Help these forums?

[Joachim P. Dyndale]

If they really need funds for keeping these forums alive: Would you be willing to pay $1 per month to have access to these forums? I just saw a pretty decent looking service that operates through PayPal. The total cost for mp.com would be 9,4% of what they recieve. I don't know how many people that are members of these forums, but if there are about 2000 members they'd make over $1800 per month. Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE fan of free services, but I'd much rather pay $1 a month than see a fantastic service such as these forums be shut down because it's too expensive... I hope you people at mp.com can keep this site free.

[Wewus432]

Hey Joachim: I just bumped a thread called Something You Can Do For MusciPlayer.com. Check it out and buy a calendar.

[Anderton]

We are trying our very best to keep these things free, so the idea of merchandising is appealing. We certainly hope to progress beyond calendars to exclusive content and other things...instituting a subscription fee would be a last resort, because people have made it clear they don't want to pay for forum access. Hey! Buy a calendar! Even if if doesn't have pictures of Valky in her MusicPlayer.com baby doll.

[Brakka]

[quote]Originally posted by Joachim P. Dyndale: [b]If they really need funds for keeping these forums alive: Would you be willing to pay $1 per month to have access to these forums? [/b][/quote]Shh. No pay. Don't worry, the forums are going nowhere. By that I mean that they'll stay right here, not that they have no direction. Because they do. Have direction.

[D_dup3]

One wonders how much (if anything) some of the bells & whistles add to the operational costs. Is it worthwhile, for instance, to spend for the flashy graphics of avatars, etc., which are really irrelevant (& sometimes just pull in posts that are, frankly, a waste of time & bandwidth) ? I'd rather have the ability to post a plain message w/links to any worthwhile image than not have the arena to post at all.

[Joachim P. Dyndale]

Yes, I've seen that thread. This was just something that hit me when I saw this other service, you know, as a last resort in case the merchandising didn't raise enough money. I'm deffinately no fan of the idea that you have to pay a subscription fee to get access to a public forum... But as I said, as a last resort. And seriously, [b]$1[/b] a month?! Even a really poor student like me can afford that. And I'm sure it would raise more than enough money. But hey, once again, LAST RESORT. Meanwhile, let's hope this merchandising thing works out. Looks great! :thu:

[miroslav]

[quote]Originally posted by Anderton: ...instituting a subscription fee would be a last resort, because people have made it clear they don't want to pay for forum access.[/quote]:thu:

[AudioMaverick]

How about using a few pennies from the sale of each CMP magazine to help subsidize this grand place? I’d venture that the majority of us buy at least six copies of a CMP mag. Over a year. Just one of many possible sources of revenue…

[Valkyrie Sound]

The magazines need every penny to keep themselves going these days.... I don't know that we can ask them to give any more. The Musicplayer store should be very cool... I still want my Musicplayer.com bikini! :D We've been through this discussion before... making people pay would destory the forums and greatly reduce our rate of growth. I would suggest that Musicplayer add some sort of banner with a "support the forums theme" that would make people more aware of the store. The store's first page should also have a description of how the funds from the store will help support the forums and serve to "remind" folks WHY they should support Musicplayer. These funds really need to be dedicated to the forums... I'll pose for the calendar despite my other contracts Craig mentioned with Playboy ... :D Valky

[Rim]

[quote]Originally posted by Valkyrie Sound: [b]I'll pose for the calendar despite my other contracts Craig mentioned with Playboy ... :D Valky[/b][/quote]:eek: Can I exchange my Bass Heroes calendar to the Valky version? :D I agree with you, Valky. I don't have a problem with paying $1/mo. but I think the forums become more exclusive and probably not as good. Although it would decrease trolls coming here, I'm afraid we'd lose a lot of our current members and those who just pop in once in a while.

[Joachim P. Dyndale]

I agree. It was just an idea(bad one)... Hey, Valky, none of the links in the menu on your site works.

[Valkyrie Sound]

[quote]Originally posted by Joachim P. Dyndale: [b]I agree. It was just an idea(bad one)... Hey, Valky, none of the links in the menu on your site works.[/b][/quote]Huh? I just checked my site again.... seems to be working..... Try again? :eek: Lemme know... Valky

[KHAN]

[quote]Originally posted by riffing: [b][QUOTE]Can I exchange my Bass Heroes calendar to the Valky version? :D .[/b][/quote]Nope! Geddy Lee for you :freak:

[Joachim P. Dyndale]

Valky: Yep. Works now. Nice! :)

[Rim]

[quote]Originally posted by Joachim P. Dyndale: [b]I agree. It was just an idea(bad one)... [/b][/quote]Don't sweat it, Joachim, it wasn't a bad idea. I was just pointing out why it's not the best option and why many feel it is best saved as the last option.

[Super 8]

[quote]Originally posted by Valkyrie Sound: [b]I still want my Musicplayer.com bikini! :D [/b][/quote]And WE want you to have one too!!! [quote]Originally posted by Valkyrie Sound: [b]I'll pose for the calendar despite my other contracts Craig mentioned with Playboy ... :D [/b][/quote]I assume you have cleared this with Hue, and he doesn't mind... I like Playboy, though. A lotta good articles in Playboy!

[phaeton]

And while we have stores, let's have T-shirts. In fact, let's have T-shirts where people could submit quotes, slogans, art, or a `shout out' to MusicPlayer.com (and affiliates). Submissions could be posted in a conspicuous place weekly/monthly/quarterly. Forum denizens (including administrators) could anonymously vote on designs. The winning design or designs of the [month | quarter | whatever] would get printed on a short run of t-shirts. The designer's name/nick/whatever gets credited to the shirt, and/or the designer gets a free t-shirt. All else pay $x+S&H. Stuff that's creative, nifty, and/or humourous, that everyone can participate in. This means we've got to be TASTEFUL too. Aside from it being advertisement, i myself (and i'm sure some folks here too) could get into this sort of thing. If you take a look at some of the Thinkgeek.com t-shirts you'll get an idea what i'm talking about. Especially simple text-based stuff on shirts done by a super low-budget t-shirt printer is fairly economical. You know thinkgeek has to be making a killing off of these. Just a thought.

[Gato]

I buy Guitar Player every month since 1993, that's enough for me.

[-_dup1]

:)