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Friday, January 31, 2014

SpinTunes #8: Round 1 Challenge

Missing You - Write a song to someone you miss, but can't be with anymore. (2 minute minimum) (your submission is due Sunday, February 9th 11:59PM)

- Due to some concern that the challenge is a little too soon for some who may have recently lost someone & people already looking for loopholes...I want to clarify that this challenge is meant to be pretty open.  "Can't be with" does not refer to a death.  "Someone you miss" doesn't have to be you.  As long as your singing from the POV of the person missing someone it's going to be allowed.  So fictional characters are even ok.

Submitting Entries:- Entries must be received by the given deadline. Otherwise it'll be posted as a shadow. Received means that it has to appear in my e-mail inbox by the given deadline. I will be going by the time stamp on the e-mail in my inbox. PLEASE do not wait until the last hour to send me something. If there is a blackout in your area, your computer crashes, or your dog actually eats your thumb drive...I will not care. You are allowed to send in a draft of your song early just in case something horrible happens & you miss the deadline. Then you can add polish to your song & send in a better version closer to the deadline. 1 minute late is still late, people.


- Send your file in a format that Bandcamp accepts. (.aiff, .wav or .flac) (at least 16-bit/44.1kHz) You can find the specific requirements for Bandcamp files HERE.

- Name your file the song's title, but without spaces & punctuation.

- Title of the e-mail should be the title of the Challenge & your band's name.

- Include the song lyrics in the body of the e-mail. (If your song doesn't have lyrics...consider yourself eliminated. Instrumentals can be pretty, but SpinTunes does require lyrics.)

- Include information on anyone that needs credited if you collabed with someone.

- If you have a BandCamp account, you can just send me a link to your song on BandCamp if you include all the info I mentioned above. Make sure you have it set as a free download, and have it set so that I don't have to put in an e-mail to download it if you pick this option. THIS IS THE BEST FILE SHARING OPTION!

- Other file sharing options if you need them: Sound Cloud & Drop Box. Please send an e-mail as I already stated, but with the download link if you need one of these services. Please follow directions so your file doesn't wind up in my spam or trash folder accidentally.

Side Notes:

- Remember that you are allowed to send in a little background about your song. Some people don't like to do that, and you don't have to, but if you want to write a couple sentences about your song I'll post it on the BandCamp page for people to see. Some judges will look at the lyrics & this extra info, but they aren't required to.

- If you didn't sign-up in time to compete in SpinTunes #8, you can still complete the challenge & send in a song. It'll be uploaded with the other entries as a "Shadow Song". Check the FAQ if you don't know what that means. You can even complete past challenges from previous contests.

- The only other way to get your music played at the LP is to cover "Today's The Day" by Inverse T. Clown.

- Feel free to leave any questions in the comments.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

SpinTunes #8: Profiles

Time to meet your fellow competitors!  I suggest you all test out your links to make sure they are working, and if you notice anything else that's missing or wrong just let me know.  I'll fix them as soon as I can. I accidentally mixed up my e-mail list of entries, so if your bio is missing totally & you know you sent one...just send me an e-mail.  We'll take care of it.

(Profile order is based on who sent in their entry form first.)

Edric Haleen: If you don't know about Edric by now, you're not going to find out about Edric in this bio. (But don't despair -- there's always his webpages...)




LinksWebsite

R1:  On The Matter Of Bullying (Part 3)

R2:  Born Of Hate

R3:  A Brave New World

R4:  I Wanna Go Dancing (placed 4th)



Wait What (the Band): Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti, Wait What seeks to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that they've become, which is a band from Long Beach with four members. And eight balls.



Links: YouTube

R1:  Voted Out Without You Here

R2:

R3:

R4:



Dr Lindyke: There are these two guys, see? And one of them writes words, and one of them writes music. One day the words fell in the music and couldn't get out. So instead of being properly embarrassed, the guys pretended it was on purpose and started calling themselves "a composer", using just one name just to be confusing. They could have called themselves something cool like "Reese's Peanut Butter Band", but they didn't. Their real names are Dave Leigh & William Hoover. They're not even a doctor. Sheesh

Links: Website

R1:  Why

R2:  I Hate Myself For Loving You

R3:  Voted Out A Historical Account Of The Life And Accomplishments Of Abraham Lincoln Of Which Every Word Is True I Swear

R4:  Relief (Shadow) - Gotta Pee (Parody) (Shadow)



Army Defense: The Deans of Pop, hailing from all over Minnesota and Wisconsin.





Links: Website

R1:  Phil And Don

R2:  Voted Out What Can I Do

R3:

R4:



Jailhouse Payback: Guitars, drums, a bicycle, a shotgun, and the truth.





Links: Website

R1:  Hey Eugene

R2:  Clippedcorners

R3:  Voted Out Maritime Achaeology

R4:  Back Pain (Shadow)



TurboShandy: Having competed in the past two SpinTunes as a "full band", TurboShandy are unplugging for Spintunes #8. In an effort to shake things up (and so Stu doesn't have to program drum tracks) they will be dusting off their acoustic guitars, and whatever else dusty is lying around, to bring you some acoustic punky pop.

Links: Website - @stu_hig

R1:  Torchbearer

R2:  Stoic (DQ)

R3:

R4:



Caravan Ray: Caravan Ray is a loose collective of musicians, poets and performance artists who currently reside within an old, derilict public servant in southern Queensland. He is available for parties.



Links: Website - @CaravanRay - YouTube

R1:  Missing You

R2:  Disdain In The Refrain

R3:  Deadline Victim

R4:  Pain (Shadow)



Felix Frost: I've been making amateur experimental music for about 7 years now, and only recently did it start sounding good--so bear with me. Usually, I do shiny pop sounding music with story-based lyrics and off-the-wall through composed structures. But hopefully I can restrain my avant garde impulses for the contest and make something that's not too startling this time.

Links: Website - @magicturtle643 - YouTube

R1:  Cat's Eye

R2:  Steely

R3:  Voted Out Cloudy

R4:



T.C.: Hi, I'm T.C. I've written over 600 songs and at least one of them doesn't suck. I also judged once upon a time, but don't hold that against me.




Links: Website - YouTube

R1:  Broken Mind - Will You Run Away With Me, My Love (Shadow)

R2:  Voted Out You Cheated On Me (And Now I Hate You) - The Kitchen Table (Shadow)

R3:

R4:



The Orion Sound:  Sup ma bros, ya be chillin’ wi’ the king o’ sound, biatch. Who dis be, you sayin’? Boy, youre about to find out! Ma name be Oliver Parsons and I’m up 4 spanking dem hoes left, right and cen’re. I got dis sick do on ma heyd dat makes me look like pussay magnet – and it works. I get dem bitches in ma car and show ‘em ma yootoob swag. Dey don’t know what’s hit ‘em (it’s usually ma pen15) and dem gurls (and guys when I feel like it) are just begging 4 mor’.  I not got school smarts, cuz dey is 4 nurds, but ma street cred is off da chartz. Gimme yo’ support or I’ll steal ya fuckin’ cat so I can say I got ya pussy! Also I play music.

Links:  Website@theorionsound - YouTube

R1:  Without You (A Valentines Stalker Song Sequel)

R2:  Deadline Victim

R3:

R4:



Trader Jack: blah blah blah






Links: Website - YouTube

R1:  Doom Dah

R2:  Deadline Victim

R3:  FreeYourCredit.com (M.A.C.D.) (Shadow)

R4:



Dex01: Dex has been trying to make something musical for a few years now. He'll get there eventually.





Links: Website - @dex01

R1:  Voted Out Monster

R2:

R3:

R4:



Spencer Sokol: Spencer has a few guitars and a voice, and will attempt to use them to the best of his abilities. He wants to do musical things, so he may call himself a musician. He also never realized how difficult it would be to write a bio about something he doesn't quite think he is yet.


Links: Website - @SpencerSokol - YouTube

R1:  Burdens

R2:  Deadline Victim

R3:

R4:



Ominous Ride: Despite Ominous Ride's worldwide reputation as, "A notch and three-fourths below this generation's Kiss," the truth is that OR is merely a reclusive English professor who resides with his beautiful and patient wife on the central coast of California, and who writes music to get attention from strangers. Incidentally, this comprises the better part of his social life.

Links: Website

R1:  Voted Out When I Lost You

R2:

R3:

R4:



Sara Parsons: A northern-Californian 20-something singing/songwriting lady-type human beast reluctantly coming out of contest retirement as a means of seeking distraction from her (hopefully very temporary) lapse in employment.



Links: Website - @parsons - YouTube

R1:  Guilt

R2:  Who Am I Kidding? (DQ)

R3:

R4:



Jutze: Singing folky pop songs like "I Wish Natalie Portman Was My Neighbour", "The Fault in The Fault in Our Stars" and "Laundry Day", Jutze has left marks all over the internet. His most recent project saw him release 52 52-second songs throughout 2011. For SpinTunes #8 he will now return to write somewhat longer tracks. Jutze's real name is Johannes Schult. He lives in Germany and is a fan of Roxette, Eric Bazilian, Dar Williams, Spencer Sokol, Blind Guardian, Jarrett Heather, statistics and Star Wars.

Links: Website - @schult - YouTube

R1:  Nancy (Please Don't Go)

R2:  I Hate You

R3:  Banjo (Rejected Wikipedia Edit)

R4:  The Bleeding Dragon (placed 3rd)



The Boffo Yux Dudes: Old guys who should know better. The ones your parents warned you about.The Dudes reformed in 2009, creating music new music for the confused masses. Allan Morgan and Tom Giarrosso head this version of BYD with rabid optimism that they'll be remembered for more than just all those replays on Dr. Demento. Record holder of most shadow songs submitted. Our 8th attempt at actually getting past Round 2.

Links: Website - @BoffoYuxDudes - YouTube

R1:  Voted Out Dead Wrong

R2:  Suitcase Full Of Hate (Shadow)

R3:

R4:  Is There A Doctor In The House? (Shadow) - I'm In Love With The Pain That You Give (Shadow) - Pain (Shadow) - Put The Hammer Down (Shadow) - Window Pain (Shadow)



Sid Brown: Sid dabbles in songwriting from time to time playing mostly guitar and fiddle. As of late he has kept to himself strumming in a quiet corner of North Carolina, keeping hidden so as to not melt the skulls of the innocent with his sick melodies. It is also rumored he hates the sound of his own voice. The highlight of his career was playing fiddle in a very cool cover band with Kevin Savino-Riker years ago.

Links: Website

R1:  Voted Out Who You Used To Be

R2:

R3:

R4:



Zoe Gray: Zoe is a 13 year old girl. She plays piano, guitar, and sings about almost everything that catches her fancy, from love songs dedicated to fictional characters to haunted houses to feminist rallies. Her favorite pastimes include writing poetry for chocolate, steampunkifying things, and presenting thorough research projects detailing the oncoming destruction of humanity.

Links: Website

R1:  Ginger Twins

R2:  Black With You

R3:  Voted Out The Truth About Homeschooling

R4:  Apologize (Shadow)



Jenny Katz: Daughter of a Chicago jazzman, Jenny was weaned on Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Jon Hendricks, and Astrud Gilberto. She regularly makes her teenage sons turn off the sound on the video game console so she can record in the kitchen. Her voice has been described (by her husband) as “sexy" and her songwriting has been called "a cross between Joni Mitchell and Warren Zevon.”

Links: Website

R1:  Secret Love Life

R2:  Voodoo Doll

R3:  Liars Cheats And Weasels

R4:  Clear (winner)



Ménage a Tune: Ménage a Tune is currently made up of JoAnn Abbott and Ted Kiper. She writes the songs and does lead vocals; he adds the awesome with his piano skills and editing, as well as singing. They live in Virginia, USA and have done Christian music for their church and are working on some children’s songs.

Links: Website

R1:  Voted Out The Box Feeling

R2:  Wevenge (Shadow)

R3:  A Simple Set Of Rules (Shadow)

R4:



Ross Durand: Been writing songs since I was 12, I'm older than that now. I also grew up playing french horn and writing classical music. I have a few albums on itunes. I was champion of Spintunes 6. I like cheeseburgers, pizza, and watching tennis on tv.


Links: Website - YouTube

R1:  Sitting Right Here

R2:  Sometimes

R3:  Voted Out How To Write A Hit Song

R4:



Governing Dynamics: Governing Dynamics is a one man alt-rock "band" from Independence, MO. GD's music has been described as "creamy" by weirdos, and reminiscent of Radiohead, Counting Crows, The Pixies, The Replacements, and other cool bands by people who were being too kind.


Links: Website - @governingdmusic

R1:  Song To Stay Awake (700 Miles)

R2:  Trump Card

R3:  Voted Out Because

R4:  Girl Is A Ghost (Shadow)



Brian Gray: Singer. Songwriter. Monotreme.






Links: Website - @BrianGrayMusic

R1:  The Child I Left Behind

R2:  Stupid Face

R3:  Deadline Victim

R4:



Ryan M. Brewer: Ryan M. Brewer is a singer/songwriter from Indianapolis, Indiana. A relentless performer, Brewer has played 130+ shows in the short 2 years since the launch of his solo career. He has toured the nation from New York to L.A., and Milwaukee to Austin. He continues to tour regularly and the follow up to his debut self-titled album is due for release later this year.

Links: Website - @ryanmbrewer - YouTube

R1:  Burn Out Or Fade Away (PSH)

R2:  Fear [Of Failure] And [Self] Loathing In Las Vegas

R3:  Jesus Christ's Biographer Gives A Guest Lecture

R4:  Christ Speaks (runner up)



James Young: I am a UK-based amateur songwriter and home recording enthusiast. I also do vocals, guitar, bass & occasional drums with rock trio AvidFan.




Links: Website - @avidfanman

R1:  Never Coming Home

R2:  Voted Out I Hate You

R3:

R4:



Hudson And Day: Each year on a lush tropical paradise rife with intrigue; glittering celebrities, fashionistas, noted entertainment moguls, titans of industry, and the aliens meet in SECRET at an exclusive resort to determine ALL of next season’s #HotTrendz. But you won’t find Hudson and Day there among the elite in government, media, and stealth orthodontics THIS time. Nope. WE bailed to party HERE. Hope you’re happy. We could have been in a hottie filled jacuzzi sipping perrier-jouet! No. Thank YOU.

Links: Website - @HudsonandDay - YouTube

R1:  Voted Out I Tried, Okay

R2:

R3:

R4:



Heather Miller:  I picked up a loaner guitar and Easy Beatles Songbook in 2001, taught myself a few chords and kicked around with songwriting off and on for a bit. A radio show, some songwriting contests, folk festivals, and a songwriting certificate later, I decided to stop kidding myself and take my dreams seriously. So in 2011, I sold my car, moved to Austin to study at Rubicon Artist Development, played 157 open mics and showcases, and recorded an EP called Anchor (the title track started out as a SpinTunes entry!) that is due out this summer. I'm now back in Iowa, ready for the next chapter in my musical journey!

LinksWebsite - @humsongs - YouTube Channel

R1:  Deadline Victim Greatest Generation (Shadow)

R2:  You Make Me (Shadow)

R3:

R4:



Taylor R: I’ve been making music since I started competing in the February Album Writing Month challenge in 2010. I am a fairly average bedroom musician who writes all sorts of things, all vaguely in the school of pop and rock, usually featuring guitars and occasionally featuring pianos.


Links:

R1:  Voted Out Missing You

R2:

R3:

R4:



Adam Sakellarides: As a native southern-Californian and former band geek, Adam started writing songs on an old guitar from the 70s that his parents won in a raffle. He was raised on Weird Al, Barenaked Ladies, Jonathan Coulton, and robbery. Although he's a nerd at heart, he's relatively comfortable onstage. Song subjects include astronomy, zombies, math, aliens, language, martian rovers, socially awkward people, and other things.

Links: Website - @AdamSounds - YouTube

R1:  Right Place, Wrong Time (The Time Traveller)

R2:  Damn You

R3:  Voted Out Why The Sky Is Blue

R4:



SHADOWS





To Dust by @suspiciousden (profile not available)
Change by Red Watcher (profile not available)




Andy Glover: Hi, I’m Andy. I started playing acoustic guitar at the tender age of 13 and never really stopped. I got my start in songwriting after friends I’d made on youtube encouraged me to start writing my own songs rather than just posting covers. I’m a somewhat “spiritual” fellow, and I enjoy writing songs about the great unknown. And love songs. Those too. I hope some day to turn the touring musician life into a financially viable profession. I’m an avid concert goer and adore the Seattle folk scene.

LinksWebsite - @andyglover - YouTube

R1:  What's Making Me Sad (Shadow)

R2:

R3:

R4:



Glen Raphael: is a Manhattan-based singer-songwriter whose songs combine humor, love, and a nerdy modern sensibility. Glen regularly appears at The Bitter End and other venues to play songs on such diverse topics as quantum physics, bedbugs, and the Statue of Liberty's mid-life crisis. Glen has won Best Original Song awards at NCSA events and is the current organizer of the New York City Folk Music Meetup.

LinksWebsite - @glenraphael - YouTube

R1:  Hangnail (Shadow)

R2:

R3:

R4:

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

SpinTunes #8: Sign Up Page

It's time for SpinTunes #8. The rules are in place. New judges are...well...I'm working on it.  But they will be working on the challenges soon. Now it's time to see who's going to be competing in our 8th contest.

I will need everyone who wants to participate to copy & paste the following text into their e-mail. Fill in the needed info, and then e-mail it to me at the address I provided below. Make sure you put "Spintown Contest" as the subject of the e-mail so I don't think it's spam. Also use an e-mail that I can reach you at if need be. Don't panic if you don't get a confirmation e-mail immediately after signing up. I'll message you back within 24 hours of getting your e-mail.


 
I _____________ give Travis Langworthy permission to upload any music I submit into his contest onto his blog (Spintown) & bandcamp. I realize it will become part of an album consisting of numerous other artists, and that it will be available for anyone to download for free. I also promise to give my very best effort in each round to complete the challenges. Providing NEW songs that have not been released before in any form. I also agree that anything that goes wrong during this competition is Heather's fault.
Name: (The name you or your group wants to be referred to during the competition.)
Bio: (Give a brief description of your group/music/history in 500 CHARACTERS or less. I know it's brief, but it's more than Twitter allows. :p Besides, links to your sites will be provided if people want to learn more about you. No URL’s or links will be allowed in the bio section.)
Twitter: (If you got one & want to share. *optional* If there's multiple accounts for multiple band members that's fine.)
YouTube: (If you got one & want to share. *optional*)
Band Website: (If it's different than either of the above. *optional*)
Pictures: (I need a band picture or logo. The image should be 100x100, and if it's not I'll do my best to make it so. Don't forget to actually attach the picture.)

Judges:
Here's a list of the people that will be making the challenges, reviewing your work & of course voting on the songs:
1.  Daniel Calwell
2.  Katharina Bordet

3.  Joe "Covenant" Lamb
4.  David Ritter
5.  Paul Potts

Schedule:
Sign ups will last until January 29th 11:59PM (W).

The first challenge will be posted January 31th 1AM (F).

My best guess as to what the whole schedule will look like can be found HERE.
 


Tuesday, January 14, 2014

SpinTunes #8: Schedule

This schedule is a bit flexible, but it's my goal to stick to it. If there are any changes made to the schedule, I'll mention it in a blog post & on the @SpinTunes Twitter account.

This schedule is in Cincinnati time. Don't know the time in Cincinnati? Google is your friend....and I usually keep a timer counting down for the important deadlines. You can find a link to that timer right under the SpinTunes banner up above when I remember to update it.

January 14th (T) - Sign ups start.

January 29th 11:59PM (W) - Sign ups end.

January 30th (R) - Profiles get posted.

January 31th 1AM (F) - First challenge is announced.

February 9th 11:59PM (Sun) - First song deadline.

February 10th 8PM (Mon) - Listening party will be held HERE, and hosted by Tom.

February 11th (T) - Songs are made available for free download on BandCamp.

*During this gap:
- judges will rank the songs
- judges will review the songs*

February 15th before noon (Sat) - Judges reviews are due.

February 15th before 11PM (Sat) - Reviews & Eliminations are posted.

February 16th 1AM (Sun) - Second challenge is announced.

February 23rd 11:59PM (Sun) - Second song deadline.

February 24th 8PM (M) - Listening party will be held HERE, and hosted by Tom.

February 25th (T) - Songs are made available for free download on BandCamp.

*During this gap:
- judges will rank the songs
- judges will review the songs*

March 1st before noon (Sat) - Judges reviews are due.

March 1st before 11PM (Sat) - Reviews & Eliminations are posted.

March 2nd 1AM (Sun) - Third challenge is announced.

March 9th 11:59PM (Sun) - Third song deadline.

March 10th 8PM (M) - Listening party will be held HERE, and hosted by Tom.

March 11th (T) - Songs are made available for free download on BandCamp.

*During this gap:
- judges will rank the songs
- judges will review the songs*

March 14th before 11PM (F) - Judges reviews are due.

March 15th before 11PM (Sat) - Reviews & Eliminations are posted.

March 16th 1AM (Sun) - Final challenge is announced.

March 23rd 11:59PM (Sun) - Final song deadline.

March 24th 8PM (M) - Listening party will be held HERE, and hosted by Tom.

March 25th (T) - Songs are made available for free download on BandCamp.

*During this gap:
- previously eliminated competitors will rank the songs
- judges will rank the songs
- judges will review the songs*

March 28th 6PM (F) - Judges reviews are due.
- Eliminated competitors rankings are due.

March 29th (Sat) - Reviews are posted & the winner is announced.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

SpinTunes #8: Official Rules

If something is confusing, needs clarification, if you just think I made a mistake or forgot something feel free to mention your concern in the comments below. It will be addressed in good time.

Schedule:
The schedule will be similar to past contests. There will be 4 rounds. You will have 8-11 days to write, record & send in your song. There will be a short break between each round. During this time the song will be voted on, reviewed & prep for the next round will be made. For more info click: HERE.

Judges Voting:
There will be 5 judges who are not participating in the contest, but will be allowed to shadow. Each round they will individually rate all the songs from favorite to least favorite. Then the judges scores will be posted & added up. Here's an example of what the judges scoring would look like:

 

Popular Vote:
There will continue to be a popular vote in the sidebar, but in this tournament the popular vote will ONLY be a tiebreaker if the judges scores are tied.

Eliminations:
Each round people will be eliminated from the competition. The number of eliminations each round will not be known until after the round 1 songs are turned in. I want the number of people eliminated in rounds 1-3 to be the same (or close to the same), and 4 people left for the final round. So if 25 people submit songs for round 1: 7 people would be eliminated in round 1, 2 & 3....leaving 4 people in the final round. More details to be posted when the round 1 deadline has passed.

This is not a head to head contest, each round the competitors with the lowest vote totals are eliminated. After the eliminations all the point totals goes back to 0. You don't get to keep points from previous rounds.

Ties are settled by a popular vote in the form of a poll I'll start for each round. If somehow that is a tie as well, the point totals from the previous round will decide the winner. If by some miracle everything is tied, the final deciding factor is me.

Final Round:
In the last round, everyone who has been eliminated (who also submitted at least 1 song) will be allowed to rank the songs. This round the judges have no say in matters, but they will still be required to review each song. Rules for a tie are altered just a bit. Popular vote is the first deciding factor, then the judges, and then I am the last deciding factor.

Challenges:
The challenges will be similar to the old Song Fu & "Non Optional" Nur Ein challenges. If you go through the old challenges you'll see that they could be anything. You could be given a theme, restrictions, a technical challenge and hopefully you're forced to do things you've never done before. The challenges will be created by myself & the other judges before the contest even starts.

Submitting Entries:
- Entries must be received by the given deadline. Otherwise it'll be posted as a shadow. Received means that it has to appear in my e-mail inbox by the given deadline. I will be going by the time stamp on the e-mail in my inbox. PLEASE do not wait until the last hour to send me something. If there is a blackout in your area, your computer crashes, or your dog actually eats your thumb drive...I will not care. You are allowed to send in a draft of your song early just in case something horrible happens & you miss the deadline. Then you can add polish to your song & send in a better version closer to the deadline. 1 minute late is still late people.



- Send your file in a format that Bandcamp accepts. (.aiff, .wav or .flac) (at least 16-bit/44.1kHz) You can find the specific requirements for Bandcamp files HERE. You do not need to send in MP3's.
- Name your file the song's title, but without spaces & punctuation.
- Title of the e-mail should be the title of the Challenge & your band's name.
- Include the song lyrics in the body of the e-mail. (If your song doesn't have lyrics...consider yourself eliminated. Instrumentals can be pretty, but SpinTunes does require lyrics.)
- Include information on anyone that needs credited if you collabed with someone.
- File sharing options if you need them: YouSendIt, Sound Cloud,& Drop Box. Please send an e-mail as I already stated, but with the download link if you need one of these services. Please follow directions so your file doesn't wind up in my spam or trash folder accidentally.
- If you have a BandCamp account, you can just send me a link to your song on BandCamp if you include all the info I mentioned above. Make sure you have it set as a free download, and have it set so that I don't have to put in an e-mail to download it if you pick this option. THIS IS THE BEST FILE SHARING OPTION!

Hosting:
Each round I'll be uploading the songs onto BandCamp as an album. The songs will be set for free download only. BandCamp makes it easy to download songs, you can share 1 song individually or the album as a whole.

If you want to be entered into the contest, your song must be on the album & made available to everyone for free. Otherwise you are DQed from the contest.

Prize:
I didn't plan on there being a prize. No trophy. No cash. I’ll be happy to mail you a t-shirt that says you’re the new champion, but the real prize is knowing you won & the music itself. If you need gifts & thousands of fans to motivate you to write songs in this competiton...it ain't for you.

The winner will be allowed to be a judge in the next competition, unless they wish to compete.

Listening Party:
Tom Giarrosso will be hosting the listening party for each round (he will also help with uploading). Hopefully we can all get together in one virtual place while the songs are played for the very first time for people.

Meet The Judges:
Here's a list of the people that will be making the challenges, reviewing your work & of course voting on the songs:

1.  Daniel Calwell
2.  Katharina Bordet
3.  Joe "Covenant" Lamb
4.  David Ritter
5.  Paul Potts

  

* I am the alternate judge. If a judge is unable to do his/her job, I'll step in and take over. If the judge has to withdraw from the contest totally, I'll fill in until I can find a replacement. If I happen to have a guest judge lined up already, there will be no need for me to step in as alternate. (Buck stops with me, but then I blame Heather.)
* There could be "Guest Judges" who drop by from time to time. A guest judge has to be approved by me ahead of time. I'm not promising anything, but if I can swing something cool for you all I want to leave that open as a possibility. When a guest judge ranks & reviews a round, it does count toward the scores for the round. If a song is disqualified by the regular judges, the guest judge's rankings will be edited to stay in line with the judges decision. There will be 1 or 2 guest judges each round if I can swing it. No promises though.

Judge Responsibilities:
- Reviewing entries each round. Shadow entries don't have to be reviewed, but it would be nice if you found the time. You can type up your review or you can vlog it on YouTube. If you decide to vlog your review on YouTube, it needs to be kept private until after I post the reviews on the blog.
- Making the challenges via a super secret website I set up.
- After the songs get posted each round the judges will be allowed to post their thoughts on who failed to met the challenge. (in the super secret location) 48 hours after the songs get posted we need to have a decision on what songs did or didn't meet the challenge. If you don't speak up in that window of time you'll have to live with a decision I make on my own.

Any judge who does not go along with a decision about a DQ will not have their rankings count for that particular round. However I will post any reviews they provide. Hopefully this does not happen again.

Twitter:
For those of you that don't want to check this blog every day, but also use Twitter, I'll be posting updates on Twitter as well. @SpinTunes was created just for this contest. You can unfollow it right after the contest if you want, my ego can take it. There is a Twitter list that includes all the judges & competitors (SpinTunes List). Well, at least all the ones I know that are on Twitter.

Song Sharing:
You are allowed to share your songs before the LP. In my opinion the songs will be better if you can go to another musician in this contest, share what you've got & get feedback. So if you want to share with a few friends or fellow competitors before the listening party feel free to do so.

However...

I would prefer it if you kept it low key, and not pimp it all over the net (via Twitter, YouTube, etc...) until after the LP, but that's up to you as well. It does take a little excitement away from the LP if people have already heard the songs. Common sense. Just don't try to get feedback from a judge, or from me since I'm an alternate.

Rerecording & Remixes:
In previous contests some people sent their song in ON TIME, but then after the deadline wanted me to post an updated version onto the album (they added bells & whistles). My response to that is ok, BUT you will be judged by what you turned in before the deadline. So anyone who decides they want to make a better mix of their song, and have it replace the one they sent before...that's fine. Send me the info, and I'll switch the files out. I might not do it instantly, but it will be done. Now I'm not going to have someone send me a new mix every month because they like remixing their own stuff all the time, but I'll allow 1 update of each song down the road. These songs are something you should be proud of, and some people are bugged by not being able to add everything they want in that small window I give them...so hopefully this helps...while still being fair.

In the end, album order is determined by how you scored in the round. But until the judges have scored the round, album order is originally determined by submission order. Your order on the album will change if you send in an updated file.

Multiple Songs:
You can enter 1 song each round until you are eliminated. There is no limit on how many shadow songs you can enter each round though. If you are still in the contest & have multiple songs you wish to enter, you just have to pick 1 song to be your official entry, while the other is listed as a shadow song.

You are not allowed to enter the contest as a part of more than 1 group. So if you enter as yourself, you will not be allowed to enter again as a part of another band

Wrap Up:
I will once again be busy with work & other responsibilities. I will enlist the help of judges & a few other trusted members of our community to help out from time to time. Don't be shocked if someone other than myself responds to you via one of the SpinTunes social media outlets.

Banned Individuals:
If someone is banned from SpinTunes it means they are banned from competing, shadowing, judging, & all the social parts of SpinTunes I administrate. They are also not allowed to collaborate on songs.  Anyone collaborating with a banned individual will be DQ'ed from the round & their song will not be played at the LP or put on the album.