Please pick a name to use. We need to open up the forum to a wide range of users, including all genres of dance music, hence the fairly general name.

Your opinions are welcome.

Stuart

EDM Alliance - edmalliance.co.uk

I even have a slogon for edmalliance.co.uk

EDMA - The key ingredient to your dance pill.

Or something like that, heh. Based our

EDM Alliance for me aswell

EDM is the only both legible and possible to pronounce.

i went for electronic alliance as i think it should be a .com address

I agree with electronicalliance.com. Maybe labeling it as a ".com" may open to more users, rather than the "uk" one.

Voted for EDMAlliance. Its the easiest to type/spell and has a better ring to it than electronicalliance. Plus, it also makes it clear that the site is music related, rather than the general term of 'electronic'. Although I do kind of agree with what Matt has said that it should probably be a .com address. Not that it matters that much I suppose.

As far as the renaming in general goes, I realise the situation means needs must but it will indeed be sad to lose the 'trance' part of our moniker.

edit:
@Fly: Loving that slogan btw. A clever one for sure.

edm alliance, ok its relevant but it also sounds boring ^^

why not something like, 'we love techno' .com or something, doesn't necessarily have to be techno either

and as for a slogan.....how about:
all you need is music (and money too)

edit: i just feel like long and elaborate names aren't catchy ^^

I like EDM Alliance best as well, although it does worry me slightly about how we might be taken over by the prog-house mafia, and all the other EDM-movements who enjoy to sneer at trance so much. One of the main reasons I like this site is that it's dedicated to trance specifically

EDM Alliance sounds better than the rest.

That's good! What a pity I have no place left in my signature.

But the truth is, not all the people in the world listen to trance. So far

Well, if I had to choose it would be EDM Alliance.

But dunno if the change of the title will help. And if it really attracts more new people, what can we offer to them (there's almost nothing to interest the other genres fans here now)? And do we really want people from all the EDM scene? There might be more people here but devided into several groups IMO. I think there're still loads of trance fans all around, we should make more affort to attract them than play with site name. Even the change trom UKTA to TA wasn't really followed-through...

Just a thought, sorry if I was too pesimistic.

EDIT: The idea with the slogan is good. We should really have some.

ElectronicAlliance.com

hope the guys from EA games are not gonna fine us


what about something like dancealliance or so ?



BTW, is it only the name change or are you gonna change more ?
like design, supposed content etc ?

maybe it's great to brainstorm about the current organisation of the forum, and beside of that a more active frontpage to generate more visitors. I think the forum is too far away from the mainpage so it's hard to seduce the visitors to come to our mainpage

EDM Alliance

but a shame to see the trance removed for the name imo

The main page is really only there to give us a better google listing, so I won;t be playing with any content at the moment. Just the name for starters.

I personally think when people search on google they see it says UK and Trance so they don't bother even clicking through.

I think we offer a good platform for discussion, but as trance has declined so has the site, that to me is an obvious link, and we need to open up the site.

However I don't want to lose existing members, but most now say they don't have trance as their favourite genre now anyways.

Also I think if we don;t do something soon in 12 months the website will not being making enough to pay for itself, which would probably see it drop offline.

Fly, To generate more viewers / members I think you would have to do more than just change the name ! You have to try and understand the reasons as to why these people left in the first place. Understand what it is that attracted them to other sites. Have you checked out the competition ? What do other sites offer that UKTA does not ? Are there any particular features about thier websites that you and possibly everyone else thinks are better.

To be honest, I dont think just a simple name will attract anybody else AT ALL. When I first joined UKTA, it wasnt because I thought the name was catchy, i didnt think the name pointed me into any particular direction... what I did was click into the forums, read a few comments, story`s etc and get an idea of two things : 1) Is the site informative and worth joining 2) Do the members seem good fun, nice etc etc

So... to conclude WHAT is wrong with UKTA ? You put all that effort into this website for years, you have its name mentioned in publications, interviews etc... People recognise its name and Logo...SO WHY change ?

Just a few things to think about... sorry .. this is just a spanner throw in your works For the record, I dont mind either way, I will still be a member... but EDM Alliance is OK... but agree if your going to change then change to .com !

Over & Out

Skint has a good point also. Brainstorming is good. I originally joined because a friend of mine had found UKTA and convinced me to join. The discussions here were much more interesting and people seemed much more friendly here than another place I had been on for some time. I still feel that way about UKTA Maybe our members still have Trance as their main preference in music, but venture out at times to other genres. Maybe theres a way we can put effort into incorporating this idea into the forum without losing the name? IDK, just a thought since a good point was made about UKTA having a long reputation

But we can highlight important things there...

ofcourse we have our newsletter but that gets a read but not a re-visit.
highlighting things on the forum is way more difficult because many people just visit a few sub-forums..... if we can make the main page attractive we can also promote different things

I still find the genre better than ever these days, it's just its' popularity in the UK that's gone down the toilet really. But I feel it in my water that that might be about to change next year

As for the forums being quiet, I've always been of the philosophy that I'd rather read less on a forum that actually is worth reading, rather than having a busy forum that's full of 90% s**te. I don't think opening up the doors to groups of people to come here and discuss other genres will do the site much good - most of the forums I've been on that are open to multi-genre groups are generally full of back biting and bitchiness.

I love this forum because to me it's the binary opposition of the depressing state that TA became once it got invaded by idiots who all hate trance and sneer at anyone who isn't into anything that doesn't start with the word "progressive" or "minimal"

I'm all for live and let live and respect anyone's right to like whatever the hell they want. Unfortunately experience on music forums has shown me that I'm very much in the minority, and hence I've always figured genre-exclusive forums are the way to go.

Just because UKTA isn't as busy as it has been before doesn't mean it's bad

Very true, however the site has to be able to pay for itself, we used to receive 1500 unique visitors a day, we are curently at around 450. We need to look at how we improve that. Unfortunately trance is not popular enough to sustain a busy forum.

I am happy to see people are proud of this site, what it stands for and the name of the site and its reputation but that stands for nothing if the site stops existing.

At the moment we have enough people visiting to people able to modify the site to start to progress upwards again. I am just worried if I leave it anymore it will slump ever further.

I just feel for the future of the website we need to make it feel more accessible for users from outside the UK and for non trance lovers.

Hey, well the name could stay, but a plastic surgery style facelift never hurt anyone did it

See if any of the main members are able to help and input with design ideas. Start from there and see how it progresses. Trial and Error is the best way, add a few extra " different music genres " and whack a few more words intp the front page for google search hits etc, if after 3 months the visitor list / member size hasnt increased... try summat else

I agree with Skint here....changing the name is going to be the most radical thing possible to try and bring in new people. Perhaps a gentle facelift and changes on the site for a few months first to see if anything happens then i guess if its still dead then think about the name change.

But what sort of things can be added to incorporate other styles into the forum. Obviously there is downloads but that may just attract more leachers?

Some thoughts -

I guess the most of the new people come here because they found a link to DL some set. We should start here I think. It's the biggest chance here to attract some new users. But we need them to communicate on the forum not only leeching. Limited access to the members downloads works good here IMO. Exclusive UKTA DLs after posting 100 posts is good, it may attract some poeple. But how about to have "1 post and become a member" for the other sections in Exclusive UKTA DLs. And suggest people to write this very 1 post to Introduce Yourself section (give a direct link there). Than we need to welcome them here in some nice way (what I think is happening), recommend them the topic(s) that could be interesting for them (depends on what they write about themselves). I bet many of those who'll go through this "welcoming proces" will stay on the forum.

Some of the new members are DJ or/and producers who are looking for some audience or need some comments to their work. It'd be nice to have the "Unsigned DJ Productions + Mixes" section more active. You never know, ther might appear some talent there and grow high. And that would be always good for this site to have some well known names in here.



What do you guys think?

50% off paid member access, mass email and message to facebook group

Good points, I think, both regarding the welcoming and the unsigned section

Ultimately, I think it's a two fold process, first of all attracting people to the site at all, and secondly (probably more difficult) getting them to hang around and participate.

Have you considered branching out into net radio? Given that the site name is already well-known you'd have a head start on many of the others, whether the stream took live broadcasts or just was non-live playing the UKTA exclusive sets combined with member's contributions - this in itself perhaps would encourage more people to come along to the site and participate.

Just a thought anyway - although in my experience, multi-genre EDM radio streams don't seem to do as well as specific genre ones....

Unfortunately we could not host a radio stream. It would be too costly using to much bandwidth.

No worries, just brainstorming really! Would hate to see the site die off!

All ideas welcome

I've just seen this DJ Sammy topic here. http://www.uktrancealliance.com/forums/ind...mp;#entry506187

This is exactly why I'm affraid renaming site won't help. You can rename the site, but you can't change members' thinking. Some newbie, Selina, post here something about (evidently) her favorit artist, who I think (correct me if I'm wrong) belongs to the wide EDM scene and look at the reactions... Well, everybody have right to write his/her opinion, but do you think if someone get such reactions on the very first post here will stay. It's kinda "we don't like him, don't write about him, bye bye". And this will be happening much more after renaming to EDMA or EA.


Edit: But the true is that is one of the most active topic lately. Not even 1 day old - 75 views, 12 replies, not bad.

I still think we need to look at a website like a product

here is a product life cycle:

1. Market Crystallization - latent demand for a product category is awakened with the introduction of the new product
2. Market Expansion - additional companies enter the market and more consumers become aware of the product category
3. Market Fragmentation - the industry is subdivided into numerous well populated competitive groupings as too many firms enter
4. Market Consolidation - firms start to leave the industry due to stiff competition, falling prices, and falling profits
5. Market Termination - consumers no longer demand the product and companies stop producing it


1. tranceaddict.com created
2. ukta enters the market
3. more and more trance websites pop up taking a share of the action
4. websites start to fold due to competition and cost
5. demand is so low the product dissapears - obviously trance wont completely disappear, but the demand for it is now very low

6. The product has then got to be changed to start boosting demand again, for example coca cola, then launching diet, zero, lemon twist, cherry, etc, etc.

Its fairly simple business, we can't treat our business as any different to any multi national. I think we have to redesign the product to keep pace.

"Extension Strategies

Examples of extension strategies are:

* Discounted price
* Increased advertising

Another strategy is added value.

Added Value

This is a widely used extension strategy. Large companies, in particular food producers, will slightly alter a product to make it seem new and attract new attention to the product. An example being a soft drink company producing a limited edition flavour of the product. This renews sales levels and gives the product continuing interest."

We have to do the added value bit

What if we work constructive together with a radiostation....
not hosting only some guestmixes and shows but work more together, like an alliance

we could make banners on eachothers sites, post tracklists (and discuss them ofcourse) in our forums etc etc

Yeah, I also had this idea. Would Pure.fm or Liquid.fm want to cooperate?


Nice.....paid. Hope it helps.

Maybe pure.fm?

I think they would like
I remember Liquid already had a little UKTA banner on their site but also the pure guys are on the ukta forum

imo it's important to analyse both very precisely if this is a nice option, and if they are willing because the more their styles are fitting our preferred styles and image.

For me they have both their pro's but it's important to analyse them very precise because the better match we have, the better success it has



Beside of this option i still think it's important to have some active main page. We have to come to the people or they will go to someone else. Be pro-active instead of reactive

Has to be EDM Alliance liking the slogan btw. Not so sure about the dj sammy post like :S

IMO you shouldn't change the name but just leave it this way
UKTranceAlliance is a known name now in the trancescene
Because I see DJ's mentioning the site like Armin van Buuren
Something you and we all worked hard for in the last 2,5 years and it is finally paying off.
I still think 'trance' will be the main part of this website
TranceAddict.com & Trance.nu also never changed their name.

Well how do we get the forum more busy then? So it so quiet now its hardly worth keeping it online. I am just worried that soon there won't be a site worth saving.

a tough question on wich I don't know an answer now
But I'm afraid that changing the name of the website won't help

Lets organise a MASSIVE UKTA meetup for early next year, all wearing UKTA t-shirts and wearing stupid hats and disguises... that should generate some attention

Perhaps if we can't get anything sorted with Pure.fm we should try and get DJ's to do us exclusive mixes perhaps go for 6 or 7 and put them in a package which can only be downloaded when you have a certain % average post count or perhaps a 10 post minumum......i know we may get tonnes of spam which can be moderated and in cases deleated but we also may get people who will stay at the same time..

I think there are enough members with links to DJ's around the scene to make this quite easily happen and i also think we would be able to get one of the 'big 4' to do us a mix

I don't mind sorting it out or hosting it perhaps the first package could be a xmas classic's

Any opinions?

I noticed Menno de Jong mentions us in one of his cd's
I think we are already known enough.... we have enough members. But if they don't come back because they don't like it enough (anymore) we need to change some other things rather than only the name of this site. That's much more important.

First I think that we need to look at what we did good in the beginning of this site what brought us all these members.

exactly....

maybe a good idea to take a look after this with some people (I could be one of them) to take care about this and create a hidden forum for that kind of things ?

Well I can mention some things I'm missing these days.

- There're no contests this year. Last remix contest form 2006, last DJ mix contest also 2006. We don't even have any anthem for 2007, do we?

- Almost nobody is replying in the broadcasted shows topics. If there're 2 or 3 members it's a success these days. Can't even found last week's UKTA Showcase topic. And the one before was a nice monologue by me... If we don't care even about the show, which should represent this site, how can we expect someone will take us seriously?

- UKTA Fantasy Premier League - it was a great success IMO, at least I was very surprised when I saw how many people signed in. And the last reply in this topic - September.

- I guess the UKTA FPL was so successful because of the mass mail sent (if I remember it well), the mass e-mail also helped the April voting of the UKTA track of the year (more than 2000 views, 38 replies). UKTA track of the year was a nice idea IMO, but also not lasted very long. When we're making "anything" of the year, it should last at least all the year...

- I think there are still plenty of members who remeber the UKTA and who would possibly come back if they see it's interesting for them. It's why I find the UKTA newslatter as a great idea, just don't make it die too, please. There could be also member's shows introduced there IMO. And we should make sure there'll be always someone active in the topics of the broadcasted shows which are presented in the newsletters.

- UKTA digital label, was also a nice idea, but I understand it was not successful enough to pay for itself. Unfortunately. But I can remember it was pretty live around here when we were preparing the UKTA CD.

I think it's indeed important to organise something again...


maybe we need to organise some djmix contest again, to start with

I think another DJ mix contest would be a good idea. We could *accidentally* advertise it on other sites/forums, that would bring DJs and these are the people who are more likely to talk about the tracks they love etc...

Also, how long does it take shirts ordered from the shop to be delivered? I'll wear one at Turnmills on the 7th if I can get it quick enough

I think I will start the ball rolling by changing over to the trancealliance.net domain name. See if that helps, with the removal of the uk bit opening us up to more users and should help improve our google ranking.

Google wait the domain name heavily. So if we called ourselves edmalliance we wouldn't get a high rating. We would need to have the base url as electronicdancemusicalliance.com and then use the edmalliance.com as a short domain that just mirrors the site. But that is further down the road now.

And crevickid, t-shirts can take up to 28 days unfortunately.

I'm one of the many who got busy this summer, so I'm partially to blame for the decline in activity.

But that's besides the point. I initially came to UKTA seeking quality sets to download, and to upload those that I believed were worth sharing. I simply wanted to share good music. Some come instead to engage in chat as their predominant activity, but I believe most potential users are attracted by the former.

Couple the aforementioned motivation with the fact that trance is on the decline and electro house appears to be on the ascent, then we've got a problem with a site dedicated to trance (that is, if you're seeking a broader audience).

My point? Changing the name might bring back users who left or were deterred for some reason, and it might bring in new users looking for other genres. But I think its the posting of quality sets in trance and house and techno that will bring in new users and keep them coming back. They may be here initially to leech, but in view of the etiquette of the forum and everything it has to offer, I believe they will be compelled to act as contributing members.

All this convoluted nonsense means that changing the name is a band-aid at best, not a fix. If the site doesn't have a comprehensive offering quality trance, electro, techno, etc, then people will go elsewhere.