Premium MB Membership

[tavenger5]

Plans are in the making for a Premium MIDIBuddy Membership. When all is setup and running the plan will come with the following:
MIDIBuddy e-mail (yourname@midibuddy.net or degster.com)
10mb of web space
Your own photo gallery
5,000 MB cash a month!
Gift certs. to HitTrax (possible)
Certs. to MIDIRingTones (possible)
Premium member icon
Move/delete own threads
Images in signatures
Custom avatars immediately
No approval of files in new file forum
Special forums for premium members


Plus more!

The pricing for premium membership will be something like this:

1 year: $38
6 months: $20
Month: $4

Questions, comments, suggestions?

[KingXII]

:jawdrop: typo......
:: fixes typo ::

[tavenger5]

Anyone care to comment??

[jeaniesing]

Comments? Okay......

As much as I enjoy what you've done here John - I can't say that "Premium Membership" appeals to me..... Reality is, I HAVE 10MB of space elsewhere, I HAVE Photo gallery elsewhere, both free... And I think most net-savvy folks do.... the rest of the stuff on the list has very limited appeal to me, and therefore (I'm guessing) to many others....

Frankly - if you want my money I'll send something annually, As I've said before, I get more enjoyment here than my pledge to PBS gives me... but I'm an Old Fart with a good job and a rich husband.... Would YOU have done this 5-10 years ago when you started sequencing? Will 'we' be chasing away young and talented folks?

disclaimer: Not everything here is necessarily my staunch opinion... I'm playing devil's advocate to some degree in an effort to collect knowledge......

[Pol]

Hello John,
First of all i'd llike to say that you've done a fantastic job here...i thoroughly enjoy interacting with the other members and have also found some nice backing tracks to use. As far as Premium Membership goes, i think the price is very reasonable and i'm sure you'll have some takers but some of the things on the list wouldn't attract me personally...such as $5000 a month, deleting threads, images, icons and i agree with Jeanie in that most people with the knowledge or inclination to develope a website will have their own webspace (my own ISP gives me10 Mb free).

On the other hand, i think you should look further into the gift certs for HitTrax and the ringtones as they would appeal to a lot of people. The custom email may also appeal to some. I'm in my mid thirties though and my opinion may differ from a lot of the younger members but good luck with the plan and i hope everything works out for you mate !

Paul.

[tavenger5]

Okay, everything is tentative and subject to change. This is why I want some feeback :). Everything listed is what was in my head at the time.

Would 50 or even 75 megs of space be more reasonable?

Remember that degster.com is the exact same as midibuddy.net. Lets be honest, degster.com is a much more general URL and may appeal to more people.

The prices are more then likely going to change. I'll probably also run some introductory offers. If everything goes as planned it should be in place by aug. (custom scripting)

I intended the gift certs to be purchasable in the feature store (would only apply to premium members and super mods, admins) This is where that $5000 could be useful. Obviously the certs would be the higher priced items. :)

Paul, Jeanie... what features would attract you the most? What features do you think could be added to the list?

Thanks for your feedback :thumbsup:

[Ralph'e']

sounds good..

except.. 5000MBa month??? kinda takes the fun out of "saving MB" dont u think???

dont like that idea at all.. ne1 agree?

[Nyxan]

I don't know if it will work. Most are her for the fun and games not to buy memberships. Leave that to the pay sites.
I like this board just the way it is
If it aint broke why fix it

[jeaniesing]

I can see that we would be your target audience on this one.....

1. Gimme the larger amount of space (for MP3's of work), and gimme a really easy Web Address like http://jeaniesing.midibuddy.net and I'd be IN :)!! 'Twould save the trouble of hosting my own site I think :)...... Now the problem: What if I want to store my copies of hittrax duplicate MIDIs in that space? I'll argue it from both sides... If I'm paying for it I don't want my content limited beyond that of polite society (no naked turnip pics!) - on the other side, if you make this searchable I'm gonna get you in hot water with hittrax.........

2. Give non-premium members the ability to buy some of the preemie features with MB cash..... So if one of us Old Farts sees a promising young'un we can give 'em enough MB cash to buy a month's premium membership at, say, $5000 a month........ Call it a scholarship program :) (it ends up being a twofer the price of one if everyone chooses to sponsor someone)

3. I don't get the 'no approval on new files' thing.... Are you saying that you're willing to work your mods harder for paying members?? ;) The approval system is simply a librarian function as I see it... to keep everything where it belongs and prevent duplicates.

3. Image in sig is good... but what about the bigger, better avatar possibility......

4. Some other random ideas thrown out as brainstorming catalysts without thought as to their ramifications.......
free 'importants'
gift certs to amazon (so I can buy a book or two and add my reviews?? ;))
a little bot that says "you last visited"... in fact, I'm gonna put that in the suggestion box for everyone :)
premium members' webpages listed under 'buddies' on left bar.... or at least a link to a list on the left
unlimited PM's for preemies ( oh and for Zel.... something is just WRONG with his box I think...)
re-open self-sequenced for premies... I know its still out there, I clicked a link and ended up in it while modding the other day ;)
an agreement between preemies and Mods making preemies realize that their dollar does not make them immune to board rules
invites to the annual MB picnic to be held at John's.....
.... okay..... so I'm gettin' a bit punchy now ;).. as I said.... catalysts.. please comment either way on those and other ideas!

[KingXII]

:rolleyes:
hmm I currently pay $100 for 2 years, lets see unlimited bandwidth, unlimited webspace (it's set to upwards of 500MB), FTP access, email (got that already). John that's tough to beat..........

[jeaniesing]

Which begs the question.... will Mod abilities be scaled back in this change?

[Pol]

Features i would be interested in would be firstly the extra web space
75 megs sounds like a good offer and would give me enough legroom to develop a pretty good music site

Some sort of access to HitTrax via either MB cash or gift certs, whichever is easier to organise. I'm not saying you should be giving pro files away for nothing but some kind of concession for premium members would be good

Someone mentioned bringing back the self sequenced forum for premium members also.....could this be done using moderators to make sure copyright material does not end up there and so keep everything above board ?

Finally the special forum, and possibly even a chatroom for premiums to talk directly and make file swapping quicker and more direct ?.....i recently joined the MidiHub for this reason but there never seems to be anyone online...ever !

Hope this helps John and i would definitely be interested in membership if even some of these suggestions were available

[tavenger5]

Originally posted by jeaniesing
I can see that we would be your target audience on this one.....

1. Gimme the larger amount of space (for MP3's of work), and gimme a really easy Web Address like http://jeaniesing.midibuddy.net and I'd be IN :)!! 'Twould save the trouble of hosting my own site I think :)...... Now the problem: What if I want to store my copies of hittrax duplicate MIDIs in that space? I'll argue it from both sides... If I'm paying for it I don't want my content limited beyond that of polite society (no naked turnip pics!) - on the other side, if you make this searchable I'm gonna get you in hot water with hittrax.........

I could possibly do the web address (for you ;)) But the standard would be something like http://midibuddy.net/~jeaniesing

God, please don't ever upload the hittrax files anywhere! There are severe punishments under international copyright law infringement. There are rewards given to people who find their files and report violators. (like $1000 rewards!) So, no, that won't be allowed. It won't be searchable. Member sites will be completely seperate from midibuddy.


2. Give non-premium members the ability to buy some of the preemie features with MB cash..... So if one of us Old Farts sees a promising young'un we can give 'em enough MB cash to buy a month's premium membership at, say, $5000 a month........ Call it a scholarship program :) (it ends up being a twofer the price of one if everyone chooses to sponsor someone)

Na, I think that would take the whole point out of it. I can't give out certs to just anyone. The premium membership won't be available in the store, but the certs will (for premium members) Obviously admins and super mods will get features for free assuming they're doing their jobs ;)


3. I don't get the 'no approval on new files' thing.... Are you saying that you're willing to work your mods harder for paying members?? ;) The approval system is simply a librarian function as I see it... to keep everything where it belongs and prevent duplicates.

Well, I'm assuming that if someone is interested enough in midibuddy to purchase a membership that they would be conscious of the rules. Waiting for a file to be approved can be a pain. This would apply to the request forum and new file forum.


3. Image in sig is good... but what about the bigger, better avatar possibility......

The image sig is a bigger better avatar. I've thought about it and I think I'm going to reserve some of the features in the feature store too. Like the name color and italic. They could be for prem members and special people that mods would choose or something. Of course the prem members would also have a special icon in their posts.


4. Some other random ideas thrown out as brainstorming catalysts without thought as to their ramifications.......
free 'importants'
gift certs to amazon (so I can buy a book or two and add my reviews?? ;))
a little bot that says "you last visited"... in fact, I'm gonna put that in the suggestion box for everyone :)
premium members' webpages listed under 'buddies' on left bar.... or at least a link to a list on the left
unlimited PM's for preemies ( oh and for Zel.... something is just WRONG with his box I think...)
re-open self-sequenced for premies... I know its still out there, I clicked a link and ended up in it while modding the other day ;)
an agreement between preemies and Mods making preemies realize that their dollar does not make them immune to board rules
invites to the annual MB picnic to be held at John's.....
.... okay..... so I'm gettin' a bit punchy now ;).. as I said.... catalysts.. please comment either way on those and other ideas!

Importants?

Gift certs to amazon would be harder but it is a possibility for extra special people.

Unlimited PM's is an idea. However with $5k of MB $ a month they could just buy all the quota they need.

What kind of bot?

Prem members could certainly list their pages in their profiles and sigs. On the left the list might get long, and it wouldn't be automatic. I would make exceptions though. A list of prem members would be easy to do.

Self sequenced would be reopened for prem members. There could also be other special forums.

I'll fire up the grill and fill up the pool:
http://www.midibuddy.net/pics/johnsworldcom-pool.jpg

[tavenger5]

Originally posted by jeaniesing
Which begs the question.... will Mod abilities be scaled back in this change?

Nope. They'd be upgraded. Regular mods would have all the abilities of a prem member. Obviously this may make fo some competition between mods. I would of course be more giving to super-mods ;)

[tavenger5]

Originally posted by Pol
Features i would be interested in would be firstly the extra web space
75 megs sounds like a good offer and would give me enough legroom to develop a pretty good music site

I was also thinking of offering different levels of hosting. I would be able to host domains also. Maybe 3 different levels of hosting. The basic at 25megs. Medium at 50megs (with personal domain and mail). and 100megs with the works. What do you think?


Some sort of access to HitTrax via either MB cash or gift certs, whichever is easier to organise. I'm not saying you should be giving pro files away for nothing but some kind of concession for premium members would be good

Yeh, I have to talk to HitTrax about this still.


Someone mentioned bringing back the self sequenced forum for premium members also.....could this be done using moderators to make sure copyright material does not end up there and so keep everything above board ?

Yeh, mods would be able to mod this forum like before. It's still there, just not active.


Finally the special forum, and possibly even a chatroom for premiums to talk directly and make file swapping quicker and more direct ?.....i recently joined the MidiHub for this reason but there never seems to be anyone online...ever !

Yeh, this is possible. The thing with a chatroom is getting people in it. I don't know how many prem members would be online at the same time, etc, etc... A seperate forum for general prem member stuff is definitely going to happen though. The midihub has died down since some of the older members haven't been on as much lately


Hope this helps John and i would definitely be interested in membership if even some of these suggestions were available

I appreciate your input. I'm extra nice to people that show strong interest in the page ;)

[tavenger5]

Originally posted by KingXII
:rolleyes:
hmm I currently pay $100 for 2 years, lets see unlimited bandwidth, unlimited webspace (it's set to upwards of 500MB), FTP access, email (got that already). John that's tough to beat..........

Nothing ever unlimited in terms of space and bandwidth, trust me. Don't worry, I can hook you up regardless.

[jeaniesing]

Originally posted by tavenger5
God, please don't ever upload the hittrax files anywhere! no no noooo... I mean something that hittrax has in their catalog but I have a different version of!

Originally posted by tavenger5
I think that would take the whole point out of it. I can't give out certs to just anyone Understood.... but wouldn't a great selling point be current enjoyers of premium services giving others a taste of what is offered?? It's worked in advertising for years ;)..... so if it were available in the feature store for 10 or 15 thousand (or more) for a one month subscription.... that would allow those with enough $$ or those with a 'wealthy benefactress' to taste......

Originally posted by tavenger5
Importants? y'know.... sticky threads.....

Originally posted by tavenger5
What kind of bot? Okay, Okay.... ya got me... I haven't a clue!!!! yeesh.... the one time I think I have the lingo down ;)..... I just know my bank account says "Last visited 6/10/2003 at 9:36PM when I access it ;)

Originally posted by tavenger5
Self sequenced would be reopened for prem members. There could also be other special forums. Whaddya have in mind there..... my imagination reels....... Ummmm :idea: the only forum that allows attachment of MP3's so we can share >original< work that way as well?

[Pol]

Yeah the different hosting levels sounds good....member can then choose which one has sufficient options for what he/she wants.

I understand the problems with a chatroom (timezones etc) but at least it would be an option (like a little midihub within the site)

Did i pick you up wrong or did you mention that regular Midibuddy moderators would have the same privileges as premium members ?..... not sure i'd go along with that one

Finally, i thought you were involved in someway with the HitTrax operation, if not i can see the difficulties..... but some sort of concession for premiums would get alot more people on board i'm sure.

[KingXII]

John one thing you failed to address is payment options. Well not everyone will want to use paypal, even though paypal accepts credit cards.

[tavenger5]

Originally posted by jeaniesing
no no noooo... I mean something that hittrax has in their catalog but I have a different version of!
ohhh!! yeh, since I would be leasing out space the only thing I wouldn't allow is porn and warez.


Understood.... but wouldn't a great selling point be current enjoyers of premium services giving others a taste of what is offered?? It's worked in advertising for years ;)..... so if it were available in the feature store for 10 or 15 thousand (or more) for a one month subscription.... that would allow those with enough $$ or those with a 'wealthy benefactress' to taste......

Yeh, I see what you mean in that aspect. But it would only be allowed once as a trial membership. Keeping track of this may be difficult, however. I'll have to talk to my programmer.


y'know.... sticky threads.....

Oh yeh... Well, again, since they can be bought in the store, and a prem member would get 5k a month. We don't want too many important threads.


Whaddya have in mind there..... my imagination reels....... Ummmm :idea: the only forum that allows attachment of MP3's so we can share >original< work that way as well?

humm.. mps can be big and uploading to the database will definitely slow it down. (when it's coded into a database it's different then if it were uploaded to a server as a file)

[tavenger5]

Originally posted by Pol
Did i pick you up wrong or did you mention that regular Midibuddy moderators would have the same privileges as premium members ?..... not sure i'd go along with that one.
The super mods would. I would give the regular mods certain things uplon request.


Finally, i thought you were involved in someway with the HitTrax operation, if not i can see the difficulties..... but some sort of concession for premiums would get alot more people on board i'm sure.

I'm just an affiliate. I've talked to them briefly about 'coupons' I could offer prem members.

[tavenger5]

Originally posted by KingXII
John one thing you failed to address is payment options. Well not everyone will want to use paypal, even though paypal accepts credit cards.

There's a couple different options I'm going to offer. I haven't decided weather I'm going to use paypal or not. I heard there was a lot of security holes. Regular credit will be an option though. And I suppose money order or check for people that don't have a card.

[jeaniesing]

and..... (not that its intrusive... but if you're looking for selling points) eliminating banner ads from preemies and making them more vicious otherwise??? ;) Dear God.... did I just say that??

[tavenger5]

Originally posted by jeaniesing
and..... (not that its intrusive... but if you're looking for selling points) eliminating banner ads from preemies and making them more vicious otherwise??? ;) Dear God.... did I just say that??

A possibility. It would be very limited popups if anything. There's some very negative things concerning popups and then paying for no popups.. eek.:hit:

[tavenger5]

anyone else?

[theARTiSAN]

I think offering premium membership is a great idea :thumbsup:
I've been thinking about some new 'thing' somewhere between a Member and a MOD, so people can gain new cosmic powers a little here/a little there - aside from waiting for a staff position to open. This could be just the thing.

Awarding a member a position on the staff (assuming they even want all the responsability and extra work in trade for new features and abilities) has been the 'reward' for great contribution on the boards - and that has worked.
We have a fairly large staff now, and several well-established members that I feel are reeeeally contributing to the boards. I'd love to give them a little more, but we don't really need another 10 MODS.

Premium memberships would be nice, because people that buy them would be serious board members to begin with, they will get several great benifits without the added workload that comes with being a MOD/SUPERMOD/ADMIN. I'm sure there are lots of people that want to give something back to the boards, but can't afford the time.

Premium memberships would improve things for everyone here...
With the extra money generated from this, we could afford faster/ bigger/better server space, (possibly) fewer popups and maybe even afford to pay for more custom scripting to add new and exciting features... There is a lot that could be done.
Better servers would translate to faster access, more (premium) webspace (75 or 100mb), maybe more forums - or another affiliated board that deals with original mp3s...
Everyone's happier - plus the people that pay for it will have great features that are worth the money.

Webspace - I think the different 'levels' are a good idea. 25/75/100 with ftp access (maybe), email, etc... Great idea. It's value added.. More space/features will cost a little more.

Hitrax discounts or coupons - Awesome idea if it can be done easily. After all, many professional musos are using this site, and if the membership could help pay for itself by getting you discounted midis, what the hell!

Special forum access (self sequenced, etc) for premium members, reduced pop-up adds, deleting and editing own posts... Great features, and there are a million additional possibilities here!

As for the difference in MOD powers and premium member features...
Premium members have some of the same powers as MODs do in forums they are NOT MODERATING. In a MODS assigned forums, they can delete/move/edit other members posts, and several other things that premium members wouldn't be able to do.
So the premium membership will not distract anything from the MODS. The MODS will still get more power simply because they are paying for it with their time and effort, and they need it to get the job done.

[theARTiSAN]

The price scheme you have seems good John.
It's not that anyone really needs email or webspace anymore these days... Me personally, I have about 50 some odd email addresses (free) and about 6 free websites (that I use to store backups of different personal files)... I also pay for webspace to get 2gb space and unlimited bandwidth. But, in addition to (possibly) discounted MIDIs and other gift certificates that I can use, more access to midi forums, discounts on buying files and maybe even the MIDIHUB, THAT would make it into something more valuable.
Maybe something like this:

PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP
1 year: $38
6 months: $20
Month: $4

Includes:
MIDIBuddy/Degster.com e-mail
10mb of web space and photo gallery
2,500 MB cash a month
Hitrax coupons/Gift certs (if workable)
MIDIRingTones coupons/Gift certs (if workable)
Premium member icon
Added board features: Move/delete own threads, Images in signatures, Custom avatars, Bypass file Approval in new file forum, access to special forums (self-sequenced, etc).

Then, on top of that, for a little bit more they might get extras like:
50/75/100mb webspace
FTP access (instead of web-based) for upload.
Email aliases, auto-responders and signatures.
Maybe more mailbox space and larger attachments (contingent on server email application...)
MIDIHUB 'VIP' Membership (the HUB has been a little scarce on traffic lately... We need more always-on connections)I think this is a great idea... If I weren't a staff member already, I would pay for premium membership with as much as I download from here every month.

**We could always hold a poll to see how much $ members would be willing to pay for something like this...

[tavenger5]

Cool ideas Art :thumbsup:

Maybe there could be coupons for the feature store too. I just thought of that cause I'm cool. :cool:

[eatmydave]

i think its a great idea, i would definately pay for this!

[theARTiSAN]

I would pay for this too (if I weren't on the staff) ;).
The question is, how much would you pay?

John - :thumbsup: It's a sweet idea!
and I like the feature store coupon idea too :D

[PENNY16161]

I'm not sure how successful this premium membership is going to be. Like everyone else has said, the e-mail and web space is kind of useless because everyone already has an e-mail address, and those who want webspace can easily get it for free elsewhere. I've been on here since the winter, and I still have yet to spend any MB $s. An italicized or highlighted name, or having a picture in my signature or under my name is not worth paying any money. Really doesn't benefit me in any way.

Gift certificates to HitTrax is interesting, but my guess would be that if someone wanted to get something there, it would be just one song that they really want in midi form. And how often does that happen? Twice a year at most, since they can often find the songs they're looking for for free with a little web search. And if they're just dying for a professional midi of those two songs, it would be cheaper to just buy it straight from HitTrax for the 5-10 bucks each that they charge than the pay the nearly 40 bucks for a year membership with who knows how much money in gift certs.

As for special forums, it seems to me that if someone self-sequences something, or creates their own mp3, or any other kind of self-made work, and they want to share it online, they'd want as many people to enjoy it as possible. Why limit that to the few that are willing to pay to get them? Personally, I felt that the self-sequenced forum was the best forum on here, but I certainly wouldn't pay to have access to it.

Finally, it seems to me that the people most interested in paying for these features are those that don't have to; that is, those that are already part of the staff. I don't know how many members there are on here, but it would seem to me that most of them are the casual midi browser, not ones who frequent the site multiple times a day, or even daily for that matter. But in that case, the casual midi browser is not going to be paying for access to something they will use minimally.

I hope that was readable. I'm pretty tired, so it might not make sense. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, etc.

[KingXII]

Well i think the idea behind the self sequenced is for the premium members to be allowed to post rather than normal users, that's one of the reasons why the forum was closed in the first place because people used copyrighted files and said it was their own.

[voice of god]

You know what, I dont think I like the idea of the Self-Sequenced being available only to paying members.

Some of my own work is in there(along with all the other members) which I gave for free and now you want to take it and keep it and and use it as a selling point?

Isnt that just as bad as claiming a copyrighted midi as your own?

[M.O.T.E.]

Originally posted by KingXII
Well i think the idea behind the self sequenced is for the premium members to be allowed to post rather than normal users, that's one of the reasons why the forum was closed in the first place because people used copyrighted files and said it was their own. That a good point , But you know that MP3 dot com has the same problem. and uses will pay up to $25.00 a month. Only thye have a the paper work for to fill out if your going to use other poeple work. and then again you pay. This hole issue of copyright is so gary at times. I think aas long as you don't sell the song, or perfrom it for money, thats ok. but posting a self sequenced MIDI is one of those gray places no-one likes to tread. I would be will to pay, but for a lot more space.
You mite also want to point out that the user gets space on the board too. This is one of the best MIDI sites on the net, and i come here to share my MIDI's, more than anything else. Good luck with your endevors.
M.O.T.E.

[M.O.T.E.]

"I'm not sure how successful this premium membership is going to be. Like everyone else has said, the e-mail and web space is kind of useless because everyone already has an e-mail address, and those who want webspace can easily get it for free elsewhere"
The Advanage is that this web site has over 200 uses a day at differant times, thats a lot of hits. I would use all my other sites just for the space, but focus my efforts here. So I think your statement void of experance. And runing any web site is very time consuming. Making this a home base would be better.

[tavenger5]

Originally posted by PENNY16161
I'm not sure how successful this premium membership is going to be. Like everyone else has said, the e-mail and web space is kind of useless because everyone already has an e-mail address, and those who want webspace can easily get it for free elsewhere. I've been on here since the winter, and I still have yet to spend any MB $s. An italicized or highlighted name, or having a picture in my signature or under my name is not worth paying any money. Really doesn't benefit me in any way.

Yeh, I guess some of that depends on 'status' and what you want out of the site. It's constantly growing and has doubles in size every month!


Gift certificates to HitTrax is interesting, but my guess would be that if someone wanted to get something there, it would be just one song that they really want in midi form. And how often does that happen? Twice a year at most, since they can often find the songs they're looking for for free with a little web search. And if they're just dying for a professional midi of those two songs, it would be cheaper to just buy it straight from HitTrax for the 5-10 bucks each that they charge than the pay the nearly 40 bucks for a year membership with who knows how much money in gift certs.

You'd be amazed how many people buy files on a professional level. I have one guy that buys them in bulk. This month he got about 50 in one shot! (when you buy more you get more free and each one is less) If this gift cirt were possible it would benefit people that buy a lot of files.


As for special forums, it seems to me that if someone self-sequences something, or creates their own mp3, or any other kind of self-made work, and they want to share it online, they'd want as many people to enjoy it as possible. Why limit that to the few that are willing to pay to get them? Personally, I felt that the self-sequenced forum was the best forum on here, but I certainly wouldn't pay to have access to it.

Copyright issues. I don't know what will become of that forum. It's still there, just not active. It was suggested by someone that prem. members should be able to use it.


Finally, it seems to me that the people most interested in paying for these features are those that don't have to; that is, those that are already part of the staff. I don't know how many members there are on here, but it would seem to me that most of them are the casual midi browser, not ones who frequent the site multiple times a day, or even daily for that matter. But in that case, the casual midi browser is not going to be paying for access to something they will use minimally.

I hope that was readable. I'm pretty tired, so it might not make sense. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, etc.
It varies widely in what people want out of the site. There's alsmot 20,000 registered. I just did a check and there's been over 3,000 active members this month. Those numbers continue to grow. Yeh, most of them are the casual midi browser, but the prem membership will be an option for those users that don't want to be part of staff but still want to 'give back' in a way. I don't expect 100's of people to flock towards this membership. If there is.. well, maybe I can actually pay my staff! hehe.. ;)

Thanks for your input. Yeh, it's understandable, and I'm pretty tired myself.

[tavenger5]

Originally posted by voice of god
You know what, I dont think I like the idea of the Self-Sequenced being available only to paying members.

Some of my own work is in there(along with all the other members) which I gave for free and now you want to take it and keep it and and use it as a selling point?

Isnt that just as bad as claiming a copyrighted midi as your own?

Yeh, I know what you mean. This is still up in the air.

Like King said. The idea of only prem members and staff being able to post in this forum may be good. This way it wouldn't be too cluttered and only really good self sequenced files would be in the forums. It would also be easier to maintain.

There will be seperate forums that are for prem members only though. Just like there are staff only forums.

[TankGirl]

I thinkg mote has a good point. its better ot poat here.

[jeaniesing]

Originally posted by tavenger5
The idea of only prem members and staff being able to post in this forum may be good. And staff could post on behalf of others?

[M.O.T.E.]

How about some better fonts

[Terry]

I would be very interested in this program. The main reason I haven't been around as much the past two months is because I no longer saw much usefullness in this board. I never came for the chat or games, altho I have enjoyed some chit chat. I always came for the music--and it became almost impossible for me to find anything newer than 6 months or more old. Then, you even did away with the self sequenced section and there was almost nothing left to interest me. I started buying professional midis. (Which I am too afraid to post and share lest a copyright cop jump out of my computer and slap the cuffs on!) If this program came with the gift certificates to hittrax, a self-sequenced forum and a way to get custom sequences made by some of our expert sequencers for either MB$ or real $ at a reasonable price (I've been trying to get some made here for months) I would be very interested. I agree that I already have e-mail and web space etc. My sole reason for being here is to share music. When that went down so did the value of spending precious time on this site. Anything that would improve access to more music I will pay for. Thanks for trying to find a way to make that happen. Terry

[mushroomking]

doesn't sound feasible or popular....

[theARTiSAN]

Originally posted by mushroomking
doesn't sound feasible or popular....
It's feasible.
Popular? That remains to be seen.

[CaRoTiD]

I guess going to a pay site, or parts of, are a natural progression when you have created something that is as big as midibuddy.net.

Personally I wouldnt be interested and as such would have a more limited access and would probably dissapear as an active person on the boards.

There are "+" and "-" for both sides. I found this site out of fun and partake for the same reason.

I am not interested in hosting space etc.

Whatever is decided though I hope will be for the progreesion of midibuddy.net and not a commercial project to allow capital gain for individuals as this site does rely on its members.

Just my quick thoughts early in the morning.

[Dayshaf878]

I 'm not sure about the premium stuff I will just stick to the normal till im on here more

[tavenger5]

This is what's in the making for the Premium membership at the moment: http://board.midibuddy.net/t64802.html