What purpose has the Forum for you?

[online prowler]

This post is spawned by the Dying Noise Scene thread of Xdementia and Freak Animals statment: "Mirror should be near by. Check that out when you have problems".

The title of the thread says it all. How do you use the forum? Why did you register? Has it generated something for you personally or artistically? And so on ... I figure if one want to look more into the possibilities in this forum, we need to see a bit on why we are here in the first place. I will take FA's first sentence as a clue and think a couple of days before I put my response here.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

I personally am quite interested in listener & fan experiences of material. Lets see for example Playlist topic - or discussions in general. To find information of new good records or old good records I had no idea if they're worth getting or that they even existed. Or to get suggestion which bands to keep eye on. Which release in someone massive discography are best to start with..

And discussion in general. It's rare case when "true noiseheads" meet in real life. The amount I spend daily on listening and observing noise related stuff, is so big, it would be strange if occasional talk about it wouldn't be top interest.

Even if merely handful of topics would stay active, it fulfills the purpose to me.

Ads of new stuff is good thing, but honestly I don't even visit the classified section more than couple times a month. Perhaps not even weekly. But this should be healthy situation - Checking out spam once a week without losing anything crucial meanwhile. I try to keep self promotion to minimum and use forum to discuss/review/introduce things I'm interested in, rather than promote my own works.

[Levas]

This forum is what it intended to be in the first place - forum where you discuss music and special interests, related to it. I think there are not that much topics about funny cats and "random thoughts" and so on. So it is a good place to check things that are directly related to music that is of interest to me (like playlist or new releases section) and indirectly (like this week in pc faggotry, movies thread etc.).
Anyone willing to discuss serious or not that serious topics are welcome, as well as just lurkers or those that are posting their new releases. This is good and I get from it what I want. And I am also glad that the crowd/visitors in here seem to be not that keen on trolling etc. While looking at chondriticsound forum (I check there only classified, sometimes gear, PE and noise), I'm glad that there are not many topics in here like "Pe vocals needed" or "why all PE right wing" and so on. It seems that people for communicating and for good quality time/reading is good in here. This is what I expected from it and this is what I get

[Goat93]

I'm on the Forum cause:

1. Find New/Old Stuff i don't know
2. Contact to the People
3. Fun reading the Stories or Discuss

most interesting for me are the adds, since i see when something come out and where i could buy it.
and the discussions about the Releases are fun, too.
i'm more into smaller foren lately, since the time run away and i have no nerve to read througth 40 pages silly nonsense anymore.

[Johann]

The forum offers an impersonal level of intelligent conversation (i suppose as long as your not on the nf forum) of a topic that can not be discussed among most friends, work colleagues or record store nerds where one can learn of different releases from all over the globe and the conclusions reached by a variety of listeners that have a discerning ear for the content (again exclude nf)...

I also being able to easily find out what is being released, by who, and where to get it if i so choose. That being said, the noise fanatics forum has turn into a mob of people ready to release any shit that slides down their pant leg and onto the floor and then others willing to tell them how great it is and buy it up...i am also extremely tired of labels that have awful aesthetic, put out a ton of shit, get no responses and keep replying to their own topic to keep it in the current. with the surge in popularity comes a surge in bullshit. so to come here and have the release section separate from the main section is very nice, that way i'm not just looking at the same topics full of repost and one liners (like "Paypal'd")

[ConcreteMascara]

I'm on the Forum cause:

1. Find New/Old Stuff i don't know
2. Contact to the People
3. Fun reading the Stories or Discuss

pretty much the same. I've tried out a lot of new artists/labels because of discussion here and am almost always happy that I did. and the film thread is great for the same reason.

[tiny_tove]

since I am out of the social network loop and I became extremely slow and unreliable with personal communication, it is the best way to keep in touch iwtha  few friends and in the meantime discover new things realted to my interests.

[Steve]

I visit this forum on a daily basis. I like this forum as it seems to cover a wide variety of topical matter as well as keeping me up to date with the activities of some of my favourite artists. The writing is (on the whole) intelligent, questioning and informative.
I have been able to pick up some gems through this board as well as get in touch with long lost friends.
As long as the forum doesn't go down the same path as the Troniks board, which seems to have become a bitch mat for lonely American teenagers, I shall remain a daily reader / contributor.

Is this board still "invite only"...uncertain.

[Unit 731]

I personally find this forum quite interesting and admire the views and topics expressed here,one thing that stands out is how each openion thus far read is valued and respected even if either parties may not see eye to eye.Forums such as this are rare though Iam ceratin they do exist but its great to see what I have been missing,or as mentioned earlier in this posting,who to keep an eye on as far as projects,and what others are bringing to the table in terms of originality and integrity.Its also nice to see people here not over staying their welcome with the constant barrage of 'self promotion',which wears thin and is best left for personal pages such as useing Blogspot,bandcamp to facebook etc..Great forum all around and is alot more balanced and appealing then anticipated....

[online prowler]

Special Interest mainly serves me in four parts.

SP a platform from where I can acquire new knowledge and information relating to my work in noise and in the arts. I find the threads in this forum to have a good balance between practical and the theoretical.

SP a very good place to keep oneself updated on new releases, records, gigs, artists, venues, plus. 

I enjoy the possibilities of exchange, daily and professional. This may be ideas, resources, opportunities, recommendations, weird postings, plus. The fluidity of serious and past time threads presents a good dynamic.     

The social factor rooted in common interests is quite important as well.   

[RyanWreck]

Pretty much the same as everyone else: a place to talk about the stuff I love with people who equally love the same stuff. To keep up with new releases. I also really like to stay attached to the "scenes" I am too distant from to enjoy with first-hand experience, I like when Mikko or Levas, or anyone does a live show review. I like to see what other people are listening too and feel out their listening and collecting habits too.

I've had experience from the other end of forums for quite awhile as well. I started my own forums ( http://stenchforums.net for those who do not know) out of a lack of forums directed towards what I was trying to do during early 2009. There was a very particular style of music springing up around then like Bone Awl and White Medal, some Noisecore stuff like the first Tortured Hooker tape, Filth and Violence was doing Flooded Church Of Asmodeus and Funeral Mongoloids, etc. And although people talked about it at the Troniks boards sparingly, it wasn't talked about much so I wanted to bring together all that lo-fi, tape music type stuff to one single forum. It failed for 2 years,over and over, and then finally it went up and stayed up and it has been slowly growing ever since. .