I'm definitely in a clique, it consists of anyone who will have me.
I think part of what makes it hard is when you put time into a collab and your part is not used. I don't mind this myself because I only write lyrics, so in the end I still come out ahead because I have more material for another song somewhere down the road.
I'm sure that's not always the case with musicians because you're coming up with something to match the feel and tempo of a certain song, and then if your part isn't used in a song it's probably hard to salvage any of that work without sounding similar to the collab you tried out for.
That's probably a big reason also to gravitate towards cliques, even though the intention is never to shut out others, it's really more about being comfortable with each other and knowing who has thick or thin skin and whether the person will start a collab then disappear, etc.
It's a shame to see people leave here, especially when you're left guessing as to what was the final straw that made them leave. I know if someone joins up and isn't very patient, they might feel like they are being ignored if they don't understand the whole process. I swear it took 6 months for my 1st collab to hit the finished forum, which actually is pretty good time when you think about it, but if all you have is ONE project and you see song after song being finished ahead of your own - it probably does get to feeling like you're out of the clique.
Of course, anyone who hangs around long enough realizes that every song has it's own speed and really depends on creativity and how much "real life" interferes with projects. Seems we've all had 4,5,6 month dry spells and then suddenly we put out 4 or 5 songs in weeks(even though they may have sat for more than a year).
I need to stop talking, now I'm just rambling.
