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aberdeen-music

Why is this site so quiet these days?


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It's almost concerning, that this site is at the center of portraying our music scene to the outside world. Anyone having a browse around the forums, would hardly call our scene "Buzzing", would they?

This is of course, at no fault of the designers + the guys who run the site. They have done a terrific job over the years, in keeping this site alive, and providing gig information etc to Joe Public, and still continue's to do so. They have provided a platform, that is clearly not being used to it's full potential. The problem with this site, is the people, not everyone of course, but that small community of "idiots", that plague the site, and seem to rear their ugly heads now and again. Leaving silly comments, and attempting to put people and bands/artists down, brings nothing to the table, does it? Sure, you get a laugh for a few seconds, and everyone likes a sarcastic comment now and again, but in the long run, I feel that this put's these people off even visiting the site...

In my opinion (Maybe someone who run's this site can clarify?), I would have thought the main objective for creating a platform like Aberdeen-Music, is to bring "unity" to the local scene, no? Unity is something that is seriously lacking up here, and it's every band/artist for themselves. AB-Music, have failed to attract "The other half" of the Aberdeen Music Scene, and I'm talking about the alternative genres, which (I think) mainly consist of Indie bands/artists. However, It's not just up to the creators to market the site, it's the users too!!

This site should be the focal point for everyone in Aberdeen that likes music. From every genre of local band, to Mr & Mrs Average, who love listening music (regardless if we think it's rubbish) - As far as I can see, this site has turned into a gig guide...but then again, maybe I'm wrong.

Nonetheless, there is certainly room for improvement, which is not a bad thing...!

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Is it me, or was there a lot more activity on here a couple of years ago? It just seems utterly dead now.

its just duller. i reckon whats his name* had his doo-dah burned with the old crappy tv court show.

allthough its more to do with myspace et al.

also it disnae help that cutting edge genius opinionists lke my self have to be put up with being censored by pedantic know nothing nit pickers on here.(moderators)

thats jist my opinion obviously....

*noc, ricko, boaby, vicks....something like that...these web-chaps are so forgetable...like a Greamme Catanach bass solo...

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You're absolutely spot on. I would love it if more people in the local scene used this site and contributed to it. I know for a fact that many local bands have members who look at it, although they don't necessarily register or post, in some cases for the very reasons you've outlined.

We've done our level best over the last few years to limit the amount of bonehead comments from people who have no interest in the site other than to stir up mischief and perpetuate their own online notoriety. You wouldn't believe the amount of the amount of negative and frankly childish nonsense I've had to delete from this site over the years pertaining to the efforts of others trying to make a go of things in Aberdeen. It's a culture problem, one that is slowly improving but still a long way away from being fixed.

There are many members who make a positive contribution here too, starting threads about bands and issues they care about in the local scene, but ultimately the success of those threads is down to the people who respond to them. If a user puts time and effort into creating a thread but gets little or no response from the community, then obviously they're going to be disheartened and dissuaded from doing so again. This is why we (the staff) are so proactive in ensuring discussions are kept friendly, informed and informative

Obviously we're never going to get everyone to sing from the same hymnbook, and argument and debate are always going to be a part of this site, but people have to take a reality check and realise that what we have here is a unique resource for bands, venues and promoters to communicate and interact with each other. We're not doing this for the good of our health, we're doing this for Aberdeen. There are people on here who still hark back to the AUBL days, and the times when people could basically run riot on here without fear of censure. All I can say to them now is grow up, times have changed, the internet has changed, and our role has shifted accordingly.

If anyone has any suggestions as to how we can persuade the people who look at this site, but don't post or register, to become more active, I'd be very interested to hear them.

"The first step towards recovery, is admitting you have a problem" - As they say...

I would also love to see this site attracting music fans and bands from all over aberdeen, from EVERY genre, but don't feel there is a big enough draw to this site with it just being a forum.

I agree with the post regarding myspace having some involvement. Bands simply do not need this site as a marketing tool, as they can gain more exposure on the web by setting up a myspace page. When bands have nothing to come here for, i.e Theres no storys/info about themselves on here, they wont come. However, if this place was full of people, this would not be the case...and it would soon start attracting people on the outside!

I just had a quick look at the "Bands" section on the forum, I think this is in dire need of a revamp/update - I suggest getting in contact with "The Other Half" of bands/artists and asking them if they would like a forum on the site. Im sure Drummonds + The Tunnels will be able to tell you there and then who the popular acts are in the city...! And if they come, their fans will come...

I'd like to see Drummonds and The Tunnels getting more involved in this site also. I.E posting up gig listings as soon as they have them, and each one having a forum on the site...etc

Im just thinking of things on the top of my head here, but a big marketing campaign needs to be set in place...even if it involves having a AB-Music poster, and pinning it up on everyone in aberdeen's myspace! (Im sure you can search for abdn residents?)

Another big promotional tool would be to advertise the fact that people use these forums to buy and sell tickets. There is ALWAYS people looking to buy/sell tickets for gigs. Particularly gigs like the arctic monkeys and kings of leon at the AECC. AB Music could attract everyone that has to resort to Ebay, and have them browsing on here instead...And again, even if it's some chavy kids that are looking to buy 50 Cent tickets...it's still people isnt it?

Creating some sort of web ring with other websites in Aberdeen wouldn't do any justice...I.e Aberdeen FC website, or Donstalk, outagain, modern-image, belmont-street, has AB-Music got bebo??

If everyone contributed some ideas, no doubt you'd get some great suggestions!! Maybe it's time for an open-forum on the subject?

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I also forgot to mention the fact that a "review system" would be a big attention grabber. If you had writers to review gigs/cd's etc, you could potentially have Aberdeen's own mini version of "The Skinny" on here.

There is an articles section, just no bugger uses it. Which is a shame because what little there is on it isn't bad.

I like the idea of a promo campaign, but it all depends on the boss and how much is in the kitty.

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Some great feedback here which makes a pleasant change.

A promo campaign to coincide with the new version of the web site (with I'm still working on - working abroad isn't helping me here) would probably be a fine idea. Exactly what such a campaign would consist of though is the question.

The Articles section has always been criminally underused. What I would ideally like to see is dedicated contributors frequently posting reviews, interviews and articles so the section almost becomes an e-zine in its own right. Trying to get people to do this kind of thing though is the challenge. We need to offer some kind of incentive (maybe even pay people to contribute?).

The web site is still making more money than it costs to keep online so there are certainly funds there to be spent on something. Any ideas are welcome as always.

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if the website attendance/usage drops to a level that there has to be some moderator redundancies, could i suggest that we have a poll to choose who goes, in an x-factor style public execution!

on a less serious note, there isn't much point in posting drummonds listings. because there's the advertised listings, and then there's the "oops we double booked again" listings; never the twain shall co-exist peacefully.

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I'd like to see Drummonds and The Tunnels getting more involved in this site also. I.E posting up gig listings as soon as they have them, and each one having a forum on the site...etc

I know from experience that that's not likely to happen. If you take a look at the Granite City Guide website now, remove the lemon tree/music hall listings from September onwards, and you have a fairly good idea of how many promoters actually promote. I think there was 3 or 4 small promoters that actually submitted listings, about the same amount of bands and no venues (without my frantic pleas just before the deadline).

I picked up very few gigs from this site (ab-mus) as well so it wasn't just a case of the website being "obscure", not with 500 "unique visits" a day.

Maybe this is why:

There's a school of thought that says promoters should promote and bands shouldn't because it's not their job. Bollocks I say. It's not just the gigs you're promoting, it's your band, and if you can't be bothered even taking an hour for every gig to post on any free listings, send out to your mailing list etc, anything that costs nothing but might get even 1 extra person to your gig, then I hope whatever you want to achieve from your live music remains a distant dream. You don't deserve it.

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