Sleeve Notes

[badfaith]

What do you think of the idea of having a "sleeve notes" section at the bottom of each album page, seperate from comments, where the musicians who played on the album/tracks on the album could be listed in linkable form much the same way as we can see albums by...
That way, if you like an album by a band, or you like the trumpet on that track, or the woman singing on that track, or other projects by a member of the band or artist, it would be possible to see all they'd done, and go on a little musical journey of discovery along a particular musician of interest.

Also, perhaps cross reference where an album was recorded (Abbey Road etc), or add other info that might be of interest.
I think this could give real value to browsing albums here, and take you into areas perhaps unfamiliar to you but from starting points that are.

It's just that I've noticed that in the digital download age, that info is lost to a large swathe of people who may be interested, and consequently miss out on valuable pointers to other work.

What do you think?

[albummaster]

We probably won't go as far as adding studios, musicians etc, but we could add 'related artists' to help browse the site. e.g. if you are looking at Bob Dylan, you could be pointed at other acts that Bob Dylan has participated in.

More likely, as this site is driven by data, we could offer recommendations based on the album/artist being viewed e.g. if you are viewing Highway 61, we could offer suggestions based on which other albums also ranked highly in charts that included Highway 61, or based on which users have rated Highway 61 highly, or added Highway 61 as a favourite. Would that sort of thing be helpful?

[badfaith]

Yeah, that sort of thing would be good.

But the thought that occured to me is that the potential for this site could be as a rich resource for music fans, my suggestion envisages something perhaps along the lines of a wikipedia of music.... where members could add such info as may be relevant, so it need not mean extra work for you!
I think this would make the site much more than a statement of collective taste... maybe even a point of reference for music people, dare I say a valuable research tool?

and with the links to other artists, related projects, etc, based on methods already employed in the site, I don't think it would be too much of a strain on resources.

[badfaith]

so albumenmaster, what do you think of the wikimusic idea?
...anything in it?
just thought that with people like Mr Nippes and Elmer-ffudnedubb (among others), and thier extensive musical experience, sich a feature would keep them happily occupied for eons, and create a great bread crumb style odyssey of musical discovery for site visitors.

...also, with albums like The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, which has accompanying story which is contributive to the album's experience, or An American Prayer, perhaps scans of the whole album art could be possible, as well as front cover art, or is that copyright violation?

anyone else see anything in this idea?

[albummaster]

badfaith, apologies for the delay in responding. I'm in favour of members contributing to the site and we'd love to have commentary on each release and to tell the tale behind each album. It's something we could add at a future date, but it is quite a big undertaking to develop this so we wouldn't be able to do this straight away. I've added the idea to the list for future development.

albummaster

[badfaith]

Super-duper... I shall concern myself then with thinking up more ways to be a pain in the arse to you!

thanks.

[albummaster]

[badfaith]

Been thinking about that wiki idea, and dumbass that I am, overlooked the fact that wikipedia actually already exists (wether you and others deem it reliable enough a source of info is a matter for debate in itself).

Although we could paste a link to the relevant wiki page to each album, which would mean no additional features needed, perhaps it's not too much of a stretch to make it so that clicking on such a link opens a new window, so that you don't have to leave this site to view it (more technically minded people and computer literate folks than me could comment on the feasability of this).
Also, we could add relevant youtube vid links attached to the albums in similar fashion (maybe not imbedding video so as not to clutter the album page), if a small space for such links could be provided I'm sure members may be able to add the links themselves.
This would mean we could look at videos of the tracks and learn a little about the background to each album all from one page.

[albummaster]

[badfaith]

That sounds good.

I think the chaps at wikipedia had to do something like this anyway for themselves didn't they? The idea of a completely free system meaning that individuals could, as you say abuse it, or act according to their own agenda rather than use it in the spirit in which it was intended.

... A couple of thoughts in this regard:

Why not model it on the track picks voting system, where only links with a set amount of votes for acceptability would ensure it stay there, and conversely, a certain quantity of negative votes automatically removes it.
Also, if only one vid per relevant track maximum allowed. that way, when an album of ten tracks has a full vid complement, the abilty to add more is locked out.

Being that wiki would only need one link per album (except where alterations are made to the actual wiki page occur perhaps), this would only need this process to take place once before it is locked.