For a while it bothered me that my music-link posts on !gothindustrial@lemmy.world only got like 2-6 upvotes, maybe 10+ if it was a well-known song, and very little discussion. Then I went to look at similar communities on r$ddit, and even there, with several million users, most song posts would get a dozen or so upvotes and little if any discussion.

It makes sense if you think about it. Even if I click on a song I haven't heard before and even if I like the song, what am I gonna say? "yay I like this song"? No, that's just an upvote. More likely I have to click away to hear the song, and I never even get around to going back and upvoting. The only time I comment is if it's a song I already know and it brings back memories or controversies (and then I don't listen to the song!) And that's from someone like me, who really wants to help and promote the community.

The posts on r$ddit that got lots of dicussion were newbies who were asking questions that most experience people already knew: song reccs, or asking about controversies, or "how did you..." or "when did you first.." or "what's your favorite" etc. Then there were relevant announcements/news, video essays, and pics and memes, which often got lots of upvotes. Anyway, when I started posting on !gothindustrial@lemmy.world again, I started making non-music-link posts (cartoons, memes, images, discussions) and as expected, those got more interaction. So somehow it doesn't bother me that some of the song links I post only get 2-6 upvotes. I know that at least some people are hearing the music, or seeing the name / album cover and being aware of the artists. And plus, making all those non-music-link posts is fun!

Your situation is different, I know, bc your communities are specifically defined by being more specific than !metal@lemmy.world. There are much fewer questions or images or memes that wouldn't also apply to the general metal community. Not sure what the answer is. But I just took a look at r/heavymetal or r$ddit and even there, with 20K subscribers (2.4K "currently active"), most song-link posts get less than 5 upvotes.

[–] Blaze@piefed.zip 3 points 1 week ago

I started making non-music-link posts (cartoons, memes, images, discussions) and as expected, those got more interaction.

That reflects my experience as well. A lot of people are ready to comment, you just need to give them a space.