"What are you listening to right now" Threads Question
 

Does anyone else think that these "What are you listening to right now" threads might be stunting discussion?

I ask for two reasons:

1. I rarely go in the thread because its either a pithy one-off sentence or a youtube video.

2. I see them bumped a lot.

Do those threads (this is a "your opinion" question) prevent a band thread from being made or an existing thread from being elaborated on? I get the impression that they were created at the height of the "Being on MB with nothing to talk about" craze and they've carried over.

I'm not saying I'm right - I'm asking - but it seems to me we'd be better served by getting rid of them.

I don't like them, I think all chain threads are a waste of time but others don't.

I definitely think they're usually just spam threads, but on occasion they do foster some discussion. Not so much the main "What Are You Listening to Thread" since their are so many posts a day and they're all posts of such different music, but the other ones tend to have a bit of discussion here and there.

But I also have to say that if you're posting in one of those threads, then you probably don't particularly feel like making/contributing to a more in depth thread about the band.

They serve a purpose and I rather keep them. I always go into them and listen to some of the songs that people post and regardless if they said anything about it. I might come across something new that I enjoy. I don't need to have commentary along with a track to decide whether or not I want to listen to something. Just like you said you can avoid it and unsubscribe from it but I definitely get mileage out of that thread and others like it.

I'm against getting rid of them and that's the bottom line. If people did want to really discuss a band/artist then they would create a thread about it anyways but most people realize that you won't get any new posts in said thread. You may only get a few views and that's about it.

But whats the argument for them? People are too lazy to find the thread devoted to the band?

From my perspective, I only click "New Posts" and go into what strikes me as interesting. If I were to go into a "What are you listening to" thread and they just posted a youtube video and some non-descript comment, I have nothing else to go on. If its in an actual thread about the artist(s), then I've got a little bit of an idea of whats going on already.

I just feel like these threads are the lowest common denominator and more over, discussion that happens in those threads actually hurts the thread about the band because a piece of the discussion is now disjointed. I'm not burning with a passion to seem them removed, but I don't see what positives they give us.

I just broke down the positives that they give us. Well that they give me, they probably don't give you any positive because you want to see a well worded discussion about the track prior to listening to it but I don't need that. Sure, it can be a bit spammy and a bit of a dumping ground but I do listen to some of those and I end up finding artists/bands that I wouldn't have listened to on my own. Forcing people to create a thread about each band that they post about and having them do a write up is a negative in my opinion. Sure it may foster better discussion but in my experience they are normally avoided and you don't get much response from them.

I agree also in that I find them a little pointless, a few times I've gone in there and commented on others' videos and tried to start discussion about things that have been posted but rarely does anyone reply... It's usually just a sentenceless video post.

I don't get the reasoning behind "oh it's pointless so instead of me skipping over it, we should get rid of them"

Because its actively damaging the existing threads for those acts. We benefit from consolidated discussion.

Consolidated discussion isn't going to magically happen when those type of threads are gone.

No, not magically. Organically, because its logical.

Usually I might post to that thread if I like a particular track but don't like a whole album or if I want to quickly share a track and get back to work :).

Honestly I hardly ever bother with them. I prefer the genre recommendations threads because they are great ways to find new music rather than just a random what are you listening to post.

just because it's logical doesn't mean it's going to work in practice. The logic behind it is flawed.

These threads are quick dumping grounds if they aren't around, it's not going to force someone to create a worthwhile thread based off of one single track.

I think you're misinterpreting this intentionally. Rather than post in those threads you would either...

A. Post in the existing thread

B. Create a new thread for the act because one doesn't exist.

I'm not making the assumption that someone will go from Copy & Paste to thoughtful exploration, but in what I'm suggesting, Copy & Paste will lead to thoughtful discussion, albeit with another person leading the discussion.

Copy Paste into a thoughtful discussion can happen in the thread that already exists. It doesn't but it can it's open to that possibility. There are thoughtful discussions that happen in the Albums you are Digging Thread and the Last download thread not so much in what you are listening to but from time to time people will discuss a track. You don't go into those threads often so you don't see it.

If someone wanted to lead a discussion on a single track they can take it from the thread that already exists and open a new thread to talk more about it.

There is just no need to close down those threads that already exist.

Like I mentioned though, a few times I have been into the 'What are you listening to' threads and posted a comment about a song that someone was listening to, or tried to facilitate a discussion, and it is rare that anyone even replies! It's obvious that it's not a place where members want to have discussion, they'd rather do that in other threads (such as the What album are you digging or latest download thread...) While it does have potential, in reality it's not really happening even when members try to jazz it up a little more than just a YouTube link.

Having said that though I don't mind just ignoring that thread when it pops up in my new posts, I guess other people who post in there still enjoy just sharing a link to a YouTube video or posting a song title...

Like I just mentioned if you did want to continue that discussion all you had to do was copy paste that track that you wanted to talk about and make a new thread to start a discussion about it.

So now forum-first members have to do twice the work so that lazy people can just throw a video up without having to grunt?

I don't know, man. That sounds pretty ridiculous.

If they want to have a discussion some work is required.

You're every other post in this thread.

The typing is the work. They people here to banter shouldn't have to support the mouth-breathers.

People here to banter should be capable of doing a little typing. It's not that big of deal like you are making it out to be.

I'm not making any deal out of it. I'm painting a pretty direct solution to a problem - a problem the Mod cave came has come out forcefully on - which is that music discussion isn't happening.

Its largely dying because Youtube posts rarely generate discussion. And Youtube comments are all those posts are.

You might not be getting it but lack of music discussions is the results of members not wanting to discuss anything. Closing this thread or even getting rid of the ability to post youtube videos period won't increase discussion. You can't force people to post more than they are willing to.

I COMPLETELY agree with this (Even though I'm guilty of posting a song just yesterday!)

I think it's a way to just say what you're doing but do any of us look around to see what everyone else just posted? If so, do the OPs come back and respond to our replies?

I was hoping that by posting my song, I'd get a new song around, but then thinking about it, I don't think anyone really comes back to look around.

See that's how I feel they're used. Its sort of a "Look how hip and in-the-know I am" but with no investment, you can't go very far. The people posting there are willing to do almost nothing - even DJ has agreed with that. They aren't likely to watch your video, and if they do why would they write anything.

They wouldn't even write for their post!

I agree with you. I don't think people are learning much or discussing much. It might honestly be an easy way to get a post count up if anything.... Unfortunately.

that's why it used to be under the games, polls, part of the lounge but I don't remember why it was moved back up the general music or maybe it wasn't and I'm mis-remembering but we could always do that.

The old thread where you only had to list a song title was in the games lists & jokes thread.

Then Jackhammer deleted it and started a new thread saying you had to post a youtube link and say a few lines about it with the intention of it creating discussion. Clearly that didn't work either.

I actually like the threads, they serve a purpose... at least for me, that purpose is to check up on what other people are listening to and see what my fellow MBers musical tastes are like. Also, I use it to sometimes check out music I've never heard of before when some of my favorite posters stick songs in the threads. Does it generate much discussion? No, not really... but it's there to see what everyone else is listening to, so it does what it's supposed to.

All that said, I much prefer http://www.musicbanter.com/general-m...above-you.html. It generate discussion, and forces people to actually listen to things other people post, especially things they normally wouldn't ever listen to. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm probably going to bump it right now, it deserves to be at the top.

I think the Albums You're Digging thread is valuable, but the others are fairly useless.

If you want to have a discussion have a discussion.

:bowdown:

That's unfortunate that it didn't work!

I personally love the 'what are you listening to right now' threads. I often give no **** about commentary. I also love the 'which song describes how you're feeling' thread. That's because I like listening to how people are feeling. No words necessary. As for the overall argument, here's my part:

I like MB because it exposes me to new music. I rely on MB for that. Why? Because I long since gave up on Pitchfork et. al. for suggestions. When I want new music I turn to MB. And I don't enter the journals to read things that are exactly like Pitchfork (and a whole lot of even worse crap, I might add), nor do I peruse individual band threads on MB. How ****ing long would it take for me to find new music that is interesting to me that way? A real long time.

I like the threads in question b/c I can turn to MB, look at those threads, and get immediate ideas. You may ask 'How do you do that? - they are only youtube links, etc...?!!!' Here's how:

4 simple steps: 1) enter thread. 2) see who is posting what. 3) find the music that is posted by people on MB who share my taste in music. 4) ENJOY

Fuck discussion. Fuck reviews. Fuck everything but the music.

Please don't do away with my favorite MB threads.

Well I guess this was exactly the kind-of feedback that MB was after, Engine, because it was assumed that most people do not even look at the videos in those threads that was thought to render them useless. But if members such as yourself are looking at those threads and enjoying them for that very reason, without having to have conversation but instead have a look at peoples's videos, then they do serve a purpose.

They certainly serve a purpose for me (for reasons stated above). Granted, if I had not become acquainted with the tastes of other members over the years I've been here, the threads may be worthless. But I, for one, notice longstanding members' interests.

I said this earlier but I guess my opinion doesn't count unless it's backed up by someone else.


This is an excellent point that you made.

I don't know why people find it so hard to click the play button on a music video especially if they are unfamiliar with a music artist/band.
Sounds pretty lazy to me.