time to celebrate what we have on mp3u

I just spent nearly 2 hrs listening to 20 or so tracks and enjoying every minute of listening. What I sensed, as the early morning hours progressed, was an incredible sense of awe. I was awestruck that there are so many talented people creating their own music and uploading it to a site such as mp3u for all of us too hear. Music...awe...connections...technology at its best is when it encourages connection between people, I think. I felt that this morning.

It was a bleak, dreary morning, but after all the music I listened to, I certainly felt alive. That is something quite amazing: alive and connected.

The sense of connection is not only made through the listening experience, but also through the comments I give and receive. Who am I to say anything less than, "wow!" at anyone else's efforts? I don't often know the artists I leave comments on, but I want to encourage them through my comments, and the starting point is simply writing about what I heard in a track, and how I felt -simple, meaningful feedback. Sometimes I don't take the time I should to provide greater clarity, and sometimes I simply do not understand the genre expectations or the technologies employed to craft a tune. Technology has unleashed so much expression of feelings that I don't really care how the song was developed (technology) so much as to celebrate that people are creating music that I find enjoyable.

As I get to know more and more artists on mp3u, I am even more impressed that, despite, or often because of uncertainty or adversity in their lives, music brings life.

Thanks to everyone, even artists I haven't met yet, for choosing MP3U as the site to upload your music to.

There, I feel better now

All the best,
Terry

[Slippy-T]

Hi Terry, haven't been on here for a fair time. Ever since it's inception by Stu all those years ago the site has always attracted a large number of superb artist from all genres and walks of life, some of whom still inhabit the boards. I have nothing but admiration for all the artists that have posted their music.

All I can say is I hope it continues.

Rob

[Lodato]

It takes time to see what's in front of you.
It takes time to respond to what you've been given.
It's easy to take for granted the flower in the crack of a sidewalk.
We might just as well step on it before we notice its beauty.

[tbwig]

Good to see Rob (Slippy-T...who I just saw on soundclick? Never knew where the moniker (Slippy T) came from Rob still visiting...thanks for being present still on mp3u and...

Rich...yup...nailed it Rich... TIME...and desire, I think. I can have the time but no desire, or the reverse: desire (wanting to listen and comment on artists' music) without the time.

Both of these qualities must be present or we have a dead site. If no one MADE the time, or MADE the effort to comment, there would be no point in uploading music here. IT is for ourselves that we create music, it is for others that we listen and comment, I think.

MP3U is a small community...even smaller when you see the same names leaving comments week after week (and the same names in the charts...there is a relationship I think .

I know I believe in community and encouragement, and that is why I spend the time and make the effort to be present on mp3u. I know there are a few, likewise inclined. I wonder how we can grow the site into a far more active site, and not one where artists "drop and run" (a term coined to describe the artists who seem to expect/hope(?) that someone/anyone will listen and leave a comment).

I espouse a pay-it-forward approach: good will flow if I keep fueling the flow of encouragement by doing it myself first, and with no expectation of returns. The realist in me says: "foolish waste of time" to commit to commenting when so few ever seem to become involved in commenting on others! The caring person in me says: "Use the force, Luke..." and so I persist in sowing what I hope are seeds of encouragement with the hope that in so doing a little Life with be breathed into a site that many sense is on the way to giving up the ghost.

Slippy-T reminded us of the history of mp3u: Stu's vision. I don't think many know the whole story of how this site started, the vision, the struggles to the present. Perhaps some of the older (years on the site members could provide a brief history? I don't know the story, myself. However, I do believe that WITHOUT VISION (and history helps clarify the vision forward, I think), the site will not last long. I try to think optimistically, but I get worn out by the sheer volume of inertia...the weight of so many doing so little for so few, will collapse upon us all, eventually. Change? How? Thoughts?

I am not willing to give up on a good thing, but I am feeling a little discouraged by the way things seem to be at the moment (or has is always been this way and I have been a voice crying in the wilderness all this time...deluded and naive?) (I know there will be a lineup taking the bait on that opening :P

All the best...it is truly what I wish for everyone whose path I cross, on mp3u, as in all of life

T

[James Oakwood]

Originally Posted by tbwig

I espouse a pay-it-forward approach: good will flow if I keep fueling the flow of encouragement by doing it myself first, and with no expectation of returns. The realist in me says: "foolish waste of time" to commit to commenting when so few ever seem to become involved in commenting on others! The caring person in me says: "Use the force, Luke..." and so I persist in sowing what I hope are seeds of encouragement with the hope that in so doing a little Life with be breathed into a site that many sense is on the way to giving up the ghost. T

This is good attitude - take note people (and some of you have of course and always will). I suspect that if mp3u were a car, the mechanic would say the clutch is shot and if I were the owner, I'd say "OK fix the damn clutch" but then the mechanic says "the gearbox is f<img src="/images/smilies/emoticon-0183-swear.gif" alt="censored" />ked and the chassis is bent". At this point, most car owners would think about the scrap heap and be looking for a new car.

However, mp3u is a classic car and nobody in their right mind would dump an old E type jag BUT, does anyone know how to restore this beast?

[Lodato]

Originally Posted by James Oakwood

This is good attitude - take note people (and some of you have of course and always will). I suspect that if mp3u were a car, the mechanic would say the clutch is shot and if I were the owner, I'd say "OK fix the damn clutch" but then the mechanic says "the gearbox is f<img src="/images/smilies/emoticon-0183-swear.gif" alt="censored" />ked and the chassis is bent". At this point, most car owners would think about the scrap heap and be looking for a new car.

However, mp3u is a classic car and nobody in their right mind would dump an old E type jag BUT, does anyone know how to restore this beast?

Gee, that's glum. Even for you. See ya all. I'm off my rocks for the next four days in NOLA. I hope you're all here when i get back. I love you my MP3U family.
-be well
-rich