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Originally Posted by ben willis
I couldn't find a way to switch genres' in the edit section. I originally chose "acoustic" before I found that they had a "singer/songwriter" genre.
It really doesn't matter much because my submitions would fit both, but I would prefer "singer/songwriter". Ben

Ben,
I see what you mean! Maybe open a "ticket" with their techhelp support and ask what their policy is about changing your Channel after you've entered your songs into live contests. Perhaps they'll allow a change on a "per request" basis, or maybe it's closed for the whole month.

I know you can ask for your song listing to be removed, and then simply upload it again into a different channel. That will work because I've already explored that option, but maybe they'll eventually give us a simpler, more direct option.

Best regards,
Michael


There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself. -- Johann Sebastian Bach

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What bit rate can you upload in? I'm on dialup and uploading or listening to streams in high quality is almost impossible.


The more you taste the bitterness of defeat, the sweeter final victory will be

May the flowers of love forever bloom in your garden of life

http://www.soundclick.com/newsflashsounds

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I was able to join, upload music, etc., but had trouble getting the banner over to my myspace site. Has this been an issue?

Anyways, this is pretty cool!

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I also can't find a way to remove a song that I submitted. You can remove it from competition but not from the site. I submitted the wrong version of a song so I had to remove it from competition and upload the prefered version and start all over.
I sent them an e-mail about this. Ben

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I am a musician who is admittedly horrible at classifying my own songs. I write different styles, but songs take on their own lives while being written. Once it's done, I usually wonder what it is.

Lately I see more and more genres, making it more--not less--confusing.

I do like how Our Stage defines their categories in the FAQ section.

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Hi there,

Daniel Palmer here from OurStage. Thanks for the great channel suggestions. I'm sold on all the music ones. But you called it as the traffic/demand increases we'll respond. Since I've joined the team we split out Alt. Rock/Indie into separate channels, added Americana/Alt. Country, Christian/Spiritual (hugely active), Emo and we're gearing up to overhaul the hip/hop channels. So we're definitely active on this front. FYI, I've logged your channel suggetions in the same place we log suggestions from OurStage members who send us similar suggestions through our customer service email.

So, when's the award show? I'm there! Stop by my OurStage profile and say hi anytime: http://www.ourstage.com/fanclub/dannyjames

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The way I did was I went to OurStage, MyProfile. I clicked Banners and copied the HTML embed code. Then I went to MySpace and edited in "Safe Mode" and updated the MY BIO section with the copied HTML code. That seemed to work for me.

Check out my MySpace page for a sample: http://www.myspace.com/danielpalmer. My banner is there. Message me if you still have troubles. Banners are great promo tool for you (and they look super cool, I think)

-Daniel

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Ben,

Thanks for sending this to our Customer Service. We have a process to handle this, but I'd be interested in your feedback. Let me know at http://www.ourstage.com/fanclub/dannyjames

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Hey Mark! Thanks for Kudos on the category definition. We spent a lot of time on it, but can always be refined. In terms of categorization, this is really a tricky one. Option A, we do it for you, Option B, you do it and we move you to a new category (or suggest you move your song to a more appropriate category). We choose B because of resource, time and actually we've found improved community involvement when suggestions about off topic songs are sent to us and we take action. For now we're continuing the program of the community helping us to manage content. So go ahead and put your song where you think it belongs. The community will help us to decide! Thanks again for being on OurStage.

-Daniel Palmer

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Originally Posted by dannyjames
Hey Mark! Thanks for Kudos on the category definition. We spent a lot of time on it, but can always be refined. In terms of categorization, this is really a tricky one. Option A, we do it for you, Option B, you do it and we move you to a new category (or suggest you move your song to a more appropriate category). We choose B because of resource, time and actually we've found improved community involvement when suggestions about off topic songs are sent to us and we take action. For now we're continuing the program of the community helping us to manage content. So go ahead and put your song where you think it belongs. The community will help us to decide! Thanks again for being on OurStage.

-Daniel Palmer
Nice to meet you, Danny!

Option A sounds nearly impossible for you to manage...some songs need a fairly long listen before you can call it properly...and you have how many thousand rolling in each month?

If I catch your meaning about Option B, you simply wait for someone judging it to flag it? So a song placed in the wrong category could conceivably remain there, right?

I actually DID misplace the first song I uploaded, into Alt Country before I noticed you did indeed have a place for "classic" country. Let's see what happens... smile

One thing, I wish there was a good way to see the overview of current rankings in each chart without seeing only 10 at a time and having to scroll scroll scroll.

I'm sure you will continue to improve, but I am grateful to find an exceptionally cool concept...I've been telling all my friends. Good luck on a great venture!

-Mark

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Thanks Daniel, I just got a response from Bonnie.
She says that for security reasons that there is currently no way to remove a mistaken upload from your home page, but to send an e-mail with the title of the song and they will remove it for me. Thanks, Ben

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Thanks Mark. Please keep the feedback coming!!

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Hi Danny!
Nice to meet you and glad to see you visiting our little "water hole" here at JPF. I know you'll be busy with your main job at OurStage, but thanks for dropping in and "checking" with us once in a while. Glad to hear about all the great plans you've got in the works at OurStage and with JPF!

Best regards,
Michael


There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself. -- Johann Sebastian Bach

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We might also be able to distinguish JPF member votes from other OurStage community votes as a way to see how the community viewed the tracks compared to JPF members.

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I like the idea of lists too. Just HTML with links to the songs and comments if any. Thanks Mark!

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Send me a link to your profile. I'd love to hear your track on OurStage!

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Thanks for supporting the artists with purchased downloads. Its not the biggest part of the site (YET). But it will get more attention in the coming days. We have a great demo of mature music fans, our artists range in age (Something Behind, the #2 Jan. finals) are teens from Sweden. More categories are in store. But thank you for flagging the off topic content. Flagged content will be withdrawn from the wrong channels.

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That's a great idea. Tagging is something we could potentially use on OurStage as well. Very common now out on the Web.

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Danny,

I suggest that you quote the stuff you're replying to so we know what it is. As it is now, your responses are stacking up but it's impossible to know what you are replying to. = ) Are you able to read your responses? They're on page 2 of the post.

Brian


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I decided to join and I added "There's A Drought Going On" to the February contest. I thought I would start out last with nowhere to go but up, but actually I am 261/262 (?). And I realized that I could go lower, if others entered and leap frog me!

I only did one judging round and my impression was -- wow! you had better have a top notch demo if you plan to go anywhere. I am going to re-record that tune anyway and I need to upload a higher quality sample. That's for next month. This month, I'll just hang out and watch what goes on.

Kevin

I guess my home page is: www.ourstage.com/profile/kevinemmrich

Last edited by Kevin Emmrich; 02/09/08 02:20 PM.

"Good science comes in peer reviewed journals. Conspiracy theories come in YouTube videos. "
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Is it possible to track and view how many times any particular song has been judged? That would be interesting.

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I love this idea. I want to automate the process as much as possible. Community ears are great, but a combo of tags + votes would be cool as well. The issue is we HAVE to get stuff out of the channels if they are off topic ASAP, else the judging quickly loses appeal. We've been aggressive about it this month and have noticed significant increase in battles judged. So I think for the short term ears and engagement are what will work best. Longer term we could move to a model you suggested.

-Daniel

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Danny... told ya so! = )


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"Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney

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I just want to say I've been listening to some of the songs in a few catagories- two at a time is cool- and having a lot of fun choosing (judging) one and moving on. It's quick and easy. But it's totally random how the songs come up, right? I haven't seen anyone that I recognize from here pop up yet, though I do read the names of each song! Oh well...maybe on the next turn... smile


A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write,
if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be,
he must be. -- Abraham Maslow, American Psychologist
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Originally Posted by dannyjames
The issue is we HAVE to get stuff out of the channels if they are off topic ASAP, else the judging quickly loses appeal.
-Daniel

Daniel,
Here's a possible solution for your consideration.
Maybe you can create a "Wild Card" Channel to resolve the "Off Topic" problem.
Here's how it would work:

If artists choose to place their song in this channel, then it's up to the judges (voters) to decide which channel it SHOULD belong in. A simple majority (vote count) "rules" and automatically moves that track into the voted channel.

This would also work as a "catch all" for tracks that get kicked out of a channel because they are truly "OFF TOPIC"! (For example, finding Hip-Hop tracks in the World channel)

Once a track gets entered (by artists) or moved (by judges) into the "Wild Card" channel, it becomes open game for judges to suggest (by vote) which channel to move it too. The Wild Card channel could also attract judges & fans that might enjoy hearing more variety while also having the "power" to help move songs into the most appropriate channels.

Some "Wild Card" guidelines:
It might take at least 3 votes (from 3 diff. judges) to move a song OUT of an inappropriate channel. That will probably happen quickly in the case of obvious Off Topic violations. Once a song has been moved to an appropriate channel it can stay their unless at least 4 judges (voters) move it into a better channel, but that's less likely to happen after the first major "move".

My guess is that within the first few days of each contest round, ALL songs will have been properly "channeled" (i.e. placed in the right channel) and there will be no "orphaned" or "off topic" songs left on any channel. Problem solved!

Bottom line... I think moving a song to a more appropriate channel is a better idea then deleting or removing songs from a contest because of "poor judgement" on the part of competing artists. Let all songs compete, but let them get MOVED into the right channel (as needed) by the judges.

I have some songs that are a "fusion" of several styles, so I would rather enter them in a Wild Card channel and let the judges (voters/fans) decide which channel to move them to. In the end, it's still the same song, so I don't mind which channel it ends up in as long as the judges like my music!

To mind comes a classic JPF judging guideline... "Vote for the songs that move you"!
Michael


There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself. -- Johann Sebastian Bach

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Hey, Hey... my song "These Old Shoes" is at #72 out of 572 in Singer/Songwriter. I entered it three days ago. Hope it makes it down to #42* at least. Ben

*(inside joke)

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Hey Ben, you're beating me.....No 184 out of 446 on the Soul/R and B. Race you to the top......

cheers, niteshift

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I'm down to #47

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Went back up to #91, oh well, it was nice to get in the top 10% for a while but it is only the 11th of the month. We have a long way to go.
I would imagine that OurStage has experienced a good number of submissions and overall traffic since their JPF sponsorship started. That's what it's all about. Ben

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Just listened to "These Old Shoes". Trust me, 104 in S/S is a REALLY good showing. That's a heavily used channel. Keep the faith. We've got a ways to go before quarters! Great tune, btw.

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Hi Danny

It's great to see you over here. I participated on Our Stage last year and really love the site. It's fun, beneficial and looks great as well.

I have a song up now in the Jazz category. Wrote & produced. My song is more Fusion. I think a "Fusion" category would be cool. It's a combo of course mainly Jazz/Rock/Funk etc...

You can check out the song here if you feel like it...

"What U Betta Do"
http://www.ourstage.com/music/channel/20-jazz/UFXYHGINCZHM-what-u-betta-do


Thanks!
Peace Mike
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Some folk will do anything for $5000. LOL

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Danny, I was one of the folks who visited your site at Brian's request.

One comment I made to him, which bears repeating I think, is that you don't want to parse the categories too finely. Using Soundclick as an example, they have IMO far too many categories.

I'm a simple guy and feel too much choice overwhelms people....and when you get place such fine distinctions on categories, both users and listeners will begin disagreeing because "it is definitely not alt country hip hop swing"...

I liked the managable number of categories. Makes it easy to use.

For what it's worth smile

And I wish you the best with your well thought out and well executed plans.



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I think the key is the quality of category designations/placements more than the number. We have 81 genres in the JPF awards (may have more depending on this year's entries) but we do that because we have so much quality music, we can easily find 12-20 nominees in a distinct category that deserve recognition. However, if you can't fill a category up with quality entries, I think you're better served to broaden the category to include other sub categories and then define it that way. (i.e. putting all Jazz together instead of smooth jazz, fusion, traditional jazz, instrumental jazz, acoustic jazz etc..).

It's clear Danny is interested and open to improve where possible. He's also got to balance that with not trying to please every single person which is impossible. By merely pleasing one person, that in itself will often displease someone else. You've got to simply have sound backing for what you do and then push forward. Hopefully you can bring the others to your way of thinking. I know I've done a lot of that with JPF.. and I know a lot of folks will never come around. If I waited to please them, nothing would ever get done and we'd all lose.

It's always a balancing game.

Brian


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RE: Mike's post on "Fusion" I'll share with you plans for March.

1. Folk (no amplification allowed)

Changes to Hip Hop
2. Club/Dance (Soulja Boy, T-Pain, Akon, Rhianna, etc..)
3. Hip-Hop (Talib Kweli, Common, Gangstarr, Krs-1, Oh No, Pete Rock, Dilated Peoples)
4. Rap (instead of Gangsta) (Ludacris, Jay-Z, Snoop, Game, 50)
5. Alt. Hip-Hop (Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz, Dr. Octagon)

Changes to Metal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_metal (yes, it's real, big and important to distinguish in the metal community)

I may have to add Alternative to Alt. Rock so bands with a more pop/rock sound would fit. I'm not sure I'm ready for Fusion or Progressive but it's been discussed. Lastly, Singer/Songwriter needs to be more strict. No bands. And yes, you should have written some part of the tune wink.

This are the plans right now at least. Like your tunes Mike. Alas a fusion category would be an ideal placement.

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Re: Brian's comment on "people pleasing"

I just realized that I'm in the wrong line of work wink

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I disagree Brian. None but the most educated\discriminating will have any idea what the differences are when you parse things too finely....

It could also lead to "gaming". Given a choice, and the flexibility, what would prevent one from shifting their entry into a "similar" but less crowded category??

But my main argument is still, keep it simple and managable...do not overwhelm people with options.



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It all depends on the size of entrants in each category. Sub categories should be used to make categories with roughtly the same amount of songs.

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John,

I have no idea what you're disagreeing with? My comment that the quality of the categorization is more important than adding more categories? If so, you seem to be disagreeing with yourself. Perhaps you didn't read my post in context.

Brian


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I'd like to see the Jazz category split into "Smooth Jazz" and "Acoustic Jazz". There would still probably be some crossover, but this would at least separate the guys recording jazz trios from the more sample-based or electric productions.

My smooth jazz tune, "I Remember Your Smile", is now down to #31. smile


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smile Brian...I guess I misunderstood your comment. I guess it was because you mentioned 81 categories in the JPF awards...blame it on my main attention being elesewheree these days

Ciao



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It seems they require uploads to be 256 bit quality, a bit much for someone on dialup.


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Hi Everett,

We suggest highest quality possible, but we don't require 256 bit quality, though it's in your best interest to sound as good as possible.

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I'm definitely a little disappointed at how one of my songs is doing... "Warhead" - it was hovering around 50-60 in electronic and has now dropped to 174. This is a pretty popular track from my recent album and is actually getting radio airplay on some major Toronto/Ottawa radio stations (not internet radio, real radio) - so I'm confused as to why it's doing so poorly.

I also really think more needs to be done about miscategorized songs. Once again, the World category is hurting. I listened to the top 20 and several of the songs had no ethnic instruments at all. Also, is it really fair to call a French pop rock song "World"? This stuff NEEDS to be screened better, IMO. It's not fair to artists that are actually "World" who might get edged out of the quarterfinals.


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Hey Andrew,

Yeah, I had a similar thing with a jazz tune, peaked at 72 and is now 155. That's a large disparity in a few days. Oh well, gotta take the good with the bad. Have a blues number sitting between 32 and 55, which seems a more appropriate range, and an Electronic number at 30 - 50 , which again, is more consistent than the large swings with the first one. Any ideas Danny ?

cheers, niteshift

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Originally Posted by dannyjames
Hi Everett,

We suggest highest quality possible, but we don't require 256 bit quality, though it's in your best interest to sound as good as possible.



So the songs are being judged on the quality of the upload and production and not the song itself!

Also I was informed that because I am from Canada I can not win the main prizes but I could win the category. Any plans of changing that in the future? Can I put songs up for sale without entering the contest?


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Everett, I wouldn't worry about that. Remember that most people are perfectly content to listen to "CD Quality" 128kbps MP3s on iTunes. I don't think they're going to hear a 160 vs a 256kbps song and vote for the 256 one based on encoding quality... I think they're going to vote on personal taste, which will probably be most heavily biased by the actual musicality of the track, followed not-so-closely by general production/recording quality.


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People are free to judge on any criteria they want. And you know what? That's true of all contests and awards. That's why we, from day 1, told our judges to vote on 1 criteria: Does it move you? We felt it was far more honest to allow judges to vote on what they love, rather than a set of criteria we might hand them because in the end, most will generally vote for their own criteria anyway which would lead to innaccurate results if a set of guidelines forced some to vote differently.

In my own case, if the vocals are horrible, it's going to be very difficult for me to give the song support unless it's up against another song with horrible vocals. In those cases, I often simply vote for a tie. If someone doesn't believe in their song enough to find someone who can at least sing in tune (or in the ballpark of in tune) then why should I care about it either? It would sort of be like a restaurant serving food on a steaming pile of dog crap and saying "we couldn't afford plates.. but the food is really really good." Ack. If you can't sing, lose the ego part and find a neighbor or relative or local singer who can't play an instrument or write a song who wants to get a recording of their voice to do your songs. If you don't, then don't be disappointed when you get no where. I've never believed in the lame story that industry folks will "hear past" a bad demo. Only people who want your money (or something else from you) tell you that anymore. There is simply too much music out there with great performances and great lyrics and great melodies to waste time on anything less today. It's time for a reality check for folks.

Granted, in the case of the JPF Awards we're not a "contest," so we're awarding a great song based on all factors that might appeal to a listener, not just technical or creative aspects alone. If you're forced to judge between 2 horrible songs and MUST pick one over the other, then I suppose a badly sung song could get the nod. We don't have that problem in our awards due to the amount of excellent stuff we receive. Excellent stuff, well recorded, well performed and well written gets eliminated so stuff less than that never really get in the mix.

An exception: If bad singing was by design to get an artistic point across (or part of the character of it all) and the creator was successful at making it work, it might still succeed. But the reality is bad vocals will nearly always result in losing to something better and it should. On the reverse, I could care less if a song is a full production or a single instrument or a cappella if it's reasonably in tune and gets the vision of the song across. There's a huge difference between a limited production done well and an elaborate one done poorly. We get full blown studio recordings here where people spent thousands of dollars but then had some horrific warbling over the top of them vocal wise.. those never get far.

As long as the song can be heard, the upload quality doesn't matter. Upload a low quality version of a Rolling Stones song and it will still sound fine. Upload a WAV file of a piece of crap and it will still be a piece of crap.

Brian


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Brian. I'm very excited about OurStage. I think it's a great site and appreciate your bringing it to us. I was surprised at very first song I heard: "Divine", by Wonderfool. Is this the kind of song other JPF members enjoy?


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I haven't heard it Richard but JPF has musicians doing every genre imaginable. Check out the categories from our last awards (they're listed in the nominees winners on the Awards page) to see the diversity among our membership. The folks who frequent the boards are often a bit less diverse coming mostly from the Country, Christian and Rock genres (with a few exceptions here and there). But we had 81 distinct genres last time in the awards and I bet we push that to 85 or more this year.

Brian


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