Music Corner Forum Rules & Regulations
MC Dev. Team Viewbies:
General Forum Guidelines
BE THOUGHTFUL. BE RESPECTFUL. BE CALM AND POLITE. HAVE LOADS OF FUN!
Welcome to the Music Corner Forum.
The forum is currently being moderated by LizzieBennet and Viswasruti.
We sincerely hope you have a great time here. We take this opportunity to share the rules and guidelines developed specifically for this section. Please take the time to read and review these guidelines carefully before posting here. We strive to make this a safe and respectful space for all of you. In addition to the general IF guidelines, we have outlined some forum-specific guidelines for you to follow while you post here.
Bashing/ name-calling/ personal attacks:
India-forums.com Code of Conduct strictly forbids members from bashing fellow members, DT members and celebrities. This includes the use of foul language, as well as any derogatory personal remarks related to a celebrity’s appearance.
Bashing Development Team Members is strictly against IF Rules. Warning Levels will be raised for members found bashing the Development Team.
No personal attacks on members or celebrities including direct / indirect/ abusive / sarcastic/ condescending/ passive-aggressive remarks from within the forum or external sources shall be tolerated. WLs can be raised without Warning.
Commemorative threads:
We allow fans to open topics on special occasions such as 10th anniversary/ 25th anniversary of either the music band/ artist’s existence or a particular album release, or a birth / death anniversary of an artist. Please inform the DT in the Permissions thread before creating one.
Comparison posts or polls:
Comparison posts can lead to fights between fandoms but in the interest of facilitating some constructive discussions, the DT has decided to allow comparison topics &/or polls ONLY LIMITED TO artists/ their work/ music sales/ popularity/ SM followers etc. Any other topics comparing their physical attributes or personal lives will be closed without further discussion.
Copyright and Plagiarism:
When posting articles, or information from other sources (including but not limited to books, published research articles, web pages or even another member’s post on IF) remember not to post the content without due source citation. Directly copying content from another source will be considered plagiarism. Whether you quote verbatim or paraphrase, remember to link the source alongside it or as an appendix to your post.
When sharing articles on IF, DO NOT post the entire article. This is considered copyright violation and the member can be liable for legal action.
Due to copyright issues, we do not allow the posting of any scanned magazine articles. Just the cover is okay, but please refrain from posting inside magazine scans. You may provide a link to the article if it is published on the web/ or in any public domain.
Instead, share the link, the header, a summary, and the social media post (if it is posted on social media). Members can then click on the link and go directly to the article on the source page.
DO NOT directly post privately recorded videos of celebrity sightings, fan meetings, photographs by paparazzi or fans, privately recorded audio messages, fan-recorded videos of concerts or any other public event OR ANY content that is not publicly released by the artist (s) themselves or their agents/ PR. Social media Link (s) can be posted.
You are allowed to share quotes from artists (provided you have a verified source), and lyrics to songs posted in public domain.
Copyright infringement and plagiarism are serious issues, and the DT reserves the right to edit/remove any post considered to be in violation of the above. Please report such posts if you do come across them.
Counter-Posting:
Refrain from making counter posts on the forum. For example, if you see a post which you feel you do not agree with and believe to be insulting/provoking or abusive, DO NOT then go and create another topic in relation to it to counteract the post maker. This only leads to further unrest and more arguments breaking out in the forum. Even if another fan-group/ member started it, do not retaliate, just bring it to the attention of the DT. If you come across any posts which you believe are not in accordance with the IF COC or this forum's guidelines, please REPORT them.
Deviating from the main topic:
This is a music-related forum, hence discussions should be limited to the artist and their music-related work ONLY. If the artist/s in question have appeared in TV shows/ films/ reality shows etc., we will allow discussion but in a separate topic. Avoid making multiple threads for every celebrity appearance. For e.g. If you want to discuss Sonu Nigam appearing on Indian Idol, you can make a topic on Indian Idol and discuss every music-related celebrity related to Indian Idol on that thread.
External Sites:
We understand that social networking sites are an integral part of communication in the cyber world. And therefore we understand that Twitter/ Facebook /Instagram accounts of celebrities are religiously followed by fans for news/updates. But please understand that while posting music/dance-related content from artist, producers and official source accounts is allowed, there is absolutely NO need for members to be posting their own/ fan account discussions/ opinions from these external websites onto IF. These are opinions only, and they tend to stoke fan wars. Personal tweets/Instagram/Facebook updates of the artists can only be shared in the respective ATs if they exist. Otherwise, you can share them in the social media updates thread in the forum. If one does not exist, you can request for one, or make one with the permission of the DTs.
You may post Reaction gifs from external sites provided their content adheres to IF rules and CoC.
Please refer here for further clarifications: External Content from Social Networking Sites.
Forum and Development Team related Issues:
Do not bring forum issues into the threads under any circumstances. If you have any problems with any of the threads on the forum either report them or PM the Development team members of the forum.
DO NOT create posts to discuss forum issues and DO NOT start discussing forum issues in threads already open. Also, once a DT member has posted a note on a thread regarding rule breaking, please refrain from further dragging the matter in the thread.
When a thread title has been amended by the Dev Team or a note added in a member's post, please refrain from editing such posts, this will be seen as going against the code of conduct and the members will be reprimanded.
Additionally, please do not tag moderators on a thread to either complain or call attention to a dispute. Use the "Report" button to state your complaint clearly and the mods will see it.
Please do not PM us asking to take a specific action against a certain member. Necessary action is always taken. Do not assume that action is not taken just because the offending post is not removed. Sometimes action is taken through PM. Due to rules, we won't be able to disclose the action taken against any member.
Any issues regarding Moderation or Warning Queries will be entertained only by PM to DT. Do not argue about rulings on the threads/open new posts regarding moderation and disrupt the atmosphere of the forum.
DO NOT open threads on the forum questioning the actions of a DT member or decisions taken. Such threads shall be closed immediately, asking the members to contact the DT via PMs. Strict action will be taken against repeating offenders.
Warning Levels (WL) and User Restrictions:
Any member who are found to be in violation of our Forum Rules and Code Of Conduct may be given a Warning Level increase as accessed by the Dev Team. Please note with each Warning Levels increase it will also restrict/limit the access to the forum features as given below:
- 20% - First warning, so members are given a chance, without any other restrictions
- 40% - Only 15 posts (replies in topics) can be made in a day
- 60% - No new topics can be created in addition to restrictions of 40% warning level
- 80% - Restricted PM access whereby PMs can ONLY be sent to Dev Team to resolve issues, in addition to restrictions of 60% warning level
- 100% - Automatically bans the member
For first time offenders, Two Warning PMs are sent out before raising WLs for the same offense. However, this will not be applicable if a general DT note has been posted on the issue in the forum. It is each member's responsibility to read any notices by DT members (we will update them in this thread and add the date on which it has been updated in the thread title). We will not be tagging individual members to inform them.
Warning levels can only be reduced after 3 months if the member has been active with no new warning increase and has not violated any of our forum rules. It is not an automated feature and requires the member to send a request PM to lower the Warning Level to the Dev Team member who raised their warning level and in the event the PM goes unanswered for more than a week please contact the Global Moderator.
Freedom of choice and speech:
Art & art appreciation are subjective. We like what we like and dislike what we dislike. Everyone is entitled to their choices and their own point of view. However, this does not permit one to attack their fellow members for not sharing the same point of view. Additionally, let us respect the fact that if something does not appeal to us, it does not mean it’s not appreciated by someone else. So it is advisable to tone down the intensity of our dislike. If some content on the forum is triggering or upsetting you, or you disagree with the emotions expressed by a particular user, please walk away/ignore the post and refrain from responding rather than engaging in active conversation on why you dislike the song/ artist and spoiling the mood for other fans.
Please refrain from posting any abusive, derogatory, insulting or sarcastic comments that can potentially hurt the sentiments of your fellow member. Please be respectful while posting and maintain politeness even if you disagree with a fellow member. We understand fans can get passionate and emotions can get heated, but that is not an excuse for belittling real people who post here.
You are welcome to post critique & state politely why you dislike a particular piece of music/ artist, however, remember there is a thin line between being critical and bashing. Insulting real people, whether artists or forum members, crosses a line, so make sure your criticism does not spill over to fans of said artist.
Some fans are able to separate the art from the artist. Others are not. Both schools of thought are accepted on the forum, so please do not judge/ shame/ mock/ moral police fans of an artist for not subscribing to your point of view.
Please do not stereotype any fan bases. India forums has zero tolerance for bullying, hate speech or personal attacks. Any derogatory references or name-calling against artists/members/Dev team members are strictly disallowed.
Express your opinion in a civil manner. We do respect Freedom of Speech but it's important to remember that every right and freedom comes with the responsibility to use it properly. Any individual and/ or topic mocking opinions or fault-finding/ nitpicking will see a direct warning level increase and the topic shall be closed.
Inclusion:
Any posts that we see with people telling others what to do or to exit the forum because they belong to a particular fan group will be removed. This is an inclusive forum and once a Topic Maker has created a thread, it is understood that it’s in the public domain and any member across IF is free to respond in it provided they are adhering to forum guidelines and IF COC. Topic makers, please do not report posts in your thread if they disagree with your opinion.
Furthermore, any threads that exclude a member or a group with titles such as "PS: Bashers stay away", "Only for ____ fans", etc., and other such disclaimers will be edited by Dev Team. If a member is found doing the same even after reminders/ warnings, it will lead to a rise in warning level.
That being said, any posts found to be discriminatory against an individual or particular groups are strictly disallowed & will be trashed without warning. These include but are not limited to - race, age, ability, intellect, communication skills, gender identity, colour, size, sexual orientation, marital status, fertility, socio-economic status, caste, religion, nationality,or mental health.
Language:
English is understood to be the default language for posting on IF, however, since Hindi is the next most widely spoken language across IF, we will allow posts in Hindi.
While members are allowed to post in other regional languages if it is for the purpose of finding common ground or bonding or discussion with other members that speak the same language, please remember that using a language that is not commonly spoken/ understood for the sole purpose of groupism, mocking or ganging up on another member/ group or that, in any other way, excludes members from fully participating on the thread is not allowed. Such posts, if reported, will earn a Warning PM, and will follow the chain of warning levels if continued.
Moderation:
The moderation chain is as follows: Viewbies > Moderators > Channel Moderators> Global Moderators.
Your first point of contact would be the Forum Viewbies as they take care of the day-to-day happenings in the forum. If you have any issues regarding moderation, or if your complaint has been unresolved for over a week, you can escalate it to the Global Moderators Jayshree or Shruti, but any other issues need to be brought to the Forum Development Team Viewbies (LizzieBennet or Viswasruti)
Moral Policing:
Everyone is welcome to express their opinions, however unpopular or different they are, as long as they are within the forum rules and IF COC. Members have the freedom to offer their own unique perspective, which may contradict someone else's point of view. When you impose your opinions of what is right or wrong, and judge people based on their opinions, you are shaming them for their values, which goes against IF COC. We believe in having a safe and inclusive environment where everyone is free to express their thoughts. If you find someone making a rude or inflammatory post with the sole purpose of riling up another fandom, please do not escalate the matter further by retaliating and trying to call out that member. Simply REPORT it, and we will take the necessary action against the offending member. If you jump in, you could be liable for a reprimand as well, so stay out of potential war zones.
If you find anyone breaching either forum or IF COC rules, please Report the post &/or the topic.
Morphed Pictures and Signatures:
Please refrain from posting fake or morphed images intended to defame/ ridicule /abuse any celebrity &/member. This includes posting animal images with the intent to be sarcastic and bash any member/celebrity. Any morphing OR merging faces of celebrities onto existing (original) pictures from other sources are STRICTLY prohibited on India-forums.com. It violates the copyright of the original picture. Doing so will lead to a raise in W/L without warning. Furthermore, the morphed creations will be removed from the posts immediately.
Memes are allowed for the sake of enjoying some fun/ humour but please restrict them to the
Signatures attacking or taking digs at any fandom will not be tolerated. At all times
*ATTN.- Guidelines/Rules/Specifications/etc* rules will apply towards any creations.
Multiple ID (MID):
India-forums.com Code of Conduct strictly prohibits members from having multiple IDs. Please refrain from making MIDs, especially to bash celebrities, characters and/ or member OR to deliberately cause chaos and infighting among the members of a forum. If a user is found with MIDs, all except the most active ID will be banned/deactivated, followed by a raise in WL to the active ID.
Do not presume someone is a MID and post that accusation on the forum. If you think a user is employing a MID, please report their post or PM us. We will look into it. Calling a user a MID or bullying them on the open forum without any proof is not permitted.
Music &/ or Book Review threads:
Music review threads of recently released music album (s) or re-masters/ re-releases/ Music videos/ concerts can be made by any member. Make sure you have a few reviews from music critics etc. to post before you open a review thread. Do not simply open a thread if you haven’t listened to the album yourself, hoping for other members to post their reviews. Once public reviews are posted, members can chime in with their own reviews of said album. This also applies to Book(s) released on celebrities - either autobiographies or biographies. Please inform us in the Permissions thread before opening a review thread, so we may add the link to it.
News Articles:
Any news posted should be from credible sources. Anything that was reported should generally come with some written source and a web link that can be shared instead. This is because often times non-reputable sources will post whatever they want as clickbait.
Personal lives:
This forum is only intended for the discussion of any music or dance related celebrities. Any topics or posts judging or commenting on the personal lives of the artistes is not allowed. Artists' personal lives can be discussed ONLY if it is published in media and members do have a source to verify it. Any other baseless speculations about the artists’ private lives will not be tolerated. This includes speculation on their love/ marital lives, sexuality, substance use, criminal behaviour or any other issue which is based on only speculation and has no verifiable source.
Accounts, email addresses and personal pictures/information of artistes are not allowed to be posted or revealed unless they have themselves revealed it. If there is an AT for said artist/ group/ band, please restrict all discussions, including those about their personal lives, to the respective AT.
Real Person Fiction:
We understand that there is plenty of fan-fiction (or Real person fiction) on celebrities out there, but they are STRICTLY PROHIBITED on India Forums. Please do not post Real-person fictions on any celebrities or post external links to any such stories. Anyone found doing so will be dealt with severely.
Religious and political discussion/s:
Any sort of discussion regarding religion/politics / sensitive issues is not allowed. If an artist has commented on religion/politics/nations, you are allowed to bring it up, but the discussion should be limited to the comment. No judgments/ shaming/ name-calling of the artists or their fans on the basis of the comment or using it as a basis for your own political &/or religious agenda is allowed.
Repeat topics:
Before starting a topic, please check the first 3 pages of the forum. If a similar topic is already opened, comment there. All the similar topics opened later will be merged with the one opened first. To start you off, several genre &/or era based music threads have already been created for you to post in. If you are simply posting a music &/or dance video, check first if your link can be added to any of these threads (or an AT for the artist) first before opening a new topic. If you want to invite discussion on a specific song &/or video, you can create a topic.
Reporting & Response Times:
Please abide by Forum rules as well as IF COC while making comments. Certain threads move very quickly and moderators cannot keep track of every comment. Please be accountable for what you post, and be vigilant about what others post.
While reporting, mention the exact reason why the post is being reported. And report only the posts that are offensive.
Please do not report the same post more than once. Members reporting the same post multiple times will receive a PM warning and if it continues there will be a raise in Warning Level too. This rule does not intend to discourage the members from reporting, but often the same post is reported multiple times by the same member, and it serves no purpose.
Please understand that DTs need at least 24–48 hrs to work on the reported post, and simply pressing the report button multiple times will only delay the process. Some situations demand time and decisions are often taken after consultation, so there may be delays.
Please allow a reasonable time frame of 48 hours for mods to address reports/ answer PMs. Instead of several people sending PMs on the same issue, it would be appreciated if one person PMs the concerned DT with their concerns.
We want to assure you that every report is seen and attended to by the moderators. It may not be visible to the member who made the report, and that is because of IF policy that all moderation is kept confidential between the moderator and the user's post on which the report is made. We DO NOT, under any circumstances, disclose the action taken in response to a report, unless it happens to be a moderator note on a thread which is public and applicable to all users posting there. So kindly do not make statements such as - "Mods are biased", "Mods support only xyz fans" or "Mods are selective." You have no way of knowing what action has been taken, but rest assured, if your report is found to be legitimate, action will be taken in due course of time.
Be polite when reporting - reports made with a mocking tone insinuating inaction or bias by the moderators are not allowed.
Remember that moderators have real lives and do this as a voluntary service, so please do not hound us asking if your report has been received and if we took any action against the offensive post/ user. The actions taken remain between the reported user and the mods of the forum, and we are in no way obliged to share it with anyone else.
Sharing Personal Information and Privacy:
You are welcome to discuss professional updates by the celebrities, however, please do not post paparazzi pictures, privately shared pictures or updates and any other content that the artists themselves have not endorsed or made public. They may be celebrities, but everyone is entitled to their privacy and as such, that right will be respected.
Additionally, do not share your personal information with others on the net. If you are sharing any information with an unknown person, you are doing so at your own risk. Any conversations that take place in private messages, or Facebook Messenger between two people is between them and not to be shared in the open forum. Privacy and safety of members is of prime importance in IF. If anyone is found sharing members private and personal content from other social networking site on IF, they will be held responsible for breaching privacy and should be prepared for lawful consequences.
Social media:
You are allowed to post reviews/pictures/memes/videos from Twitter/Instagram/Facebook or any other social media, but they shouldn't be offensive. Do NOT post updates regarding fights or fan wars happening in other social media platforms. Also, discussions on what various fans are saying on social media are NOT allowed on IF. What fans get up to outside of IF has no relevance here, therefore any such discussions will NOT be entertained either. As far as possible, confine Social Media posts related to an artist/ band/ music group to AT, if one exists. If not, it can be shared on other threads, keeping in mind the above rules.
We are aware that several artists release their work directly on Social media using platforms such as You Tube and Instagram to promote their work to the public. In such cases, posting the artist's work is permissible provided it is confined to their work only. No other sales/ promotions/ advertising of any other kind is allowed.
Any music-related memes should be shared only in the Musical memes thread. Any member-created memes/ GIFs specifically for the purpose of mocking other fans/ artists are not allowed in the forum.
Additionally, DO NOT PROMOTE your own creations of any kind from external sites, whether they are for-profit/ non-profit. Promotional content for artists, ticket sales for concerts, tours, promotional events, music sales or any other kind of advertising by posting external links is also not allowed.
Trigger Warnings:
Some videos may have Triggering/ Sensitive content specifically those pertaining to sexual assault, animal cruelty, self-harm, p*rnographic material, graphic violence, child abuse, molestation, slurs, hate speech, blood, and death. Please note that any content pertaining to Sexual Assault or P*rnography is not permitted on India Forums.
While it may not always be possible to determine what could be identifiable as Triggers for viewers, it is recommended that you post a TW &/or CW (Trigger &/or Content warning) if you're able to identify them before you post a video in order to avoid potentially distressing some viewers. Some examples of sensitive/ triggering/ graphic content can be found here, and here is an example of how you can post them.
Use of Caps:
Online etiquette demands that you avoid using caps and big font for an entire post, as it represents rudeness and loudness on a public forum. You can use caps to emphasize a word or two. But Using CAPS for all of your post is not allowed.
Use of Swear words/ Curses/ Profanity in Posts:
The use of profanity is STRICTLY PROHIBITED on the forum. If members do come across such language, please do report the post. If a song or the lyrics to a song contains profanity, mention it as a Trigger Warning and while posting the lyrics make sure to “Redact* the offensive words.
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