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Jeff Allen Myers
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5/8/2009 7:45:23 AM
---- Updated 5/8/2009 7:47:40 AM
Is there anybody running Garageband.com????
In the genre of "Alternative Pop" the number one song has been the same for over two years, and the song was posted in 2004! From what I can see its not even receiving new reviews, but it continually stays in the number one slot. The song is not bad, but it is not "That good"
I sent an e-mail about a year ago, and someone responded saying they were "aware" of the problem.
It really diminishes the validity of the site...It appears to be on "autopilot" with no one at the wheel. I would say the site is in trouble if they can't fix an obvious glitch. George Martin was involved when the site launched, by now I am sure he is long gone. The site praises its system of managing the charts, but it is clearly broke...
It may be another indie site in trouble.... I don't see it as competition to IAC as the features are different, and IAC has its own unique strengths and qualities. As an Indie Artist, I want to see all indie sites succeed. What I like about Garageband is the baptism by fire reviews as you can really tell if a song is good or not. The anonymous reviewers do not pull punches... I hope it sticks around.
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The Man With No Band
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5/8/2009 8:09:15 AM
---- Updated 5/8/2009 8:10:15 AM
It's definitely having some problems ... and I think they have lost a lot of people ... at least it seems that way ... I have a few friends over there, that I like to keep track of the reviews they receive ... and I have noticed that when you put a song up a few years back, you got the reviews at a pretty steady clip, gradually slowing toward the end ... now it is sometimes months between reviews
... and like you say their chart system has been screwed up for quite some time ...
I enjoyed getting bashed around over there a bit ... and I even won an sm57 mic in a drawing there ... I've never used that mic, had it sent to a girls house and I've never went by to retrieve it ... :)
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The CODE
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5/8/2009 11:20:42 AM
Interesting comment Jeff - we just finished a stint on GB
(as TheonlyCODE) with Float me Away, and the review
system did seem a bit hit & miss! 90% of our reviews
were positive with some duffers thrown in for good
measure! I'm not tempted to put up another track
there at the moment!
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Sly Witt
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5/8/2009 2:32:49 PM
---- Updated 5/8/2009 2:44:30 PM
There are a couple of blogs around by 'refugees' from Garageband since GB turned their forums off. The forums being turned off was a huge red flag to me although I've put a few songs up there. I've heard allegations that the reviewing system could be 'hacked' but have no idea how and have no evidence. I did have one song drop from 4.2 stars with about 8 reviews down to 3 stars after the 9th review and it never recovered...that reviewer must have really REALLY hated it. I emailed GB for an explanation but never got a response.
One of the grumbles is that the owners have put all their energies into the sister site, iLike, and have left GB to rot.
Every tune I've put up there has been 'awarded' a 'Song of the Day'... it might be almost an automatic feature more than an honor, I'm not sure.
I know one guy who just made it into the second round in World music, and it IS an awesome tune, which has validated the site to me a bit.
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The CODE
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5/8/2009 3:07:33 PM
iLike SUCKS!
Seemed to be auto created along with the GB page!
Can't seem to get rid of it either!?!?!?
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Jeff Allen Myers
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5/9/2009 7:18:56 AM
---- Updated 5/9/2009 7:21:08 AM
Yes I No Like I like :)
Sly,
I had a song cruising through the second round, and I was getting positive reviews...
The song was then "retired" with no explanation... When I got the states, it beat the "Other" songs 65% to 35% so It should have remained in the running. As I stated, the number one song was uploaded in 2004, and it remains at number one..in the "sixth" round and is getting no additional reviews. There is no way it should remain there....
I put another song up for review, in two weeks I have received "One" review. The site has serious problems....
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Chris Hance
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5/9/2009 9:03:29 AM
That review stuff just sounds like a contemptable way to treat artists and content providers,
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Jeff Allen Myers
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5/9/2009 9:14:01 AM
---- Updated 5/9/2009 9:14:54 AM
When it was working I found the reviews very helpful. The main reason was the reviewers were given a song, just the song, with no knowledge of who the artist was. This allowed the reviews to be free of the color and back scratching normally prevalent on many sites. There was no connection to the artist, or fear of saying something hurtful or wrong.
I have found on many sites, the reviews are not very critical, and when a negative review is given, there is usually a backlash and the reviewer is ostracized from the community.... I have seen it happen here from time to time.... This helps no one...
Peace...
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Lex Zaleta
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5/9/2009 5:55:39 PM
I entered "The Fifth" in the Country competition at the very beginning of March, and it has not received any score to date. Management at GB did get back to me last week to "award" me two additional contest entry credits since this is an unusually long time for a song to stay stagnant. Most definitely, the activity level there is close to flatlining.
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Jeff Allen Myers
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5/9/2009 7:51:32 PM
Its on life support.....send it to the ER! Lex now you can just sit around and wait for three songs to be reviewed! :) There is obviously a shortage of reviewers, awarding free song entries is stupid...That is just more songs in the que to be reviewed, increasing the wait times...Brilliant!
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Lex Zaleta
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5/10/2009 12:54:59 PM
Hey, JAM!
I didn't use my bonus entries yet, but think of the exponential possibilities. If I get two bonus entries for every song I enter that never gets reviewed, I'll keep multiplying my contest songs ... until I've "Madoff" with the grand prize for most ignored songs on a single site ... yeah, I'm only a Ponzi in their game.
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Andy Broad
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5/10/2009 6:14:29 PM
The solution seems simple. If there is a queue of songs needing review. Go and review them. The soonser you start clearing the backlog the sooner you songs get there own reviews....
I must admit I reviewed two songs ages then got bored. So my only song on the site has never even made into the competition!
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Sly Witt
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5/10/2009 6:40:48 PM
In fairness to GB, there is a quid pro quo built in. When you do a review you can either pick it to get you closer to another free upload OR fast track one of your songs getting reviewed. I never waited more than 2 days for a 'fast tracked' tune and usually got a review within a few hours. In some of the lesser frequented genres they wait until there's enough songs to start the 'pairing' process, so the wait can be long because there's no one to compare against.
The thing that I DON'T like, if true, is that the only indicator that actually gets figured into their scheme is 'which song do you like better'..I've been told that all the other stuff is window dressing. I've also read at a couple of blogs that the whole thing is fixed.
The good thing is that I've gotten some constructive criticism. I'm not in synch with the overall 'taste' of the place...but that's my problem. It seems that the more mediocre stuff floats to the top. But then again, that might just be sour grapes on my part.
I'll probably put another song up there someday if they're still around.
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The Man With No Band
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5/10/2009 7:36:17 PM
To date I have reviewed 200 songs there, or 100 pairs of songs ...
Whatever their problem is over there, it is definitely getting worse ...
As you pointed out Sly ... awhile back they started giving "Track of the Day" awards to EVERY song, they even notify you a month or so in advance now of when your "Day" is to be, and they go right down the chart list ... It cheapened the award and shows a desperate attempt to keep people there, plus they know people will put their awards on other sites and it's free advertising for them ...
The reviewers have gone away ... even with the fast track in place, reviews now come in at a snails pace ...
Support is terrible there too ... It seems that there is no one behind the wheel ...
I do notice that most of the reviews I read now are pretty short and actually are a little more upbeat than in the past ... There used to be a few reviewers there that seemed to make it their mission to say that EVERY song they listened to sucked ... I don't see a lot of them around anymore so that is good ... :)
... and yes Sly ... a lot of the process is based on the heads up aspect, which is in your favor if you are up against a bad song, but not in your favor against a great song, but it's not a very good indicator of where your song should actually be placed in the charts ... it's the luck of the draw as far as who you get placed against, and the luck of the draw as to which reviewer you get ... I did find it ironic that one guy (that hated my stuff) was given the first three songs I had up to review ... The first was doing rather well, until I ran into him ...
Whether it's rigged or not I have no clue, but I do know that it's nice to get reviews that are informative sometimes ... some reviewers go out of their way to really listen ... and some don't
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