Community Rules and Regs

Hi everyone! It's been just over a year since I started this page, and it's really exceeded my expectations already. I've met so many cool people, been shown so much amazing music, and yes, have been able to help put food on the table, and keep the lights on, thanks to you, the patrons. I'm very grateful for that, and also proud to know that the work I'm offering in return has helped you either learn, or reignite this passion that we all share for the best instrument in the world (!!!!) the bass. Quite a cool little community is forming and it's all because of you. So, at risk of sounding like a broken record, THANK YOU!

I thought it was time to make a kind of BennyTheBassman community manual, to tell you what this page is all about, how I operate, and also lay some ground rules, etc. I'll update this post periodically as things change, so you can trust that the below is the current set of rules and processes for this page. Let's get to it! 

BennyTheBassman's Code of Conduct 

Firstly, I just want to lay out the basics for this little community. All of this should be common sense (and to date I haven't experienced ANY of this here on Patreon, to be clear. You're all the best), but just so that it's in writing...

  - No discrimination of any kind will be tolerated. We're all equal, and we're all here to enjoy and study the bass. There's no place for any kind of hatred or discrimination here. I'll simply remove you if I see any of this. Requests from different styles of music, or which are sung in different languages, etc, are encouraged.

  - Keep it about the bass. That's what's bringing us all together. Nothing political please - we can all get our fixes elsewhere for that, and anything else off-topic is probably better suited somewhere else too.

  - There are no stupid questions! Ask away. I studied music at Humber College in Toronto for four years, and have been working as a professional musician for more than 15 years - I have a pretty good grasp on theory, harmony, a bunch of musical styles, and proper technique. I'm really happy to share that knowledge with you, so please ask, either publicly or in a private message. If you see another's public question, please feel free to chime in with your own knowledge if you think it's constructive. Remember that everyone is at different skill levels, and we're all allowed to ask questions. No ridiculing or otherwise bullying someone who's asked a question will be tolerated.

Song Requests 

These are the lifeblood of this community and of the channel. I'm extremely committed to working on your requests, and if they're appropriate for public consumption and not disrespectful/discriminatory, I'm very likely to happily accept them. Message me! Any style of music. Any bass part. Any language. I'm into it!!

You can see an up-to-date list of Patron Priority Requests from my google spreadsheeet. I've pinned the "Priority Request List" tag, so it should be the first tag you see anywhere that you can find my tags. Feel free to check that out as much as you like. Here's how the request process currently works:

  - As a Patron, your requests have priority over any of those from Youtube comments. 

  - Once in a while, I might opt to do a Youtube request, or pick a song to do for myself, but in general the vast majority of weekly uploads will be from your requests. 

  - There is no way to increase your priority or to cut above someone else in the request cue. Although grateful to have received some already, I won't accept accept monetary or any other kinds of offers to move your song up the list. It's first come, first served for the first time requesters, and that will not change. $1, $2, or $4 Patrons are all the same in this regard. I know it can be a month or more before you see your request on Youtube, and so I'm trying to keep this list as fair and transparent as possible.

  - I now seem to have reached a tipping point where I can't see clearing all of my first time requests. Thank you all for your fantastic requests and for getting the channel to this point!!!! However, this poses a problem for 2nd and 3rd time requesters; with no new rules in place I can't see ever being able to get to your followup requests, which isn't right either! So after some consideration and after bouncing ideas off of some of you (thanks for that!), here's how I will deal with 2nd+ requests:

  - I will dedicate the last week of each month to clearing the top 2nd request in the cue, unless I have already done a 2nd or third request that month. So on average, any given month should see three first requests, and one second(third, etc) request. 

  - I will also immediately make a request top priority (work on it that very week), if it has passed a certain date threshold:

     - 2nd requests: 3 months or older
     - 3rd requests: 4 months or older
     - 4th requests: 5 months or older, etc.

  - The only exception to THIS rule will be when I've already done one of these the previous week. IE - no matter what, every second week will be a first request, period.

  - You must have maintained your patronage in order to get your request filled. I fully understand that financial situations change, and I don't want this agreement to be a burden on anyone. I fully support suspending your patronage due to any kind of financial difficulty, but it wouldn't be fair to all the paying patrons to spend a week on a video for someone who is no longer part of the community. 

  - Should you rejoin, I'll re-add your request to the bottom of the current cue, with your rejoin date as the request date, and all the above rules for clearing it will apply.

I hope all of these rules and regs seem fair to all of you. I'm definitely open to suggestions, and would love to hear what you think about any of this, so please feel free to leave a comment or send me a message if you have any concerns or ideas. Once again, for the last time (in this post anyway), THANK YOU PATRONS!

Best,
BennyTheBassman