hi.

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This place goes down the hill every time I visit it. What the heck... Now it's some PHP errors...

Warning: main(formatting.lib): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/dmusic/music.dmusic.com/artist/index.php on line 10

Warning: main(): Failed opening 'formatting.lib' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/local/share/pear') in /var/www/dmusic/music.dmusic.com/artist/index.php on line 10


I don't know what to make of dmusic anymore. Every time I come back after a few weeks, i'll use the site for about 2-3 minutes, and BOOOOM, something's broken. Grr...

Time to give it another month....again... ugg.. one more time.. again... yet again.

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so I'm still amazed at how much DM pisses me off. The note system still sucks ass, the forums are horrendously unintuitive, not even threading there. In a world of the web in 2003, this site doesn't even use CSS properly, and uses tables and tags everywhere!! Ugly Ugly webmastering. Heck, it doesn't even render properly anymore in Apple's Safari web browser.

I think those running this site are too interested in boycotting RIAA and not in improving this site. i dunno, but these are just my thoughts, my reasons why I haven't been active lately, why I've been absent.

Initially when I first joined, I figured the site was just getting started, hence why all the ugly code, nasty UI elements and lack of functionality. Any struggling and upstart site is like that of course. So I participated a lot in forums, debated stuff, offered my assistance with coding when I had the time for it, gave it all I could...

nobody took it, and now, almost 8 months later, the site is identical to how it looked when I first heard of it, a year ago, and then joined 4 months later. I'm desperately disappointed, but I'm not leaving, not just yet. I'm hoping in several months this site will improve, an improvement of drastic proprtions is required.

and everyone who uses it will benefit. We'l see...

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No new music from me on here since I joined. Why?

I supose a bit of an explanation is in order? Mostly though, it's quite simple, I'm just getting frustrated with dmusic.com in general.

The site is never improved functionality wise. There's all this extra crap being added on, and sure maybe crap is a bit harsh, but there's so much that should be fixed BEFORE new stuff is added, that it just boggles my mind. For example, the note system. It's arcane, it's horrendously unintuitive. It smells. Yes, sure, dmusic might be a voluntary thing. MP3.COM wasn't a business in the beginning either, and eBay was almost free when it first started. I'm not saying dmusic will be like those but I am pointing something out.

When you implement a feature, FINISH IT, before adding more. So many things in the computer world would benefit from this one little piece of advice.

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I've been on a long vacation, from everything, been to Europe, to a place where running water was a luxury, where there is nothing to do but lay on a beach and think to yourself all day.

I've come back and absolutely hate DM. Let me explain though. I love the people who have come together here, they write music together, debate things and so on. But I hate the site's layout, the way one has to navigate to it, nothing is intuitive, it all seems like someone's stuck it together, patched it to pieces, like there is no grand plan. I can use a simple activity to illustrate.

Human beings do what is easy, that is a principle to life. Most people do not and will not struggle to do a repeated task, unless they are forced to by other things. Thus commenting and the thumbs up/down thing doesn't get used as much as listening to songs. To hear a song, one has to merely press a button, thus I bet most artists have a ration of at best 1:100 of comments to song listens and thumbs. This could be solved. For example, when I click to comment on a song, why can't I at the same time give it a thumbs up/down? As well, why can't I go to the next/previous song in the group at the same time? I'd love to be able to listen to a song, and comment and add thumbs up/down, and this could easily be achieved. In fact, we could keep the same look and feel. Anyway.. blah blah. This is not MY site, this is DM and it works the way those who run it wish to work, or the way everyone wishes it to work. I'm probably in the minority and this is how I feel.

I think I'm just annoyed that I have to click back on my browser often on this place, and that I have to struggle to do some things, that's all. I AM VENTING NOTHING MORE!

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If you'd like to keep up with my latest projects (not all music related, some are video and architectural) send an email to announce-subscribe@bojanland.com and you will be added to the announce mailing list.

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Here's a long post I wrote in the Music Forum on the topic of Genres and how I feel about them.

Subject: Re: Re: I think genres suck
Date: December 16, 2002 @ 7:18 PM

After reading this whole thread I feel I have something useful to contribute. It will take me a bit to explain it, so bare with me and read calmly and slowly

Whether or not genres are usefull or not is something I don't feel is a useful question, or a productive one. It's obvious people separate and group things. Some do it based on their listening preference, or by RIAA-membership, perhaps a genre based on the tools used to make music (acoustic, electronic, vocal, then the three dual combos, and a final one that includes all three?). So what in essence are genres like Classical, Rock, Techno, Rap in fact based on?

They surely aren't based on personal preference, nor on RIAA-membership, and not even on the method of production/composition/recording. These genre types, which is what they are, they seem to be based primarly on instruments used and a certain atmosphere associated with the "genre" the song has been "placed" into. Although it is possible to create a rock song using electronic "instruments" (such as sine waves, synth sounds,...etc) rarely does it give the same atmosphere and emotional effect as a guitar/base/drum song, although it can happen; hence why I've said "primarly", as there are numerous factors.

Bands have usually stuck to a genre based on the interaction of their musicians, and over time bands have moved from one to another, sometimes creating their own sub-genres.

Computers have allowed, given enough time, for anyone to create as many "virtual musicians" using any possible combination of "virtual instruments" that normally might have been too expensive to experiment with in real life. Perhaps the most important thing they've done is remove the arguments, the scheduling issues, the confusion and allowed a single person to create what they have in their mind; with enough dedication it can sound almost exactly like it does in the head. Computers have allowed artists to use computers as musical labs of sorts, to mix ingridents.

A simple example perhaps can illustrate it best. Let's do a symphonic opening for 10 seconds, full stop, switch to 3/4, play accordian for three seconds, bring symphonic orchestra back in, start a rapper on the left speaker to the rhythm of the strings section, no beats, introduce a rapper on the right speaker that's responding to the left rapper, fade in electronic 303/505 noises in the center. Rapper starts to slow down his rapping until it's rock sounding, and the electronic sounds of the 303 are slowly tweaked until they sound like a screeching electric guitar, and a 909 pops in along the 505 sounding like a typical rock drum but harder. What would you classify this as, because that's how I compose my music.

The issue I have with genres is not one of them existing or not, but rather of how the listener will be
exposed to "my" (ie. your) music, what they will associate with "my" song and how they return to the site. Whereas I don't hate any particular genre, it's evident everyone has their own preferences. I tend to dislike most rap (all subgenres), and tend to prefer more instrumental pieces. This is purely my own tastes, and those shouldn't be forced on everyone, no matter how valid they may seem to me. To this effect, as a listener I'd like to NOT listen to rap at all. Am I excluding a potential number of amazing and intelligent artists? Probably, but I'm not interested in lyrical superiority, I'm more interested in instrumental orchestration, musical (instrumental) structure. This perhaps explains why I love some jazz and rock songs as well, where there are lyrics sung, why I enjoy some well produced techno and eurotechno, but not all. And what about when I am in the mood to write a novel and wish to listen to music that sounds like it came straight from a movie soundtrack? Some might think rap as in the soundtrack for Bones, others may think more traditional soundtracks that are mostly classical, such as that for Jurrasic Park or even The Perfect Storm. Maybe I want to listen to soundtrack to Cowboy Bebop, jazzy something subgenre?

Categorization of music allows the listener, without knowing the artists, to start listening to songs that fit their current desire or mood. Through this process, the listener is introduced to artists, which usually leads to the listener exploring other songs by this artist.

For the artist, categorization of music allows them to market on the principle of clubs, radios and media in general. There is a reason I don't go to clubs that play hip hop, rap, or heavy metal or even jazz, but do prefer ones that play eurotechno. Unfortunately there is no club scene for classical music, these are called Concerts.

Therefore, categorization is beneficial to all it seems.

Perhaps the listener should clasiffy the music themselves, and the site, which is primarly a listener-resource for music as much as an artist-resource for inspiration, should display listener-genres instead of artist-imposed genres.

I don't classify my music, and forcing me to do so would result in an unjustified classification or the creation of a potentially almost-empty sub-category. As in the case above, will it be a rock-rap-techno-classical category? Will the song belong to all four? It's difficult to pick the better decision between multiple genres, single but limited genres with the understanding they aren't ideal, or no genres at all.

So why not leave this choice up to the listeners? The artist could provide a guiding choice, whereby you place your song into a genre initially. The listeneres can add "genre pushes" to your song. If enough people feel your song is not "rock" but is indeed "rap", the song "moves over". After all, as an artist, you can't really argue with it, you're arguing against those who like listening to your song and who classify it in their heads a certain way. And if you're going to argue with that, I fail to see the point of releasing music.

There is the potential for this system, like any peer system, to get abused. A disgrunteled artist might wish to push "my" song into an undesirable or incorrect category. But with proper security measures, it is very possible to eliminate almost all attempts. Besides, common sense can always be used by the admins and by the site's majority.

But how to decide on the genres that are available in the "pull down list" that artists and listeneres see? That's another thing I've never seen anywhere done yet. Why not start off with an initial set, make it a "core set" perhaps, and then allow the members of dmusic, artists and non-artists, to "push" genres on or off the list. A genre can only go away from the list if there are no songs listed under it, of course. And a genre may only be added if a song needs to be placed into it, this eliminates unneeded genres.

In other words, this would be a completely peer-driven system, where genres are listed according to the desires of listeners and musicians, and the same would apply for song's genres. It should be immediately easy and instanteous to "push" a song or "push" a genre, shouldn't take more than a single mouse click once logged in, or the system won't be useful/effective. By push I obviously mean to add/remove/change..etc

As an artist, one might object to being categorized into a category you don't agree with. "Damn it, my song isn't classical, it's Baroque!". But keep in mind that when someone does buy your CD, they will put it next to an artist they feel you are close to, or next to another non-RIAA member, or in their pile of "for exercise only". In other words, your CD, record, mp3/ogg, will be categorized by the listenere whoever they wish, and you can't, nor should you, control that, as an artist.

Think of yourself as a parent of a child. Once it grows up, you give it your love and let it go in the world. Where it ends up, is up to those who it interacts with. You can merely set it on a path of interaction you feel is best.

This is nothing more than my thoughts on the matter, and how I see things. I hope I didn't offend anyone by "singling out" rap, as merely that is my own listening preference, so it really shouldn't have been taken as offensive.

Ciao!

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After reading quite a bit of posts by others in the forum, I've decided to post some of my music, something I've never done before.

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I'm debating putting actual music up on this site. The agreement I agreed to states that dmusic is pretty much free to make a living off of my music without me receiving anything in return, and I have a hard time accepting this as something normal, so I've posted to the forums asking anyone to comment on why they joined dmusic, what benefits they get that allow them to live with this agreement.

I have no problem if dmusic makes profit from my participation on this site, but if they do, then it should be 50% or less of what I get for that, too, that's only fair.

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