Composer of the week

I came up with this idea yesterday. Now I decided to see what the reaction will be. Maybe if it has a high rating, the administrators will decide to think about it. I think that this may further promote the composers of this forum and will perhaps introduce each one of them to the others on a weekly basis.

I have no idea how it will work but I have a few suggestions:

1. It could be determined by the quality of a composition that is submitted in the Major works section. If at the end of the week it has been decided that a composition is better in number of qualities than the other compositions posted within that week then the composer might be granted composer of the week.

2. It could be totally random. This way is less competitive, and it will not encourage composers to make something better in the hope of being composer of the week. But it might be more fair.

Maybe you will have more suggestions ...

One more idea. If this becomes reality, you could also include a picture or name of the composer at the main forum page, for the idea to promote them.

Hm, there are a few minor problems I see with this, not stemming from the poll itself, but the nature of the poll. Granted, most members wouldn't pay much attention to it (A problem in and of itself) but there would undoubtably be people who strive to be the top. You can do a few things to alleviate this, but nothing can get rid of the egotistic people alltogether.

The other problem is I don't think there's enough activity to warrant it as of yet. Posts in the Major Works category seem sporadic at times.

Now, continuing on your idea at the end, what about a small streaming ticker that advertises the recent posts in the Major Works category? Preferably, it would be able to be turned off by users, and hotlink directly to the post. It could be customized to include various information, like name, composer, etc, mostly for use of people who don't visit frequently. They could see the biggest, and generally the most well composed pieces easily, without having to scroll or dig around much.

To summarize: The poll itself isn't the problem. The problem is the activity, and the members who would either abuse it, or see it as offensive.

More comments??

I still believe that this could be a good idea.

I like it, although Im not sure Id want it for myself, i think it would also encourage members to look into lesser known members works, say perhap if someone posted a symphony in major works that was really good but only got a few comments, having it on the front page might do it a little more justice.

I like this idea and I think it should be put into practise.

I would also suggest expanding Daniel's idea into a seperate thing which would involve a moderator or someone like that picking out pieces which need and deserve more comments but have not recieved them. More than one should be involved in this process to avoid bias, of course.

Good idea.

While I have no problems with the idea itself, I still think the poll portion could be improved. Can you think of another way to showcase composers like this?

Wall of Fame is straying a bit too far from compsoer of the week.

Wall of fame will discourage other beginner composers I think.

Wall of fame will discourage other beginner composers I think.

Yeah, I have to agree there.

i was kidding.

Not particularly a bad idea though. It could have a place, just not along what was suggested here. In fact, I like it.

I think It is a great idea (no further comments)

cross that out...bad idea...

We've talked about a system like this before. I personally agree with the people who have said that such a thing would introduce an undesirable level of competition, or merely descend into a popularity contest, however once we have converted to vBulletin I'm hoping to introduce a few new extra features which will hopefully help give all music around here equal exposure. Examples might include an easily accessible list of threads with no replies, or a chart of threads with the least views, etc. Something like a (small) banner at the top of the index page that provided convenient links to the music within the forum would be very helpful, I think.

I personally agree with the people who have said that such a thing would introduce an undesirable level of competition, or merely descend into a popularity contest

I dont think that this will make undesirable level of competition, because there will be a chance for everyone to prove themselves. there will be many weeks to come, thus many posibilities to be on that list. I think you can give this idea a chance, for a month or so.

I suppose we might trial it, though as I mentioned the issue has been raised in the past and was decided against on the whole. Watch this space. ;)

If they're pushed to the bottom, the activity will then die down, making way for new ones. It's no different to a new thread posted in a forum receiving the bulk of attention, then as it dies down, it sinks to the depths.

I should mention that the algorithm will probably be more complex than just a simple rank based on an arbitrary value, by the way.

Haha, I wouldn't put it that way personally. It's mainly designed to give newcomers some extra exposure, and to prevent pieces from remaining without comment, which can be a common complaint around here.

First it has to be decided if this feature will be a competitive feature, or a random one which will give chance to the less popular thread. After that, I think you should consider how it will be.

It certainly wouldn't be random, but I would hope it would attract attention to ignored threads. I'll elaborate on exactly what I've been thinking of to clarify.

It would probably only show threads that have been around for a certain amount of time, let's say past the last 75% of posts that might happen in a specific day. So if on Sunday we had 250 posts, then on Monday it was 300 posts, it would take the average of 206 (75% of 275, give or take) and use that as the cut-off point. So when it drew up the latest list, it would only select threads past that point. Then it might rank those threads using views divided by how long the thread has existed for, or categorise the thread into one of several categories depending on who has authored it (e.g. "Newcomers", "Established Members", etc.). There then might be an entirely separate list which is completely up-to-date, with no cut-off point, however this list would likely not be presented on the index page, it would be available somewhere else. I'm also thinking the bottom of the page might be a better place, otherwise it's going to get intrusive. And an option should exist for members to turn the system off, so it doesn't display for them.

That's just off the top of my head, but with a little tweaking, I think a system like this would really help members get on top of what's going on around here. The result should be fuller participation and more chance of receiving feedback.

who cares if nobody comments. It means they didn't like it.

Perhaps. But you're suggesting that the result of this should be that the composer is ignored, as opposed to given feedback on how he/she could improve? To me, that seems unfair and elitist. You are of course right in that in the real world, if people don't like something they will probably just ignore it, but I feel we should strive to be more supportive and helpful than that.

I'm sorry for sounding so blunt and rude its just a thing i have.

At least you are aware of it ;)

hahaha. You'll come to find I'm a bit schizophrenic (well really dissociative disorder since dual personality is a common misconception...anyway) because I swith back between soothing, calm, and kind to bitterly honest and rude. And right in between which is the real me, which I hardly show on here. Maybe YC is a metaphor of my mind...:blink:.

that manifest themselves in this thread

find his words bizarre indeed

but through his eyes are forced to read

:mellow:

how about we just have a wall of fame for composers we think are the best?

I like that idea better for some reason. This isn't a bad idea, but it would probably be hard to maintain. And who would be the judge for it? I think it would just come out as something else to fight and argue over.

I suppose we could have a vote one day and put the results up. All this talk will become less academic once we actually get all the new software on here, then we can work out exactly what is required.

.........but I REALLY think you guys are overstuffing the turkey here.

:laugh:

Agreed... and I do think that a number of people's works are criminally ignored. And the Major Works forum turned into something very different from what I had envisioned. I originally wanted to have it so that people who spent months or years working on a piece wouldn't end up being ignored... and instead I find that it's filling up with 5-minute pieces that were written in a week or so.

Meanwhile, those who actually take a long time to write continue to be ignored - in general, composers who are more prolific, whether they are good or not, seem to be getting more attention per piece.