*** If you have just subscribed to the ambient music mailing list, you are responsible for understanding this information. Read this document carefully. Print it or save it! Contents: 1. Mailing list mission and content 2. Moderation and when NOT to post to the list 3. New subscriptions 4. Digest version of the list 5. Archives 6. More posting guidelines * spams * selling music through the list * crossposts * label & artist promotion 7. Other ambient music related forums 8. Who's in charge 1. MAILING LIST MISSION AND CONTENT____________________________________ The AMBIENT MUSIC Mailing List, formed August 1994, is intended for information and discussion pertaining to all forms of ambient music, from Brian Eno's Ambient series to environmental sound effects recordings, from The Orb's ambient dub to Jim O'Rourke's ambient industrial drones. Originally conceptualized by Eno as 'sonic wallpaper', the word ambient as a musical term has come in recent years to embrace a very diverse range of artists and influences. Consequently, the ambient "scene" seems polarized, with fans of one style of ambient music rejecting or remaining ignorant of other styles --it is hoped that the Ambient Music mailing list will foster among its subscribers appreciation, respect, or at the very least increased exposure to the huge ever growing musical genre that is controversially tagged, "Ambient". 2. MODERATION__________________________________________________________ The Ambient Music Mailing List is "semi-moderated", meaning in this case that while subscribers are able to post directly to the list, the list administrators reserve the right to: * remove disruptive or misguided/junk-mail posts from the digest queue, if caught in time * order a disruptive thread to cease * insist upon adherence to the list's clearly stated purpose of discussing ambient MUSIC, not "ambient poetry", et. al. * unsubscribe repeat offenders and severe abusers of the list * determine what constitutes disruptive behavior and gauge the severity of the abuse That said, this power is rarely used, as the list is actually self moderating --Subscribers are encouraged to not stand for immature postings and to use *private email* (not public posts) to express their dissatisfaction with each other. It is further expected that posts made to the list will not contain unconstructive flames or excerpts from other people's private email (unless with permission). It is a shortcoming of this kind of forum that whatever is posted becomes incontrovertible fact until a rebuttal is posted, which in turn demands a reply from all who disagree, and so on. By choosing to create and administrate an unmoderated mailing list (well, mostly unmoderated), we have accepted the consequences of its nature, and likewise, those who subscribe to it also must accept that there is the likely possibility of having to read heated discussions that erupt between a relatively small number of empassioned individuals on the list. If, however, the ambient music content within a discussion becomes null and the debate deteriorates into purely personal jabs and defenses, both parties run the risk of unceremonious removal from the list and/or some creatively worded requests to "shut up" coming in private email from other listmembers. If you are offended by the content of a post or feel that attacks are being made against yourself or others, confront the perpetrator immediately in private email. Ask them to clarify what was meant and explain how you interpreted what they said. Give them a chance to publicly post a clarification of their questionable statements, so that the discussion which follows won't dwell upon miscommunications and rebuttals of rebuttals. Likewise, if you are contacted in private by someone who took exception to things that you said in public, take responsibility for your statements and act accordingly. 3. NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS___________________________________________________ If you haven't already subscribed to the list, you can join by sending a blank email to ambient-subscribe@hyperreal.org. When posting to the list, post from the address at which you are subscribed. Mail sent to the list from non-subscribed addresses is sent to an administrator who may or may not forward it on to the list, depending on its content (and the administrator's mood). To get off the list, send a blank email *from the same address at which you subscribed* to ambient-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org 4. DIGEST______________________________________________________________ If you want to receive the digest version of the list, you should subscribe to ambient-digest. On average, one or two 40K digests are sent out per day, and they contain all the posts made to the list since the previous digest, with rare exceptions. (see section on moderation). To get on the digest, send a blank email to ambient-digest-subscribe@hyperreal.org To get off the digest, send a blank email *from the same address at which you subscribed* to ambient-digest-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org When replying to a message contained in a digest, only quote the relevant portion of the message itself; quoting the entire digest will result in your removal from the list. 5. ARCHIVES____________________________________________________________ The list's archives are stored at hyperreal.org with Epsilon: The Ambient Music Information Archive. Hyperreal is accessible via the World Wide Web. Epsilon is located at http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/ The list archives are at http://music.hyperreal.org/lists/ambient/ 6. MORE POSTING GUIDELINES_____________________________________________ Unfortunately the size and wide distribution of the ambient music mailing list has necessitated the following restrictions. Spam - Expressly forbidden on the list is the rebroadcast of petitions, chain letters, alerts, calls to action, get-rich-quick schemes, rumors of the Imminent Death Of The Net(tm), political rant, the recurring Good Times Virus or Modem Tax hoaxes, or similar resource-hogging, bandwidth-wasting spams so often propagated by people new to the net. The ambient music mailing list is for the discussion of ambient music, period. It is not a public megaphone. Selling Music via the mailing list - it is okay to post a short message (like, a screenful) for a personal record/cd sale or auction. For anything more than a screenful, just post a pointer to someplace else -- like one of the rec.music.marketplace newsgroups or an email address to which interested people can write to request the full list. Auctions should be announced once and conducted in private thereafter. Artist and Label promotion - If you are representative of an artist or label and wish to post promotional material on the list, be *very* polite, humble, honest and to-the-point with your post. The fastest way to undermine your reputation and fill your mailbox with four-letter words is to join the list, post a sales pitch / advertisement under the guise of "discussion," and sign off the same day. You are not going to make tons of money off the Internet, so don't even think about treating it like just another advertising medium. Make your presence known and humbly invite people to visit your online resources. A respectable presence on the net entails demonstrating a sincere commitment to the music, not your bank account. Be more than just an information resource. Join mailing lists and participate in discussions. Answer all your email. Publish your email address and don't lose your net access. Make customer service, not customer acquisition, your number one priority, and you will do more for your reputation than you will ever know. Press releases may be posted, but please precede them with a Subject: heading that indicates the nature of the post -- e.g., Subject: "new Brian Eno album [press release]" or Subject: "RELEASE: Smashing Pumpkins/Orb remix EP". Don't review your own records. Contact potential reviewers by email. Find someone who reviews the type of music you produce and who you think writes in a way that would benefit your label. Send them promotional materials and hope they like the music. Crossposting - The general rule of thumb about crossposting is, if you are not subscribed to a list, don't try to post to it. Try to resist the temptation to post one message to multiple lists unless you are sure it is worthwhile. For example, just because you are talking about the Orb on the Ambient list doesn't mean everyone on the Orb list has to see your message, too. And the less directly-related to a list or newsgroup your message is, the better it would be for all concerned if you just posted a pointer to it. For example, when I post my reviews, which cover a lot of techno-related stuff as well as ambient and space-music, I don't post the entire batch to every mailing list whose members might find some of the reviews interesting. Instead I post the reviews in a couple of places (ambient, idm-reviews, rec.music.info, and in Epsilon) and then I post brief pointers everywhere else telling people where they can find the reviews if they are interested. WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE________________________________________________ The list administrator is Andy Thomas (andy@hyperreal.org).