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 (set to download a format BandCamp is ok with) & 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 #11, 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.
Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!
ReplyDeleteI can't WAIT to see if anyone here rises to the level that Tim Minchin did on this same topic!
(For those of you who don't know the reference . . . Tim Minchin spoke about the topic of guilty pleasures here -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mauSlegCuWw -- and then immediately proceeded to examine his second guilty pleasure here -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVKCHZqax84 )
Good luck!
:-)
Edric
One question: how prescriptive are you going to be about the "your" part of the challenge? I'm a little autobiography'd out after my take on the "First" challenge, and I'd like to write about someone else's guilty pleasure (possibly a fictional narrator); is that kosher?
ReplyDeleteI think it's fine as long as it's done from the POV of the person with the guilty pleasure.
DeleteQuick little note for competitors... the submission instructions mention that Soundcloud or other sharing services should be "set to download a format BandCamp is ok with". It occurs to me that if you're not using BandCamp, then you may have no idea what those formats would be. This is pretty much confirmed by the fact that I converted formats for a number of the entries in Round 1.
ReplyDeleteMP3 is NOT one of those formats. BandCamp wants something lossless, and it does the conversion to the downloader's preferred format on request. What's needed here is WAV, AIFF, or FLAC.
Now, while I don't mind occasionally transcoding your file for you, keep in mind that this CAN cause problems, especially if your MP3 has a low sample rate. Bandcamp also requires a sample rate of at least 44.1K. Less than that, and not only does your original file sound pretty bad, but the transcoded file might wind up sounding like Alvin and the Chipmunks, or maybe Barry Allen ("The Flash") on amphetamines. Then, **IF** I catch it, I have to re-sample it and re-convert it and re-upload it for Spin. If I DON'T catch it, then you'll have a very red face during the listening party.
My guilty pleasure would be enjoying that, just a little.:)