I have been on DS for about five years now and the first three years i was on here, this place used to be packed. I used to spend hours talking to people on here. But over the last two years, it has continually decreased in the amount of members and threads that crop up. Plus every time a thread is done, it does become very negative and leads to arguments.

I miss the days of Geordie"taylor loving, adele hating"Lady

This section used to be quite busy in that day

forums typically slow down during summer periods, particularly when the weather is good as people are often out doing other things instead. of course there are exceptions such as sites based around summer or outdoor activities or sports, or if something in particular is happening that may spark interest

this particular sites front page is full of reality stars, big brother, x factor, towie and stuff like that, and soap opera tv stuff, so it's going to naturally attract a certain type of person. the music on the front page is more often than not based around xfactor type acts and singers who rely on teams of people to create music and videos and stylists, or rappers of the commercial nature. so you aren't going to attract many serious music fans with that type of front page

most of the main prime time network US tv shows are off during the summer period for similar reasons, and likewise big album releases usually avoid that period. the uk singles charts recently had one of the smallest changes to line up in history, and the number 1 slot was held for a large chunk of the year so far by an actor who's doing little more than talking over the top of a tune based on a track from 30 odd years ago. so right now the music market is a bit stagnant

facebook is also taking it's fair share of forum use, with people finding groups that satisfy their niche requirements more, and it's easier to setup a group than start a forum, so of course some will tend to go that way

one thing that the longer term members will perhaps spot is that those who are typically quite active for a short period, particularly those quite vocal about particular artists, usually have membership of less than a year, and then they disappear and a new batch of names turns up and then disappears, giving the impression it could be the same users returning with new names after being banned. there's been a few recently that fall under that category. there is of course the appreciation sub forum so if people want to fanatically post about a certain artist and avoid any negative comments, they can do so, yet they don't, which makes many threads sound suspiciously like they are created simply to spark a certain reaction, which at times will lead to the loss of more members

I wouldn't worry. Little Mix recently performed in a McDonalds. They are pretty much done.

The sport section is quieter but that's because sport fans generally use specialist sports forums

without reading all the replies so sorry if this is duplicated.

it has nothing to do with madonna, or any other one artist. if you dont like or want to chat in a fan based way - ignore the thread.

theres little to talk about in the current scene, theres nothing particually exciting, nothing to gavanise opinion or get tongues wagging. can you imagine how vibrant a site like this would have been in the past?... so many new ideas could have been discussed and opinions on new styles.

so if theres not a lot happening with new music, we are left with discussing old topics. and they do come around over and over again.

but sometimes, and quite often, a decent thread will be borne and the contributions will be of a high level. the current 'best year in music' thread is interesting even though its basically a repeat of earlier threads.

i dont really agree with the 'negative' vibe some seem to be moaning about, and if anyone really wants to add a positive thread then just do it! stop moaning and contribute!

look..... i started the 'rare 60's classics' thread over 6 years ago. it might not be generating conversation much currently, but it does get a huge amount of page hits that cannot all be spybots! so people are dropping in to view it and imho it doesnt matter if theres no convo as long as theres page hits. so whats to stop any of you doing the same thing?

nothing!

there are hundreds of styles of music, all it takes is one dedicated poster to create a project and stick with it.

stop moaning, just do it.

totally agree with you there...

as a metal detectorist ive seen the detecting forums rise and fall over the past 16 years, they became popular as access to the internet took off from the late 90's into the mid/late 00's. but facebook has now claimed many of those forums, with many closing down as internet users prefering the accessibility of facebook.

Other forums are full of discussions about new music and discussions about all sorts of music-related topics, from which is the best pressing/mastering/etc of a particular album to the old chestnuts like should you call LPs vinyl or vinyls? As long as people are interested in discussing music as music there will discussions. it's interesting that you are so dismissive of today's new music because other people are quite excited about it, and there seem to be plenty of us going out and buying it from actual record shops.

Being a bit tongue-in-cheek here, but maybe the answer to this one is the same as the answer to everything else here: it's all the fault of downloads.

fair comment

not sure what there is to talk about though, but thats possibly because im old and have lost interest in modern music.

i dont frequent or am a member of any other music site now.

UKMix is a very friendly site and much more user friendly than this site, nice diversity in it's members too!

We have a forum titled 'Music', yet ironically most of the threads and posts have little to do with that subject, being mainly teenybop rubbish like "Is Madonna better than Britney'.

No wonder people have drifted away. I occasionally dip in, but it doesn't seem to improve. If anything it's got a lot worse over the past few years. Best to leave matters to the kiddipop fans.

I post on UKMix! I love it on there. I also sometimes use Buzzjack.

Because the manufactured pop fans do not know how to debate music. All they do is revert to cliches about how "it's a matter of opinion." I can give plenty of facts why certain artists are better than others. There is no law against praising a band and calling out a phoney artist.

Purely on a practical level, this forum isn't designed to make discussion easy. The search function is useless - a search for Foals doesn't find the thread about Foals! - so it's almost impossible to have a proper discussion when you can't find posts about the artist you want to discuss.

..... dont forget theres a dedicated forum for 'fans of' and 'music games'.. which takes traffic away from this area... (for the better imho).

Because the buzzkillers have mostly got their way. In a way I'm glad they've been left to continually bump their own threads on here to their hearts' content with little alternative traffic getting in the way.

I pop in now & then but can't even be bothered to click on let alone contribute to anything most of the time. Apparently, you're only allowed to laud an approved list of artistes and not the 'fraudulent' ones....

What is your favourite Britney Spears album?...enough said.

I notice few new songs these days that I then remember liking. This limits how often I contribute to these threads these days. Although I do some long-term category charts, I have not decided my favourite songs of the year since 2013.

if thats a snide dig at me, id remind you that 'my' thread that i contribute to daily, has several hundred page hits a week. if it didnt, id stop.

talk about buzzkillers, if half of you moaning actually contributed by starting a thread that would stimulate a decent conversation then thered by no problem. saying 'i cant be bothered' makes you the problem.

I don't find anything wrong with topics like that. You don't have to click on a thread if you don't like the artist. I think Sweet FA makes a good point. I've just read a few threads and a couple of members just seem to go from topic to topic ripping artists various achievements apart just for the sake of causing a row. At least thats how it comes across.

It's more about knowing where to put a topic on a general music forum for debate, or to put a topic in the artists appreciation thread, generally only fans will engage with the topic.

The Music Games forum is great fun. I'm really surprised not to see some names from this general music forum on there sometimes. We just have the same 10 or 12 people playing there all the time.
Some of you should give it a try sometime.

Because popular music died 20yrs ago.

i dont do games.... i notice some who do have astronomical post counts, dunno about others, but ive got better things to do with my time

well there is a forum dedicated for 'fans of' , where fans of an artist can fawn away to their hearts content.

but if a threads started in this part, then its fair game for scrutiny. personally id find it hard to ignore someone claiming that this artist had 'achieved' this fete if in reality they are wrong. i guess the most obvious case, and one sweet fa has clashed on, are threads about michael jackson where the most rabid fans credit that guy with far more then he actually achieved.