On Thumbs, Charts and Banality

A thumb for all seasons...a thumb for all sorts of reasons...a thumb for you because...(fill in the blank here) ...but more importantly, who is to judge the reason you give? Certainly not me. To thumb or not to (in some cases) thumb, is that the question?

Charting success? Success by what measure? Objective "standards"? Subjective motives? Who can tell what serves the site best? And...we are the site, so what is best for us? Who knows that? How is that to be determined?

Banality? Is the one comment and one vote not a significant and valuable thing to a new artist and new tune? Should I withhold a vote until, by some vague measure, I determine the artist/tune "worthy"?

"Noise , noise, noise!" - the Grinch

An opinion respectfully submitted,
Terry

[Disfunktional-DJs]

I think you should vote for whomever you want and for whatever reason you like... it's your vote !

I think the system needs a re-think, not voting.

The way the charts are, it only works for regular users of the site and I'm sure it puts new users off. Or even listeners, who want to see something new... The chart is on the front page. New users may only see the chart and the latest uploads and not much else.

in my opinion, the chart features heavy on this site... but it doesn't reflect on the true diversity of genres and artists.

if the chart was to go on weekly votes with no weighting system... the chart would look fresh and new once a week... Now it's 2-3-4 weeks before we see much of a change.

[LIQUID]

Personally I say drop the 'Thumz' thing. It appears now almost an automatic response from what I observe that leaving a comment is followed by a Thumbz Up. (Yes I know one or two of you dont do that but it appears typical)

Tracks played from beginning to end or even more than once by the same listener seems to be more of an indication that its apparently a worthwhile listen for that individual. Now whats to prevent someone simply pasting a crap few words and pressing thumbs in a mad frenzy to stimulate back scratching to push yourself up the chart!

My last track (with Terry I should add) I deliberatley left very few comments during the first couple of weeks as I wanted to get a feel for the tracks worth based on real listens rater the reciprocated back slapping...got to number 5 and I was happy with that.

Thumbz down on voting...what say ye all? (massive applause follows )

[James Oakwood]

It's easy to be reactive when something seems to be going wrong (and blame the "system" for its shortfalls) but weeks can go by without a murmur of discontent then suddenly,

1) the ip check thing catches a few "anomalies" or/and
2) quite a few folk are on holiday and/or
3) the latest-songs list is supposedly cured of hourly updates by the same people

..... causing the chart system to be picked-on. Not by many but by a few.

The chart should be what we want it to be and there's no point blaming the mechanisms of the chart if you don't want a weekly chart.

If you want the weekly chart exposed less then OK.

If you want folk to be more honest in voting and comments I back you all the way.

If the scratch-back mentality of leaving comments and votes is aided by the chart then how is this avoided without getting rid of the chart (or relegating it to some obscure place off the front-page)?

Andy

[Disfunktional-DJs]

Andy as you know, I've had issues with the weight system since it was brought in... The site isn't big enough for that system to work. Meaning very few people are voting.

I don't think the new I.P checking has anything to do with me thinking the chart needs a re-think.

I'm not saying lose the chart... I think the site has come too far to lose it.
I just think a better system would suit the chart more. Tracks featuring in the chart for 2-3 weeks with no new votes.That isn't the right system.

It doesn't look good to new members... I think a weekly vote would work better.
I also feel the chart will have more variation too... I think more artists would feature.

From the outside, it looks like the same artists in the chart every week.
that doesn't sell the site for me.

[LIQUID]

Originally Posted by James Oakwood

If the scratch-back mentality of leaving comments and votes is aided by the chart then how is this avoided without getting rid of the chart (or relegating it to some obscure place off the front-page)?

Andy

If its based on anonymous plays then problem solved. Trust me the whole Thumz or positive voting of any kind is always going to undermine any fair system as it becomes clear they did/or didn't for me so I will/ won't for them.

Voice of Reason (see what I did there, I use Reason as my DAW, plus its good advice)

Ant

[TonyMiller]

Originally Posted by LIQUID

Voice of Reason (see what I did there, I use Reason as my DAW, plus its good advice)

Ant

Get yer coat, yer barred!

[LIQUID]

Originally Posted by TonyMiller

Get yer coat, yer barred!

From tiny acorns did megastars grow - sadly they don't grow them like this anymore

YouTube

YouTube

[Darth Raver]

Originally Posted by Disfunktional-DJs

I just think a better system would suit the chart more. Tracks featuring in the chart for 2-3 weeks with no new votes.That isn't the right system.

Ricky,

You also mentioned in the chatbox that you thought it was joke that the Wait For Stars track kept the top spot but had no new votes in the past week.

I just checked it out and that is not actually true. The song got two new votes on Monday 20th and one on Friday 25th. OK, 3 votes is not a hill of beans, but added to the weight of the previous votes (and lack of votes for new songs in general) it kept them at the top. None of the song's votes were invalidated since they first uploaded it, so I can't explain why you think the total number of votes did not increase, as the records show that they clearly did.

The whole system probably needs to be re-thought. Whether that means giving less weight to previous votes than the present system or no weight at all remains to be seen.

Since it is likely that within the next year the entire site will get a major overhaul, it is also highly likely that the chart system will change for the better. Any other ideas or suggestions are always welcome.

Thanks to everyone for your continuing feedback!


Darth

[LIQUID]

Seems totally bad form to name an artist for something that they personally have no say over `Wait for the stars` didnt write the code so they shouldn't be named in that way... I'm all for speaking ones mind but give some thought to the potential of what it is thats said.