An Open Letter to Sethisto, Head of Equestria Daily

[CaptainFluffatun]

Perhaps something constructive to discuss: More websites to post your music on to expand your audience. OCR has been brushed on, but perhaps there are others? Dunno, just trying to turn this thread around from the direction it seems to have gone...

[Ed Viper]

Perhaps something constructive to discuss: More websites to post your music on to expand your audience. OCR has been brushed on, but perhaps there are others? Dunno, just trying to turn this thread around from the direction it seems to have gone...

Both good ideas. The thread has gotten pretty heated (and I more than likely added to that flame).

I'm not against the idea of there being more websites to post your music on, but it's been done. Equestria Music, BMD, Everfree Network (while not exclusively music, submissions are a thing), Celestia Radio (while not as open to submissions as EFN, it still is a thing), EqBeats; the list goes on and on.

None of these sites get anywhere near the traffic that EqD does (with the possible exception of EFN). The problem then becomes promotion of these platforms. Truth be told, unless these other sites are to be featured on EqD, very few people will even know about them.

What we can do that would help is to make these sites visually appealing and/or make them easier to use. EqD does both. EqD's design is simple, easy to follow, and looks great for the cherry on top. Everfree Network, while it has its own definitive style and visual appeal, isn't as conducive to easily finding content like EqD is. However, it does have that aforementioned appeal, so people do visit the site regularly. The other websites I mentioned, and I mean no disrespect here, don't do what EqD and EFN do, visually or content-wise.

So yeah, that's a thought I just sort of came up with off the top of my head. I'm not entirely sure if this is even on-topic anymore. Wa.

[CaptainFluffatun]

Keep in mind not all suggestions must be pony-related. As Makkon always says: "it's a music community first, and a pony community second"

I mean like music promotion websites in general. Preferably ones that are free to post your music on, so as to not limit anyone who might be looking on this thread (plus, paid ones are probably well known, and are thus pointless to talk about i.e. iTunes)

[Freewave]

Well I just have to say while OP clearly did a terrible job of explaining his aim and trying to offer a positive alternative people clearly came in here simply to lambast and ridicule him. They were doing just as poor a job of having a civil conversation about the subject from the other side. Some people clearly still can't notice their own behavior in starting more drama. Sometimes i feel that MLR is still more of high school for music then anything advanced because of the maturity level of a few. I'd like us to retain some level of respect for others even if the opinions aren't popular or sometimes aren't even well stated. We should be able to have civil discussions.

I also don't understand this whole thing about people saying Seth should just feature his favorites or run it like a personal blog. EQD isn't run that way and it shouldn't be. The whole pre-listeners idea was organized ON MLR and it benefits the music community in so many ways by giving musicians a chance to be heard. I know many musicians take part in determining what's good and what isn't quite worthy (hence musicians evaluating other musicians which is fair). Yes sometimes tracks should be included that aren't (i think every musician has a few personal stories of woe to tell) but their system is better and more fair then ever before. Perfect? Nope, but again it HAS been improving especially with the volume of the tracks they are given now. If other sites can take part to fill the gap it would not be a bad thing but they will have a WAYS to go before its anything even approaching what EQD does as a spotlight and as an engine for how this community runs. That's not say they shouldn't try.

[DusK]

I also don't understand this whole thing about people saying Seth should just feature his favorites or run it like a personal blog. EQD isn't run that way and it shouldn't be.

I disagree, actually. If there's one point that's a given after this, it's that it's Seth's blog and he can run it however he sees fit. If he wants to continue featuring music that falls in line mainly with his subjective viewpoints while attempting to maintain the illusion that objectivity has anything to do with those decisions, he's completely within his rights to do so. I don't have to like it, and I certainly don't have to respect him for it, but I was completely wrong in demanding he run it how I or anyone else thinks he should. I was completely wrong in demanding anything from him or EqD's staff.

Everyone in here, civil or not, drove home a very correct point: It's just a blog. It's just his blog. It doesn't belong to anyone of else, least of all an entire community, and I certainy have zero say in what is or should be on it, and that's something I didn't have in perspective when I wrote that email or the subsequent posts after I made the email open.

I'm already moving on with this. Any efforts from here on out to rally anyone else around anything will be in support of a new site, not in opposition to one guy's blog.

[CaptainFluffatun]

See Ben, we CAN turn things around ^-^

[Makkon]

I'm happy to see things turned around. I just wish that it could be accomplished more civilly, and that the first comments posted on a given thread, especially this one, wouldn't be pretentious and unhelpful.

[Navron]

I find the original flaming to be completely justified, for 3 reasons.

1. This topic has been DONE TO DEATH. A simple search of topic titles including, "EqD," loads an entire page of topics that discuss the entire thing OP decided to make a new topic about, making this a completely unneeded thread.

2. EqD has problems in its music submission process. It's nothing new, and despite the fact there's still some issues, the system today is still a big improvement of the system they had before. Most of the musicians here that submit to EqD have learned to cope with the inherent flaws and/or improvise ways around them, but considering OP decided to send a letter first, and discuss later, the damage is already done, and if Seth decides to change the system again, it may be to the detriment of all musicians, who (for the most part) had no problems with the current system.

3. Nearly every single person here has had their music rejected before, most often with no reply or indication it's been rejected. OP is not a special snowflake that is the only person to have had their music rejected. We've all had it happen, multiple times. The only difference is most of us see that as a time to improve ourselves, instead of writing angry rants or spreading conspiracy theories about the submission process.



It's all part of being in a creative outlet. Artists and musicians face rejection every day. Right now I'm taking an online music production class. You know how many people are in that class? About 50,000. How many of those people do you think want to be known as a musician? How many do you think want to eventually land a record deal?

What are YOU doing to better yourself?

[colortwelve]

What are YOU doing to better yourself?

As much as it sucks to not even be given the acknowledgement of a rejection notice, that right there is what stays buzzing in the back of my head to keep me going. Sure, notoriety and recognition is all well and good, but I honestly think a few of the brony music community's bigger names don't really belong there anymore - but they've become acclimated to the politics of fame in our insane little community. That's what I don't want for myself. I started making music because I thought it'd be fun - I was right - and I keep doing it because improving is also fun. I get bored using the same patches for a few songs in a row. I get bored making the exact same genre for a few songs in a row. I like to keep myself on my toes so that I'm open to new ways of doing things that may serve my purposes better than how I did things before. And I try not to have a sense of entitlement. The reason I got my first three EqD features is because I worked with talented rappers on them, and once I spent the majority of my time on instrumental music, the best I ever got was MotD. But I recognize that I got those first features because I was working with talented individuals, and I recognize that my instrumental work is less spectacular. But I'm improving with every song, so a full EqD feature has become more of a target quality than anything else. And with every rejection, I'm offered more clues as to what parts of my style aren't up to par (though lack of actual pony content beyond the artwork I use for my videos probably plays a huge part in it as well - also a helpful tip). So I don't whine. Sure, I may think 'wow, this song is objectively better than that last one that got on EqD,' but that always fades with the high from finishing a song. There's always something I could've done better in any given track, so I'll always be working more on improving my quality than trying to reach a wider audience.

[Magnitude Zero]

EDIT: Never mind, really don't want to get back into this. Carry on.

[MYCUTIEMARKISAGUN]

I've long criticized EQD's handling of music, but OP really went about this in perhaps the most douchey way possible. There. I said it.

something that can work as a better hosting site then eqbeats (which hasn't really continued to improve)

fak u, codl adds shit all the time

matter of fact you can just like, go onto ponychat and TELL him your complaints and he'll be like "ok, i'll get on that". I know this because I've done it like, a bazillion times:

Code: Select all

[08:42:44] <mcmiag> wtf stop taking away hitcounts on eqbeats in a misguided attempt to make all musicians feel equal codl

[08:42:44] <EqBot> mcmiag: Mail from codl sent 3 days ago: I have no idea what you mean by “You are Lisa Simpson” but I’ll take it as a compliment

[08:42:56] <mcmiag> I’M BETTER THAN THESE OTHER PPL

[08:43:00] <@codl> what

[08:43:02] <mcmiag> I DESERVE TO FEEL LIKE IT SORTA

[08:43:05] <@codl> did it break again

[08:43:08] <@codl> ffs

[08:43:11] <mcmiag> YEA YESSERDAE

[08:43:18] <@codl> uh

[08:43:22] <@codl> is it back now

[08:43:33] <@codl> or is it still broken

[08:44:05] <mcmiag> still broke

[08:44:28] <+Cherry_Cheer> lol

[08:45:11] <@codl> how about now

[08:46:16] <%nido> programming-motherfucker.com

[08:47:46] <@codl> hrmbgrl

[08:47:53] <@codl> !mail fmang fix hitsd fix fix

—- later —-

[14:22:34] <mcmiag> “Hits : 16”

[14:22:36] * mcmiag thinks “Fuck yeah, losers!” to himself

[14:22:40] <mcmiag> thanks codl

[14:23:15] <@codl> :)



With the Music of the Day feature (which I helpfully suggested on this forum like 2 bucking years ago and ya'll laughed at me WHOS LAUGHIN NOW HANH), EQD is basically better on fan music now than it has been its entire existence.

If you wanna get Seth to do something new to help the music scene, tell him to stick a EQbeats banner link somewhere on EQD. Like he used to do w/ FimFiction.

[MYCUTIEMARKISAGUN]

If getting rejected from EQD really frosts your ass that much, then you

....COULD do what I did, which is to look in the mirror and go "I, ______, am a grown-ass man who has been doing this music shit for a hot minute, and I do not need the co-sign of a My Little Pony blog to feel fulfilled as a human being, because I know my music is dope."

like, just fucking work hard on good unique songs, do toastbeard & remix war & community albums, MAKE SOME GODDAMN FRIENDS LIKE CELESTIA TOLD YOU IN S01E01 and you might be shocked at what happens.

[Magnitude Zero]

If you wanna get Seth to do something new to help the music scene, tell him to stick a EQbeats banner link somewhere on EQD. Like he used to do w/ FimFiction.

That's... a pretty good idea, actually. BMD banner would be cool too, but I guess that's kinda pushing it

[ph00tbag]

That's... a pretty good idea, actually. BMD banner would be cool too, but I guess that's kinda pushing it

BMD seems to be more of a reference than a promotional site. If we're talking about ways to make sure artists are getting due recognition, EqBeats is somewhat more useful.

[Freewave]

I've long criticized EQD's handling of music, but OP really went about this in perhaps the most douchey way possible. There. I said it.

something that can work as a better hosting site then eqbeats (which hasn't really continued to improve)

fak u, codl adds shit all the time

matter of fact you can just like, go onto ponychat and TELL him your complaints and he'll be like "ok, i'll get on that". I know this because I've done it like, a bazillion times:

With the Music of the Day feature (which I helpfully suggested on this forum like 2 bucking years ago and ya'll laughed at me WHOS LAUGHIN NOW HANH), EQD is basically better on fan music now than it has been its entire existence.

If you wanna get Seth to do something new to help the music scene, tell him to stick a EQbeats banner link somewhere on EQD. Like he used to do w/ FimFiction.

No need to tell me to fak off....

There are PLENTY of complaints on the equestrian beats thread which codl opened and hasn't visited anytime lately. A lot of good recommendations that could be implemented. While we could track down him on his IRC chat why not tell him to check his thread on here for all the replies and requests that have been asked for the last couple of months. Again eqbeats is a decent site but its no soundcloud and if pony.fm goes live with more features then it will continue to trail behind in usefullness which is a shame as its more established. I'm all for them trying to stay competitive. Better layout, download + playback stats, pm system, hq formats, etc have been recommended there.

I think if you want Seth to feature an EQBeats banner you'll have to pay for that advertizing space. He does make a living off the blog i believe.

That's... a pretty good idea, actually. BMD banner would be cool too, but I guess that's kinda pushing it

BMD seems to be more of a reference than a promotional site. If we're talking about ways to make sure artists are getting due recognition.

Not really. While BMD is a great place to look for and reference many different brony artists it is intended with the listener in mind as it does does allow for people to quickly find the links for an artist, a description, genre matches, links to their best vids, etc. Also everything is searchable so even information like what artists are from my home state or are from Australia can be pulled up for easy access. I know that when artists get profiles added they do get some boosts in attention and views (depending on how good their music is of course). Whenever anyone gets an EQD spotlight but isn't on the blog we always send them a pm to get a profile request so we can get them up and stay current with our roster. Hopefully people see that there's always new people showing up on the site.

Biggest drawback is FEW people take the time to review their own profiles and ask for changes and updates to them after severla months. We welcome those updates, will implement them very quickly to display more up to date information and tracks, and will even re-bump them to the top as a bonus. Well that and the drawback that few people seem to know we're there (even though 400 hits a day is not shabby) or use us as a regular tool. Only way that music sites are useful is if people routinely use them and similar small sites can link each other. Too many small brony sites exist like self-contained ponds where they should have connected creeks to each other. That way they don't perish when the water dries up.

If anyone has any additional improvements for BMD they'd like to see they can send me a pm, reply on a thread for us, or comment on our site ourselves. I'm always up for improvments.

[MYCUTIEMARKISAGUN]

download + playback stats

codl added this like 3 months ago, dude

pm system

ehhhhh this is really superfluous imho

hq formats

lol, personally I don't think anyone needs pony music in FLAC format. But if you upload the song to EQB in FLAC, ppl can download it in FLAC. He added Ogg Vorbis and Opus formats too.

Making MP3 the default was a cost effectiveness decision made at the behest of EQB's sugar daddys financial backers. Otherwise, EQB would probably have to have some sort of Soundcloud-esque restrictions on how much you can upload and buck that, right?

While we could track down him on his IRC chat why not tell him to check his thread

well, aheh, he didn't make that thread.

Also, he doesn't live in a isolated Buddhist temple perched upon the peak of a mountain like the Kwik-E-Mart president or something, man....



http://iris.ponychat.net/?channels=eqbeats

^^^^ - look! he's right there! go say hi!

like, the only time he's NOT in that chat is literally when his region has a power outage or something.

I think if you want Seth to feature an EQBeats banner you'll have to pay for that advertizing space. He does make a living off the blog i believe.

ahh, okay then. I can respect that. M.O.F - MONEY OVER FRIENDSHIP, my nizzo.

[Applejinx]

What jumps out for me about OP's music and failure with EqD is simply this: ponies do not care whether you can play an instrument. I've very possibly been playing instruments for longer than y'all been alive and though I know other old people who harrumph at digital sampley stuff and would give me points for effort and old-schoolyness, the actual audience here doesn't give a crap how you made the music. It's purely about what the music IS and this is why metal versions of Winter Wrap-Up aren't setting the pony world on fire: happens not to be what EqD wanted to hear that day.

When I work on something (example: my Babs Seed, some time after everybody did one) and it doesn't go anywhere and I hear something that sounds to me like there isn't anything there, but it's succeeding, I will ask—what am I missing about this? What is it that it's got, and do I even want to go there if that's what music is about this week?

I won't try to cop musical feels I don't even like (though there's some things about EDM that I always did like, for instance breakbeats and 303s and evolving textures) so what that leaves me is, growing my music in some kind of direction I'm liking, and seeing if next week EqD or toastbeard or whoever are into something else. It'll come around to everypony eventually.

OP—it's not that you played the stuff incorrectly. You will not grow to the next level by playing and mixing the stuff even more accurately. You're going to have to think of something more fresh than taking stuff that doesn't start out in the least metal (like WWU or whatever) and metal-izing it. The earth for that has been salted by a LOT of guys doing it not as expertly as you, and they've killed the market for that stuff.

Think of something else.

[Cherax]

Gahhhh! I am so late to this party. It's a damn shame, because I have a lot of things I want to say to a lot of people here, but they've doubtless all gone away now, smug looks on their faces, having successfully defeated another Internet Bad Guy in their mind's eye. I will cull my myriad responses down to one small point, which I really need to get off my chest.

Almost every single person in this thread seems to have assumed that DusK, and a lot of other brony musicians, want to get featured in a Spotlight post simply because they want to revel in fame. They assume these people make their music for popularity's sake alone, rather than for the enjoyment of making music. Speaking personally, I want to get my music out to as many people as possible, but it's not because I want recognition - it's because I've been part of an online community for almost two years, one that I cherish, and I feel the urge to give something to this community. I want to make something that will make others happy when they listen to it, and I want to make as many people here happy as I can. Musical has always had this communal aspect to me; that's why I send my songs off to EQD, which is, by nature of its popularity, the most communal ground for creators and consumers of music in the fandom.

So, to whom it concerns: please don't act like the only reasons you can make music are for solipsistic enjoyment or snobbish egotism, and don't assume the worst of DusK, et. al.

Annnnnd sage.

[Nine Volt]

Gahhhh! I am so late to this party. It's a damn shame, because I have a lot of things I want to say to a lot of people here, but they've doubtless all gone away now, smug looks on their faces, having successfully defeated another Internet Bad Guy in their mind's eye. I will cull my myriad responses down to one small point, which I really need to get off my chest.

Almost every single person in this thread seems to have assumed that DusK, and a lot of other brony musicians, want to get featured in a Spotlight post simply because they want to revel in fame. They assume these people make their music for popularity's sake alone, rather than for the enjoyment of making music. Speaking personally, I want to get my music out to as many people as possible, but it's not because I want recognition - it's because I've been part of an online community for almost two years, one that I cherish, and I feel the urge to give something to this community. I want to make something that will make others happy when they listen to it, and I want to make as many people here happy as I can. Musical has always had this communal aspect to me; that's why I send my songs off to EQD, which is, by nature of its popularity, the most communal ground for creators and consumers of music in the fandom.

So, to whom it concerns: please don't act like the only reasons you can make music are for solipsistic enjoyment or snobbish egotism, and don't assume the worst of DusK, et. al.

Annnnnd sage.

Did you read the thread? Like, at all?

He never once mentioned the reason why he wanted to get featured on EqD, and he never corrected our blatant assumptions that he was only in it for the recognition, plus the way he was flaunting his 'credentials' made it pretty obvious that he wanted recognition.

And we're all still here, so please don't subtly paint us as ignorant jackasses like you're doing.

[Cherax]

Did you read the thread? Like, at all?

Yes, I read the thread quite thoroughly. Thank you for asking. Did you read the OP? Like, at all?

DusK pretty clearly explained that none of this is about him personally wanting to get featured on EQD. This is about EQD having, perhaps inadvertently, a monopoly on who gets to listen to what in this fandom, and an inconsistent QC system that sometimes prevents good music - be it by DusK, yourself, anyone else in this thread, or even David friggin' Bowie if he submitted - from being recognised as such, and as I pointed out, from being able to be shared with a community which would otherwise be happy to listen to it. This is a detriment to listeners as much as musicians.

If I had to guess why he didn't correct you on your blatant assumptions about his character, it's because they all came across as petty insults, the likes of which some people in this thread are trying to prevent and/or ignore.

[Nine Volt]

How about we both stop with the snide comments and rude remarks and try to be a little more mature about this, m'kay?

The thread was not originally about EqD having a monopoly on anything. It quite clearly started from Dusk attempting to prove that EqD's prelisteners are incompetent, EqD is for some reason biased against his music, and that there's an 'active suppression' of talent by them, and none of those are true. He may not have intended it this way, but the way he phrased it came across as, frankly, quite whiny about the whole thing.

Again, the way he was flaunting his 'credentials' (ie the fact that he is an OC remixer) very clearly implies that he is upset over EqD's rejection of his song in favor of 'lower quality' ones, a phrase which makes him come off as someone who thinks he's better than everyone else.

[Navron]

Gahhhh! I am so late to this party. It's a damn shame, because I have a lot of things I want to say to a lot of people here, but they've doubtless all gone away now, smug looks on their faces, having successfully defeated another Internet Bad Guy in their mind's eye. I will cull my myriad responses down to one small point, which I really need to get off my chest.

Almost every single person in this thread seems to have assumed that DusK, and a lot of other brony musicians, want to get featured in a Spotlight post simply because they want to revel in fame. They assume these people make their music for popularity's sake alone, rather than for the enjoyment of making music. Speaking personally, I want to get my music out to as many people as possible, but it's not because I want recognition - it's because I've been part of an online community for almost two years, one that I cherish, and I feel the urge to give something to this community. I want to make something that will make others happy when they listen to it, and I want to make as many people here happy as I can. Musical has always had this communal aspect to me; that's why I send my songs off to EQD, which is, by nature of its popularity, the most communal ground for creators and consumers of music in the fandom.

I see you've summoned the smugs. Allow me to deliver, starting with a translation of your post:

"People like Dusk and myself are true musicians who simply want more people to experience our music. We're not like those e-fame bronies who want more people to experience their music."

Are you satisfied with making music for just yourself? No, you probably aren't, because you clearly say, "personally, I want to get my music out to as many people as possible." Obviously you want to have more people listen to your music, ipso facto: you want more popularity.

You're making the assumption that the two of you are part of this vast group of under-appreciated musicians who constantly get screwed over by the fascist regime that is Equestria Daily, shoved aside for the more, "popular," musicians who are in it to be "MeGa-Efamoos."

There's more that goes into a song than just quality, so the idea that somebody's song gets accepted that's less quality than your own is irrelevant. Perhaps this, "lesser quality," song had a bigger emotional impact? More clearly linked to the show? More original?

Which goes into the topic of the prelisteners...

The prelisteners are not there to judge the quality of the song. They are there to judge THE song. That includes its originality, emotional impact, and link to the show. They are also some of the most experienced musicians in the fandom, a lot of whom browse this site as well. Their concept of what makes a quality song is clearly not the same as your own concept, and to imply that you are a better judge of quality compared to them is both insulting, and inflated, because I highly doubt you have more musical experience than anybody on the prelistening team.

You can go one of two ways. You can either:
A. Learn how to better yourself as a musician.
B. Learn how to promote yourself other than EqD.

Lastly, this isn't a gang up from people who constantly get featured on EqD. The vast majority of us end up in MotD at best, and maybe a few have had a spotlight post once or twice in the past. We're a collective group of musicians at, above, and below you and DusK's skill level, and WE'RE the ones telling you that you're being irrational. It's time to stop thinking that we're all different than you, or that we somehow get a different treatment from EqD. It's the same system for all of us, we've been dealing with the same issues that you and DusK are complaining about, and we're trying to get that point across. It's time to take a hint and realize that.

[Freewave]

Wise Words

Thanks Navron there's a lot of good information in there and frankly presented in the right way. I think people really have some off-the-wall ideas of how EQD must fuction instead of thinking that its their own fellow musicians trying to have standards for their community. That they want to see good music featured too.

Nine Volt no offense man but you came into this thread in page 2 with guns blazing and haven't holstered them yet. Dusk didn't stick around but he did link his blog in OP and it answered all those accusatations towards him that you sent his way.

Anyway he actually he addressed your question in the first post of that blog.

"Before getting into this, let me make one thing perfectly clear, because I know it's bound to come up. I'm not "butthurt about my music not being on EqD". I have no reason to be. Out of the 6 full-length tracks of brony music I have made so far, three were spotlighted, two were featured in Music of the Day posts, leaving only one rejection (though the rejected track, when compared to what EqD was spotlighting at the time, pretty much solidified the point I'm about to make here). This isn't about "not being able to get on EqD", because I've been there, I've done that, and it's nothing special."

If people want to come into this community with a lot of "experience", create their own mini EQD's with "even better standards" more power to them but there has to be a benefit to that (and maybe pony.fm and mlp forums will eventually have a large fanbase) like there is with EQD traffic. He probably should stick around and investigate this community more before he judges or aims to rebuild it. If he can build a better mousetrap that people like as an alternative to EQD that may give out gold stars to people's tracks, cool. Why not...

download + playback stats

codl added this like 3 months ago, dude

Well i see hits on individual track pages that you have to click into. Followers are now displayed. That's about it.

The layouot is still awful. If you have white walls all through your house you might feel differently but i like some color.

While we could track down him on his IRC chat why not tell him to check his thread

well, aheh, he didn't make that thread.

Also, he doesn't live in a isolated Buddhist temple perched upon the peak of a mountain like the Kwik-E-Mart president or something, man....

Ok he lives in a remote IRC chat? If there's a thread on MLR about EQDBeats and its got suggestions on what they need to do to improve it, and its been here for months, why not visit the thread or ask mlr readers in his own thread. What do we want to improve their site before someone else builds a better site then theres?

I don't understand when people want to build whole sites around the brony music community won't have accounts here or try to be a part of this place. Is MLR that irrelevent to brony music or are we truly scaring people away with the behavior in this thread for example time after time?

[Cherax]

LONG REPLY IS LONG

Are you satisfied with making music for just yourself? No, you probably aren't, because you clearly say, "personally, I want to get my music out to as many people as possible." Obviously you want to have more people listen to your music, ipso facto: you want more popularity.

You're right, I'm not satisfied making music just for myself. That's what my whole post was about. Either you only read one sentence of what I wrote, or I didn't express myself clearly enough. The difference between me and this popularity-obsessed character you mention below is that he wants people to listen to his music to make himself happy. The play counter is the most important aspect of the entirety of creating music to him; he enjoys popularity for its own sake. I want people to listen to my music to make themselves happy. Yes, I would enjoy popularity, but for other reasons that it encompasses. I'm actually assuming that most other people are like myself, not the straw man.

You're making the assumption that the two of you are part of this vast group of under-appreciated musicians who constantly get screwed over by the fascist regime that is Equestria Daily, shoved aside for the more, "popular," musicians who are in it to be "MeGa-Efamoos."

Nope. I'm noting that there's a discrepancy between the quality of songs sent to and/or featured on EQD and how much attention is given to them. I didn't say that the popularity-obsessed guy is taking our jerrrbs, so to speak; I said that it felt like a lot of people in this thread were assuming that's what DusK was actually saying. And I certainly didn't mention facism. ;D

There's more that goes into a song than just quality, so the idea that somebody's song gets accepted that's less quality than your own is irrelevant. Perhaps this, "lesser quality," song had a bigger emotional impact? More clearly linked to the show? More original?

Exactly! To me, all of those things you mentioned are facets of "quality." (Less so the link to the show; that's just a little quirk of our community.) Even the most perfectly produced song in the world is not a "quality" song if it's unemotional and unoriginal - insert obvious jokes about Katy Perry, et. al.

The[ pre-listeners'] concept of what makes a quality song is clearly not the same as your own concept, and to imply that you are a better judge of quality compared to them is both insulting, and inflated, because I highly doubt you have more musical experience than anybody on the prelistening team.

You don't know that! I mean, you're probably right, I probably don't... but you don't know that. 8D

OK, but seriously. Why is it so heretical to suggest that these arbiters of quality are not making the right choices? Or, are having their choices unfairly influenced by Sethisto, as was mentioned earlier in the thread? I don't think they're all tone-deaf idiots. I think they often feature very good music on the site. I also think they often don't. On a similar line of reasoning, I often disagree with the guy who reviews movies for the Sydney Morning Herald. Should I not voice my disagreement, because he's being employed to review movies and therefore SURELY he knows what he's talking about? (Oh man, this guy. He over-analyses EVERYTHING. It's so gratingly-- crap, back on topic!)

Lastly, this isn't a gang up from people who constantly get featured on EqD ... It's time to stop thinking that we're all different than you, or that we somehow get a different treatment from EqD.

I never said anything like that, dude. Pretty sure DusK didn't either. And don't worry, I don't believe that for a second. Like DusK has stressed several times, this isn't a personal issue.

[Navron]

I'm going to be locking this thread due to the fact it is now entirely irrelevant, but before I do, here's a couple things that need to be addressed in your reply:

Why is it so heretical to suggest that these arbiters of quality are not making the right choices? Or, are having their choices unfairly influenced by Sethisto, as was mentioned earlier in the thread?

If the pre-listeners were a small group of 2-3 people, I wouldn't say it's wrong to call them on their quality standards. The last I checked though, the pre-listeners ranged between 7-10 people, all with their own distinctive genres and tastes. Songs are submitted without any reference to the artist's name, so the voting on which tracks make it or not is based solely on the music itself, and not outside influences.

Sethisto on the other hand, will usually listen to a lot of tracks, especially by the musicians he knows, and if he likes it, he'll feature it, without sending it to the pre-listeners first. It may be severely biased in several cases, but it's his blog in the end, and the pre-listeners don't have anything to do with that.

Like DusK has stressed several times, this isn't a personal issue.

By submitting an email without consulting anybody else in the community, DusK made it a personal issue to all the musicians in the fandom. I would have rather not had to deal with this same thread for the 5th time, but I would have greatly preferred it instead of, "Hey guys I sent this rant to Sethisto," speaking on behalf of the musicians in the community, most of which (as evidenced in this thread) did not share the same viewpoint.

To look at it from a different angle, it would be like a parent writing to their child's school about how their educational system sucks, without first consulting other parents to find out:
1. If it's a trending issue.
2. If people feel the same about it.
3. If others want to provide input of their own.

It's the completely out of the blue, knee-jerk reaction that frustrates me. Why is somebody speaking on my behalf as a musician without first consulting me to see if I had any issues?



Anyway, as said earlier, this thread is now 100% irrelevant due to recent changes, so it's getting locked. Cherax, if you would like to continue the conversation, please PM me.