The SingSnap Blog
Read the official SingSnap blog and stay up to date with everything that's going on around here.
November
18
Spotlighting Artists - Miley Cyrus
Posted by Katie at 12:32 PM.
Miley Cyrus is best known for starring as the title character in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana.
Following the success of Hannah Montana, in October 2006, a soundtrack CD was released in which she sang eight songs from the show. Cyrus' solo music career began with the release of her debut album, Meet Miley Cyrus on June 23, 2007, which included her first top ten single "See You Again". Her second album, Breakout, was released on July 22, 2008. Breakout is Cyrus' first album that does not involve the Hannah Montana franchise. Both albums debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200.
Much to the delight of our younger members, SingSnap has brought Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus to the site in the form of some wonderful tracks Record Them Here
November
18
Jukebox Jackpot!
Posted by shandakr at 8:00 AM.
The Featured Page is where you get a chance to sing songs chosen by a guest music director.
For this special feature, "Jukebox Jackpot!" we will be taking the FIRST 50 ARTIST SUGGESTIONS from SingSnap members!
We will post the link to the suggestion thread on the Feature Page so everyone may see who contributed to the "Jukebox Jackpot!" theme. We are asking for ONE artist per member.
Please, go HERE to post your artist suggestion! The "Jukebox Jackpot!" theme is set on the calendar for Friday, November 27, 2009.
Thank you in advance to everyone for your artist suggestions and HAPPY SINGING!
November
16
Online Status For All Members
Posted by Per at 5:15 AM.
After an intense lobbying effort I have been able to release the "online status display" feature to everyone. This was previously a Gold member only feature but is now available to Blue members as well.
The way it works is that your profile picture will have the word "online" in green text beneath it for as long as you are surfing around on SingSnap.
When online, your name will also pop up in other areas of the site such as the front page member listing for example.
This extra exposure will hopefully lead to some more visits to your profile, comments on your recordings and so on, not to mention that it's just useful for your friends to know when you're around.
However, if you want to make sure that your boss doesn't see that you are surfing SingSnap during work hours you can turn off this feature in your account area.
(Yes, your boss is also on SingSnap, I've checked.)
November
13
New Song Additions
Posted by milesofborg at 5:30 PM.
Friday is with us once again & a fresh batch of new & exciting songs have been added to SingSnap’s ever-expanding library.
Again this week, attention has been focussed on some of the more popular chart songs of recent times, including the number one smash from Cheryl Cole, as well as songs by Nickelback, Lady Gaga (a choice few!), Jason Mraz, Michael Buble, The Noisettes, Mini Viva, Dizzee Rascal, Jay-Z, Jay Sean, Livvi Franc, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, the Pussycat Dolls & Michael Jackson’s current tune.
Those who appreciate older songs aren’t forgotten though…also added are songs from such great names as the O-Jays, Edwin Starr, Jimmy Ruffin, Dean Martin, Pink, Kate Bush & Alan Jackson. Again a good blend of styles & songs from different eras.
November
12
Scroller Changes
Posted by Per at 5:08 AM.
Based on the feedback we received related to the recently announced new front page we decided to make a few subtle but important changes:
1) If you set "Show Online Status" to "No" in your account area your comments, forum replies etc will not show up on the front page scroller any more. Also, your status message updates will not show up on the community intro page.
2) If you set a recording to "Members Only" no comments left on it will be shown on the front page any more. This is because the front page is visible to everyone and not just logged in members.
Thanks for your feedback and let us know if you have any questions about these changes.
November
11
SingSnap Does Global Networking
Posted by REALLYMAD at 10:33 PM.
In our continuing effort to broaden horizons and introduce our wonderful SingSnap community to the rest of the world the PR Team has gone “off road” and insinuated itself into the major social networking websites throughout the internet.
Actually it didn’t do it all by itself; our very own shandakr has put a lot of effort into this, the result being that there are now SingSnap contact accounts on Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, Twitter, Wordpress and Yahoo, with the promise of more to come.
Of course in order for a social networking account to thrive it needs attention, and that’s where you the community come in. Why not pop over to one or more of the sites and leave a comment, message, praise, affection, support, large cash deposit etc. or indeed anything you wish to help us spread the word? The following links will take you right to them:
Facebook
Myspace
Bebo
Twitter
Wordpress
Yahoo
For any further information please contact shandakr directly because to be honest with you she knows a lot more about it than we do.
November
11
Forum Moderators Moderated - By Community Support
Posted by REALLYMAD at 6:13 PM.
Did you notice the change yet? As from today we no longer have a Forum Moderator Team!
Okay hold your horses there! Before you zoom off to let rip in the Message Boards thinking you can get away with mischief let me tell you the whole story. What has actually happened is that the Forum Moderator Team has had a name change and is now known as Community Support. This subtle yet important revision has been carried out in order to more accurately reflect the wide range of services the team provides, such as:
- Monitoring, regulating and making safe the Message Board Forums, ensuring the Code of Conduct is adhered to.
- Assisting members with questions and queries.
- Ensuring that the SingSnap Original Recording track stays within the allocated restrictions determining its correct use.
- An ongoing commitment to providing guidance and acceptance throughout the community, offering directions, advice and promoting positive relations.
The Team already has a SingSnap Profile set up that offers further information to their complete range of services, which you can see by clicking here. So, if you have any queries or suggestions just send a PM directly to COMMUNITYSUPPORT.
November
9
Front Page Headlines
Posted by REALLYMAD at 6:30 PM.
The SingSnap Front Page was given an overhaul today. Gone is the longstanding Flash graphic and New Releases list. Instead we now have a brand new running gallery of profile pics called "Who's Here Right Now?", which shows just a fraction of members logged onto SingSnap, very similar to the New Members gallery on the Community Page.
Also added is a snapshot list of the most recent on-site activity called "What Are They All Doing?". This clever addition displays a notice whenever members log on to the site, when a recording is made, when a comment is left on a recording, when a reply has been given etc. and by who. It also updates itself in real time; very handy to see what (and how much) is happening on the site at any given moment. Those people anxious however to see the elusive magic words, "Per recorded..." shouldn't really hold their breath waiting.
The SingSnap News & Notes blog, recently added (and which this post is part of) maintains its place at the bottom and finishes off the new fresh look for the Front Page.
As ever the membership response to changes made on the site is very highly valued and this is no exception. Please don't be shy, tell us what you think right here. We look forward to hearing from you.
November
6
It's Friday!
Posted by milesofborg at 1:11 PM.
Its Friday...Woooot!
We all know what that means! Time to see what new tracks we have added to the site this week....
This week’s new releases include a batch of more recent songs from the likes of Miley Cyrus,Taylor Swift, Taio Cruz, Alexandra Burke, Whitney Houston, Susan Boyle, Leona Lewis, Lily Allen, La Roux, Mika, Lady GaGa & Shakira, in addition to a number of older requests.
Also on this week’s list of additions are songs from renowned artists Madonna, Bjork, Charlie Rich, Chad Kroeger, Robert Palmer (with the Power Station), Barry Manilow, Engelbert Humperdinck, The Pretenders, Matt Monro & Josh Groban, as well as some showtunes from Oliver & Cabaret.
Each week the list of new releases is eagerly awaited & when it goes public it’s always an exciting time…but with such a cross section of artists, eras & genres this week I think it’s a particularly good blend.
Remember, if there’s anything you want to see just go the Song Requests folder, check to see if the artist you’re interested in has been requested recently & if not, start a fresh thread stating song title(s), artist & genre for the track(s) you want us to locate for you…& we’ll do what we can.
Please feel free to tell us what you think, don't be shy now, we love feedback...
Quite a number of requests have been added this week, To check them out Go Here
November
4
Spotlighting Artists - Taylor Swift
Posted by Katie at 9:19 AM.
Taylor Swift is fast becoming the biggest country/pop sensation since Shania Twain hit our cd players.
Singsnap is proud to present some great new content by this artist.
These tracks are now available to record, and can be found in the Sing & Record section of the site.
November
4
Staff Interview - Ryan, What Do You Actually Do Anyway?
Posted by REALLYMAD at 7:08 AM.
By popular demand the staff interviews are back! The PR team have separated another staffie wandering away from the flock and shut them away somewhere private until we got explanations!
Ryan - thanks for giving up some of your time to be interrogated today.
No Problem at all guess I had to do it sometime.
Yeah you couldn't hide forever. I'm amazed you lasted this long.
I guess you could say, you left the best for last. [smiling]
Possibly, seeing there's about a dozen I can think of that will be coming after you.
Ahaha! I set myself up for that one, didn't I?
Only a lot. So, Ryan, what do you actually do then? What's your job?
The majority of my work gets done in Customer Service, as well as checking all new songs for license restrictions (which is terrible considering the amount of songs we upload every week).
Somebody's got to do it I suppose. Tell us more about Customer Service.
Well some days are great and some days are brutal! The good days consist of our site running smoothly and only a few inquiries need to be answered.
Now THAT's a job that deserves a wage! How often do you visit the hospital to mend the tongue you must surely have to bite most of the day?
There is always a case where I have to bite my tongue, but the vast majority of our members are a pleasure to deal with on a day by day basis.
You used to be Trevor's Intern, did you not?
Unfortunately I was.
What did that entail? Fetching the mail? Making the Coffee? Doing the lunch run? Telling Per he could sing?
Yup pretty much do all the dirty work around the office, write SingSnap daily stats down on the white boards, order in lunch (took advantage of that one), and yes of course try and boost Per's confidence. He is a very shy but kind individual!
And sing a song everyday of Trevor's choosing or a member's choosing, which was all in good fun until I sang "Valley Girl". I will never be the same...
Neither will be the listeners I'm sure. So, from doing all the gophering to checking out the licensing on EVERY track to being stuck on the front line of the complaints department, don't you sometimes wonder what you did to upset Trev?
I look at it more like; I am the youngest guy here, BY FAR. Not much really upsets me, so really I am the best guy for the job. I'm not going to be stuck doing it forever but while I am doing it I will do my best to keep our members satisfied. I've been on the receiving end of bad customer service, and would hate for people to get that impression from us.
I'm sure they wouldn't put you there if they thought you weren't up to it. Unless of course it meant them doing it themselves.
Ya exactly, the head honcho knows what he's doing.
So come on - I'm giving you the chance right now to get it off your chest and have a good shout about the horrible jobs they make you do - go for it!
Honestly, the worst job I had to do was to go through 20,000 songs making sure the info was correct in our library. I can just imagine how tough this Genre project is, and glad I am not a part of it
Do they let you loose on the site? Is there anything on SingSnap that was your idea?
Inner circles was one of my Ideas, seems to have worked out quite nicely so far. And the Hall of Fame... (This is a joke, please find the humor)
Good for you on the Inner Circles! As for the HoF, let's not go there...
Okay so we know a bit about Ryan the former SingSnap Intern. What about Ryan the man? What do you do when they let you out of your cage?
I am a very active guy, always on the go. I play many sports Hockey being my favorite, Snowboard/Ski, soccer, basketball and rock climb. I also do Thai Kickboxing, and I have a 7 month old Rottweiler which keeps me out even more.
Yeah I've seen the pic - looks like a really nice dog. So, presumably you live in Ontario near the office? Where exactly? Don’t worry; we don't need the phone number.
OK I was worried for a minute. I live downtown Ottawa about 15 mins drive to the office.
And what are your living arrangements right now? Bachelor boy? Significant other? Still scrounging off the folks?
I am actually just recently engaged to my beautiful fiancé, got to get used to that word!! We have a house together.
Wonderful news! Congratulations to you both and good luck in the future. I'm sure your parents are delighted. For many reasons!
Yes they would not have been happy with any other woman!
Well yeah, that too heh heh.
[laughing]
How old are you anyway?
I am 23.
Ahhh, those tender hormonal days. Not long left Ryan, we're on the final approach now. What's the most common complaint you have to address from the members? And what's the worst?
The most common complaint eh? That would have to be members asking for songs to be uploaded, but now with the PR team members can post in the MSG board under song request. The dedicated members of the PR Team go through each and every one of them and bring them to our attention.
We do? Oh, I mean... yes, we do! (makes note)
The hardest thing to deal with in SingSnap Support is when members are having conflicts in between each other. It takes up so much time to research the actual issue when all the need to do is just block one another. Problem solved.
Ah yes but where's the fun in blocking? That's way too easy. Allegedly. (blush)
Exactly!! And we hate banning members because that is too easy as well. [smiles]
I for one am quite possibly extremely grateful for that.
If you came into work one morning and Trev said "Right Ryan, you're the boss for a day". What would you do?
I would probably make all members gold and make all licensed tracks we've removed in the past available to all members. Probably would make the feature page "No Pants Day" - now that is something the members would have fun with, no?
But then again, that is probably why I am not the boss...
I said one day - it didn't have to be your last one!
And finally, what can you tell us about the future? Any little snippets we should be expecting on the site anytime soon? It’s okay, we won't say who told us...
Just asked Jason behind me and I was told to keep all details of the amazing features we have in mind a secret. Sorry guys and gals.
Jason need talk - he was the one who blabbed to us before!
Well he is the creator so it's his call.
He just wants the limelight, oh yeah I got his number!
Anyway, thank you Ryan for a most informative and entertaining interview.
You are very welcome and please make sure everyone knows this is not an open invitation to come bug me in SingSnapSupport.
Only if you ask Jason where my Xmas party invite is.
November
3
Top 10 Recorded Songs Of The Week
Posted by Katie at 1:22 PM.
One of the most wonderful things about SingSnap has always been the huge amount of tracks available to record.
With new tracks being added every week, yes! thats right! Every week! They spoil us don't they? Our content is kept fresh and up to date.
Here are our top 10 recorded songs this week.
1. Before The Next Teardrop Falls - Freddy Fender - Record it here
2. SingSnap Original - SingSnap Member - Record it here
3. Give Me One Reason - Tracy Chapman - Record it here
4. Love Story - Taylor Swift - Record it here
5. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz - Record it here
6. You Raise Me Up (Radio Version) - Josh Groban - Record it here
7. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera - Record it here
8. If Tomorrow Never Comes - Garth Brooks - Record it here
9. Tears In Heaven - Eric Clapton - Record it here
10. You Raise Me Up - Josh Groban - Record it here
November
3
Talk The Talk - Community Make Themselves Heard Over Chat
Posted by REALLYMAD at 9:06 AM.
Recent changes proposed to the SingSnap chat facility were met with a show of force by a section of the community actively involved with using chat extensively.
SingSnap's chat delivery service Userplane made a recent decision to modify their current operating system, which relied heavily on advertising for revenue, to one which requires complete financing by the client depending on the bandwidth it uses. This meant that SingSnap were suddenly left with a quite sizeable bill for something they were getting for very little money before the change.
A reduction in bandwidth was discussed and a restriction of access on free Blue members was announced. The forecasted response by the community to this was however underestimated by Trevor and the boys (he admitted it himself!) as the more prolific chat users occupied the message boards en masse and expressed their views. The feedback created on the boards was so passionate that it prompted Trevor to take another look at the problem and very soon afterwards the decision to restrict access to the chat was reversed.
SingSnap's resolution to "take one for the team" comes as excellent news to Blue members, many of which have made numerous friends during the time they have frequented the chat facility and can now continue to do so. An announcement by Trevor can be found here on the site detailing the decision.
It's nice to know that they ARE listening to their community.
November
3
Blank Canvas
Posted by milesofborg at 8:54 AM.
For those who were not already aware, SingSnap has followed through with their promise to release a blank track for original material. Titled "SingSnap Original" (by "SingSnap Member") it is what it says on the tin, a completely silent track, approximately 8 minutes long, which is available for all SingSnap members to record their own songs on. The track has no on-screen lyrics (obviously!), but does contain the message that it is for use for original material only, meaning it should not be used to record cover versions.
The blank track can be found here.
November
3
Content - Requests Taking Priority
Posted by milesofborg at 8:18 AM.
SingSnap listens to your requests and we do all we possibly can to get them for you… if you can help to make that task easier for us then we stand an even greater chance of adding the songs you want us to get… this means telling us what you want to see on site… the more information we get the better… song title, artist, genre you think the song should be listed under… & the manufacturer of the backing track if you can.
Just go to the "Song Requests" folder, start a new thread for each artist you wish to see (or add your request to an existing thread for that artist) & we'll do all we can to get those songs added as soon as possible for you.
Let's work together to make SingSnap an even better place to be… we can do it!!
Since September, we have added no fewer than 711 track requests to the site, now that's progress!
All new content can be found here.
November
3
Pitching In - Recording Pitch Controls Updated
Posted by REALLYMAD at 8:01 AM.
SingSnap have made one of the best features ever introduced to the site even better!
The extremely popular key pitch changer has been met with site-wide acclaim since its introduction to the recorder software a while ago, opening up much more of the backing track catalogue to members who were suddenly able to try songs that were previously a little too high or a little too low for them.
On 14th October the pitch changer was improved. Instead of just the "Low" or "High" buttons changing the pitch by two semitones in one step, "Lower" and "Higher" buttons have added a further step up or down by another two semitones, enabling even more songs to fall within the range of each individual.
An announcement by Trevor can be found here on the site detailing the launch of the new player (V6.3b) and the expanded pitch controls. However, due to some unusual technical anomaly it appears that every single song in the entire backing tracks catalogue is STILL out of Per's range.
What a surprise.
November
3
We're Back!
Posted by REALLYMAD at 6:57 AM.
(Cue sonic boom, small sleek object moving at great speed across the sunset steeped horizon, turning towards the gathering throng, braking in a smooth arc before landing deftly...)
HELLO AGAIN SINGSNAPPERS!
Did you miss us? Well not to worry, all is well at SingSnap Towers, we’ve just been reorganising a bit. There have been some changes over the last few weeks which I’m sure you’ve noticed. And there’s more to come; one of the most significant is the method we have chosen to deliver our news to you with this brand new blog. Hope you like it.
We’re keeping things short and simple because we don’t really want to be distracting you too much from using SingSnap as often as possible, and with more frequent updates than previously the reporting will always be hot off the press. One thing you might recognise is the return by popular demand of the staff interviews, where we “bring down” a staff member at full pelt during their attempt to escape and ask the now infamous question, “So what do you actually do anyway?”
The recently created SingSnap Public Relations Team is responsible for many functions both on and off the site; the news blog is just one of them. If you have any questions or suggestions for this part of our work by all means please let us know. Just send a PM to either the PR Team leader Katie, myself or any other member of the PR Team and we will do our very best to accommodate you.
Welcome to the blog!
November
18
Top 10 Recorded Songs of the Week
Posted by milesofborg at 5:58 PM.
One of our regular features here on the SingSnap blog will be to shine the spotlight on the 10 most popular songs each week, based on the number of members who have recorded them. Here’s this week’s (the previous week’s position is in brackets)
1. SingSnap Original - SingSnap Member (2) – Record it here
2. Tears In Heaven - Eric Clapton (9) – Record it here
3. Love Story - Taylor Swift (4) – Record it here
4. Put Your Head On My Shoulder - Paul Anka (NEW) – Record it here
5. When You Say Nothing At All - Alison Krauss & Union Station (NEW) – New Addition 13th Nov – Record it here
6. I'm Yours - Jason Mraz (5) – Record it here
7. The Keeper Of The Stars - Tracy Byrd (NEW) – Record it here
8. You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift (NEW) – New Addition 6th Nov - Record it here
9. Amazed - Lonestar (NEW) – Record it here
10. F*** You - Lily Allen (NEW) – New Addition 6th Nov – Record it here
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