What is the purpose of this site?

Who can submit reviews?

How do I get 'author' status? 

What can I review? 

There is already a review of my CD, can I add another?  

Can I pre-book a review? 

How do I write a review?

What should a review look like? 

Do I need to know everything ever? 

Do I need to own the CD? 

What are these radio shows?

Where can I tune into these shows live?

What is UKNova Radio?

How can I join UKNova?

What is the purpose of this site?

 It is intended to become a community of like-minded people who want to know what is going on about the music around them. As a community, it will require registration to use fully, but this will provide them with access to reviews, comments and information about releases old and new. People will be invited to become contributors, and so will help to provide the reviews, comments etc.

The hope is that over the next few months, the site will organically grow into into a relaible source of information with a combination of readers and writers all hoping to inform. I guess that the model I have in mind is something somewhere between the all-music guide and wikipeadia. Minimum standards of reviews and comments will be expected. The lay-out of the site will seek to be as straightforward and user-friendly as possible, and it should be fully searchable.

Who can submit reviews?

Theoretically, anyone. New members are not automatically given permission to write reviews, but if you ask, you can have that status. There are some minimum expectations for reviews and these ought to be met,  and so if you ask for permission, please check whether you can meet them. But if you can, please do!!!!! Even if you don't want to write reviews, you can always write on the forums. 

How do I get 'author' status?

Ask. Simple as that. We will ask that you have read these FAQ clearly (especially the 'What should a review look like?' entry), but aside from that we will happy to encourage you to contribute. Either Rothmans or Iyatoni will be able to help. If you are fully registered, you can contact us through the PMs, or the user-list (under staff). 

What can I review? 

 You can review anything you want, so long as it has not already been reviewed. So long as you are following the guidelines, and marking your reviews accurately as a new release or an archival release, you can review any CD you like - be it a single, compilation, best-of, whatever...

There is already a review of my CD, can I add another?

At the moment, no. This is something that we will keep an eye on.  Presently, we are concerned with ensuring that we quickly build up a wide selection of reviews. We also want to try to avoid message-board style debates ('this is great', 'it sucks', 'you suck', 'you blow' etc.). If you disagree with a review add a forum entry.

This will be watched. We have a variety of options open to us, which include multiple reviews, two tiers of reviews and so on, and we might change or adapt our stance as the site progresses. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know. 

Can I pre-book a review?

At the minute, this is hardly necessary, but if the site gets busy it could become an issue. What we will institute is an author-only forum, where people can book to review upcoming releases. Please be aware, however, that if you do so, we will expect you to come good with the review.

How do I write a review?

You can only write a review if you have been given 'author' status. If you have this status, you will find 'Submit New Review' - click this. In the next dialogue boxes, select 'CD Reviews', followed by 'Albums'.

There are then a series of boxes - Most of which are pretty obvious.

Item Title: Artist followed by Title

Artist: ummm... Artist

Title: Title

Year of Release: The year that your CD was first released. If the CD is a reissue, use the date it was originally released.

Label: The label that your CD is on

Catalogue Number: The catalogue number of the CD you are reviewing, this is often found on the spine. If you do not own the CD, Amazon or AMG can help.

New or Archive: New release counts as within the last six months. If the CD is older than that, then choose 'archive'

Item Summary: A fact based one sentence summary of what it is you are reviewing. For instance, 'This is the third full-album release from Patrick Gubler (aka P.G. Six)'

Item Description: Include the tracklisting in this box. You can cut and paste this from here

Images: You can upload a picture of the sleeve only (you can include the back sleeve also, if you wish, but this is optional). A quick google search will usually do the trick. Be careful to be sensible with the size of the image.

Meta Description/Meta-Keywords: These are optional, but these give information that will be used by search engines.

Review Title: Annoying, but a repeat of 'Item Title' above

Rating: Give a rating between 0-10 (10 being uncommonly excellent)

Comments: Finally this is where you put your review. Please see guidelines for reviews. Please also include this text at the bottom mos_sb_discuss:2 surrounded by { } - this automatically places a link from the review to the forums.

Finally, after all that... click 'submit', and you are done. 

What should a review look like?

Pretty much, however you want it to. There is not an official house-style of reviews, and since we want to encourage you to write about the music that you love, we want you to feel as free as possible in how you express yourself.

However, there are some expectations that we have about the reviews that you write.  While these are not intended to be hard and fast rules, we do expect you to be aware of them.

1. Check for spelling and grammar. While the odd typo is forgivable, please try to be sure that your review is legible. If you are not certain, try popping the word or sentence into word and spell check it.
2. Be informative. Avoid straight value judgements ('I think this is the greatest record ever!') If you like it, try to explain why. Say how it makes you feel, or why you think this CD offers something new, or how the lyrics are insightful, or whatever. Always have in mind that your reader might be thinking of buying this CD - what can you say that will inform the reader and tip them over edge (or to protect them from the edge, if you want to dissuade them.)
3. Be objective. Similarly, to the last point. Even if you think that the CD you are reviewing is fantastic or horrendous, try to look at it impartially. Are there any flaws in your spectacular CD, or redeeming features in your sickeningly bad CD.
4. Be honest. Don't try to be over-cool. Very few contributors here are professional music-types, and no-one is expecting you to be as knowledgeable as a veteran. There is nothing wrong with admitting that this is your first Neil Young CD and it has just blown you away. Also, just because the whole world and his dog are singing the praises of a particualar CD, it does not mean that you are the same. You will not be judged less cool for disliking a CD everyone else likes, or liking one that is deemed terminally uncool.
5. Neither too brief nor too long. As to a recommended word length; well, we don't want to be so prescriptive - but if you remember that on the one hand, you want to write enough to be helpful; and on the other, not so much that people can't be arsed finishing it. I would hazard a guess that less than 100 words will be too brief, and 500 too long. But you can be your own judge.
6. Avoid excessive swearing. The odd word here and there is fine, but keep a measure on it.
7. Don't mix up the music with the fans. Try not to insult the fans or potential fans of a band just because you don't like the CD. Similarly, don't condemn a CD just because you met some kid that liked it,who was an utter knob.
8. NO RACISM, HOMOPHOBIA or INTOLERANCE. Of any kind. Everyone is welcome here, and their views. Everyone here is here because of a common love of music - let's focus on what draws us together. This is the only expectation that will be moderated very heavily.

Do I need to know everything ever?

No. Obviously, the more you know, the more you can fit the CD you are reviewing into a context. This can be very useful, and will give your review a depth. However, there is something to be said for youthful exhuberance. Sometimes it is better to have that naive excitement over a world-weary, heard-it-all-before attitude. Just keep in mind guideline no. 3... be objective. Even if you are not the most knowledgable person in the world about music, remember that the CD you are listening to will have a context.

Do I need to own the CD?

No. We encourage you to buy your music - especially if it is on an independent label. We want, as much as possible, to support people in the music industry. In addition, there are many benefits that can come from owning the CD - sleeve notes etc. However, we are not going to visit your home to check, nor ask you to scan in the receipt for us.  

What are these radio shows?

The radio shows are broadcast on the internet-only radio station, UK Nova. The show that is featured on this site are rothman's own show, broadcast 9-12pm (GMT) on Saturdays. It is an eclectic show, intended to be as diverse as possible as well as a space for artists that are somewhat under the radar of the mainstream. Most weeks, the first hour is fairly poppy and accessible , while the second and third hours are increasingly less so.

From time to time there will be 'specials', which will focus on some specific area. In recent months, there have specials that have focused on the On-U Sound label, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, folk, electronica.

What is UKNova Radio?

It is a small internet-only radio station attached to the private torrent site UK Nova. It hosts a wide variety of shows that cover most tastes in music and chat. It runs towards 24 hours a day, but it is rarely offline during the evenings.

Where can I tune into these shows live?

We hope to include on the site a player that will enable readers to tune in directly. In the meantime, if you insert http://uknr.dyndns.org:8000 into winamp, itunes, windows media player etc. ('open stream', or 'open url') you will tune into the station.

How can I join UKNova?

Persistence. It is a private tracker, but it does not offer invitations, but rather has an open sign-up period at various times during the week. The address is www.uknova.com . Please note that this site is not directly affiliated with UK Nova at all.