Couple of things I'm curious about - no intention of being confrontational or contentious:
1. Who has gotten feedback here that was useful in improving a song? I mean, specific suggestions to which your reaction was, yeh, that's what it needs, that helps, I can use that idea.
2. Among weekly winners, who has found that being selected the winner has been an asset as far as gleaning your song more attention, opening any doors, getting it heard further up the food chain, etc?
Again, am asking strictly out of curiosity, no criticism of the site intended, BC & Co.
Don't worry -- I'm not offended. This thread wasn't meant for me but I'll chime in anyway. You bring up an interesting point in that very few people do anything with the criticism they're given. After all, a critique is only useful if you use it, right? I'll use you as an example (I mean no offense--I'll just assume you've got a thick skin if you can hang around here as long as you have!): On a couple of your songs people mentioned that your vocals have too much vibrato -- Will you work on that, or just ignore them and think, "That's the way I sing and I can't change it"? The latter choice would be the most common (and least productive), so as an artist you feel like you haven't gotten anything valuable from the comments. Most artists immediately go into defense mode when they're criticized -- Either they lash back at the critic, or more often they just do nothing. Remember, the definition of crazy is to keep doing the same thing and expect different results. You could easily be a poster-child for this site. I can see it now: "I never noticed that I sang with too much vibrato and nobody ever had the guts to tell me before, but only through the honest comments on Artist Weekly was I able to identify a problem and work on it -- Now I'm a millionaire superstar!" Again, I'm just using you as an example and I don't mean to assume that I know what you're thinking. You don't seem like someone who is afraid to work on her craft.
Oh, and being a weekly winner won't get you invited to the Grammys, but it's another place on the web that links to your music and another bullet point on your musical resume.
1. Yes and no. Feedback like "I felt that" or "cool sound" or "I can't stop listening to this song" really didn't help me specifically, but it's cool to get feedback like that anyway (those are just a few of the comments I received on my song "Last Hello, Goodbye") because they were useful to the point that someone, even if I didn't know who it was, connected with the song on some level. But it's also useful to get feedback like this one:
I gave it a few listens and I like. One little tweak I'd suggest: Chill out on the octave guitar runs during the chorus and lay down some thick chords with well defined separation (i.e. don't over-strum it). The guit work on the rest of the tune is busy, but well done and interesting. It can't just go on being busy throughout the whole song without resolving on a booming chorus. With this change the chorus will explode. Trust me.
Now I actually went back and re-worked the chorus and it (the feedback) made sense. (This was for my tune "Second Chance" most recently submitted). I did not re-submit the song, but I'm continuing to work on a cleaner version that has builds and lifts. And the experience will hopefully help on another tune somewhere down the road.
My opinion on feedback is that it all helps me in some way. The vague comments can help too - I've found they can lead to self discovery, i.e., if someone writes "you suck" I ask myself how can I not suck. But it's just my opinion. I want this continuous improvement to be the theme of my work. So far, I dunno if I've been all too successful at that, but my success markers are probably quite different from someone else's. I'm still just a hobbyist at this point.
2. Along those same lines, I'm not here at AW looking for a record deal. Would I love to get someone to record one of my songs commercially? Heck yeah. But if it never happens it doesn't mean I've failed or anything. I just want people to hear my tunes. This is a place to do just that, regardless of the scale. Being selected as the weekly winner means some of those people liked whatever song I posted. Don't know who or how many, but someone liked it. That's enough motivation for me to keep on plugging away.
I think I know who wrote that comment, Brad -- but I'm not telling! His is an opinion you can definitely trust.
Sharon -- I hope my last post didn't seem harsh. I just reread it and it almost seems like I'm attacking you, but I'm really not! I'm just talking in general about trends and attitudes that I see. My tone is just bitter and angry. I've identified the issue with my tone and I will work on changing it.
Millionaire superstar - hahaha! That would take a lot more than losing the excess vibrato. Actually, given that no one else has replied at all, maybe this is just an uninspiring topic, but I was genuinely interested in what, if anything, others have learned.
As for me - what I'm really looking for here is comments on the SONGS. I know all about my flawed singing and do not aspire to do anything beyond pubs, folk festivals, etc. as far as PERFORMING goes - and I do quite a lot of small scale stuff and I hold my own and it's fun and all that. But what I would like to hear from people listening here - as the guidance says on the comments window - what's good and bad about the SONG. If I got a SONG whipped into really great shape, shoot, I would get a professional demo done. But starting with the SONG is what I thought this site is suppsoed to be about. I think people here get too hung up on the production - and maybe I'm wrong, but I think of the vocal as part of the production, no....? But I have had a couple of very helpful comments here. One really crystallized an inclination I had myself but couldn't quite put my finger on. THAT is what I keep hoping for more of - and what I try to give others when I can.
Actually, the best thing that has happened for me from this site is developing correspondence with a couple of "lurking" listeners (you have some interesting and very accomplished ones) as well as members of the site. Example - my song Champagne Moonshine. There are some kick-ass funny lines in that song, I have been told that too many places by too many people to believe otherwise. But I also know that it, what, drags, has flat spots, gets too long in the middle. Someone who heard it here started corresponding with me and has had excellent input. And it was so obvious once it was pointed out and once I had someone to discuss it with. So I am working on that one as a result of a contact I made here. Another song I posted here has generated some excellent off-site interest and continuing dialog for me also.
And what you said about the weekly winner spotlight is exactly what I was curious about - given that winning IS another link and another resume bullet, has anyone benefited from it? Has anyone been contacted via the winning spotlight by someone interested in helping to move the song to the next level? For example, John Thibodeaux won a few times and mentioned in the forums that he's working really hard on his career. So I would be interested in knowing if someone like him has found winning here to be helpful in any way. Anyway, like I say, just curious what others' experience has been........and now that Yourself has deemed this lowly subject worthy of comment, perhaps others will chime in......
Well i won and im just happy i did. I do not expect anything. It just feels good to win and i think the best thing to come out of winning is a bit of a confidence boost. Just a bit. As far as critique , i will say yes. There were a few people who said some very helpful things(very few). peace and love CUZIN D (ARTIST OF THE WEEK)LOL
Did you not notice that the great Brad Roll has also commented on this? It's like he doesn't even exist to you.
What I notice is that I posted the topic a week and a half ago, at the end of December, and he replied a few hours ago, after you had been the first to reply, which is fine and I'm interested to see whatever anyone has to say....but I've only just now seen it, since it didn't exist before....I don't mean to parrot one of the favorite, overused, meaningless quips here, BUT - what's your point? Or are you talking about something he posted somewhere else on the site....?
Oh PS via edit - I took nothing you said in your comments as sounding harsh or bitter, no worries
PPS via 2nd edit - something looks off with the timestamps on the recent posts. When I replied to you BC, there were no other replies showing; I guess that's why you thought I ignored Brad. oh well, nuff said.
Brad - I guess it's good you can feel like you learn something even from the "you suck" comments. To me, they are kind of reminiscent of crank phone calls (well, that was before caller ID) - people with nothing better to do than just be rude and think it's fun.
BC, I can send you a link to the new recording when it's finished if you'd like to hear what I've done....
As far as the comments go, I have no expectations as to what I will get. Unfocused or insightful, someone took the time to leave feedback and I'm appreciative. Granted, a crank call is never welcome and often leaves the receiver pissed off, but a phone that never rings is just as bad to me.
That's just me, though, and I really respect your opinions (and everyone's) about the types of feedback. In a perfect world, we'd all get more focused and applicable feedback.
I have put up the info that I won one of the weekly contests (way back about a year ago) and leave it up on my website with a link to AW because it helps connect everything I do musically. No one so far has bought me dinner or slapped me on the back for winning, but I'm cool with that.
Also, I'm not out pursuing a music career as aggressively as others so I don't market it (the fact that I once won) as much either, although I certainly could, especially as AW continues to grow.
I've gotten some constructive feedback for a few of my songs. For instance, I didn't realize how crappy my choice of snaredrum sounded until someone on AW told me about it....it really helped me focus(hear) on that part of my production, and in the process helping to improve my overall sound.
