Soundcloud - a couple of experiments

In the past couple of weeks I've been trying out some new things. Here's some of the learnings I have had:

Responding to Comments: Good or Bad?

Turns out it's a good thing. My man Vinny (Rockshamrover) made the point that "positive responses" to commenters would bring them back to later tracks and create a core group of fans. A group that would drive the behaviour and colour the opinions of newer followers.

I have been following Vinny's suggestion for about a month and there have been three quick positive side effects:

1. On a normal Unpro track 33% of the plays come in the first day (what I call opening night). 25% come the following week and the rest are spread over time. By following Vinny's suggestion this profile has changed. Now the number of plays in the first week normally outstrips the number in opening night. I would guess this is down to the increased volume of activity on the track driven by discussions.
2. The number of plays tracks receive on average is also increased. Previously the play rate of any track was dependent largely on how listeners off of Soundcloud reacted. However, the increase in 'loyalty' from soundcloud listeners means that all tracks get a higher 'base level' of plays across the board. In effect being nice to folk brings them back for more, time and time again.
3. The behaviour of the new followers commenting on tracks has been affected by the 'culture' created by existing followers. As I have gotten to know a group of Soundclouders a language and way of behaving has developed organically in the manner in which we comment which seams to map over onto the new comments received. This hadn't been happening previously.

Vinny's experiment has been a resounding success if I posted a graph of my total plays across all time you would see a great deal of volatility (generated by the release of well received tracks) being replaced by a period of stable and sustained growth. I have Vinny to thank for that.

What happens at Larry's Bar stays at Larry's bar

A while ago I shared an idea with me old mate Literate Wolves about trying to bring together some of the more active and inclusive members of the soundcloud community: a list of whom can be found here.

What I wanted was a way of capturing the broader discussions that were happening either off soundcloud, say on Facebook, or on private messages on a one to one basis.

Soundcloud is specifically targeted at sharing music. It sets itself apart by being focussing on these elements of what it does, rather than spending time on developing means of sharing say, gig dates, photos, blog posts etc. For that you have MySpace. And MySpace failed. However, for those SuperUsers that exist on Soundcloud day in, day out, the format is limiting.

Conversations between us tend to take place in track comments and then break out into private messages. As musicians talk on a limited number of subjects (mostly) you can find yourself repeating the same sentiment time and again. This is the perfect space for a Forum, a many to many conversation. However, Soundcloud's forum system is for every Soundclouder, not the select group of friends I wish to share thoughts with and (and this is important) to identify with.

So, as a starter for ten, I set up a group. Groups at Soundcloud have a comments board, that I felt could be used to capture discussions. It's not perfect. It doesn't thread, oldest comments come first and it doesn't paginate. As Ellie_St points out, this makes reading discussions like mountaineering downwards. At nearly 80 comments the board at Larry's Bar and Grill (the group I set up) is now almost untenable.

However, it has bought people closer together. The denizens of Larry's are now more recognised by each other. We know each others first names, q bit more about each others back grounds. I, for one, always pay more attention when someone from Larry's releases a track or comments on one of mine. It hasn't been a resounding success (yet) but Larry's has certainly been a positive force.

Mixing it up a bit

When I first came to Soundcloud I was effectively sharing a mixture of things I had recorded in the past (old band demos etc) with things I was recording right now. As you know, I like to keep my profile live and ever changing to keep it interesting and this mix of old and new effectively did that. But I rapidly ran out of old stuff.

Now I don't feel a pressure to record songs, I do it because I like doing it, but I did want to keep communicating through Soundcloud. Another thing I wanted to achieve was to bring more of my personality to the page. After all, music doesn't tell the whole story and Soundcloud limited the space I had for additional info to a text box on the side of my profile page.

So I decided to mix up my music with:

1. Songs I have recorded
2. Collaborations with other Soundclouders
3. Voice updates recorded on the Soundcloud app on my iPhone
4. Live music and ideas also recorded on the app on my iPhone

So far that seams to be working as a way to bring more interest to my profile page.... I think.

Anyway, enough of this. See you soon.

Sent while I was out and about and whatnot