Music has always been a relatively large part of the fandom, but it is also one of the most unstable and constantly changing mediums around. The majority of pony music these days is original thanks to 9 months of no official stuff, and as a whole, it seems like if the musician producing it isn't already well known, no amount of spotlighting even here on EQD or anywhere else will get them a massive amount of love a lot of these tracks deserve. Just talking to people within my own circles and at conventions, it seems like a good amount gave up on it unless it dings one of their Youtube subs, or they recognize the name of someone famous here in a spotlight post.
I'm here to ask all of you fandom goers, be you a pony music listener/enthusiast who burnt out a year ago, to a new person just now breaking into and producing their own a few questions, and hopefully figure out some improvements we can roll out here on EQD in the process. Maybe those out there producing the current generation of music can also use it to help better understand what the audience of listeners is looking for.
With season 4 in full swing, and the inevitable first major official song release on the horizon (along with flood of remixes of said song), it's probably a good time to get some things squared away! Head on down below the break for everything, and use those comments below to answer stuff.
Topic 1: Famous Vs. New
There are a handful of musicians who still do really well. Their subscriber base has been built up over years in the fandom, and names recognizable by just about everyone.
My question here is: Do you give new musicians a shot these days, or do you wait until you see someone you recognize?
Topic 2: The Burnout - Musicians and Listeners
Many of the best music guys out there have either burnt out or been signed to x label. On the other side of the coin, the listeners appear to have grown bored with the usual common genres and seem to not bother anymore. The instrumental category especially can get a bit tiring, with many focusing on dubstep, trance, orchestral, and metal, and the sheer amount of it eventually makes it difficult to really stand out.
My question here is: Were you a listener back in the day but lost interest over time? What burnt you out if so? Was it low quality music, or just general boredom with the genres?
Topic 3: Instrumental music - Pony Vs. Non Pony
One of the big issues we run into here on EQD is the question of how "Pony" a song is. Quite a few of the newer/still learning musicians slap a Vinyl Scratch image on top of a 50% sampled electronic song made in [insert music program here] then release it to the masses. Generally we "loosely" use Music of the Day for that if it's reasonably well done. Even when music review was in full swing, loads of songs got through that really weren't "pony" songs. It was always too difficult to tell.
My question here is: What do "you" think constitutes a pony song in the instrumental department?
Topic 4: EQD Quality Control on Spotlight Music Posts
Music review here on EQD has always been a bit unstable. A wide variety of reviewers came, burnt out, and left, while others stayed and battled it out in some of the most epic debates I've seen. There was a period of time where we were accepting pretty much anything, and this was also around the time people seemingly stopped bothering. Now days, it's much stricter.
My question here is: Are you happy with the current selection of music that makes it to spotlight? Do you think we need to be stricter? Music of the day is meant to be a "wild west" style environment with much less quality control, so stick to spotlight on this one.
Topic 5: Instrumental Vs. Vocal Vs. Show Remix
One thing that has always limped along in this category unless a big name instrumental composer like Makkon or Sim Gretina is making it is the instrumental section. It's also the most flooded, and from EQD stats least viewed. Vocal tends to dominate, though it's relatively uncommon, and even less to find a really good singer. Remix does well after an episode airs, then tapers off unless the musician making it is famous (as with all things).
My question here is: Which of the three categories above do you listen to? Do you ever experiment with one you don't usually bother with?
Final Topic 6: How EQD handles music posts.
We are always trying to evolve the way music is handled here, from the experimental Music of the Day to get people at least "some" traffic (which seems to be working really well), to spotlights changing header images, number of tracks per post, genre randomization, and even "mix a popular person with a lesser known person".
My question here is: What do you want to see improved/changed in regards to music posts here on EQD?
I'm going to end it there for now. Some things I want to point out for you, as listeners, that will help the musicians out:
- Comment on music posts/Youtube pages with tips, feedback, praise, ect. A lot of music posts here on EQD tend to fill up with discussions on how the weather is.
- Tell your friends if you find something you like! This site has always just been a stepping stone. A song might only get 2000 views out of EQD, but word of mouth carries it to the 20k+ mark with enough sharing.
Anyway, hit those comments up! Hopefully people don't see "music" in the title and filter it out!
