http://rpm-bands.com

[Johnny aka DJ Rottin]

Hey everyone, in two days I'm going to be starting construction on the new and final community site for Raginpit Magazine. I've been surveying a lot of features out on the net and to be real this new site is capable of doing a lot for bands, radio (Internet and On Air), Promotions, Labels and most of will be something unique for fans to look forward to.

I mention that last because I have noticed things like groups only being a source for people add them selves as just another link to their profile on websites everywhere.

I'm guessing they aren't really that popular.

I have been talking to several people across the net and out on the street. When I ask if they have any complaints about social sites like these Ning.com sites and Myspace Face book etc.

Well the complaints are pretty consistent with everyone all age brackets.

What I have heard and witnessed are:

Groups are too much effort to keep them current.

It's very difficult in keeping people interested in groups.

Adding Friends - people are tired of the frenzy and usually clear out most non-personal friends out of their list after a couple of months.

People hate all the emails from Ning sites.

Fans especially teenagers don't like it when bands try to add them all the time.

Events are a spamming nuisance.

Hardly anyone checks out the events pages if they are confusing.

Many people don't know how to use forums anymore, hence the participation has dropped off on sites. (focused niche sites and forums tend to do better)

Bands don't like paying monthly fees for EPK's (Electronic Press Kits).

To get to the short of it, I can fix a lot of these problems. What I would like to know is - What do you think would be good to have in a website if it's focused on music and metal? What if we want to be the number one resource for independent metal?

So if you don't mind, please comment and give your suggestions. I think the will help the most in deciding which way to go, and not waste time and space making parts of a website no one will be interested in.

***My Suggestion is we make our own Terms of Service agreement and let you have some say in how the rules will go on the site.

You can quote me on this...If we run with advertisers in the future. You can bet they will be metal ONLY and agree with our way of metal or get lost.

[The Raygun Girls]

If you really want to help out bands, and be fan friendly at the same time, then a "radio station" would be best- or Media player on the site - one that does not just play the most viewed or requested, but a true Random selection of all music from all of the bands on the site.
And allow fans to "take the player with them".
That's what we can come up with at 6:30 AM.

[JBats]

I like the idea of a music player as well.

[The Kerosene Man]

The Raygun Girls have a great idea!! Several online radio stations have a tool bar you can download so you don't actually need to go to the site to listen......an idea maybe? Instead of the events spamming, why not an events page? Bands could list their event, shows, etc etc then interested fans could go to the page to check out recent events in their area. No monthly fees for EPK's? FABULOUS idea!!!

[Miss Erica]

I need to get better about posting to these things right away, but I digress.

On to what's important. I agree that groups are difficult to keep up with, friend adders blow, bands who use friend adders are only fooling themselves, and I probably have 8 pages of event invites on Myspace that I could care less to view because the event listings are lacking - the info is usually incomplete or has the wrong info altogether and if truly interested in the event, you have to go look for it yourself anyway to get the correct info.

I would like to see a calendar that bands can access and not only can they post events like upcoming shows, but they can also post dates their CD will be released. I'm sure there are other things the calendar would be useful for also, but it would be a great tool for bands to use to promote themselves and for fans to easily click on a day they are free and see what's up.

The media player idea is also great, all bands on the site should have 2-3 songs in rotation, played randomly, so everyone gets their songs out and fans get to hear maybe something new, maybe something they already know and like, etc. It just offers a great variety of metal if everyone participates.

Instead of groups, a forum would be cool. I am a late comer to forums, but I find them to be useful and informational and it allows for anyone to post anything on their mind at any given time at their leisure. Perfect for those like me who are slammed and can't always reply to things immediately.

Raginpit has a lot of knowledge to pass on to those willing to listen and bust their asses off to get out. Raginpit has a lot to offer fans who seek something new in metal and can't always find it. However, we are not here for those who feel they are entitled or can mooch off of others hard work to get ahead. We are here to educate and entertain and we work day and night to do so. We want to enable and empower those bands who are willing to get off their asses and work hard and provide the essential tools needed to be completely independent. Labels aren't necessarily the answer and we can provide alternatives. So it's up to everyone else to take advantage of it or not.

[NEW DITTY]

DJ Rottin,First of all we all appreciate what you have done already for us indie bands out here.We like the Radio idea too.Something that shows songs that are playing,have been played and cued up to play.A pop-out player is great or a toolbar so that you can still listen while surfing the site.We think sometimes there is so much stuff on these sites it's overwhelming sometimes.We just want to see pictures,hear music and see where Bands are from and where they may be playing all at the same time.We like to see comments from fans and other artist too.Keep up the great work...........NEW DITTY

[Agent Orange]

You can try radio...but if you google online radio you will get 2.4 million results...which leads to less traffic !!! Putting a media player on brings WHOLE new set of issues into this....you put major label bands on their players...and they will....then the record labels want royalties they're due !!! I just say build "ONE BAD ASS .COM"

you wanted my opinion...there it is !!!

AO
Asst. Mgr,

http://revoradio1041FM.net

http://MusiCon.ning.com

[Johnny aka DJ Rottin]

Well with the radio idea I can say this. We are going to have a random radio player that comes stock with the software I'm about use. What that means is we will have a main site player that will randomly plays music from each artist who uploads music to their page or profile.

Also members will get to have their own personal radio player and can pick and choose who's on it.

We are still moving forward with RPM Radio and that will have live DJ's and something special, an invite for all DJ's from other stations who will be allowed to pimp their own sites and radio stations through ours.

As far as the 2.4 million stations out there...well we all know the music we are bringing to this site will bring listeners. The bands here are more than exceptional and can get the job done. Competition has never been something for us to worry about because after we post everything we are doing. Well bands are going to be kicking ass in a whole new way and I think spam floods are going to come to a minimum.

I'm not saying this because of some new crazy feature we are programing into the site. It's because we have more than 20 years of underground research and experience to give over to you and we pretty much sifted out all the bullshit that gets you nowhere.

[Johnny aka DJ Rottin]

P.S. I guess a lot of people haven't figured this out yet. The link below is a link to a list of sites out there powered by Ning.com. If your a member of any of these sites, you were exploited.

http://www.ning.com/search/networks?q=metal

Encase your wondering why this link...check out the next one below to see what Ning did to thousands of people.

http://www.raginpitmagazine.com/1721/unsettling-news/

[HateFX]

Electronic EPK's and even riders, I know sonicbids only gives you the EPK
A specialized metal site that has all those features should get a lot of hits
Also bulletins that can be sorted into categories: shows, moods, jokes, and what have ya

Peace

H8FX

[Soulless Samantha]

I don't spend a lot of time on the internet and it's all really confusing to me. BUT I say do whatever you have to do, whatever is best for the METAL bands and the METAL scene!!!!

[Approaching Darkness]

We agree with the direction you're looking at going. There is a lot of clutter and bs that can be streamlined out when you make the new site. The comment made below about the media player or "radio station" streaming the music of the bands on the site is a great one. We recently started working with Maximum Threshold and they have something similar on there site. It seems to work really well.

No monthly fees for EPK's would be great. Those fees add up really quikc if you're submitting for a lot of different events and such.

A central events page would work out really well I think and keep the spamming down. Might be a good idea to break it up by state or region if possible. Make it easy to see whats going on in your area without having to weed through events across the country.

Anyways, those are just a few thoughts. I'll be sure to pop back on if me and the guys think of anything else. Thanks for sticking it out. I know all of the bands here appreciate it.

Approaching Darkness
-Chris-

[Lissy MacMillan]

Sounds to me like you have it all figured out! Player with music from the bands on this site, awesome, that I like the most :) As for everything else, I pretty much agree with so if u have the fixes for them, go ahead. I'll be there with you.