Soundclick - WTF??!!

Re: RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (doncolga)

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:48:47 GMT

I just saw this thread...my account is letting me upload new versions...

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Roflcopter)

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:57:31 GMT

it would require a lot of programming to do it right, tho.

Actually, no. Most of that stuff is *already* available in some form or another (check places like hotscripts.com) and any semi-knowledgeable script-kiddo can make it work together, no problem.

The bandwidth demands are a far greater problem, most sites will just go on blank if you exceed the monthly quota, so you'd have to shop around for one that has bandwidth to spare, and actually lets you *use* it. Advertising a kazillion gigs a month is no guarantee, since noone ever goes there, and they know it. You'll just disappear if you try, tho.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Mooch4056)

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:40:45 GMT

I am also reading complaints on the soundclick forum by members claiming their posts have been deleted after complaining about this policy. Perhaps we need to start a list of soundclick alternatives (other than -ugh- MySpace).

ohhh never mind -- someone all ready mentioned revebnaton -- (shrugs)

well another sugestion is making your own web site --

its not too expensive -- I built my own -- and pay like 85 bucks a year for the host and the domain name -- although just mp3's - not music players -- just down load or stream mp3's by clicking on a link -- i could put a player on there though -- maybe i will -- i dont have many originals up yet -- maybe i'll start that tonight -- or soon

I dunno -- just throwing that out there --

its 2009 -- shouldnt be that hard to put whatever you want up on the internet at a resonable quaility

my butt hurts ....

i dunno if that has anything to do with anything

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (keith)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:04:05 GMT

Mmmm... beetz...

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (bitflipper)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:46:32 GMT

Interesting: I went to SoundClick just now and all of my charted songs have risen between 10 and 20 positions since yesterday. Could this be a visible effect of giving the beatz-vendors the boot?

Still no update capability, though. That's annoying, since I've recently remastered many of the songs posted there and would like to update them.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (bitflipper)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:40:51 GMT

Well of course the prerequisite for direct uploading and metadata support would be true integrated MP3 encoding in SONAR.

I think CW still struggles over what to do about that. Despite its ubiquitousness, MP3 remains a proprietary standard and the Fraunhofer Society wants its payment. Those licensing fees would be passed on to us. CW's profit margin is necessarily small, as it is a very price-competitive market.

The only alternative is LAME, which is an external utility and inferior to the Fraunhofer encoder.

Creating and maintaining a file repository is not an insignificant expense. I joked about offering to buy them a disk drive, but the fact is it would take a BUNCH of drives, at least one powerful server, and a high-bandwidth network connection. It would also require a near-fulltime administrator. This would likely be outsourced to a hosting service. More costs to eat into an already-thin profit margin.

If you start getting fancy with the server-side software you'll add more development and ongoing maintenance costs. At the very least, it would be a full-time job for one or two people. If they're employees, their salaries and benefits could easily come to a quarter million dollars per year.

We're now forced into a position where the price of SONAR PE might have to increase by 10-20% to cover the costs of a service that not all SONAR users will be interested in using.

Of course, they could set the service up as a separately-priced product so that only those users that want the service would have to pay for it. Would there then be enough subscribers to cover the costs? Probably not. And Cakewalk isn't Sony (a very good thing!).

The chances of this feature ever happening are slim.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Texrat)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:06:40 GMT

Hey, while we're at it-- why not ask for song management/publishing in Sonar (I'd like to see full metadata support for songs and albums), with hooks to this proposed site? As well as [insert clip of horse being beaten] a webex-type collab feature right in the tool... " />

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (keith)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:46:43 GMT

ORIGINAL: julibee
Uploads only for registered Sonar users, streaming audio to whoever wants to listen???

And a strict "No Beatz" policy.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (keith)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:43:58 GMT

ORIGINAL: bitflipper
Boost Independent Music.

Best thing about BIM is the sound quality is good.

Yeah it's pretty good... check out the country tune "I Done Her Wrong Song" ( http://www.boostindependentmusic.com/artist/SteveEdStone )... decent sound quality for a streaming site.

Plus Steve Ed Stone's got a little Crash Test Dummies vibe goin' on there...

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Texrat)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:32:58 GMT

Speaking of which, here's an interesting conversation about online music collaboration, complete with useful links:

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2008/07/28/new-free-riffworks-music-making-software-does-quick-songwriting-online-collaboration/#comments

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Texrat)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:57:07 GMT

...and then slap on a collaboration sandbox...

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (julibee)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:39:44 GMT

Oooh! Now your talkin' bitflipper! Direct uploads! You know, I'm thinking it could really be a boost to their community - and might just expand their community as well. Think about it... The world wants fresh voices - and we have them. Could be HUGE. Beat Soundclick at their own game, and prove to the world the capabilities.... and if it's not a sales sight... no beatz sellers to contend with.

Uploads only for registered Sonar users, streaming audio to whoever wants to listen???

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (bitflipper)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:20:38 GMT

I am liking the tone of this thread. Sure, why not let Cakewalk host music files? I'll even volunteer to buy them a disk drive.

ACID users not only have their own music hosting site, they can upload songs directly out of ACID.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Texrat)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:49:09 GMT

ORIGINAL: Beagle

it would require a lot of programming to do it right, tho.

Yup, which is why no one has got it completely right yet I'm sure. " />

I can do vb.net and T-sql as well as database design... not to mention graphics.

EDIT: you know what's really needed-- a collab/music management/showcase site. I haven't seen anyone put that together yet. I don't just want fans-- I want virtual band members. Heck, there should even be a musician tryout section. PDFs of lead sheets. Contests. Integration with social media. Cell phone music subscriptions. oooo, I could go on and on...

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Beagle)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:43:31 GMT

it would require a lot of programming to do it right, tho.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Texrat)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:30:10 GMT

ORIGINAL: Beagle

maybe we should make our own instead.

I was thinking that too.

I'd be game to help a coalition...

Oh, and add videos to my list-- even if it's just embedding links to Youtube or even better, utilizing the API.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Beagle)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:33:52 GMT

THAT would be cool! as long as it's done RIGHT.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (ParanoiA)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:32:07 GMT

That could compliment the "professional opinion" of them as well...

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (julibee)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:29:29 GMT

I was thinking that SONAR oughtta, Beagle.... :)

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Beagle)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:26:43 GMT

maybe we should make our own instead.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (bitflipper)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:24:18 GMT

This is the list I've been going down, but it's slow-going. I am noting the following for each site:

- responsiveness, how long it takes for the main page to come up, how long to stream a song
- ease of navigation (if I can't figure it out in 30 seconds, most listeners won't, either)
- sound quality
- file update policy (believe it or not, some do not allow you to delete your own songs)
- if they have free accounts, and if so, what restrictions are imposed
- if they have paid accounts, how expensive are they
- if they have a forum, and if so, how active it is - especially by the forum admins
- the quality of material you can hear - is it serious amateurs and would-be pros, or bedroom wannabes with an out-of-tune guitar
- if they have helpful categories and navigation
- if they have charts, and if so what they are based upon

Whew. Maybe I should write it up and try to sell it so Sound on Sound or something...nah, that's too much work.

Anybody who wants to pitch in and evaluate some of these sites, any help would be appreciated!

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Mamabear)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:03:27 GMT

OK, I just tried another artist and it worked.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Mamabear)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:00:41 GMT

Boost Independent Music sounded good in your review. But I've waited over 5 minutes for one of the songs to start playing. Otherwise my internet is working fine (I've listened to two songs from soundclick while waiting.) Is it just me?

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Texrat)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:54:00 GMT

ORIGINAL: bitflipper

Also:

http://www.purevolume.com/

http://www.audiostreet.net/

I have no details on them yet.

I checked out both of those. PureVolume's sound quality was atrocious.

Audio Street was better-sounding but the place is infested with "beatz" purveyors and the forum is a dead zone, not even the site admins responding to users.

Thanks bit, good to know!

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Texrat)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:53:17 GMT

Basically I'm looking for:

-ability to upload/update songs, including WMA and OGG
-ability to stream songs
-ability to group songs into albums
-easy to use but powerful interface (ie, the antithesis of Soundclick)

I don't mind paying, but it would need to be $10 or less per month

I'll start plowing through the options to see which works best...

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (bitflipper)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:41:33 GMT

Also:

http://www.purevolume.com/

http://www.audiostreet.net/

I have no details on them yet.

I checked out both of those. PureVolume's sound quality was atrocious.

Audio Street was better-sounding but the place is infested with "beatz" purveyors and the forum is a dead zone, not even the site admins responding to users.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (bitflipper)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:39:41 GMT

Here's another: Boost Independent Music.

This one seems most like SoundClick in mission and format, except that you apparently do not have the option of giving away songs for free. At least, I've seen no freebees yet.

Best thing about BIM is the sound quality is good. I assume that since all titles are for sale, they encourage high-quality MP3s.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (Texrat)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:39:01 GMT

Also:

http://www.purevolume.com/

http://www.audiostreet.net/

I have no details on them yet.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (bitflipper)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:44:56 GMT

While perusing SoundClick alternatives, I came across these interesting possibilities:

cherrypeel.com
"a community where music fans have the power to decide what is worth listening to"
Typical sound quality, some high-frequency artifacts
Here's a sample of a pretty good band out of Victoria, BC that I discovered on cherrypeel.com: Immaculate Machine

Alonetone.com
Non-commercial, "a damn fine home for musicians". Has no player, just downloads, material is weak, the forum is pretty dead. But I love their philosophy. Free, no advertisements.

Jamendo
All material is covered by the Creative Commons license, and only free downloads are allowed, no selling. A great philosophy, but I didn't immediately find a lot of good listening material there.

F3music
Free account is rather restrictive: 10Mb file size limit (same as SoundClick), 128kb/s (same as SC), and 30Mb total storage limit (SC has no limit). $7.95 a month (lower than SC) if you want to upload high-quality files.

The search continues, but at this time I have to say SoundClick still offers the best free service.

RE: Soundclick - WTF??!! (bitflipper)

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:24:48 GMT

You're right. I didn't actually verify that the feature had been reinstated, just going by the site's owner's forum posting, datestamped Wednesday night: "...we have now reactivated the song upload feature."

Apparently not yet.