Simple enough, and I can't claim the credit as it's an idea ported over from Music Banter, where it went through a golden age and then fell into disrepair, somewhat like the forum itself.
The basic idea is that we pick a theme and people submit songs based on that theme. They can interpet that theme as widely or narrowly as they wish, e.g. a theme on, say, gardens, could have songs about actual gardens, the Garden State or any band or artist with garden in the name, and so forth. We don't insist you stick rigidly to the idea the theme was originally built around. Songs are submitted to me via PM as YouTube links, ideally with some cover information (what album the song is from, what year, what genre it is etc) and I do the rest. Once the mixtape is live, you have a week to listen to it and can then write your impressions, comments, review, whatever you like, over the next week. So in effect we try to have a new one every two weeks. Doesn't always work but mostly it does.
Themes are selected by a different member based on a rotating alphabetical list, i.e. someone whose name begins with A goes first, then B. C usually follows, etc. We try, in so far as possible, to feature songs that people won't know, so no well-known pop songs or classics, if possible. That's not to say you can't submit songs like that, but really, what can you write about Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" or Gaga's "Poker Face" that hasn't already been written, ya know?
The idea is to try to expose everyone to something they have not heard before, be that a genre, an artist or just a song. Generally speaking, people tend to rate their choices but it's not by any means mandatory. If you decide to, we ask you not to rate your own submission, for obvious reasons. Anyone who is not part of the club, so to speak, is also free to listen and post their impressions, but we do prefer, if possible, to have "the usual suspects" for each mixtape. Some have missed one or two for different reasons, and that's fine, but they usually come back.
So that's it. You can check out previous mixtapes by looking through the threads here - they're all prefaced by "SCD Mixtape" - if you want to see how it works. The more the merrier, although in my experience that phrase is inaccurate, as usually the more there are the more drunk everyone gets, and while initially that might qualify as merry, it just takes one person to draw a knife or a gun, and suddenly everyone has their pencil and pad out and... well, you know how it goes.
So if you want to take part, just post in the current thread (mixtape 14) and we can include ya, or send me a PM. And don't worry if you're a little shy and haven't done this before: I can assure you we will embarrass and slag you off just as if you had been here for months!
