Out of all of our boards/sections on this forum, I feel the one place besides The Studio that made this place unique is the encouragement for people to post their works-in-progress and receive valuable peer critical feedback from other musicians and producers. That place, as we all know, is The Listening Booth.
There was a time that the IDMforums could boast that the LB subforum was not only a safe space and genre-diverse hub, but it also drove some of the highest traffic for such a topic on the entire internet. It was at the top of every Google search for “electronic music producer.” Of course, with all the changes of hands, upgrades, fall-outs, and the internet shifting the way it has, it’s no longer a chart-topper.
First of all, at nearly 20 years of being a (mostly) active member in this community, I can say that I couldn’t give two shits about driving traffic and Google searches. What I have been considering, however, is that there must be a way to encourage more engagement between us that is not only fun but also educational and stimulating for our musical and composition prowess.
Anyone who was around for IDMf 1.0 remembers the infamous MC status (aka Mad C*nt). Yes, it was based on one of the oldest inside jokes, born from an inside joke started by OG Aussie IDMf members long since moved on (Ravejet & Jaded—if you’re reading this, hope y’all are doing well).
The MC status was silly, and in a way, it resembles the “heart” or emoji button we already have installed, but what if we implemented a rewards system in the LB alone that gave credit to people based on their activity and the quality of their critique, contained within the LB?
I’ve been pondering this a lot, actually—maybe for the last couple of years. Those of us that are still here, I want to pose this just as an idea and see how you feel about it. If we created some sort of rewards/ranking system, lighthearted in nature and not taken too seriously—and figured out actual “rewards” (forum unlocks, moderation powers, profile mods/personalization options, or the option to have one or a few tracks mastered for free… stuff like that)—would that encourage you to spend a bit of time being more active and contributing to the health of that board?
Just curious. It would take some work on my end to implement, launch, and set guidelines, but before I do that, I wanted to get some feedback from the users that still hang out here.
The goal is to know that when you post a WIP in the LB, you’re going to get maybe 3-5 (hopefully more) really quality reviews on your track, whether for composition, structure, or mixing/production quality. And it will reduce one-word responses like “nice,” “sweet,” or “cool track” and drive people to say a bit more about what they’re listening to. If you don’t care or you’re uninterested, that’s fine too—I just wanted to get some critical feedback on how we can encourage more critical feedback. 
Let me know! Also I want to buy that Howard DJs Like A Mad Cunt mug lmao
