All the other sections of forum on this site are really active but Music isn't.

Why? I would have expected this part of the site to be one of the busiest.

Possibly because most of the threads are relevant to music in only the very loosest interpretation of the word.

Possibly because DS seemingly hates music. The negative threads certainly outweigh the positive.

Because it's a forum, not a chatroom. By its very nature, people dip in, post their bit and dip out again. You can't have an on-going conversation about music (or films, books, food, computing, sport (except Rio) etc) in the same way you can about a current, developing topic in, say, GD.

How active are you expecting it to be?

It may be something to do with the negative vibe on here, especially toward anyone who expresses a slight interest in Madonna, being a Madonna fan on here seems to be a bad thing. I know people have a right to an opinion about her but it seems as though you can freely criticise other artists but if you like Madonna it's forbidden and it's because you're jealous because said artist is better than Madonna and we all get tarred with the same brush, we're all nasty jealous idiots who don't like other female artists and hate it if they get made a fuss of before Madonna and that were all deluded and blind to her faults and proclaim that she's the best artist in the world and the most original but then moan if Lady Gaga or someone has a similar look to her.


I could go on...

I agree that some of Madonna's fans do and say these things but not ALL, I like Madonna and don't carry on like that, I like LG and know that Madonna isn't the most original or talented artist (but I like her anyway) and it spoils it when people constantly make out that all Madonna fans are bad people.

I don't think this is a music orientated site. It's more of a TV fan site. Serious music fans probably go elsewhere to discuss their favourite artists.

I only noticed yesterday but why does the busiest forum (General Discussion) have less than 30 something pages that only date back one month yet the less busier Pets forums has over 200, almost 300 pages with threads kept open as way back as 2008

This ^

I spend most of my time on Haven where 95% of the posts are positive about music whereas its about 10% here.

Because most have no clue about Music

This sums up a big part of the problem. While I'm not saying Madonna fans kept the forum moving it is true that most Madonna fans will not post here anymore because they have been stalked by the guy with hundreds of accounts. Its still happening right now, just search 'Why hasn't Hung Up sold a million copies' on Google with DS and you will bring up five of his previously banned names all saying word for word the same thing as he is once again saying right now. The accounts he has used to cause trouble with must be into the hundreds. Everyone can see it now so usually don't react to the baiting.

Its a shame its driven so many away but who can blame them. Its a seriously freaky vendetta that verges on insanity. Truth be told I'm not even much of a Madonna fan but I genuinely think what has gone on is criminal.

So this is a big part of why its so quiet in these parts.

I used to post in here quite a lot but have found in the last year or so there hasn't been much activity in this forum. I normally stay out of petty arguments and stick with talking about the music I enjoy on here, no use in wasting time arguing with people over why you think something is crap.

All in all though this forum is one of the most friendly (in my opinion) and I prefer it over others.

I did recently try out the Popjustice forum the less said about that the better.

Don't contribute much in here as most threads are about pop music which I have little interest in. Created a thread about electronic music a while back but that didn't really take off, despite me bumping it a few times. It used to be a lot more active and a bit more varied content wise when I first joined.


Towards the bottom of each subforum there are 'Display Options' settings, one of which is 'From The'. This displays threads from a certain time, such as 'Last Month' or 'Beginning'. Not sure why but it's not set to the same value on each subforum, you can change them yourself if you want.

Most of what's posted on here is utterly pointless, such as 'what are you listening to right this second?', or else meaningless polls. About 10% of the threads are started by record company PR and pluggers, about 60% belongs in the Showbiz and X-Factor sections and the rest are started seemingly by 14-year-olds with an obsession about a single artist, or by the guy who likes to type the words 'symphonic metal' at every opportunity. It is mostly so utterly shallow that it is rare to find anything of any interest.

A lot of music snob posters push people away from this section of the forum. A lot of the other sections seem friendlier and more open minded.

It's mostly frequented by teenagers who like "Little Mix," or whatever.
Doesn't bother me, as I don't read those sort of threads. There's plenty of other forums that cater for a much wider taste in music.
So the number of people who read or subscribe to it is fairly small. But then it's just one of a wide range of forums provided by DS.

I read and subscribe to a USA based message board, with a world-wide appeal, that covers Music, Audio Hardware and Visual Arts. As I type there are around 1500 people on-line.
A page on its Music Forum will fill up with responses to different music topics in about ten minutes.

If it isn't mainstream pop and genres loosely tied to that, then you're out of luck when it comes to seeing heated discussions.

I mean "Heavy Metal" and "Hard Rock", arguably 2 of the most successful genres of all time when it comes to live music, is confined to a single thread within this sub-section of the forum, whilst most threads are focussed on the likes of Adele, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Rhianna, Drake, etc.

Admittedly not much of the discussion regarding those artists is positive, but yeah, you're not going to get much discussion about artists who don't receive heavy radio play.

I got the impression most of the posters on this section were 40+.

It used to be A LOT more popular than it is now, a couple of years ago this section was very busy, don't know what happened really, I seem to remember a lot of arguments and people taking stuff way too seriously.

I'm over 40 and I like Little Mix. Sorry.

Why apologise? What you listen to is your choice, but do you contribute to, or start any of the many threads on them?

Them? I thought Little Mix was a girl.

To be blunt, it's a chore to post here. Between the wading though threads that are utter drivel to there not really being anyone to discuss music with. Either their tastes are to dissimilar or others are busy trying to impose their opinions as being facts. Sometime I want to start threads but then I think there's no point.

I wouldn't agree that you can't have an ongoing conversations about music can't take place - they do - but they tend to be on a limited range of subjects / supposition and get repeated over and over again and will attract people who believe they know all aspects of the music scene inside out and just won't be told anything. So discussions can just end up being arguments which waste everyone's time and kills off the vibe for others. I've searched for things on this forum from time to time using go*gle and it did become apparent the music forum had some better contributors going back five years or more and that they have given up.

I doubt it has anything to do with Madonna. I've been listening to loads of music for decades and pretty much ignored her so there's no shortage of other music to discuss.

Some people who are on here clearly know what they like and are passionate and knowledgeable about it and I'd expect that they are on other music forums too but many forums are quite specialist and maybe not attractive to the more general listener. There are some sound people on here though and I can't help thinking they'd be better off posting elsewhere.

Any other forums I read and post on, you can learn from and also you can share knowledge knowing that others will actually appreciate it because you are all enthusiastic about the same scenes.

The vibes here are no worse than on other DS sections though, general discussions is chock full of trolls, denialists and wise-guys.

Also, re. music discussion here: everything is a competition - this is better than this because it sold more, because it's on more lists, because more people have heard of it, because an article I read says so. It all gets a bit juvenile.

I contribute to LIttle Mix threads but I've never started one. I have also tried to direct LM threads away from marketing strategies and data lists which seem to regularly appear on fan threads but to little avail. Still marketing is a relevant part of the pop music process.

I have thought that Madonna gets mentioned too often on here. And like others I worry about how many posters are pushing products.

As for the quiet, maybe people are just listening more?

I can't quite put my finger on it but there is something about the atmosphere of this forum that encourages tetchy posts. If I were were posting on the "other" major forum that some have referred to, I would never be disrespectful or grumpy, because the vast majority of posts there are supportive and positive. Here there can be a bit of "I'm right, you're wrong" about some discussions and that's not what enjoying music is all about. As others have said, the blatant use of this forum (and some of its sisters) by marketing/PR companies doesn't help the vibe either.

Oooh thats really useful, thank you! I just know now though that I'm going to be reading a really old thread, forget that it's from over 5 years ago and reply to it and then get shouted at for bumping such an old thread