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Folks, this has been asked a few times, here and here for example. My feeling from both questions is that there was a lack of clear consensus on how to handle these. I'm hoping to get a definitive answer (largely due to this question which I've brought back to attention by editing it).

I think current we've all got slightly different opinions on this. I know one proposed solution was to allow identify-this-song if the correct film was listed and if some meaning behind why the OP wanted to identify the song was given.

I've no issue with the first part, but the second part just seems a little contrived. Imagine an OP posting a question saying "find me this song". We say it's off topic as there's no explanation why he's given it. He says "find me this song so I can understand the character of such and such better and why they would listen to such music". Is that really any better?

Examples of bad (but not closed) recent questions:

These questions ALL are from September 2014 onwards and none of them have been closed or provide convincing reasons as to why they should be answered.

Take even some of the better questions from this period:

Do they really provide ANY additional understanding of the movie? In both cases the answer is basically "the style of the song matches the mood of the movie/show". How is that additional analysis?

I'm just curious to know some views on this, since even if we do take the most upvoted answer(s) in the linked posts as gospel, it's clear they're not being followed.

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  • Ugh, honestly I don't understand the necessity nor relevance of this question. The top-voted answers of this question are pretty much the consensus of the community, even if it's not a hard boundary. I for one am not sure we need a poll-style question on this yet. Anyone who disagrees with the answers from the other question is free to vote/answer there respectively. A poll won't be any more definite "community decision" just because you lock it after two weeks and call it "final".
    – Napoleon Wilson Mod
    Nov 26, 2014 at 10:57
  • @NapoleonWilson: I'm hoping to get something beyond this ridiculous existing notion of "provide some meaningless reason and we'll allow it", which as stated in my question leads to silliness. It's unclear why suddenly adding some reason would make any more sense or lend any more understanding to a plot. Wanting to know why a famous piece of music, like Thus Spoke Zarathustra in 2001, is featured will in NO way provide additional information or meaning to the script or story. None. Nov 26, 2014 at 11:04
  • @NapoleonWilson: Amended with more details as to why I'm reopening this discussion. Nov 26, 2014 at 11:13
  • "will in NO way provide additional information or meaning to the script or story." - Of course it will, since it encourages answers that will. - The answers are hopefully not just "the style of the song matches the mood of the movie/show", but also "...because that and that is the mood of the song/show".
    – Napoleon Wilson Mod
    Nov 26, 2014 at 11:39
  • @NapoleonWilson: Look at the two examples I added to my question. I don't see any greater understanding of the shows/movies from them (not to mention all the poor examples of questions I've listed which, despite supposed community agreement, have remained open) Nov 26, 2014 at 11:40
  • " I don't see any greater understanding of the shows/movies from them" - I do, that's all I can say.
    – Napoleon Wilson Mod
    Nov 26, 2014 at 11:40
  • Besides that, if you think the answers on that existing meta discussion are wrong for some reasons, then that is to be adressed in that meta discussion. Being unsatisfied with the existing answer is usually not a good reason for posting duplicates. I don't want to argue here so much against/for ID-this-soundtrack, but only about the duplicate status of this meta discussion.
    – Napoleon Wilson Mod
    Nov 26, 2014 at 11:41
  • @NapoleonWilson: Take your answer to the Graduate question: its pacing and its mood were fitting to the movie. Well of course they were. That's pretty much the staple of ALL movie songs/soundtracks. Nov 26, 2014 at 11:42
  • @NapoleonWilson: I disagree. I think fresh discussions on these things are good, to avoid clutter and get a new perspective on things. Nov 26, 2014 at 11:43
  • But honestly, if you would deem those two question not a good fit for this site, I'm not in good hopes that we can reach any kind of agreement here.
    – Napoleon Wilson Mod
    Nov 26, 2014 at 11:45
  • @NapoleonWilson: I'd suggest removing all soundtrack questions and moving them to the Music Beta. Nov 26, 2014 at 11:45
  • @NapoleonWilson: Although I'd also suggest moving all WWE questions to Sports, so maybe I'm just a trouble maker :) Nov 26, 2014 at 11:46
  • "I'd suggest removing all soundtrack questions and moving them to the Music Beta" - WUT? Now I know we're not going to agree ever. (But this also sounds like a completely different meta discussion.)
    – Napoleon Wilson Mod
    Nov 26, 2014 at 11:46
  • @NapoleonWilson: I'm yet to see any soundtrack questions that provide any greater understanding of anything here. Either ban them all or migrate them. I don't mind questions about sound techniques, or why someone was chosen as the composer for a movie, or why laugh tracks are still used, or what it's called when a movie's song is heard inside the film. Nov 26, 2014 at 11:48
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    Mostly tl;dr but music beta won't accept those questions. It's not what that site is about. Nov 28, 2014 at 5:33

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I personally think that the soundtrack is an essential part of every movie or series so I would find a post with that content really great. When you think of a movie then immediately you think about its soundtrack. Those two thinks are inseparable. The only real demand that we must have from anyone asking such a question is to provide information about the movie/series and not just a song so to be able to link them together.

As for the suggestion to migrate soundtrack questions to the Music beta I have to say that this seems to me wrong. When someone asks about a soundtrack the only audience that can help him find it are those watching movies, as in order to find it you must link it to its movie. As I have said soundtrack and movies are inseparable. It seems to be very weird to exclude such questions out of a Q&A site about Movies.

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