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seventhsojourn View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 24 2014 at 02:50
Originally posted by tamijo tamijo wrote:

Originally posted by chopper chopper wrote:

We should get loyalty points for each post, then when you've built enough points you can exchange them for PA goodies - pens, baseball caps, signed photos of Dean etc.
 
"signed photos of Dean" puuu-ha, that part saved my azz, thought you were serious for a second or two 
 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 24 2014 at 03:11
Originally posted by tamijo tamijo wrote:

Originally posted by chopper chopper wrote:

We should get loyalty points for each post, then when you've built enough points you can exchange them for PA goodies - pens, baseball caps, signed photos of Dean etc.
 
"signed photos of Dean" puuu-ha, that part saved my azz, thought you were serious for a second or two 

Big smile

Nah, some people would just post rubbish all day for the sake of it.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 24 2014 at 04:27
The site has achieved what it started out doing, get reviews and clicks. I still like to click on the 50 reviews tab and read and scroll. There seems to be quite a few people still reviewing. As for the forum well it has got quieter, but that is only from the sections as I see it that I visit. Would not trade this place for any other music site, long may the server 'live'Beer. As for getting new members.......M@x needs a marketing person!

Edited by Chris S - March 24 2014 at 04:29
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 24 2014 at 10:48
I get what you're on about Austin, and for a long while I felt much the same: Why doesn't this site attract more people? Especially considering just how much "experimental" music is being released nowadays - just take a look at RYM and the top releases. Sure we're not talking vanilla prog or mellotron heaven, but there should be lots to love on PA for a teenager who is fed up with the radio bs recycling and other such corporate institutions. 

The thing is, PA has a pretty set rate visitor-wise. We have some 50000 members, of which there are a lot of double accounts, spammers, jokers, hustlers and rating abusers.....and then you got all those folks who don't visit anymore. 
BUT on a day to day basis, we're about the same amount of visitors that we've always been - at least while I've been frequenting. New faces pop in - old ones disappear and so it goes for better or worse.

Maybe if prog rock was to be the new thang and get monster attention from tv and radio - and this huge comeback emerges from the ashes like a rising phoenix of extended solos and unfathomable time signatures, - maybe then we'll see some new faces. 
I just don't think prog is on the verge of making it big....again.....at least not anytime soon, and speaking from a collaborator's pov, then I could see this turning PA into a HUUUUUUUGE place, where we'd have to have teams for every part of the forum. Oh and can you imagine how many new threads we'd see, where people with their panties in a twist would scold us for not having Flaming Lips, Animal Collective and XTC up in this motherDead Sounds like a wee thing, but then again we've never had to explain ourselves to thousands of different people. 
The way I see it, PA is what it is on account of it's relatively small size. Folks know each other and remember things from threads they posted in. If you pour some 1000s of new people in the boat, I'm afraid the intimacy of this place will disappear. I'm not saying I don't want new blood and new people to talk to - heck, I'm just about the most outgoing maniac around here - but I would hate to see PA transform into this big machine, where intimacy would be reserved for those few of us who frequent the dark side of the loon aka Collaborator Zone.
Maybe I'm "painting the devil on the door" as we say in Denmark, but I love this place for it's people.

Maybe we could start catering to a small few then? Bicyclists, gymnasts, Armenian truckers, Ugandan bisexuals and other such relatively small groups of people.

There's always the titty factor though..........or perhaps the lack thereofOuch Some things always manage to pull people in.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 24 2014 at 12:29

Is Prog Rock the New Folk?


Scroll down to the bottom (okay, read the article first if you must) - notice the first three links in the Around the Web section... 
What?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 24 2014 at 13:57
ClapClap

Edited by aapatsos - March 24 2014 at 13:57
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 24 2014 at 14:30
LOL
Fantastic news then! I guess if the Huffington post says so, then it surely must be true. I can't wait!

Say Dean - any chance you'll take on your old job if we're about to be flooded with new prog rock fans who all have read the paper?


Edited by Guldbamsen - March 24 2014 at 14:31
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 24 2014 at 14:38
Nice links from Dean, which confirm that the site is very well regarded. Just look at Prog magazine's comments.

I would, though, say that the reviewing side is probably better regarded than the forum.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 24 2014 at 15:09
I guess we need a sort of prog Mumford and Sons (or One Direction) that'll get 'em in.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 25 2014 at 12:44
*Aaaah, aah, aaah...*DREAMTHEATER*choo* S'cuse me! Damn cold.Pinch


What if we actually payed attention to bands that posted in the Welcome Artists section? And/or had forum members with special New Artist Reviewer titles.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 25 2014 at 13:05
Hmmm yeah sure but you don't need a badge to do that. Anyone can listen to the new artists - question is: do you want to?

I know a lot of collaborators on PA who juggle team work, new suggestions and reviewing, and then when they've finally got a little time to themselves, they chill out in the forums talking to friends. Personally I'd feel it would be a bit of a chore to have to sift through new artists to boot. 
But the casual Joe on here should have more than enough time to take a listen methinks.

As for a title stating "New Artist Reviewer" - I don't think so. We have a wide variety of reviewers on PA who do fantastic work, but I'd hate to narrow down anyone's freedom to review whatever they feel like. Sure it'd be wonderful if more writers would support the new acts - especially all of those new artists that keep getting thrown our way yet hardly EVER receive any form of attention, but making a distinct job to do so is not the solution imo.
“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 25 2014 at 18:39
I'm totally happy with my member and it isn't exactly new Tongue
Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 25 2014 at 18:54
Originally posted by Slartibartfast Slartibartfast wrote:

I'm totally happy with my member and it isn't exactly new Tongue


After all, size is not importantWink
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 26 2014 at 02:51
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

Is Prog Rock the New Folk?


Scroll down to the bottom (okay, read the article first if you must) - notice the first three links in the Around the Web section... 
 
This was fun ! LOL
 (not 'drum and bass' solos, young friend, but *shudder* 'drum solos' and 'bass solos')
Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 26 2014 at 05:41
Originally posted by ExittheLemming ExittheLemming wrote:

Originally posted by Slartibartfast Slartibartfast wrote:

I'm totally happy with my member and it isn't exactly new Tongue


After all, size is not importantWink

Burn LOL
Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 31 2014 at 05:42
Originally posted by ExittheLemming ExittheLemming wrote:

There's currently 163 active users online out of 50,000 members worldwide on PA which is a lot of active users at any one time compared to sister sites JMA (22 active users out of 2,024 members) and MMA (19 active users out of 2,460 members) Although the percentage of members who visit the forums is higher on both MMA and JMA I just wonder how many dormant accounts we have on PA? (there must be thousands) plus I'd hazard most members of JMA and MMA are also members of PA so there's significant duplication involved. Just an observation, not neccesarily a criticism, but as PA is much older than its sister sites, does anyone feel that the focus on the PA forums has maybe shifted over time from music discussions to general discussions? if so, does this perhaps put potential new members off?
 
Well, the fact that PA is much older than JMA or MMA is maybe part of the explanation, but when PA was 2 or three years old, it had reached a very important potential that I doubt JMA and MMA will probably never reach ... different eras as well, I suppose...
If I'm not surprised that the JMA forum did not take off (knowing the average jazz fan), I must say that I'm a bit surprised MMA never took off... Maybe there is too much competition from other Metal forums...
 
I'd say that the black background of both MMA and JMA is probably not very inviting ...
 
===================
 
As for PA's forums, I'd say that may of the old guard grew tired of writing the same thing over and over (I certainly didEmbarrassed) , and indeed are concentrating on non-music topics..; there is also a natural erosion effectSleepy... it happens to every movement or item...
 
Part of the problem (I think) is that there are many topics buried deep in theforum's archives that can't be relivened because they're locked, for reasons of space/bandwidth (whatever the technical reasons, I can't remember exactly, but it was discussed here a few years ago).
 
Maybe I'm dreaming, but... 
 
I have maybe a solution (if it's feasible , of course), but it will need a few volunteers not afraid to spend much time.
 
In order to reopen access to these old but interesting threads (such as the Mellotron thread), why not eliminate (delete permanently) all the junk threads and the unsuccesful ones those that didn't manage more than a few answers) that take up so much space
I'm sure deleting the Mariah Carey and the Velvet Room threads will free up much space, which would allow maybe to reopen essential older threads that are inaccessible for new comments, unless askinfg admins to reliven it
 
Of course, this will require a certain quality of judgment as as to what to keep and what to discard... a little housekeeping of sorts, right??Wink
 
 
 
 


Edited by Sean Trane - March 31 2014 at 06:05
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 31 2014 at 06:41
Originally posted by HemispheresOfXanadu HemispheresOfXanadu wrote:

*Aaaah, aah, aaah...*DREAMTHEATER*choo* S'cuse me! Damn cold


Nah - need something better than a clever heavy metal band


Jon Lord 1941 - 2012
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 31 2014 at 10:00
Originally posted by Sean Trane Sean Trane wrote:


 
As for PA's forums, I'd say that may of the old guard grew tired of writing the same thing over and over (I certainly didEmbarrassed) , and indeed are concentrating on non-music topics..; there is also a natural erosion effectSleepy... it happens to every movement or item...
 
Part of the problem (I think) is that there are many topics buried deep in theforum's archives that can't be relivened because they're locked, for reasons of space/bandwidth (whatever the technical reasons, I can't remember exactly, but it was discussed here a few years ago).
 
Maybe I'm dreaming, but... 
 
I have maybe a solution (if it's feasible , of course), but it will need a few volunteers not afraid to spend much time.
 
In order to reopen access to these old but interesting threads (such as the Mellotron thread), why not eliminate (delete permanently) all the junk threads and the unsuccesful ones those that didn't manage more than a few answers) that take up so much space
I'm sure deleting the Mariah Carey and the Velvet Room threads will free up much space, which would allow maybe to reopen essential older threads that are inaccessible for new comments, unless askinfg admins to reliven it
 
Of course, this will require a certain quality of judgment as as to what to keep and what to discard... a little housekeeping of sorts, right??Wink
 
 
 
 
This is a matter of perception rather than reality.
  
I think the effect of the non-music forum topics is over-stated, if you don't like them then don't look at them. I cannot see how they affect anything. The Front Page only shows new forum topics from the Prog Lounge, Prog Polls and Interviews; the Active Topics list does not show JFF threads.

If people were not interested in the non-music topics then no one would read them, the reason why they are popular is because they are popular. And that's because the people who regularly use the forum are interested in more than just music, the forum is a broad community of varied interests centred around a common liking for Progressive Rock, but Prog Rock is not the be all and end all of the forum.

Unlocking locked threads is simply a matter of asking an Admin to unlock the one's you are interested in, the vast majority of them only get locked through inactivity. If they hadn't gone dormant then they would not have been locked. 

Not sure which mellotron thread you are referring to but none ever went over four pages, there is only so much anyone can say about a mellotron - it's not exactly a hot-topic - So what mellotron thread is it and what can you add to it to make it more active? - It's one thing to open a locked thread, getting people interested in posting something relevant and interesting is something else.

Dead and locked threads are irrelevant, the space they occupy on the server is minimal and the only performance it affects is the search time, and if you use Google rather than the dreadful WebWiz search this is unimportant. Yes a feisty Admin could delete the Maria Carey thread, but I can't see what difference it would make. 

So I don't see the need to create unnecessary work for Max or the Admins, and not doing anything negates the need to make judgement calls on whether a topic is a keeper or can be deleted.
What?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 01 2014 at 02:43
Originally posted by Horizons Horizons wrote:

My apologizes (maybe?) but i don't have a long winded paragraph to complement my reasoning for asking this question.

Simple as this:

How could we try to get more active, consistent members on this forum? This forum is inhabited by the same 15 members with a newbie posting either their introduction thread or a rogue posting from a random newbie from the past once or twice. 

Is it a problem with the look of the forum and main site to interest people in coming back? The subject were devoted to? The members? The topics?

How could we try to make this forum more appealing for others to come and stay. A fresh batch of lovely members are desperately needed imo. 
Horizons, I love your topic forum question too much!
P.A. needs more members this is a fact! To date it is still one of the most prestigious sites for bands be added and rated also in terms where they stand in terms of Progressive moozik.
 
The beauty of this site is that it is made be none professional music critics, however unfortunately we do no effort as in to entice newcomers to join us. Honestly the name progressive music considering what it entitles is a very appealing brand of people wanting to be exclusive above others, this can be sold and people will be more than willing to accept it too and become hooked to it, after some time listening to prog I promise they will find anything else gawd awful boring the brain once hearing better options will not accept any less but for this we need to become more welcome of newcomers some who might not know i.e. Genesis nor that Phil Collins was an incredible drummer and that Gabriel was the lead singer, this would interest new listeners so much because once we get them and make them feel welcome their excitement and own discoveries will benefit us all, it would make me so happy really. ApproveClapHeart   
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 01 2014 at 02:47
DPRP is a serious and most prestigious contender against PA, thus instead of being snobs we should welcome newcomers this will make them wanting to come back and really appreciate to be part of the site/network.
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