As many of you already know, lately there have been only a handful of members who bother to spend some time listening and/or commenting on the forum. Participation is unbalanced and unfair, and especially we will no longer tolerate members who come to PS only when they want to submit their new batch of recordings and then disappear again. So we are introducing a new policy, which is this:

Members with recordings on the main site will from now on have to participate on the forum regularly by not only submitting their own recordings, but also listening and commenting on other members' recordings. At this time we are not going to institute strict controls like counting comments or forcing certain members to take turns listening to all the others. But we do want Everybody to step up and spend a little more time on Piano Society. To show that we are serious, several artists and their recordings have now been removed from the main site due to having a very low number of recordings and also not participating on the forum.

We all come from different backgrounds but share at least one thing in common - our love for playing classical piano music. It's wonderful that our forum enables us to share our passion, our ideas, thoughts, or questions regarding piano music. So please...lend an ear, share your knowledge, say a few encouraging words. We really want to generate some more action here. Help us to keep the site interesting, vibrant, and fun! Which brings me to this little reminder - besides the Audition Room there are also other forums in which to participate. .

Pianolady wrote:


I think, principally that´s a good idea, Monica. I hope, it will change a bit the situation, but it´s still becoming a bit better, I think. PS had become too boring and dead due to missing participation, also for me sometimes (if I think f.ex. of all the work I have made with the cuting of audio and video of the Slavonic Dances by Dvorak, played four hands by Chris and me, and the one or two comments, which we received to it). On the other hand, there can be several reasons for us all to have no time (at least for a while). One can have a "tight phase" at the job or need time for the family, lying in hospital, being ill or whatever. So, may be it isn´t too bad to wait an adequate time before deleting a non-active member from the main-site. But principally I think, it´s a good and adequate decision: who wants to have his recordings here, should also actively take part in the forum (at least from time to time).

Hi Monica and other readers,

Promoting more participation in Audition Room and the other forums is not only a positive approach, but essential. I've seen cases in the past where there have been some superb recordings posted here that drew very little response. What could be more discouraging to those artists? I think too that sometimes we tend to respond within a circle of musicians--a comfort zone. Perhaps we all need to make it a point to reach out more to contributors who are less familiar or new to us. That too might spur more discussion and helpful critiques. As Andreas mentioned, there are times when people might not be able to frequent Piano Society due to personal reasons, and we should understand and respect that. But otherwise we should all make a good effort to maintain the success of Piano Society. It's unfair to expect the moderators to carry most of the burden in assessing recordings here. No question, we all need to do our part, myself included. Let's hope that activity increases on the boards, that as a result the website becomes more vibrant, and that we can all continue to enjoy the many benefits it has to offer.

David

I understand your frustration pianolady but I don't think the new policy will alter habits even if it was mandatory. The problem isn't human nature but that there simply isn't enough traffic to this site and even if it was a hugely popular website, there are always some people who comment frequently and most who never do. Perhaps you would have better luck with a Facebook group for pianists.

Rachfan wrote:


I second this and all what David wrote above!

Differencetone - you have not been around here for long so you may not know this, but our site is hugely popular. People download between 300,000 and 700,000 piano recordings of ours every month. And ask anyone who has ever stumbled upon PS what they think about our site, and they will no doubt say how great it is to have such a place like ours where one can listen to a vast amount of quality piano recordings offered for free. We hear it often! So there is plenty of traffic to our site (why do you think we need to raise all this money to pay for the high bandwidth usage...). My beef is with the members of PS who do not contribute to the forum.

My apologies pianolady. I was judging it based on the number of new posts I see this section of the website and the number of downloads I got of my music from it. The site is huge, maybe not this part of it?

But be sure to put a disclaimer on the main site, which informs newcomers about the rules!

Also I was thinking: Maybe each new submission could be sent along with a poll where users can evaluate the pieces in a multiple-choice manner. Like this:

1. Absolutely fabulous!
2. Well done.
3. Could be better.
4. Well, ehm... nice try.
5. No way -- another take.
6. That's like me playing blindfolded with my toes.
7. It was so awful, I had to interrupt listening.

That would make participation much easier for everyone, and it wouldn't be so repetitive to retype something like "I liked your playing very much" over and over again.

I think I'd rather get them when they first come onto the forum. Something like, "if you want to become a member, then you have to first spend some time listening AND commenting on other members' recordings. As far as the deadbeats go (those who only show up when they have new recordings), I may tell them the same thing.

Regarding a poll - we've thought about that before. I'm almost inclined to try it out on a trial basis. But really I think that people will simply click one of the choices without actually listening, just so they can show that they're participating.

Thanks for the ideas!

It's not a good idea. First, it's too easy and too anonymous, and can be done too much on the spur of the moment. Second, to know that 3 people loved your recording, 3 people hated it, and 6 people found it passable, is of little use for improving your playing.

They wouldn't vote without listening to it. I think it's a great idea because it's easier than writing a review so it will get more people to participate. The Facebook "like" button is very popular. It would be good it the poll is there automatically there for every audition. Another advantage is that normally, if people don't like something, they don't write anything. This would make it easier to say you don't like it.

But that's the whole point. What use is it to know that someone 'doesn't like it'. There could be umpteen reasons for that. "So and so many people liked this recording". So what. Billions of flies cannot be wrong......
Here in PS we value real feedback that enables us to improve our music making. If all someone can say is "I like it" or "I don't like it" they better hold forth, IMO.

Well said. I completely agree. Something I'd like to add to this discussion is that while there may be some overlap, what we like or what titillates us at the moment and what's good are two different things. When I comment on something, I try to distinguish between those. There's a lot more to good technical playing than just getting the notes and rhythms right, and while in many cases, I may not like an interpretation, I have to admit it's still very good, or at least respectable, playing.

Oh oh, this is really something...

Folks, the "suggestions" in my last post were really just intended as a joke. Completely. Interesting that nobody got that point.

Now speaking seriously, I think forcing anyone to write something would only lead to one of two things: 1.) The recordings of people who just don't care will eventually be deleted by the admins. 2.) There will on the other hand be people who really by any means would like to keep their recordings on the site, but still don't like to write. They will eventually start writing anyway, and my suggestion would be that you will clearly recognize the type of "forced" posts which will result from this.

I would put myself into the first category, more being an observer over the years although I have a handful of recordings here. I admit that 80 or 90 forum posts of mine within four years also cannot be called "active membership".

The whole thing basically boils down to the question: Who really likes to communicate about different aspects of music, and additionally doing this by means of exchanging messages on a forum? You have to be a fast writer for doing this regularly. The slow ones -- including myself -- eventually realize that the time they spend at the computer keyboard could much better be spend at the piano keyboard.

I often make a joke or tease and nobody gets it (don't know why - I think my jokes are funny... ) But even though you say your suggestions were just a joke, we have, for real, received suggestions to make a poll several times. Just with different words (although yours are funnier).


Oh, those poor babies!!! I feel so sorry that they have to take time out of their day to listen and write about someone elses recordings for a change. (grrr...don't get me started... )

You have 87 postings, so you have nothing to worry about. We are talking about members who only have a couple postings and it is only their own recordings that they post and talk about. They never bother commenting on any other member, even when other members have commented on their own recordings. That's what really bugs me