Web 2.0 Review: OurStage
Friday, April 6th, 2007
Eliot Van Buskirk of Wired’s soon to be cancelled Listening Post, wrote yesterday about a new Web 2.0 site called OurStage where bands and artists can upload songs and compete against each other for prizes and recognition.
The site is leaving closed beta on Monday, but I was lucky enough to gain an invitation to the site, so I uploaded one of my songs, “Good Actors,” to the site last night. As of right now, it has moved from 101st place to 99th in the Acoustic channel.
The site has obvious parallels to Garageband in the way you listen and vote for music, but the user interface is far superior. First of all it looks good, unlike Garageband, which should help to make the content, however good it may be, at least look more professional.
And, as Eliot points out, the voting system is set up as kind of a ‘hot or not’ for media, where you vote for one of two songs or two videos (user created video content is also a part of the site) on a scale in relationship to each other. This is both more fair and more fun than the usual 1-5 scale.
The only problem with the site is that, unlike Garageband where users have an incentive to listen and judge songs so they can have their own music judged, there really isn’t any incentive for people to vote. And by the time content reaches the finals people have to pay to vote (.50/text message).
It’s possible that the slick user interface and improved voting system will make up for the lack of an incentive to vote, but obviously it remains to be seen.
Overall, it’s definitely a step in the right direction, though. It’s easy to use, fun to use, and professional looking. The question becomes, will anybody care?