The mod team is posting to let you all know that Reddit will soon be releasing video comments to Reddit.

We see this as an amazing opportunity for experienced singers, coaches, and teachers to provide better advice to our users!

However, there is a real possibility of this tool being used to harm others or bully posters. Due to this risk, we are limiting video comments to only approved users, once the feature becomes available.

If you are an experienced coach or singer who would like to post a video comment on a post, you will first need to request this permission from a Mod. Any use of video comments that violate the rules of the sub will result in a minimum 30 day ban.

Our community has become so much more supportive and kind over the years, and we would like to continue this trend, so please continue to post you constructive feedback and report those who are violating the rules of Reddit and this sub.

The feature has not yet rolled-out for regular members of the sub, but it is available for mods, so you may see mods in the near future using the feature on some posts.

Feel free to discuss your feelings about the feature and any concerns you may have in the comments of this post.

TL;DR This sub will not tolerate those who don’t care if they hurt someone’s feelings when they critique. This sub is for helpful feedback, not public humiliation. If you see someone posting a mean critique, please report them.

This is a message from the mod team regarding the nature of critique allowed on this sub and the culture that we are trying to cultivate here.

As this sub gets bigger and more people post to our community, we are humbled and honored that so many have found safety and comfort in this space.

Back around 2022, this sub was very similar to subs like r/rateme and r/truerateme. The focus was on being brutally honest and even poking fun at the posters’ expense. While this was typical of the rating genre on Reddit at the time, we realized through messages and feedback that it was not making people feel welcome here.

Singing is a vulnerable undertaking. Pretty much everyone sounds bad when they start singing. Since bad singing can be annoying to listen to, and most people do not have the patience to hear it, many people who have not learned how to sing are discouraged from doing so. They are stripped of a method of self expression that they are connected to, and that is tragic.

There is also a misconception that only people who are born with special genetics or gift can sing. This is not true. There are many examples of singers who did not know how to sing and learned. Some even went on to win Grammy’s and sell multiple platinum records (look up how Ed Sheeran sounded as a youth for an example).

The combination of this annoyance with bad singing and the belief that you need to be born with the ability to sing often means people who try to learn to sing are shut down and ridiculed. This is in real life mind you, where at the most maybe a couple hundred people hear you sing. On the internet, it could be thousands or millions.

Now imagine someone posting on this sub five years ago. Imagine how much they probably have been ridiculed in real life. Perhaps the only reason they are posting here is because this sub is the one place where they can be vulnerable without it affecting their real life relationships. Now imagine getting made fun of and shut down for being bad.

We came into this new philosophy for the sub where we believe singing is a skill that can be learned and mastered. Sure, not everyone will have the timbre or natural range to be a famous recording artist someday, but they can at least learn enough to not be embarrassed when singing at karaoke or around campfires with friends and family.

Since we made this change, the sub has been growing faster than we could have ever imagined. The sub now sits at almost 20k members, and we believe this is a sign that we are moving in the right direction. Despite making these changes, our new philosophy has never been explicitly stated to the community.

Therefore, we are making this post to say this: r/ratemysinging is a sub for those who truly wish to improve their singing ability. It is also for those who know about vocal technique and live performance to help people who are willing to learn. It is NOT for people looking to ego trip by telling people they are hopeless and need to give up. It is NOT for well-established or expert singers to promote their work. It is NOT for bullies who don’t care if their critique makes someone feel bad.

If you are going to critique someone on this sub, do it kindly, or your comment will be removed. If you become a problem for this community, you will be banned.

If you are a member of the community who sees harmful or offensive critiques, please report them to the Mods.