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Community mismanagement 101: TheSixtyOne alienates top users
So, music site TheSixtyOne underwent a massive redesign. Old news, right? I was thrilled, others less so.
Those disgruntled souls left plenty of comments sharing their feelings, and one of them was kind enough to set me up with a few of TheSixtyOne's top users. These are people who have been with the site for a year or two, day in, day out, and accumulated gazillions of "points". Amongst them is the top user on the site, SallySilvera, level 24 with over 130,000 rep points (that's a lot). We're talking rabid loyalty here.
They all had a lot to say. I listened. Lengthy email rants elaborated on how they've lost their friends; how the sense of community is gone; how much harder it is to communicate with artists, and so on and so forth. The point is that these loyal users had actual reasons, and a lot of pent up emotions.
I also emailed TheSixtyOne developers asking if they'd like to tell me anything. While waiting for their reply (which never came), I sat back and watched how things unfold. I wanted to give them a chance, to see how they'd manage this massive PR flop. I followed their Twitter and saw they posted a handful of replies to unhappy users. "That's nice," I thought, "they're starting to take responsibility".
Well, imagine my surprise upon...
seeing this. Don't bother clicking; it's a very short blog post, basically mocking their users. Here's the whole blurb:
"rumor #1: thesixtyone is run by venture capitalists. hilariously false. however, if you know a "venture capitalist" with great taste and an affinity for working out of a living room while munching on chex mix, please let me know. we're hiring.
rumor #2: thesixtyone hates bach people. we actually love bach, especially yo-yo ma's performance of the six unaccompanied cello suites. we do dislike spammers and bots, though.
rumor #3: james miao's 6'3 frame is the result of a chinese conspiracy to compete in olympic basketball. no comment."
So, in this non-capitalized burst of unbridled arrogance, TheSixtyOne basically let the world know, along with their most loyal users, that they simply don't give a damn.
Regardless of the design change, this is not how you manage a community; this is not how you treat your most loyal users. These guys can take a lesson or two from Seth Godin. Nice going.
[Thanks to sallysilvea, philomath, rafaelbrandao, jonlandis]
Comments
24
Subscribe to commentsPatagluFeb 8th 2010 9:37AM
Agree. They completely removed the community aspect. What a big pity.
That's not a wataglu.
TonyFeb 15th 2010 10:00PM
Ummm, the top users have definitely not left. They made it seem that way to make a statement - influencing many to leave but ultimately staying themselves. SallySilvera is as active as ever on t61. Seven out the Top 10 users are still regulars on a daily basis.
They may have had a lot to rant and rave about, but in this case - actions should speak louder than words. Go ahead and check in on it again. It's been the ultimate bait & switch. A few influential users convinced many listeners to leave, only to return later themselves. Another follow-up may be a good idea.
longvMar 22nd 2010 11:21AM
Being an active musician since the late 90s watching the rise and fall of such revolutionary sites as MP3.com and IUMA it is absolutely mind boggling what The Sixty One did...the re-design is horrible period. Yeah Facebook did it and got criticized but then was accepted...this is different no other music site I can remember has ever done this with the exception of those that got bought out meaning 99% guaranteed death. The 61 had an already polished design in fact the most polished I've seen in a long time...so why...why is the question and after reading that short blog from them it's clear they lost their f&*(*ing minds...really. Many features are missing, and it appears he cashed out taking the mandatory 20 dollar fees off the top for every registered artist as they sell and get tipped. Lawsuit?
Matt Romero from The Living Modern
longvMar 22nd 2010 11:29AM
oh and Tony...yeah the guy above me...you should check again how many bumps and listens artists are getting next to nothing now, I was on there under my solo material and my ex-band...we got thousands of bumps and listens and front page status...now it's a ghost town...people can't even comment anywhere...and I can tell you right now many have in fact gone to uvumi and are steadily leaving for greener pastures and a site that won't be run by some crazed f*ck up.