OK gud.
1. The Music SectionBring back the music section. With an overhaul. While I realize (and presumably you do as well) that the previous music section was not getting used properly (ie people would just drop off songs and not give any critique) I suggest you add a new music section with some major changes and keep the previous one for archive purposes.
By all means, have the hypothetical new music section be pony works only. That will pretty severely cut down on songs, but whatever - if that's what you want then go for it. Either way, have some rules for this. As we've apparently got some new mods
although I disagree with a few of the choices, it shouldn't be hard to monitor it. A proposal for these rules: if you post a song, you must give legitimate feedback (ie not stupid shit like "good song bro!!") on at least 3-4 other songs on the first page, giving priority to posts with 0 replies. This would hopefully help out with the feedback situation, which I'll get to in a second:
2. The Feedback SituationRight now, feedback is apparently limited to being specifically asked for on the Sound Design and Mixing forum (paraphrased the title because I don't remember it). Actual, completed songs on EQBeats don't have any apparent comments section, but I looked and you have to be a member on it to use it. There's your first problem: not everyone here makes pony music - in fact, a surprising number of people don't. This forces people who don't make pony music (and thus probably don't have an EQB account) to make a pointless account for the purpose of giving feedback on peoples' songs. This brings us to another problem.
The second problem is that EQBeats' comments section is not designed for feedback. On the few tracks that I did look at, comments were inane "gud job bro" bullshit like "You've really improved!" and "Love it!!". This is a forum designed to help people get better at music. Not a forum for people to drop off their music and not expect any kind of feedback. That's why I think it's stupid that people have to post in a non-obviously-critique-oriented to even get critique.
3. Pony/Non-PonyThis is a pony-oriented forum. I get that. But, in the words of the great and everlasting Makkon:
Nine Volt's paraphrasing of Makkon wrote:Music first, pony second.
With that in mind, I see no reason to disqualify songs (and "fan works") simply because they are not related to technicolor marshmallow equines. I dare say that Makkon would be
disappointed with this turn of events.
There's also an inherent problem with this system. What defines pony music? Does pony music have to have samples or some direct connection to the show? Or can it be something not obviously inspired by it and not directly related? Could I just slap the pony label on one of my songs and say "Hurr durr it was
inspired by poniesss!" and submit it for critique?
4. "Fan Works" subforumI've got the same problems with this subforum as those outlined in the "Pony/Non-Pony" segment above. Plus, a large number of the threads there are not related to ponies at all. I dare say a majority might not be related to them at all.
5. Member DiscographiesSee above. Not all of us are on or want to be on BMD, because we don't make pony music. I'm not the only one who doesn't make pony music, but I would still like critique and to show off my music here. Don't tell me to go to another forum - this is the only forum I'm really comfortable with, and I really like a lot of the people here. I'm not going to just up and leave because I want feedback on my music.
6. Transposing Old ThreadsSo the technique, sharing is magic, music, and member discographies are locked. Still, there are a very large number of very useful threads there, like the4thImpulse's frequency chart, his feedback guide, the "review the tracks above you" thread, and a huge number of legitimately helpful threads. Either have someone go through and make a permanent archive of helpful old threads, or have all four subforums be permanently archived.
7. The New ModsI really hope you thought through making DerpyGrooves a moderator. He doesn't seem to be able to handle different opinions very well (see: earlier in this thread, a few other places (look for anything regarding the words "wet sandwich")).
I'm copy/pasting this entire post to Word in case he edits this out of spite.
That's all I've got for now.
EDIT: I've got one more thing.
8. Page StretchingThat is the stupidest fucking rule I've ever heard of and everyone does it, yet somehow I got warned for page stretching ever so slightly when I see it
all the fucking time.