Cherrypeel is the democratic music revolution, apparently. And by democratic, they don’t mean that it brings access to the excluded and disaffected; that it levels the playing field so that the powerful elite are not unfairly advantaged, or that it gives power back to the masses – but rather, it’s democratic because it has voting in it.
Visitors to the site can vote on songs. Most popular songs get recommended to other listeners. You can upload your songs to it and people can vote on them too. Add songs to your playlist, and stream them from the site.
Less a democracy and more a beauty pageant? A great way to help the best of the best rise to the top? Powerful means to promote your music? Interesting opportunity to discover more music you’ll like? What is this place?
I’m not a fan of voting unless it is random – the listener hears a randomly selected song and decides if (s)he likes it or not – unaware of details such as the band name.
This is just another platform for established bands to gain even more clout. They just tell their fans to go vote for them. See also: almost any band competition (opening for a national act, etc.) These kind of sites aren’t interested in presenting the best music – just the most popular – which can be completely different things.
I agree. I shy away from any sites that involve voting. People who spend lots of time voting on MP3’s on websites are either motivated by a band they’re crazy about OR have too much time on their hands. The fans that I respect are too busy having a life to spend time doing things like this — and I almost never ask my fans to vote on anything. It’s presumptuous.