Welcome to movementsixtyone.com!
Welcome all T61 refugees! The ship may be sinking (or is that stinking?) but we have plenty of space for you here.
On January 20, 2010, the owners of the site thesixtyone.com (T61), without any notice or support, implemented a new design that left long-time users stumped, frustrated, and angry. The removal of elements like the radio, public “walls” for users and artists, and common-sense navigation tools have caused many users to boycott the site. This has had the effect of scattering users across the internet to protest, get answers, or find solace.
While I may not have been the most active member of thesixtyone.com, I loved it very, very much. When I found out what was happening, I took the time to soak in what the site changes meant to the userbase. As it currently stands, the lack of social elements has fundamentally shifted how listeners and artists discover and interact with each other. Even if the T61 team eventually reimplements many of the features that were yanked, I can personally say that I lost all of my respect for them. I would be hard pressed to return, even if they simply dropped the whole redesign and stuck with old.thesixtyone.com. (This is nearly 100 percent unlikely.)
Anyway, I wanted to build a site that acts like a hub, bringing together all the information that’s out there and reuniting artists with listeners. (And vice versa) I don’t know how popular this will be. I may only get a couple of people interact here. But even if I can reunite one artist with one fan, I will feel like I at least did something.
As I type this, I have to stop and ponder if we’re being too melodramatic about all this. However, I have quickly come to the conclusion that we are not. A love of music, whether as a discoverer or a creator, brought thousands of people together. Music is something that should be shared. It enriches all of our lives. When a key form of that enrichment is greatly disturbed, we all are equally disturbed.
Anyway, I can’t make this first post too long. I still have a lot of work to do, coding up some HTML for the main site. But this blog and our new forum will hopefully do a lot of the footwork of uniting music lovers while we get the rest of the site going.
Please pass this site address to everyone who is a refugee of thesixtyone.com. And I hope that enough people utilize this to eventually refer to it as “M61.”
Yours,
lostraven / Shawn
Thanks for doing this! I’ll do what I can to let others know you are putting together this hub. A lot of 61-ers have been migrating to sterofame. Perhaps we’ll see you there!
@SackJo22 Thanks for the encouragement, SackJo! I appreciate any help I can get in spreading the word. And yes, I’ll have to check out StereoFame once I get all this sorted out.
Warm regards,
lostraven / Shawn
Just wanted to point out a small mistake at the end of the first paragraph; you’ve got “of find solace” written down.
But besides being a grammar troll, I want to thank you sooooo much for doing all this for everyone–It’s really awesome! I’ll make sure to mention it every so often on the FB page
@xyresic Thanks! I’ll correct it. I’d blame the late hour and long periods of staring at a computer screen, but I’ll chalk it up to not bothering to proofread it.
And any help is appreciated.
Warm regards,
lostraven / Shawn
Yes..I to want to thank you for your efforts here.
Now perhaps I am not clever, but I have to assume the people behind the site and the change are well aware of all this anger and aware perhaps of even this site. While watching all that goodwill flush down the drain, I would as a company be doing some kind of damage control. IE: release statements addressing concerns or showing the road map of their thinking.
Great Job lostraven! I love the name M61… mow um down!
Your first post is spot-on, and I really appreciate all the hard work you’re putting into this. Thanks!!
@Shinigami Hello! I agree that a normal business would have likely handled this much differently. Of course, that leads us to ask why the folks behind the T61 have broken so many soft “rules” of business. Many people have pointed out that this isn’t the first time they’ve done things in this manner. I would hypothesize that they have it set in their heads that their site/changes will do the talking, not them. Is it supreme confidence in what they’re doing? Or is it arrogance? Regardless, they clearly don’t understand something about social interaction.
Warm regards,
lostraven / Shawn
@Sheila L. Thank you! Tell your other T61 friends about this hub as well.
Warm regards,
lostraven / Shawn
@OrenYK Thanks, Oren. Somewhere deep down, I fear that we’re a small but vocal minority, and in fact the quiet majority aren’t bothered by the changes. I would love to have a rough estimate of how many people are actually discontent with what’s lost. I do understand that many people like the design, and from a certain point of view, I can see adopting some of the ideas in the new design. For me, however, it’s about not only the loss of the social structure but also about just how poorly the owners deal with their customer base.
Warm regards,
lostraven / Shawn
Hey, first off, thank you for making this site! Secondly I have a quick question. Before you had the forums and blog running there were some links to open letters that a few artists had written and I can’t seem to find them. Do you still have those links, and if so could you post them?
Thank you for doing this, Shawn. It’s a great incentive, one that goes to show how great t61 has been, not at all due to the site, but the people making the community. I hope we can find a place to relocate, and if you do come across a platform that works, I would like to be the first to know
-Ravi
@JediDude Welcome and thanks for the kind words. You can find the links to the open letters in the updated library. Simply go to the homepage and click the library link. Then find the library category and follow directions. If you have problems accessing the updated page, hold down “Shift” and refresh… or clear your browser cache. That should get you going.
Warm regards,
lostraven / Shawn
@Sharkara Thanks for the kind words, Ravi. I found you on Twitter and added you. Sent you a message as well from my account “writediteach”. Consider adding your information to the forum so even more listeners can find your great music. (And it is great music!)
Warm regards,
lostraven / Shawn
@Shawn Douglas
Thanks a ton! Thesixtyone died to me today. Went though all the music on my profile, hell even everything I hearted, and found where else the artists were and saved that. I never thought I would get so emotional over a website. I think it was the fact that I lost contact with a wonderful community. I’ve got some great memories with all that music. I’m incredibly sad to see it go.
I have one last favor to ask, do you happen to have the email addresses for the founders and the site? Thank you in advanced!
-Jedi
@JediDude I personally don’t have the e-mail addresses of James and Sam. I’m sure that even if you had them, you’d be ignored. They apparently have a long history of not being responsive. Your only real option is to either use the help@thesixtyone.com address, message them on Twitter, or figure out a way to post a message to them on their T61 user account. (I still don’t know how to send another user a message on the new design.)
If you haven’t already, take a look at Uvumi.com. There’s a large batch of us T61ers over there. Do a search for “Lost and Found”. That’s the collection of many of us.
Warm regards,
lostraven / Shawn
@Shawn Douglas
I sent a letter to help@thesixtyone.com asking to delete my accound and giving reasons I was leaving, I got a reply from Sam ( sam@thesixtyone.com) saying simply
“sorry to see you go”
I’m heading over to Uvumi now.
@JediDude Sam put so much feeling into that reply, didn’t he? He might have well said “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass.”
Thanks for the lead on an e-mail address. That’s potentially useful. You can find me under the nick “lostraven” on Uvumi. See you there!
Warm regards,
lostraven / Shawn