Gigs section for Music? July 25, 2006 11:44 AM   Subscribe

How about a gigs section of MeFi music? [more inside]
posted by ludwig_van to MetaFilter Music at 11:44 AM (35 comments total)

So we can post recordings, but there isn't really a place for performing mefites to talk about our gigs (unless you want to be sneaky and shameless like me). I think a gigs subsection of MeFi music would be great; we could promote our upcoming gigs as well as make contact with mefite bands in other cities, and it could lead to show swaps between bands. And I figure people could post about gigs that they aren't personally involved in, either, just to find people with whom to attend shows. This would make me happy. What say you?
posted by ludwig_van at 11:44 AM on July 25, 2006


Really, really, really good idea.
posted by youarenothere at 12:23 PM on July 25, 2006


Speaking of, is anyone going to Lollapalooza?
posted by youarenothere at 12:24 PM on July 25, 2006


how about something simple like announce your gig on upcoming.org and tag it with mefigig and I can pull in the feed and display it on the page.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:32 PM on July 25, 2006


I think if you are going to have something like this perhaps open it to other areas of artistic endevors. Mefis who have art openings, who are appearing in plays... stuff of that nature.
(*heh* MeAt)
posted by edgeways at 12:42 PM on July 25, 2006


You could also create a mefimusic group, like this flickr group, and just pull that feed.
posted by vacapinta at 12:44 PM on July 25, 2006


I really like this idea too. Anything to help get out the word is a big plus for me. I also like the idea of opening it up to all sorts of art.

Do it however is easiest for Matt to implement-- this is free advertising for the bands/artists, so we should be willing to do whatever extra is necessary to make it happen.
posted by InfidelZombie at 12:50 PM on July 25, 2006


matt, please live my life for me. thanks.
posted by jonmc at 12:53 PM on July 25, 2006


It leads to dancin', Jon.
posted by cortex at 12:54 PM on July 25, 2006


that's ok. in addition to being handsome, intelligent, and charming, I am a great dancer.
posted by jonmc at 12:55 PM on July 25, 2006


No.

I mean, it seems like out of the population of mefite musicians, the percentage of ones who gig is fairly small. And bully for them, but why not just an announcement on metatalk? Because a mefite announcing a gig to other mefites is tantamount to a meetup announcement anyways.

Anyways, GET IN THE VAN MOTHERFUCKERS!
posted by bardic at 1:47 PM on July 25, 2006


how about something simple like announce your gig on upcoming.org and tag it with mefigig and I can pull in the feed and display it on the page.

If we went that route, would it still be clear which MeFi user was the one posting the gig? And would we be able to comment on each one?

I mean, it seems like out of the population of mefite musicians, the percentage of ones who gig is fairly small.

Well, I really have no idea how many mefites are gigging. I wouldn't have guessed so many mefites recorded music before Mefi music got started.

And bully for them, but why not just an announcement on metatalk? Because a mefite announcing a gig to other mefites is tantamount to a meetup announcement anyways.

If that were the acknowledged policy, that's what I'd do, but some people seem to get annoyed by self-promotion on metatalk and to prefer meetups that don't involve loud music. Plus I'd be creating 2-3 metatalk threads a month on my own.
posted by ludwig_van at 2:23 PM on July 25, 2006


Isn't a megs section enough?
posted by brain_drain at 2:26 PM on July 25, 2006


I'm not sure what you mean, brain_drain.
posted by ludwig_van at 2:31 PM on July 25, 2006


I believe he is making some sort of terrible magnitude joke.
posted by cortex at 2:41 PM on July 25, 2006


Oh. Gigs. Megs. I get it. Ha!
posted by ludwig_van at 2:42 PM on July 25, 2006


How about a jigs section of MeFi music?
posted by ND¢ at 2:46 PM on July 25, 2006


Y'know, if you go through Twiggy's projects, I think there's already something that does that.

Or how about just a tacit admission that it's OK to post a gig notice when you post a new song?

Or, you know, your own blog/myspace page (which you could even link through your profile) where people who were interested in your gigging could look without having to build a whole 'nother section.

Just noting that this feature would be mostly useless for the userbase that doesn't live anywhere near the gigging musician, and seems like a poor use of Matt's time. I realize that gigging musicians pretty much have to whore themselves every waking hour in order to make a living out of it, but they don't have to do so through Metafilter.
posted by klangklangston at 3:31 PM on July 25, 2006


Indeed I run a website made for posting gigs... It started focused in Champaign-Urbana Illinois (where U of Illinois is), but I'm looking to expand it.

I'm also looking to develop some kind of data exchange format that will be versatile but not take traffic away from my site -- somewhat in the vein of RSS, but a bit different. I'll probably be posting about it to AskMe soon as a kind of "request for comments" once I have a rough draft of it...
posted by twiggy at 3:59 PM on July 25, 2006


Or how about just a tacit admission that it's OK to post a gig notice when you post a new song?

I don't think it doesn't makes much sense to tie gig notices to recording posts.

Just noting that this feature would be mostly useless for the userbase that doesn't live anywhere near the gigging musician, and seems like a poor use of Matt's time.

Like I mentioned, it would be useful for me to know about people playing gigs even if they aren't in my city, because I might want to set up a show in another city and can then contact that band. And people could also post about gigs they're attending but not performing in.

I realize that gigging musicians pretty much have to whore themselves every waking hour in order to make a living out of it, but they don't have to do so through Metafilter.

But they already are, with MeFi music. I thought of this because it seems like a logical extension of the Music section.

I mean, obviously if not many people would be using this then it isn't worth a lot of effort on Matt's part. I don't imagine this involving any fancy new features, though. Just a section where users can make posts with show details, and in doing so create a thread where other users could comment.
posted by ludwig_van at 5:05 PM on July 25, 2006


Obviously, we need a mefi calendar.

lim
 mefi(t) = yahoot→∞

posted by jewzilla at 5:48 PM on July 25, 2006


Damn you preview.
posted by jewzilla at 5:48 PM on July 25, 2006


"But they already are, with MeFi music. I thought of this because it seems like a logical extension of the Music section."

Except that it's not. There's both a qualitative difference, in that MeFi Music lives on the web, and a quantitative different, in that everyone can enjoy the proceeds of a song no matter where they are.

"Just a section where users can make posts with show details, and in doing so create a thread where other users could comment."

All of the other sections of MeFi are fairly flat, and you're asking for another section that doesn't serve the core interest of MeFi because it serves your core interest.
To echo jonmc's pithiness upthread, MeFi is not the only site on the internet. If you'd like to see bands who promote themselves through Music, then I'm not sure why the onus shouldn't be on you to look into contacting them.

"Like I mentioned, it would be useful for me to know about people playing gigs even if they aren't in my city, because I might want to set up a show in another city and can then contact that band. And people could also post about gigs they're attending but not performing in."

Aside from the web, there's another popular application for the internet called email. While it's nice to use MeFi to arrange gigs for yourself, there are great ways to do this elsewhere. C'mon, I know that you're always using AskMe to set up gigs, but I shouldn't have to tell someone who considers themself a professional musician that there are better ways to get gigs and that adding another section of MeFi in order to have a less-than-ideal solution isn't the best use of anyone's time or effort.

"I don't think it doesn't makes much sense to tie gig notices to recording posts."

Why not? "Here's a song. I'm playing here on X." is better than having some sort of chat channel just so that you don't have to go offsite to book gigs. (In fact, that's a pretty good ad from the perspective of people wanting to see music.) MeFi is not the best place to set up gig communities, find recipes, share photos, donate to the Democrats, sign internet petitions, post polls, chat, swap pornography or buy groceries.

If you need help in setting up tours, I'd be glad to help you. You might also want to talk to musicians in your local community, as they'll be a thousand times more helpful than MeFites. Then you can use your AskMes to find a couch to sleep on.
posted by klangklangston at 5:53 PM on July 25, 2006 [1 favorite]


There's both a qualitative difference, in that MeFi Music lives on the web, and a quantitative different, in that everyone can enjoy the proceeds of a song no matter where they are.

Of course it's different from the current MeFi music. If it were the same I wouldn't need to ask for a new feature. Like I said, I just think it's the logical partner, as Metafilter now has a place for recorded music, but not for live usic.

"It doesn't makes much sense to tie gig notices to recording posts."

Why not?


Because it doesn't. I don't have 3 new recordings to post every month and I don't see why a new recording is a reasonable requirement for someone to announce an upcoming gig.

"Aside from the web, there's another popular application for the internet called email. While it's nice to use MeFi to arrange gigs for yourself, there are great ways to do this elsewhere.

Booking is not the primary point here - I just thought that would be a nice perk/community aspect. The main purpose would be to promote shows and meet fellow show-goers. I know how to book my own shows.

MeFi is not the best place to set up gig communities, find recipes, share photos, donate to the Democrats, sign internet petitions, post polls, chat, swap pornography or buy groceries.

Before mefi Music, it would've been obvious that metafilter isn't the place for what I'm talking about. But seeing as there is mefi music, I don't see anything so site-inappropriate about it.

But you don't think it's a good idea. Okay.
posted by ludwig_van at 7:12 PM on July 25, 2006


The point of music.mefi is promotion of one's own music.

I don't see how wanting to be able to post about a gig for those nearby who like said music is a Bad Thing(tm) at all.

Perhaps a discussion thread attached to the gig is unnecessary, but I think the following example would be neat:

- I set my travel radius to 30 miles
- I see a little "house" icon or some such next to those artists who are within my radius
- I see a little "microphone" icon or some other reasonable descriptor next to those artists who have gigs planned in the future
- If I see a microphone AND a house - hooray! impromptu meetup?

Getting the mic there in the first place, however, requires a way to input shows.. so why not have a place for it... I think it'd be neat-o-riffic.
posted by twiggy at 7:19 PM on July 25, 2006


Bit of a jaunt, here, but:

I've thought a couple times about the idea of an opt-in music.mefi sub-profile. It'd be a sort of add-on profile that you could fill out at your leisure, and would contain music-specific things that could then be displayed in a consistent (and usefully extendable) way.

Standard fields in the extra profile might include:

- primary genres (could work as a sort of tagging system, freeform genre and subgenre keywords)
- gigging area (for folks who are actively or potentially gigging)
- off-site music site
- specific musical skills
- collaborational interests/availability
- free-form upcoming gigs text area

And so on. Then there would be a place for some of these common things to be stored; a list of mefites with filled-out music.mefi subprofiles could be made available; and there would be, voila, some useful way to deal with this stuff without requiring Matt to do any crazy development.

And should he ever from there decide to do some hacking, he'd have a standard dataset from which to work, out of the gate.
posted by cortex at 7:19 PM on July 25, 2006


OH HELL NO.

This is how myspace started folks. myspace. Be very careful, you're playing with fire...
posted by blasdelf at 11:30 PM on July 25, 2006


It would be great to be informed if some of these people were gigging. It sounds like it would be a lot of work and would open a can of worms, so why not just email those artists you like, see if they do perform, and ask them to add you to their mailing list?
posted by Iamtherealme at 12:06 AM on July 26, 2006


I had no idea people were so interested in gigging.
posted by bob sarabia at 6:59 AM on July 26, 2006


cortex's suggestion certainly sounds neat, but certainly seems quite a bit more complex.

Iamtherealme, I'm still not sure about the "lots of work" and "can of worms" parts, but yes, obviously what you suggest is currently possible.

Anyway, it'd be great if Matt could weigh in on what the policy should be here so that everyone can do the same thing.
posted by ludwig_van at 12:40 PM on July 26, 2006


Certainly.
posted by ludwig_van at 12:40 PM on July 26, 2006


And I realize that Matt already weighed in, but that was early in the thread and sounded tentative.

Aaanyway, I'll just show myself out now.
posted by ludwig_van at 12:51 PM on July 26, 2006


Is it cool to post upcoming gigs to metatalk? I have dj gigs semi-regularly around DC, and had never even thought of doing that before.
posted by empath at 12:56 PM on July 26, 2006


How about this, instead:

A weekly "This Week In MuFi" thread on Music.metafilter.com, and all of us just post our gigs there? Just to keep it consolidated, and out of the way of the music.
posted by empath at 12:58 PM on July 26, 2006


I like that idea, empath.
posted by ludwig_van at 1:33 PM on July 26, 2006


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