Macmusic, The End Of The Adventure Options

[lepetitmartien]

Thanks everyone (and the next people who will post , it's always good for all the team to know that we don't work for nothing, and for the good of each

Now I've got a few things to get straight and a few other to add:

What we want from you as feedback is more a constructive view of
"What do you want MM to do to be alive and kickin' in 2 months?"
"What solutions can be acceptable for you? Or NOT acceptable?"
"What do YOU want to do, pay, run, swim, whatever, so that MM stays online and continue to grow?"

(sorry, it must be a defective translation that made the last sentences of the news unclear)

These are raw questions. It's to give the spirit of the kind of feedback we need, as we are having the same thread in the FR forums and we are watching and listening to these threads so they help us build a long term (viable for 2003 AND after) and a practical, workable legal solution. We interfer the least possible way in the thread to let members talk freely, and only to give needed informations only us can give when it is needed.

(I may add the legal solution is respective of the french regulations which are quite different from the anglosaxon, or even german ones to name a few, so go on, but we must on our side have this in mind)

The team is currently working on it too (on the practical side of things, we want a working trick in the next weeks), but the brainstorming of members is useful to us to give us directions.

From internal team debate (the people who are maintaining the site, animating it, searching news, making translations, cooking pies the following seemed the points that were the soul of MacMusic.

First - we are and we'll stay a .org

Second - we stand as a community service, made by and for the community.

Third - all actual MM content is (and will stay) open to all.

[wonx]

Although in principle I don't like it, I for one would be willing to pay a nominal fee, say $10 a year for the privelege of being able to post. But like everyone else I think we should lobby Apple, and Emagic, M-Audio etc. If they knew what a valuable resource MM is for their customers, there is no reason they shouldn't pony up.

[CircleTheA]

YOU NEED TO SET UP A PAYPAL AND HAVE A CAMPAIGN OVER THE NEXT MONTH TO RAISE FUNDS FOR NEW SERVERS!!! PEOPLE WILL HELP YOU GUYS OUT! TRUST ME!

[holli]

Surely Apple-friendly manufacturers should be falling over themselves to reach this captive audience I assume they have not been forthcoming?! Why aren't there Emagic, Motu, Protools, MAudio etc all grappling for the flashy banner ads? Maybe these companies are nervous since indepedent forums are a place for balanced views -pros and cons, whilst their own forums can be regulated favourably.

Apologies, I'm typing aloud in the hope of inspiration Perhaps technology companies/manufacturers are the wrong people -how about publications, audio media, sound on sound etc. Banks are usually good people to attract, since nearly everyone buys music gear on credit. The M.U. in the uk seems largely supported by credit card companies. They offer a favourable rate to members, in return for the exclusive right to target members with occassional mail hits. Seems to work.

[Johnny Valium]

I agree with Holly in that music technology companies are not keen on supporting places where they have their products openly criticized or sometimes even bashed.

Personally, when I visit macmusic I take a short look at the news section (to see if Digital Performer for X is out ) and then go to the forum. What about a poll where users can vote for the sections they would like to keep. Then you could sort out unnecessary stuff in order to make the site (and the expenditure) smaller. Bigger is not necessarily better.

Also, do we really need these animated gifs in the forums?! Or the avatars?! Getting rid of those would take away strain from the server. A forum without the expendable visuals would certainly be better than no forum at all.

If this sounds a little helpless I must admit that's what I am. What is the name of your ISP? Does it already support your site? Where are its banners?

Greetings and thanks for all the great work!!!

JV

[Ionas]

I will not waste time listing all the wonderful aspects of Macmusic. Others have done that better than I could. But I will say this: I joined up just two months ago, after bying a cheap Behringer Eurorack, trying my hands at Deck, and realising that I needed help. And I wouldn't hesitate to contribute economically to the continued existance of Macmusic, as it has already become as essential to my music as my old worn guitar.

I know it's not a long-term financial solution, but I'm certain MANY members of the community would haste to do the same. Perhaps that'll be enough for the coming months, until that old and lonely multimillionaire realises that testamenting his fortune to Macmusic.org was what he wanted to do all along, thus providing you with a permanent solution... ;-)

I don't think I've come across any Mac webboards as active as Macmusic, the EV Nova web board being the possible exception. And that is one flattering comparison...

[ryosode]

>"What do you want MM to do to be alive and kickin' in 2 months?"

I mostly look at the news quickly and then move onto forum in search of some useful information. It probably means your article/software/etc sections aren't appealing (to me at least). Maybe you can use this opportunity to determine which part of the site needs to be truncated?

On the contrary, may be you can think about how to enhance the site so that you could drive more traffic through. (Useful Mac related articles? For example, moderators maybe required to submit one article per year to keep their title? I dunno. Just a thought.) After the upgrade, let's put up banners from Apple/emagic/digidesign and so on!! More pages and higher traffic rate means you can charge more for each banner, right?

>"What solutions can be acceptable for you? Or NOT acceptable?"

I don't think money based service is acceptable. It'll keep all beginners away from the site and most of the discussions are triggered by newbie questions. If you want this site alive and kicking in 2 months, keep it free.

On the contrary, I am all up for donation system.

[Francois Déchery]

thansk all for your feedback and support.

Articles is the smallest time consuming activy of Macmusic (at least now).

IMO cutting services would not reduce a lot all the 'backstage' operations needed to run our not that small website.

on the other hand , our current traffic is allready more than enought to be truly interressant for advertisers and the traffic growth is just amazing. but potential advertiser aren't there and wont before a long time.

We need other ways. So we do need your ideas

[Francois Déchery]

We've just setup a poll to get a better idea of what support we can stand for, at:
http://www.macmusic.org/agora/forums/index...4907&s=&lang=EN

Please Vote!

[lepetitmartien]

Well 3 voters representing a majority of members… I think you can do better (you, yes, you!)

It's important for us to know what to expect, please!