Why did they get rid of the top fifty band list?

On this website on the front page there used to be a listing just above the subgenre list (I think) that had the top 50 most searched prog bands on this site. It seems to have disappeared maybe back in June I'm guessing. I first noticed it a couple of months ago or so but I think it disappeared before then. When did they move it and also why?

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

On this website on the front page there used to be a listing just above the subgenre list (I think) that had the top 50 most searched prog bands on this site. It seems to have disappeared maybe back in June I'm guessing.

...

Hi,

In all honesty, I much prefer that it did not list "top" anything ... as it tends to soften the attention on the bands listed further down the listing.

I think that the idea, might have been a good one, to make sure that all bands got better attention than the ones listed as "top" ... I'm quite alright with the preferences, but a numerical listing with your "favorite" at the top, again, hurts the rest of the list ...

I started listening to one list, and only got to about 10, before I quit ... too many things that were ... copies, let's say ... with nearly the same "sound", and "ideas" for what "prog-rock" is. Not to mention of some old rehashes from a few known bands.

I would like to see some more folks with different and totally eccentric/eclectic listings ... so that some of us folks, have a different choice of things to listen to.

Edited by moshkito - 19 hours 7 minutes ago at 18:37

Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com

moshkito wrote:

I think that the idea, might have been a good one, to make sure that all bands got better attention than the ones listed as "top" ... I'm quite alright with the preferences, but a numerical listing with your "favorite" at the top, again, hurts the rest of the list ...

Maybe the top of the list is really better than the tail end? In any case, in a space where there are thousands of "competitors", ending up in the top 50 should not be perceived as hurtful by any reasonable artist.

moshkito wrote:

I started listening to one list, and only got to about 10, before I quit ... too many things that were ... copies, let's say ... with nearly the same "sound", and "ideas" for what "prog-rock" is. Not to mention of some old rehashes from a few known bands.

Talk about double standards. First you complain that people only focus on the top entries in the list and then you do the same?

moshkito wrote:

I would like to see some more folks with different and totally eccentric/eclectic listings ... so that some of us folks, have a different choice of things to listen to.

Dude, it's your choice! If you do not make it, you only have yourself to blame. Seriously, you can't scroll down the list?

Manipulation or not, i thought it was a good thing that new bands or newly added bands ended up in that list, it was a chance for them to be discovered.

Cristi wrote:

Manipulation or not, i thought it was a good thing that new bands or newly added bands ended up in that list, it was a chance for them to be discovered.

Hi,

This is where I would not be sure that they had a "chance" to be noticed, or discovered ... since, from my experience from meeting many writers way back when, including famous ones, and later a lot of musicians ... none of them thought that someone, or something, was important ... they all concentrated on their work, and knew that they could not influence, or think about a list here and there as more important than the rest.

I kinda worry that many folks, that are internet-drunk, think that anything that is posted on the Internet is important, and we know, how much stuff is fake, bad news, and on top of it, gross lies that are being ignored in so many elections in the USA.

It only makes it harder to appreciate a list, in my book ... and that has nothing to do with Mike's work at creating a list or anyone else's. In general, the artist has to worry about their work, not the list ... and we have to make room for that!

Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com

Easy Money wrote:

I think it had something to do with current bands purposefully clicking on their page so they could be in the top fifty. Some of the top fifty bands were looking pretty suspicious as to how they got there.

Something I've suspected... either bands or fanboys.

It's something M@X would've tolerated (I think), since that accounted for traffic/activity on the site.

==========

However, I believe (nothing sure) this band page link disappearance had something to do with loading page speed...

It (disappearance) happened more or less around the time when posting had become complicated/difficult for a lot us and a solution was finally found - even if the DB frontpage and the forum are theoretically +/- independent.

Edited by Sean Trane - 4 hours 54 minutes ago at 08:50

let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
content to be a doer
as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
rather than un-sheath our sword

Jared wrote:

Logan wrote:

that can lead to some manipulation to get bands into it.

It's got to take some dedication by an artist to want to spend time manipulating our system, in order that the 12 forum members who visit, might see their band's name hidden amongst the other 49 more familiar ones and by chance decide to click on them out of mild curiosity??

If they are prepared to put in the effort for so little pecuniary reward in return, we should be giving them a medal! LOL

Haha, the front page (not the forum) does geta huge amount of action, but so much of this site's action is from bots and you even get bot-on-bot action, which sounds kinky.

I've known people who created scripts that would keep clicking on something with less personal gain. It's not like one has to do it manually every time. I think there has been lots of abuse when it comes to trying to get an album as the most popular album on the homepage "MOST POPULAR ALBUM (last 24h). I think that is based on page hits too? If so, then trying to manipulate the 50 popular albums would also lead to it being the most popular album of the day.

if you look at the webarchive screen shot from lat year that I linked to, Big Big Train is the second highest listed popular of the 50 and its album Ingenious Device is the most popular. Not surprising at all, mind you. But I think the impetus might be more about trying to get it as that top album. Some people do go to great lengths for recognition. of course we have had much ratings and reviewing abuse from people to try to prop up albums.

While I remember people complaining about this, I do think the issue was more (or really) about streamlining due to server load, time-outs...

Duos for fave acts

Cristi wrote:

Manipulation or not, i thought it was a good thing that new bands or newly added bands ended up in that list, it was a chance for them to be discovered.

I agree. Most of the really well known bands (PF, Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, GG, VDGG, etc) were always there but the others (mostly newer) would come and go. I would often click on the ones I wasn't familiar with. It could be a good way of discovering new bands. It's too bad some people (members of some of those bands) apparently abused it.