins or whatnot. Like if a band has said "we're going to start recording the new album next week". Or "our new record is out on **/**/**".

Also for reviews, why not have a featured user review every day/week or something? This might even encourage people to write reviews or better quality reviews (definitely not mine then :P)

And for music direction, to be honest I wouldn't really like to see more hip hop and stuff reviewed....

I'm aware of the listings and gig calendar, but to be honest there's never ever any listings for my area (Stoke-on-trent) even though we're getting more and more bands playing around here. To be honest it wouldnt be that difficult to keep updated, there's only about two venues which the "main bands" play at here. Obviously there's a lot more venues than that but even if you just got the listings for "The Sugarmill" ( http://www.thesugarmill.co.uk/gigguide.php )
or "The Underground" then there would be a lot more to go by for people visiting the site.

Finally, as for the main/home page, I like how it's set out now. The news on the right hand side, a "main article" at the top, and the single, album, and live reviews along the middle. However my screen resolution is 1280x1024 and there is a lot of wasted space on the right hand side. Don't know if something can be done about that?

Ermmm yeah :) I think that's it? Great site, I love it :) It's literally changed a lot of aspects of my life. Maybe even changed my life. I listen to different music, better music than I did before. So I'm happier :) I go to different gigs, more gigs, meet more people... Basically it's just a bit ace!

i generally prefer not to have to click through to another page unless i have to.

Sometimes a line or 2 under an album review would be helpful when it comes to the many bands i've never heard of, saves skimming through the ones of no interest. I appreciate that these are probably bloody irritating to write though.

I hate your logo at the top of the page, can't exactly remember what the old one looked like but it was certainly better.

Apart from that it's great, well written (the most important aspect) and generally entertaining

also a search function on the forum would be useful (unless i've just missed it?)

pretty much.

mister rauf..

If the reviewers could provide a direct link to the tunes in question (myspace, band site, label site, etc) right at the top of the review, that would really help. There's nothing quite like listening to the music while reading the review.

Beyond that, the site is magnificent and is at the top of my favorites list, even ahead of the 'fork and the mighty Tiny Mix Tapes and Cokemachine Glow. This feedback feature is a big reason why. The great writing is the other.

yr biggest fan in mid-Willamette Oregon,

RstJ

drawing special attention to the single/album/live act of the day/week/month would be a good idea. Other than that I can't think of anything that would really improve the site. Without sounding too sycophantic, it's hard to make something already so good better.

more demos, more small releases, maybe the film/book reviews as well.

Apart from that, I'd say that the quality of the reviews, particularly some of the singles, is a little hit-and-miss. Granted, I could read Divers and crablins rantings for hours at work and feel no guilt whatsoever, but I couldn't say the same for some of the smaller reviews. Which is a shame, because it's often these records which are the real hidden gems.

listings...well, as a londoner we don't get a bad deal at all, but having lived in exeter and oxford as well, I can appreciate the need for listings that cover many more cities equally, especially those with thriving scenes.

In that respect, how about having partnerships/information exchanges with other regional sites? Maybe have Scene Reports a la Maximum Rock n Roll, focusing on a different town once in while, the good bands coming out of there, local venues where bands trying to book tours could play?

Essentially, whilst I love the information service you kids give in regards to records, maybe giving the same attention to live music, scenes, venues and small bands would turn this site into a much larger and more active community.

title bar design. the speakers and photoshop grass annoys me. maybe when a record is released two people could reviewit sepratly..and so you get two different viewpoints and scores.

a stream player for artists that are on DIS, i'd defo go on DIS in school a lot more, also my screen name is utter shite, wouldn't mind some way to change it without just makking a new profile-i can't be bothered ratting all the music AGAIN, gah!

Global listings is something I think is really key. We will be trying to expand the site away from being UK-centric as obviously we live in a global age and it's becoming increasingly clear that the music we're writing about isn't just reserved to the UK.

RE: Music players - this is the aim of our podcast.

News: Maybe slightly more stories? I enjoy the diversity of the stories posted (across all genre's etc) but sometimes things can go a little quiet on that front...

Listings: More! For some reason London isn't respresented as well as it could on the site. Maybe aim for something as comprehensive as ents24? In terms of general listings across 'our genres' if that makes sense. EG, wouldn't expect to see Panic! or Kylie tours listed, just more for bands in our pigeon holes.

Forums: Make them prettier. Give the profiles more options. Myspace links, messenger links, more interactive.

To an extent though, the site aint really broke, so it doesn't need much fixing.

looking at the album reviews quickly, there's Hatebreed, Dr. Octagon, The Thermals, Slayer, Mountain Goats etc. it's not the NME.

and in regards to hip-hop, i'd argue there's really not much around that's exciting. not that that should deny it reviews, but when the most interesting thing I can think of is a Stones Throw retrospective compilation, it's dire.

the public should know where i am at all times.

a gazillion to 1

...is a must i reckon.

And also links should open in a new window, rather than re-directing the current page!

Why was it removed? (Sorry if this has been explained countless times). I used to go there as often as the music and social forums and it was always really active. Having it back would be great!

found at the bottom of the reviews page
http://www.drownedinsound.com/reviews/board

having "average user ratings" for reviews is that in the age of street teaming, the place just gets flooded. like back when the ordinary boys had an average rating of 9/10 - that literally could not have been "honest", or whatever. it's a nice idea but yeah there's too many bastards in the world.

The Wiki (restricted to signed in members / members you have been signed up for more than a month say) sound like a great idea for listings. E.g. whenever I see a bands tourdates announced / dates from myspace just copy and paste them. If it's easy to report abuse it could be a great facility.

News: Perhaps some way that people can suggest story so that the community can feel a bit more part it. The coverage really good apart from that.

Forums: A dedicated section for New Bands people have found recently - as was up for a few days this summer. Also a dedicated DIStalk board - for any suggestions about the site generally.

Podcast: Excellent.

Oh and some mp3s too please.

a stand alone DiS player of music, similar to Pandora/hypemachine/last fm - linked to reviews. So while reading a single review you could listen to the single.

I think they can be made so you can't grab the mp3s and run. But I appreciate it probably would be very difficult to do but I am sure it would be AMAZING!

The main thing that gets my goat is the fact that (like several other DiScussers) I can never find the events that I am going to on the gig listings.
The calendar tends to be a little bit London-centric in my experience (brilliant when I'm in Camb, but not so great when I'm home in Newcastle), and it would be great to have a wider spread. Or even have the option to let people add their own events in their local area (with suitable vetting).

i agree about demo reviews...

with unsigned bands recording stuff themselves and selling songs online or offering songs for download online it is a great way for people to find new crap and feed their music addiction/ipod...

and i say that not just because i am in a band! i love music and like finding stuff that DIY or just cool bands put out themselves without being on a label or corporate wankers etc etc...

rawk on!

overhaul sounds like a good idea.
It's be great to have a little summary of each review - because, otherwise, if it's a band you don't know, you're not hugely likely to click it.
Also, the archive-type pages should be easier to browse/prettier. They're not the best looking things in the world.

As other people have said, reviews are a good length and largely very very well-written and a joy to read, striking a nice balance between being intelligent and interesting and not being overly 'flowery'.

I also like the idea of releasing a set amount of reviews a day, so there's always a certain amount of daily content to look at.

I like how Tuesday's have become discussion days, and it'd perhaps be nice to see more regular features.

Maybe more regular on-going types of feature as well - this would perhaps help with the diversity issue, if there was a weekly/fortnightly electronica article, or a regular folk, grime, pop, whatever feature. That way you can have someone with a lot of knowledge giving a regular contribution that spans more than just an occasional album review.

Interesting features and really good writing are more of a lure than a huge quantity of shorter single reviews. Actually, single reviews are rubbish anyways. Stick to albums, and smaller bands singles/eps.

Problem being how do we deal with conflicting or innacurate listings from different people, given that we need accurate listings for our own purposes as they tie in with our event reviews, venue profiles etc.

is a ruby on rails bug. Will probably be fixed when they bring out a new version.

Editing posts isn't going to happen, as I don't like the possibility of people playing games and rewriting history to make it look like they said something else.

We don't use Times New Roman.

like to come listen to 200 demos a week for us then? there is only colin, matt and mike working on the site full time and if i had time to listen to demos as well as running a label and furthering the whole dis empire i'd be some kinda time magician.

world music and songs in arabic.

seriously.

there's not enough demand.

don't get me wrong, it is a great website- one that my company (unwittingly) pays me to visit about a dozen times a day. i just feel that if i had to make a criticism it would be that the music genres are slightly restricted. maybe i shouldnt have typed etc, just left it at dance, hiphop, dub.

That wasn't meant to come across as 'shitty' so im sorry if it did. I just read back over my message and yes it did look a little harsh so i didnt mean to piss you off!

I guess that due to the fact that this was a descussion about what could be improved upon etc. that was the only negative thing i could think of.

As for the profile, it wasnt that big of a deal, and i thought that it was you guys who added the profiles etc. So thats my mistake.

I guess it boils down to this.

When your an acoustic guy you sometimes get this horrible 'why wont people take me seriously?' bug. Some reviews ive had lately have started with lines like 'my god, its another singer songwriter!' and things like that, and it makes me think, when they review the arctic monkeys for example, why dont they say 'my god, its another band!' ha ha.

So therefore, when i didnt realise i had to submit a profile, i was worried i had kinda been swept under the mat as nothing interesting. Hope that makes sense.

That kinda linked to the cross promotion thing. And i 100% see what you mean.
I didnt mean that you should review or drive your releases down peoples throats, but i dont see the harm in one headline once in a while or a forthcoming releases section etc.
That way at least it's the peoples choice to take it how they like, where as i agree, if you were to do it in a dictatorial manner that would simply not work.
Hope thats cleared that up! Soz if i miffed ya. ;)

Paul M xx

i'll put the profile up.

And it's rather important to those of us working on the website that it maintains editorial autonomy from the label.

That said I'm sure it wouldn't be too much work for the label folks to create a profile for you guys.

Although I do very much love this site, especially its interactive nature and its impartiality, (in particular your refusal to mix label with website,) I do sometimes despair for the lack of diversity in both your reporting and reviewing.

Earlier on in this discussion ‘Panic’ not only made the point that, upon looking at recent album reviews, he thought that claiming that DIS coverage was “indie-centric,” was unfair, but also that (in regards to Hip-Hop,) “there's really not much around that's exciting.”

It seems to me that this statement is rather flawed. Not only do I seriously disagree with his seemingly ill-advised opinion that there is ‘not much around that’s exciting,’ but more importantly, opinions on Hip-Hop aside, it is pretty clear that DiS’s coverage of Hip-Hop is all but none.

When a major music website fails to report on any of the releases of such ground breaking and important artists as Ghostface Killah, Nas, Mad Lib, MF Doom, Jay Dilla, it can be described as ‘negligent,’ in that area of music. Even if Panic is wrong and Drowned in Sound really is “indie-centric” (maybe even proud to be so,) surely artists as influential and prominent as Ghostface Killah and Nas cannot be ignored entirely?

The same goes for Bashment/Dancehall/Ragga for which there really is no representation, not even a mention of a Sizzla/Buju Banton/Capleton album in sight.

Sorry if this comes across as shitty, it really isn’t meant to be. I do love DiS, and wouldn’t mind that much if you didn’t change it, but it would be great to have a bit more of everything, especially the really important everythings.

Oh and definitely put average user ratings on reviews.

http://www.drownedinsound.com/listings

the picutre links are all wrong

what about being able to post polls?

like this for example:

The Automatic are..

1. the worst band ever, ever, ever...

2. the worst band of the year

3. the worst band that have ever been and ever will be, ever...

####

that would be cool....