RIP to WATMM Discussion thread

Let's pour one out. I'm personally very sad to hear this news from Joyrex. WATMM has meant a lot to me. I have been posting on here for more than half my life. 

Let's discuss how we feel about it ending. Personally I don't think that WATMM is that dead, it has a great level of activity. Plus Autechre released like 30 hours of music this year and Aphex dropped a compliation album in December so I'm not sure I totally agree with Joyrex's assertion that the "featured" artists aren't releasing as much as they used to.

i want watmm to keep going!

love this place and all the people here shooting the shit.

Been here 12 years, discovered so much great music and talked to so many lovely people here and i met a bunch in real life.

This breaks my heart

makes me sad too but i completely understand the decision to move on and be free of something that's been maintained for so long. people have to do what they have to do. 

but it's a bummer. so many interesting threads/posts.... memes.. and sense of community. it will be missed. maybe a mastodon server can be created or some place where we can at least share releases news personal stuff etc... i've had a ridiculous amount of posts here and leaned on it pretty hard as an outlet when going through a bunch of health stuff and i'm grateful for that. so, thanks watmm and joyrex for all the things. i guess we need to start a countdown

 I don't know  

Maybe a new boc album or aphex twin AMA  could save the site

Seriously, i'm gonna miss this place. Thank you for everything joyrex and all you lovely people on WATMM you are dear to me ❤

Fuck. Hopefully it keeps going in some form. This is the only site I pay for, and think is worth paying for, and I've discovered tons of great music I probably wouldn't have found otherwise. Soundcloud is pretty much dead, every social media site is getting worse, and things like Discord and Mastodon pale in comparison to an actual forum.

huge bummer. site was always a beacon in dark times. 

  On 1/29/2025 at 5:26 PM, Ivan Ooze said:

Maybe a new boc album or aphex twin AMA  could save the site

Seriously, i'm gonna miss this place. Thank you for everything joyrex and all you lovely people on WATMM you are dear to me ❤

the site doesn't need saving! (except from those who don't want to run it any more lol) There are plenty of people who use it daily. I don't really trust "there are other places to chat about music" arguments because places like Reddit and Discord operate in very different ways with very different people. Many of us make a conscious effort to avoid Reddit for these reasons. WATMM is unique in this way.

Yeah ngl I'm saddened by this development but it is what it is.  I never touched social media so for years now this site has been one of my few online "homes," holmes.  So many lols and so much good music discovered over the years

Thank you for your hospitality!

This is a very regrettable development because the site was one of the last bastions of the Internet that had not yet been affected by strange algorithms or other political influences. Aside from one other techno forum which nearly died out several years ago this was the last forum where I was still actively involved, as other sites are not relevant to me. I think its a shame, and it feels like the end of a piece of free Internet culture with an incredibly long tradition, which I find very, very sad and deeply regrettable. While the decision is understandable, I would be happy if it were reconsidered perhaps a donation campaign could be launched, encouraging users to contribute in order to help sustain the site, rather than simply shutting it down. Beyond its musical significance, I believe the site is extremely important from both a historical perspective and as a rare example of true Internet freedom.

as much as this sounds silly, this is really sad news... I'm gonna miss it, for sure... somehow this is part of my life... 

edit: I spent more than half of my life here, come to think of it... 

let's pour one out for this guy too

  On 1/29/2025 at 5:08 PM, dr lopez said:

Let's discuss how we feel about it ending. Personally I don't think that WATMM is that dead, it has a great level of activity. Plus Autechre released like 30 hours of music this year and Aphex dropped a compliation album in December so I'm not sure I totally agree with Joyrex's assertion that the "featured" artists aren't releasing as much as they used

yeah, the ‘artists not releasing as much’ is kinda bs…but JR not wanting to fuck with the site anymore is a long time coming.

other forums for repositories of info would be worth discussing. Reddit is a fuck.

Melodies From Mars Kickstarter with all proceeds going to keeping the site alive for another few years.

Well, shit man. I love coming here and interacting with some likeminded folks. I really hope something else can come out of this

meh.

so can there be anarchy until June?

  On 1/29/2025 at 5:29 PM, DavieAddison said:

Fuck. Hopefully it keeps going in some form. This is the only site I pay for, and think is worth paying for, and I've discovered tons of great music I probably wouldn't have found otherwise. 

Same. I’m off social media and this is the only online community I still have. It’s a big part of my life, for a very good reason. Y’all are tops. 

I’ve been on the board since the Joyrex.com days. It’s a much mellower place than it was when McGriff, the Cs, Kaen and the rest were busting through drywall, but those were some hilarious times. Gonna miss the hell out of this fart chamber. 

Heat  
 

  On 1/29/2025 at 5:31 PM, species8472 said:

huge bummer. site was always a beacon in dark times. 

I guess our future is on Reddit now? I don’t know. 
 

can't help but feel this is all Richard's and BOC's fault, just release a goddamn album dudes ffs...

@Rubin FarrSAVE WATMM I BEG YOU! 

don't worry guys, xltronic is still up

huge props to Joyrex for keeping it going as long as he has. I know he dealt with a lot of annoying shit from people on here over the years, could've thrown in the towel long ago. a very respectable "quite good" toast is in order.

This is very unfortunate news. I've been visiting this site for 18 years (jfc is it really that long?) and at this point it feels like a good ole pub where you come to chill in this increasingly mad world, learn about new music, share opinions, share other forms of art and talk about it... and lols and nonsense... it's one of the last relics of the dying internet and I hope that counts for something in a case someone else picks up its administration, which I hope he/she does. I'm sure you could find a trusty bloke to carry it on, @Joyrex ? One from our midst? Please enable an option to donate via credit card already!

I going to miss this place

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And yes, it probably could still run on "autopilot", but someone would still need to be the account holder/billing contact for Invision, AdSense, PayPal, etc.

Anyone? @Rubin Farr @mcbpete @chaosmachine @Herr Jan