Newgrounds.com — Everything, By Everyone.

I've gotten annoyed by all the complaining on the NG AP, not just the zero bombing rants, but people leaving, and the people that think there is a right way to write music, and the people who think they know what classifies as music and what doesn't. and many feel that CRAP and what is WHORED only gets recognition and praise. A possible counter to that is to just say "No, what you like, doesn't get recognition. What YOU THINK is good doesn't get recognition".

Several audio artists have left NG/stopped uploading audio (just a cry for attention, they will be back eventually as long as they aren't signed, still have fans, and have access to the internet) recently. I only have respect for those that are leaving due to RL issues and can't find the time ATM. Those that are leaving due to problems with zero-bombing /disliking the score system/ feeling that this site is corrupt- you are only contributing to the negativity, nothing less. There is one more audio artist (DJ Immune) that is leaving for a respectable reason, because there is "more complaints than compliments".

Plus, go ahead and leave. Newgrounds is one of the best (ask me why) large scale sites for audio uploading and feedback- especially if you are a newbie or you have a style aside from what would appeal in mainstream music. This site offers lots of opportunities (which you may have to just look for) for both beginners and experts alike. And I will gladly explain in detail if requested.

I was reading over some reviews written by others, and a response that I saw by Swirly Helix to his song Rabbit Helix is a great conclusive quote to end these type of rants that I have been looking for. Now while it may be obvious to some, (and I have said this in different ways many times) my above message shows why it is not with all. Now it would be boring if we all operated like robots with the same viewpoints, and it would be boring if we all said, "this is artistic in some sense whether or not I agree, 10/10 great job". I encourage you to share your honest opinions with others. But before thinking negatively again, keep this in mind:

"The beauty of music is not written, it is interpreted"

You could apply that to any type of art.

Now apply that to anything in the world too.

Updated: 08/05/08 9:36 PM Log in to comment! | Share this!

The People Have Spoken

8 Comments

Aug. 9, 2008 | 3:39 AM Quarl says:

You're a saint and you're right. We all crave attention we don't deserve. It's human nature. We just want the comfort of feeling that someone cares about us and what we do. We all want to be told that we're smart, that we're right and that we're great people.

I love you, but I can assure you it's entirely platonic.

Aug. 11, 2008 | 12:07 AM Suspended-3rd-Chord responds:

all love is welcome, both platonic and romantic ;)

like you said, we all have a desire to get noticed- some want to become rich and famous, some just want to get noticed to just that people that only give a shit. So you're right, FJK is like all of us- but not in the sense in the way we try to get noticed. Like I said on your blog page, kudos to you for being humble, but you were never really in the wrong to begin with from how I see it.

I see flaws in my writing all the time. I try to be unbiased and think through what I say through so I have a well backed up message. It doesn't prevent me from expressing my opinions because hearing discordant ones will only make me more educated in the end. And I welcome that.

and i'm not a saint by any means, maybe not so much on NG but I like to do a little harmless trolling on the interwebs ;)

and since you said "human nature" i'm going to direct you to one of my favorite songs also called "human nature"

"It's in our nature to kill ourselves. It's in our nature to fall over the troubled hardships of life and it seems as though everyone has had a turn for the worst. It's in our nature to help those who are in time of need and it's in our nature to just as easily ignore them. It's in our nature to completely think only of ourselves.

All I can ask at the moment is.. "When? When will we start giving a ...."

This a sad tune for a sad and yet another depressing Friday. "

http://edgen.hostpaw.com/edgen_hu man_nature.mp3

Aug. 10, 2008 | 8:10 PM WritersBlock says:

If a good musician leaves due to the overall negativity of the Audio Portal, it has a huge effect on the Audio Forum. One contributing artist leaves and that's one less reason for others to like this place, one less reason to stay. I'd like to say that I won't leave due to bitterness towards how the site is run, and I do believe that I'm not succeptible to this negitivity where I have been in the past. I think it's all about the perception. I've said things in the past that I now strongly disagree with (some junk about music superiority, amongst other things). I see endlessnumber complaining about what is and isn't classical music and I cringe at the things he says, but I know that I was once very much like that. I feel that my views towards the fatkid has changed after Quarl's thread. I feel that every day, I'm becoming more open minded. I'll still dose out constructive criticisms when need be, but on the whole, I can listen to a variety of music and see the positives in them (I'm still pretty tentative about screamo though... hip hop's not bad though). I think the more time I spend talking wit everyone here, I become a more well-rounded being. I know you and I have had some disagreements in opinion from time to time, but I've always had a higher level of respect for you.

Aug. 11, 2008 | 12:16 AM Suspended-3rd-Chord responds:

Thanks a lot WB!

Endlessnumber is a douchebag and he knows it. What he says about classical music how it has to be written in a certain form and pefomed by live instruments is a crock of shit...how the composition is a prominent factor in defining the genre; and the usage of certain instruments and how they are used is another important element too. I've got the packs and instruments down, but I know my music isnt classical. There is no "orchestral" or "cinematic" genre. There would be 1000+ different genres needed if it was necessary to adhere to a strict template of classifying a piece.

My views toward FJK have not changed, but never were too harsh to begin with. I'm not jealous of him, he may get recognition over me even if I don't think he deserves it based solely on the amount of effort and creativity he instills into his "writing" process. I don't waste my time worrying about children playing with coloring books.

Aug. 12, 2008 | 7:26 PM TimeBender says:

I was stressed with the world. I sat in my room for days and then I put out a notebook and a pen and wrote 5 full pages of thoughts. The last thing I wrote before i went to sleep was "the beauty of music is not written, it is interpreted" and that was it.

I flipped when I saw my name haha it was a big moment, that you for using me as inspiration.

Aug. 12, 2008 | 11:43 PM Suspended-3rd-Chord responds:

NP man!

Aug. 13, 2008 | 10:53 AM TMM43 says:

I originally left NG because I was one of those cry-babies.
I really didn't and still don't like the voting system, but that's reality and I'm going to have to deal with it.
When I temporarily left, I submitted music to other sites (which had voting systems) and everyone was out for self gain. They would write reviews praising the song, but would vote as to shit on your song. At least on NG people understand that you are making an EFFORT to create music.
I learned (the hard way) that NG is a great community for people, like myself, who are aspiring musicians at any level.

Sure you're going to get people who are going to complain. That's going to happen no matter how perfect the voting system is. People are just going to have to deal with it, or go to another site where they aren't going to get the help and recognition they deserve.

Aug. 16, 2008 | 4:51 PM GronmonSE says:

I love you more <3

And yes, you're right. Me? I don't think I'll be leaving anytime soon, but I don't think I'll be able to find time to make music anymore, let alone browse Newgrounds.

I've got nothing useful to say today though.

Aug. 19, 2008 | 6:35 AM Druids-Warcry says:

i dig man, really... you speak truth. keep it up

Aug. 22, 2008 | 5:42 AM Danman87 says:

Hey Cyrus, I just went through your entry and stumbled upon the fact that you may haven't witnessed the truth as other people did it. The typical zero bombing isn't anything new from my point of view, I actually think it's common for a community with a very young membership like this. I'd rather refer to the uglification of art, it doesn't make much sense to provide music that is just going to be used as a score for pornographic material. Especially the ironic use of magical themes while displaying parts of... well, you get the idea. Maybe I just had bad luck with these submittions, it really started to hurt after a while and I think every composer who slightly cares about his music would have done the same. The scoring of these pieces were mainly above 4.4, just to point out that this wasn't the reason. People however have their reason when they state that certain work is whored or not. The amount of quality work which was accomplished with some effort is as little as ten to twenty percent (Speaking of the charts). This wasn't the case a year ago, at least not that bad. And the rating system... well it just takes one zero to send a genius in the outback. There has probably been some serious talent around here, but just at the wrong end of the charts I guess.

I think it's all about fandom when it comes to the recognition question. A lot of people just wait for updates of certain artists while there are just a very few people who actually take a look around here. I've got to agree on the whole attention thing though. Although I wouldn't apply that statement on experienced artists since you get used to feedback at a certain point. Well, I wouldn't count myself as experienced but I care less about comments than 1 year ago.

You probably recognized the stolen music here as well since you're also a member of the AMS forum. This content still hasn't been removed yet, administrators did even delete the reviews that pointed out that this is stolen work which comes close to some kind of support of stolen music. This makes me rather doubtful of the audio portal.

Looking forward to your reply, aren't these last two sentences by Justin by the way? ;)

~Denny

Aug. 24, 2008 | 3:30 AM Suspended-3rd-Chord responds:

oh hey denny!

-I certainly never thought of that problem but do completely see how that can be a problem. The tastless, "spam" submissions that easily go through because they have a crew to vote for them and pass it through judgement.

Although, from reading the forums, at the present this matter certainly wasnt a problem (I'd say you're one of the few this has happened too- most of those submissions have professionally published songs) but it was the scoring system, and issues with exposure. You're case was certainly unfortunate luck, as you have a much better chance of getting used in a class submission, especially with someone of your skill level. That will always be a potential problem when you upload and concord with the agreement. (If the submission was offensive, you'd could always PM an Admin and they could remove it)

As far as the whored and amounts of effort go it completely ties in with Swirly Helix's quote about the way other people percieve music. Wherein the effort lies doesnt always have to equate the grade of teh final product- i've spent days and hours of effort on music to realize that Ive screwed my project up and it becomes a failed experiment (mostly everything I do) that I'll have to set aside for later- and usually when this happens I cant get in the certain creative mindset to continue the song. Then there's people like Zenon who can pump out 100 tracks a year or make a quality 7+ minute track in three hours....

I might be using the wrong words here, but since there is no quantitative system of scoring, we have to rely on fans and what scores make the cut, indeed the fandom. And who am I to say others taste is wrong? It's all about perception, it's all about what the people want, it's a democracy.

Yeah after posting music here for more than a year, it's not as exciting to recieve reviews, I don't go on a reviewing spree anymore and anticipate getting a couple in return- but you canalways get some of if you need it :D

you're talking about l33tsp34k right? That really frustrates me. I left a review with a zero, got deleted. Second review is still there, but I gave it a five and had to beat around the bush so I wouldn't fringe on the reviewing rules. Despite giving clear evidence, morons still continue to give the author praise like it's his/her piece (or peformance in the piece, as she claims). They should really make a change in the review ruling from "don't state music is stolen", to "don't state music is stolen unless you're presenting good evidence". What is one review going to do in light of stolen copyrighted material that gets used in a popular submission, that recieves revenue? Especially when the mods dont have the tools to remove songs, and the adminstrators take a while to reply. In this case, his/her first song DID get used in a popular flash submission, and right there is a potential lawsuit waiting to happen. I'm going to go mail Wade about that right now, 'cos it's really chapping my ass.

Hehe, I think only the last sentence was by Justin, but not intentionally ;) I think the quote went something like this "If you know how to use a pencil to draw, then you can draw everything. Now apply that to everything in life" unless he has another quote I'm missing.

thanks for your response bro, nice hearing from you :)

EDIT: but now that I do look at my profile, that quote under my avatar is from Brad at AMS ;) i love that quote!

Updated: Aug. 24, 2008, 6:16 AM

Aug. 23, 2008 | 5:13 PM BlackNinjaWarrior93 says:

http://blackninjawarrior93.newgrounds .com/news/post/179209