FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
Musiqpad is a social-music software platform for users to host their own 'pads' (rooms). Each individual pad will do the hosting and you will be able to connect your pad to our central lounge (lobby) to allow other people to join and jam with you. More information can be found here.
Where are these pads hosted?
The pads can be hosted locally on your computer, you could host your pad on a VPS. We are also working on pricing if you’d like us to do the hosting!
Will you allow some kind of third-party modifications for custom-owned pads?
Musiqpad is an open-source project. This means that anyone will be able to modify the code, however the base will be working even if the code remains un-edited by third parties.
Do you directly connect to the server with your web browser or is it a JavaScript/whatever from the lobby that connects to the server? In other words, can the HTML code be edited as well from the position of a pad owner?
Everything you need in order for you to have your own pad + UI will be available on GitHub to allow you to fully customise it. The pad owner hosts the front-end on their own if they decide to host a server. The central server redirects users to the address that the pad is hosted at.
Is it going to have those childish dancing dolls, a.k.a avatars?
That’s a funny question. And the answer is no. Avatars would make our project look like a game and we’re all about the music.
We chose the name for a number of reasons. First, we want music to be the focal point of this project and so the name had to have 'music' in it (spelled with a 'q' because well, why not??). Next, we were looking for a name that conjures up an image of "hanging out". For some English speakers a 'pad' can refer to a home or hangout spot. Also 'pad' makes us think of launchpads, which again goes back to the focus on music. Lastly, the 'qp' part of the name looked like earbuds to us. So musiqpad is a place for you to come and hang out with your friends and listen to music! Deep, huh?
So what's an alpha release?
Alpha means we've gotten most of the major bugs taken care of, but not all of them! That being said, there WILL be errors and bugs. Also please don't get too attached to your account or playlists. We will most like wipe the database clean when we move onto beta!
Is there a way I can give you my feedback?
Yes! If you want us to see your feedback, just send it using this form
Why should I use musiqpad instead of the other sites out there?
We realize there are some other alternatives to musiqpad. We’re not saying what we are doing is the best, but we do believe in our model. If you’re reading this FAQ, then odds are you’re passionate about the social music platform, as is our team. Having lived through the demise of Turntable.fm, Grooveshark, Soundrop, plug.dj, Thisismyjam and others we’ve come to the conclusion that there is never going to be longevity when relying on any company for social music. Many of us have built up friendships over the years, and when these sites go offline our lives are often never the same. OK so why use musiqpad? Simple. Permanence. You own the server your pad is hosted on. As long as you maintain your server, you will never have to make another move. This is the last migration you will ever have to make. Is the musiqpad model perfect? No. We will probably never have the diversity of rooms of a plug or dubtrack, but we will have permanence. Also keep in mind we will be releasing our code publicly once we are finished so it will be available for everyone!
Why do I need a new account for each pad I visit?
As it stands now, each pad is hosted independently. This means data is not shared across pads. Part of what we are doing now is to work on this sharing of databases among the various pads. It’s not an easy task however, since we must take self-hosted pads into consideration as well.
When will I be able to make my own pad?
As we stated in the above question, we are currently working on how each pad shares its data with other pads. Once we are confident that this has been accomplished with most of the bugs worked out, we’ll move on to users being able to create (and host) their own pads.
Will I have to pay to use musiqpad?
Musiqpad is free for users. If you would like to own a pad however, there are costs. If you have the skills, you can self-host a pad. The costs of self-hosting a pad would obviously vary on your particular setup. If you don’t have the tech skills to host your own pad, we will provide a hosting service. We are still evaluating the costs of our hosting service, but be assured it will be reasonable. We are not developing musiqpad to make money, we just believe that this format is the most sustainable.
marciano -- lead developer
derpgoncz -- lead developer
thebanhammer -- lead developer
The rest of our staff includes:
burkes; captainslope; chadzilla; colin; funky; igor; jdubb; killmesoftly; margotron; mycto; raptorjeebus; that_random_guy. Please be sure to say hi if you see them online!
I’d like to help! I’m a kickass code monkey!
Thanks for your interest in helping out! At this time we are not currently adding new members to our staff to make keeping everybody on the same page easier. If this changes, we’ll be sure to put out the word!
What do the colored names mean?
Each color corresponds to staff roles. There are currently five roles: Owner (orange); Co-Owner (green); Supervisor (blue); Bot (pink); Regular (purple); no role (white). The ring around the badge will denote staff role as well.
