Encouraging More People To Join In?

y'know there's alot of times I talk to bands or they ask me about recording stuff and I'll be like "You go on soft forum?I got a recording FAQ there." and they tell me "no, never been , never will." / "i don't like to waste my time with forums"

it makes me think about what they said , i guess some ppl really misinterpret "forums" as a chatty thing. or putting up an opinion just to get dissed at. sometimes I reply to them "you should check it out. you can learn from and meet ALOT of people down there (soft). and you don't have to limit getting gears from just a certain-wellknown-music-shop-classified ads."

if you had to describe / encourage "non-softies" to join in, how would you put it in words to others? i mean we're not talking about religion/preaching here, y'know one of those "don't go church and go to hell" kinda touchy stuff, but music and knowledge! who would actually turn down free "real-life" Q&A support / friendly online social place (beats myspace/facebook paedophiles) / lesser chances of people doing some conmen act down here. each week I see threads ranging variety from NS, Beginners, Scene Improvement debate, soccer etc. I've been to numerous other local forums (apparently dead.) because people are actively replying/posting here regardless of question or answer. so it's happening and all.

30¢ worth

Hi Ron

This is what SOFT need to really work on. I have some ideas on getting SOFT to the masses (99%) of Singapore. SOFT has the same fate as most 'local music/band', we are not aggressive/organised/hardworking enough.

Funny that you post this thread because for the past few days, I met a few SOFTies and they as usual asked, "What next for SOFT?" And my answer was, "Expand, attract 99% of Singapore".

hahah, yeah well, it just came to me to post this too.

does that mean we have to do blood donation drives / visit old folks homes promote soft forum to the aging population of singapore?

otherwise, some form of advertising campaign, SOFT car decals, SOFT shirts (boring idea), SOFT stickers to stick on band's guitars/basses. SOFT caps and umbrellas to keep you under facial shade due to the killer weird weather where it's raining cats and dogs one minute and skin cancer causing sun rays the other. ... but all these need money leh.. not cost efficient.

no idea myself, I'm still using word of mouth method.

Visually Soft

Hi, peeps.

My personal opinion is that currently SOFT is not a full-fledged website, thus the attraction is not really there for the casual passer by or someone who is looking for something but only sees words in threads and posts.

For me, I have been visiting this website every single day because of the excellent content and the comprehensiveness of it all, thus it works for me because I know what I am looking for and I think it's an excellent avenue.

The reality is though, people are more inclined to find out more if there are visual cues or attractive elements that make them curious to find out more, no matter the level of interest in them for local music.

As they say, a picture sometimes can represent a thousand words. You must admit though that it is tough to scour through thousands of threads and that prospect does put some people off.

So, the current set up works for some (like us) who know what exactly we are looking for and know what to expect because we are familiar with the content structure here. But to achieve 99% of readership, I personally think that it will take a lot more than just what is currently offered here.

For a start, besides the cartoon picture in the homepage of soft.com.sg, perhaps we can have something visual that represent like 80% of what is found in the forums?

So, ultimately - the destination is the forum that is rich with valuable information but the first impression or experience can be more exciting? I am confident that a good looking web homepage with a good navigation built in will attract more advertisers and therefore generate more income for SOFT and then we, the SOFTies will get to enjoy the offers.

Just like if xxx jamming/recording studio offers exclusive online discounts for SOFTies or tell-your-friend-about-us referral programmes, it will generate benefits for everybody? xxx jamming studio gets more business, SOFT gets more advertising and SOFTies get to enjoy more discounts?

How about it?

:-D

heckler : i like your "visual" + "recording studio offers exclusive online discounts for SOFTies" idea. well james, what do you think of it?

i'm sure there are a load of bands on soft who needs that 1st demo to kick start, what I got in mind is, do you think it's feasible if we ask SOFTies with either personal jam studios at home , or drumsets will do to contribute. they provide the drumset/room. I can take care of the recording (at no charge or someone contribute parking coupons??), and I'd even film down during the recording process (basically recording footage) or james if you're free you can come along to help film, softie photographers who wanna contribute free band photography can join in too.after the recording, maybe someone like lilrampage can play / pod cast it and interview the band?

we can first make it a 1 month per band basis , from there hopefully it goes big enough where instead of SOFTies with their own personal practice rooms, jamming studios start sponsoring, and (I start the ball rolling first) until other audio engineer softies join in the fun too to make it more often than just 1 month per band SOFT feature special.

sort of like MTV's "artist of the month". in our case it's individual softies contributing their time/skill.

i just realised you did the tat tong artist of the month thingy, but my idea is more on the videolike footage presentation, y'know interviews of the band etc.

I second what hecklerkoch mentioned - Converting some of the vast knowledge contained in the forums into permanent pages/features, well-written articles etc. Can always add things like links to relevant threads, and a suggestion to join discussions if the reader wants to find out more.

Here's an article. It's 4 years old though

Strategies for successful portal design
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-22-5073252.html

Following up..

Probably can get Sean Lam or Pan from Concave Scream to help with advice regarding the art direction if you think sprucing up the website is a feasible idea that benefits everybody in the long run.

I've worked with them (they are well-known art directors from Kinetic Interactive) and they do excellent stuff, I tell you. Visit the website and you'll know what I mean.

Well, I do not know if the SOFT owners have time and resources to take up my suggestion but I just feel that it will benefit everybody and it sounds like the next logical step, virtually. From being a forum that is now synonymous with local music to a full-fledged online community where the local arts can flourish. This platform will sort of validate our place here in Singapore and make it more credible to everybody, investors and the community alike.

Perhaps, NAC can be approached to sponsor some programmes that some of us might like to start, with the intention of boosting the local music scene? I've seen some interesting newbies like MisterK and his wonderful version of Umbrella. With expatriates' support of local music and active participation, I believe we can make the Singapore music scene much more exciting and credible than tonight's Live The Dream finals.

I don't know, I still get the feeling that the overall sentiment and perception (from others) about local music is that it is mainly made up of underground bands but I think the reality is that we do have a myriad of music produced and performed and that is simply because Singapore is a multi-racial nation with so many cultures infused within its people.

Thus, we have like the mainstream local Chinese music sector and the English-language local music. Of course, not everyone is keen on going radio-friendly, that's why we have such a vibrant 'underground' scene but to make that a financially viable sector would be an uphill task simply because the local market is not big enough and the type of music is already considered a niche market.

So, my question is - where does SOFT stand? Is it some sort of movement to feature 100% locally produced music, regardless of the language in which it is produced? Or does it cater to just a chosen section of the local music?

I am pretty sure that the number of people who are interested in locally produced music and wish to hear and see it for themselves, are growing exponentially every minute. We Singaporeans nowadays are so well-travelled and we have seen lots of things that we wish we can witness in our own homeland but are unable to do so because of some infrastructure and social issues. What's the infrastructure of the Singapore local music scene now anyway?

Maybe to most people, a music career isn't something that is perceived by society as a credible and financially sound path but I can see that more and more people are choosing not to subscribe to this sometimes narrow mentality, and choosing to live their lives in their own ways and finding their own happiness. And that is good!

So, after all that is being said and done, where do we go from here?

Like Lenny Kravitz sang -

ARE YOU GONNA GO MY WAY?

:-D

articles aside, like what heckler said "it is tough to scour through thousands of threads and that prospect does put some people off. "

from thousands of Q & A threads compiled into readable articles (any volunteer writers here?).

and from some readable articles/theories , of course we don't expect to spoonfeed SOFTies, but i'm sure some of them we can actually put "theory" into "practise/hands on" (video).

tapping all possible resources from generous SOFT volunteers , "help us to help you" ?

"I can see that more and more people are choosing not to subscribe to this sometimes narrow mentality, and choosing to live their lives in their own ways and finding their own happiness"

well said heckler. I come from a harsh unsupportive environment of people who said I was wasting my time and future putting so much effort in a "non-prospect" line. I truly want our local scene to be real hot and independent and competitive on a global scale. so next time our kids, the next generation won't have to be compelled to live by majority career option standards (err, doctor?lawyer?marine?logistics?engineer?marketing?IT?) and make the most out of their lives and that would be what I call "Live The Dream".

So, SOFTies..

WHAT'S NEXT?

Hee hee....

:mrgreen:

yeah james, what do you think of my proposal? haha

Thank you guys for the valuable inputs.

I would definitely appreciate anyone who can help me to make the site more beautiful. Beautiful is good.

As for attracting the 99% of Singapore. We kinda have to think in their shoes. What would they want that is music related? Example - Latest pop song downloads (best if it is free!!), Ringtone (yes, it is music) ....

See, their 'music' is different from our 'music'.

What we need to do is attract them here, make them feel good and graduate them from consumer to creator.

Well, personally I think that would defeat the purpose of setting up something credible and worthwhile, with regards to our objective of making the local music scene more vibrant and appear less disorganised, just like you said.

Or are we on the same page here?

Providing free-to-downloads will only attract people who are looking for freebies but it may be a good idea to provide that for some local musicians/singers/songwriters who have produced their own original works and are looking for platforms to launch their products without wanting to make any money of it for that point of time.

I know some musicians are willing to provide full length free-to-download music files purely for the purpose of marketing.

So, of course providing free-to-download MP3s of artistes, whether local or foreign acts, are illegal if put up without their publishers' permissions. I guess you were just kidding on that thought eh? :-D

Anyway, I will see if I can help you with the sprucing up of things here. I am a graphic designer by training but am just still learning when it comes to web design and all that programming. So, let's see whether we can work something out ya?

Thanks..

Hi hecklerkoch

We defintely will not provide illegal downloads.

For SOFT to be effective in helping promote local music, we have to reach a sizable population.

For a long time, I tried to bridge music shops to musicians to bands to gigs. Now, we have to bridge all these to consumer (1000 students in each school, 20k in poly, 10k in uni, 2m in workforce).

err james? so my idea green light or red light? otherwise I don't want to appear unethical putting up threads asking for SOFTies whether anyone wants to contribute a drumset/jamroom.

James, I think reaching 99% of Singapore is not realistic. Not everybody is interested in music, not everybody has access to internet, not everybody can use a computer (eg 2 year old, which would fall into the 99%).

The standard 4 Ps of marketing may apply somewhat - People (who), Product, Place, Price. We know the price - free. We need to identify the who. As for place, although we are web-based, perhaps it's time to find alternatives - like advertising SOFT in other related websites, just like how SOFT is providing ads for retailers. That will widen the user-base.

Product is still the key. As of now, most of the content is geared towards musicians. Music lovers (who don't play instruments) may find it hard to swallow most of the technical content.

Thinking out loud... perhaps other contents (like reviews - of bands, music, gears etc) in the index page will help. Forum is for people interested to discuss a topic. You can put a link to a forum thread from a review for people to discuss that particular review.

Back to the "who" - we may want to expand into classical music, musicals (people like Kenneth Lyen can be a very important person to link up with), school band music etc are possibilities. Don't have to start a forum on that. These are huge untapped groups. For example - if we can get an SSO member to write a review (or interview an SSO member), things will change and we will move into areas we have not ventured before in the past.

Perhaps, the main page should be categorised according to genres of music (pop, rock, electronic, classical/orchestral, local, etc etc). Then clicking on any of these links will lead to another page with reviews or writeups on topics related to these genres. The topics can include writeups/reviews for music lovers (who don't play instruments), and "how-tos" (to continue attract the musicians or aspiring musicians). And in each review/writeup, a link will be provided to a thread in the forum to discuss that topic/writeup/review.

I agree that image is important - how the website looks. However, that only have initial attraction. If the content is not sufficient or good, it will not retain people. There are lots of nice flash-enabled music websites out there that's beautfully designed - but I don't visit them after a while because the content is nothing.

If you ask me where SOFT is right now, I'll say it's main target audience is the younger generation, guitarists, and people who wants to sell something. To expand beyond that, we need to do more brainstorming.

My 2 cents.

what about at least 70% of the people who like music? more realistic now?

Problem with "people who like music" is that you don't know how many there are in the first place, and it cannot be measured.

I'm thinking of something simpler - in terms of numbers. Take singapore's population of about 4.5 million. According to stats, about 50% of the population has internet access. About 76% of the population falls within the 15 to 64 year bracket (we can include the younger ages to 10, but no stats to show). Let's assume that 60% of the population likes music. If we can get 10% of this group of people, then we should have about 100,000 people (rounding down as we had to take into account cross-over within each groups mentioned above).

Of course, signing up doesn't mean they visit SOFT frequently, and we had to assume there are people who sign up twice. We have about 14,000 signed up with SOFT right now. 100,000 is 7x more of what we have now. If we aim to increase the people who are signed up to double each year for 3 years, we can reach there. That itself sounds quite difficult. James, possible?

When we target 99%, if we can get 1%, it will be double of what SOFT is today already! ha..ha...

Based on alexa.com , SOFT is #300 in Singapore most visited site.
http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?url=http://www.soft.com.sg

This is compared with all international sites for traffic in Singapore. http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?cc=SG&ts_mode=country&lang=none

blueprintstudios, you idea is good activities for the bands/musicians. You can test water first to see how is the response.

Hey Cheez, we reach out to music consumer. Most people have a mobile phone, if we have a section of SOFTies generated ringtone for free downloads, we could use this to attract more visitors to SOFT. We can work with MOE, create music tracks for their school music lesson, ask their teachers/students to visit SOFT for download.

These are all ways to build more attractions on SOFT to reach more audience.

* imagine one day, SOFTies' ringtone as poplur as "Tokyo Drift"