Music Quality in the Upcoming Releases Section

[Archon]

Let's discuss what's happening in the UR section. Some of you complained about the lack of quality in the Upcoming Releases section, and some of you defended the music being posted there. It resulted in every other thread being populated with the same arguments, so this is mainly to move the discussion into one place and discuss solutions together, without judgement.

But ultimately, it would be best to actually come up with a solution together that would benefit us all. So let's keep that in mind while we discuss.

Do you think there is a problem, why and what would you do to fix this?

Sit back in this comfortable therapy chair and...talk.

 

[Julian Del Agranda]

I would even go as far as saying it's not good for the trance scene. The "scene" is incredibly small. So it's even more important now - compared to 15 years ago - to support worthy music and their creators.

And currently worthy music is overlooked easily. I personally gave up on that section a long time ago, resulting in only listening to trance classics. And the odd 'recent' release whenever I throw myself in the UR section, or stumble upon it via another route. Besides the spam, the negativity is a thing. It scares away users and artists. It makes Trancefix look bad too. Although often the negativity is provoked sort of, with endless amounts of non-worthy content. So they go hand in hand often.

1. Maximum of 3 topics in a whole month. Or even less. Period. People gotta think hard about which favorite tune they want to post. Only the best! No more empty topics, but only topics from passionates who will invest some minutes in the topic, include reasoning, what do you like about it? Maybe some info about the artist if they aren't well known, etc. Try to give something worthy to the community.

2. Be strict on negativity. I'm guilty of it myself sometimes. Specially like 10 years ago. But we all should try and not do that. In a combination with less stupid topics (see rule 1) we should be able to create a warmer and welcoming place, that focusses on quality music and passion, where negativity has less place. Freedom of speech is nice for a democracy, but in public places you still have to behave. Why not here?

 

[LostLegend]

There's always been a lot of toxicity and gatekeeping in the trance scene.
I remember the early 2000's when some people thought the sound that Ferry, PvD, Rank 1, Matt Darey etc. were producing wasn't "real trance" compared to the stuff from the 90's.
Now we have people complaining that modern trance isn't "real trance" etc.
It's like some have the mind set that the genre should just stagnate, but will then complain that an artist "hasn't progressed their sound"
You can't win with some people

The toxicity can be a problem though. There's a member in particular (I don't need to name them, you all know who it is) who seems to think that nasty, purile comments are valid criticism.
If you don't like a track, that's fine, say why, maybe be constructive about it if you can, that's a valid response. But simply saying a track is awful or rubbish with no further context is toxic behavior imo.

Still, though, I do think it is a minority, most people here do seem to be more constructive with their criticism of the modern scene.
At least it's not like the hellscape that is the 'Classic Trance' Facebook page where 70% of the posts are 50yo guys with bedroom technics vinyl setups in their spare room bitching about modern trance and posting THIS FUCKING MEME over and over and over again:

 

[Quethas]

Okay. I will first start with copy-paste from Schulz-topic

To be fair, even though I am not all over this stuff (on the contrary really), I would be extremely careful of placing too strict restrictions of what stuff we could post here and what not. It way too easily goes to "my trance is better than your trance" kind of stuff which does not really benefit anyone.

The proposal so far does not mention "the kind of stuff" which to be supported, but I still feel strict restrictions... strict. I wanted to support the scene and perhaps start the flame for the discussions and decided to create few topics per week. I do not consider it spamming really, especially since you never really know which track eventually sparks and which not. Well, if it is not about Enigma State or Armin van Buuren.

I love artist albums personally and what if there is a month where we actually have X amount of artist albums? I am not allowed to post that hypothetical Slam Duck album anymore, since I have used my quota with Paul van Dyk, Ovnimoon and The Digital Blonde?

I definitely understand the issues. From the two mentioned problems, spamming is actually smaller issue for me. Sure, if someone is just spamming new topics without too much of a thought, the user should be notified. But honestly, there aren't all that many tracks coming out these days... And even though there aren't any replies it doesn't necessarily mean that it was worthless topic if even one or two readers got excited about the track. Not everyone posts here.

The bashing game and overall negativity is a different thing. Constructive criticism or mentioning that the track was unfortunately not for me is one thing, The continuous negativity and rudeness is another. While I am definitely not thinking this is a great era for trance, the latter part is really tiresome for the community and not really attractive for the outsiders.

That being said, Trancefix offers wide range of interesting releases and great recommendations.

 

[Katadunkass]

As long as I can post Crazy Town somewhere, I'm happy

 

[LostLegend]

Also, to actually add something constructive in here;
There is definitely a conversation to be had about posting clips of tracks from live sets or other similar sources. Sometimes months before the track is even officially announced.
I remember a thread last year where someone had literally just posted a 30 second mobile phone clip from a DJ gig.

You should really only be posting tracks that have a confirmed release date and a proper clip you can hear of it.
Otherwise you end up with a load of topics are are essentially just place holders until a full release.

 

[Julian Del Agranda]

Not everyone posts here

This seems noble but I actually don’t agree here. We are not here because of people who ‘read but never post’. They contribute zero.

We are here for the few people who make this place alive. Without them, the forum is dead.

 

[Enlusion]

Besides the spam, the negativity is a thing. It scares away users and artists. It makes Trancefix look bad too. Although often the negativity is provoked sort of, with endless amounts of non-worthy content. So they go hand in hand often.

Be strict on negativity. In a combination with less stupid topics (see rule 1) we should be able to create a warmer and welcoming place, that focusses on quality music and passion, where negativity has less place. Freedom of speech is nice for a democracy, but in public places you still have to behave. Why not here?

This.

Unfortunately, Trancefix is well-known for a few trolls posting negative stuff and not for the nice folks sharing and discussing great music.

 

[Daysleeper]

theres simply too much mainstream force-pushing of armada/blackhole/fsoe/vandit/subculture/asot. Im baffled long time listeners are not self-aware and musicallly criticial of posting generic/steroids/cheese year after year. Also Im suspecting theres actually people that directly or indirectly are "agents" or works for or close with these mainstream labels. just me?

wasnt tf suppose to be something else than another love-hearts-peace asot/facebook forum? we need quality control and regulation of the UR section imo.

 

[TRANCEBLASTER]

theres simply too much mainstream force-pushing of armada/blackhole/fsoe/vandit/subculture/asot. Im baffled long time listeners are not self-aware and musicallly criticial of posting generic/steroids/cheese year after year. Also Im suspecting theres actually people that directly or indirectly are "agents" or works for or close with these mainstream labels. just me?

wasnt tf suppose to be something else than another love-hearts-peace asot/facebook forum? we need quality control and regulation of the UR section imo.

c'mon ... you'r liking 'Sweetest Dreams (Ferry Corsten Remix)' and I would ban that horrible tune everywhere, tastes are different, some of the most tastless 'millenium trance' tracks are here on forum praised in the classic section

 

[Daysleeper]

c'mon ... you'r liking 'Sweetest Dreams (Ferry Corsten Remix)' and I would ban that horrible tune everywhere, tastes are different, some of the most tastless 'millenium trance' tracks are here on forum praised in the classic section

Better than your cheesy german trance

edit: actually yeah, now when you say it, its terribly cheesy. I think I get these phases when im soppy and nostalgic for a particular track, but when i hear it in my normal phase i dont care for it at all. ban it all you want.

 

[TRANCEBLASTER]

Better than your cheesy german trance

sincerely NO

btw. to the topic, its extremely hard to find some good new TRANCE tunes, its a task, so I dont blame the other guys for posting weaker stuff

 

[Hensmon]

Regarding types of threads/quality....

I don't see a huge issue personally with that the amount of so called low interest content being posted. Even looking at the last 3 pages there is less than a handful of 0 reply threads. So in terms of the section being cluttered with poor content I don't think there is anything too serious going on.

If you are concerned/bothered with mainstream 'Trance' I think It's fairly easy to not click threads with names or labels you 99% of the time don't enjoy. The thread creation volume is at a reasonable enough pace that I don't think you can claim Armada releases are aggressively pushing content you like into the 2nd page and giving you a negative experience

However it doesn't mean I don't think we can improve it. I think if users a consistently posting threads with 1 or less comment/reaction then they need to revaluate if what they choose to share is valuable to members. I think we could set this 'think about it' rule first and see how it goes and if it keeps happening we intervene. But as mentioned in the other thread, maybe we can build a filtering mechanism that allows you to hide or sort by stuff you like (label, style, user etc). Something simple that could make that section more personalized to you...?

 

[Recharge]

Why don't you just divide it into sections or make a filter. Lets say:

Progressive/Deep
Uplifting
Hard and Tech

Even that will be a significant improvement.

The no reply thing - I stopped posting for a while(have't been very active lately), but before I had a lot of no reply threads and I always tried to share the most interesting releases (at least for me) from the absolute whole trance and progressive spectrum. What can I say different people 'click' at different music.

 

[Daysleeper]

like thats gonna help?

if it is, then just make a modern/steroids/template/generic trance and a pop/former trance/not really trance category aswell.

 

[stormshadow]

I've been a Trancefixer since 2006 and I've never seen such negativity and 'my trance is better than your trance' nonsense.
Ï visit the UR section to check out all the new releases, good or bad. Period!

 

[Jetflag]

The question isn't quality, The question is quantity. IMO

If you have X + posts per month of 1 particular label (or user) that nobody really interacts with, juding by the 0 comments, either out of disinterrest, distaste or the sheerspam factor..

one would do well do make a sub-section of that within the UR thread, regardless of whether or not you consider said 100+ releases "quality" on a personal, subjective level.

this has, much like quality, also nothing to do with negativity or harsch criticism. Its just practical and makes finding novel stuff that throws up ripples a lot easier.

my 2 cents.

 

[Hensmon]

I've been a Trancefixer since 2006 and I've never seen such negativity and 'my trance is better than your trance' nonsense.

Sorry do you mean you don't observe anything of issue, or that recently you have noticed a lot of negativity for the first time?

 

[stormshadow]

Sorry do you mean you don't observe anything of issue, or that recently you have noticed a lot of negativity for the first time?

Ah yes, should have been more clear. I have seen negativity in here lately. People bashing others just because they like a particular song, style of trance or label.
Why cant we just let be. If it isn't your cup of tea then just move on.

 

[Recharge]

Ah yes, should have been more clear. I have seen negativity in here lately. People bashing others just because they like a particular song, style of trance or label.
Why cant we just let be. If it isn't your cup of tea then just move on.

Only trance fans can forget that trance is techno and house made more accessible through putting more melodic stuff and think trance is a colab between Jusus and Mozart...