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Daniel,
This is great! Hopefully you won't mind that I repost it here for everyone to read and maybe generate a bit more interest and discussion. See you here & there (OurStage) again soon!
Thanks,
Michael

Daniel Palmer's blog
10 myths about OurStage judging to bust or prove.

This post is intended to educate you about OurStage judging and dispel any myths out there about how it all works. We think this is MUST reading for all OurStage fans and artists who want to maximize their enjoyment of OurStage battling, and get the most benefit they can from OurStage.com. So here we go—10 myths to bust or to prove.

Myth #1
The OurStage judging system is no different from other competition sites.

Busted.
OurStage.com is not a popularity contest. We are a collective community of music, video and film fans. And we’re not a select panel of so-called “experts”. OurStage “raters” judge music and video from all of the artists competing in monthly competitions. Behind the scenes number crunching and crazy accurate algorithms do the heavy lifting to compile the near real-time rankings. Couple that with a game-proof system that ensures that the fans decide, and you have yourself something that’s not only different, it’s revolutionary.

Myth #2
Dishonest judging will help my artist win.

Busted.
Really, when has lying ever gotten you anything? Well, perhaps it has, but that isn’t the point here. All raters’ rankings are combined into a big data pool. Unless you have access to the pool—which you don’t, it’s impossible to know what specific affect your vote has on the rankings. And what’s the point of dishonest rating anyway? Honest voting for other artists will help your rankings—that’s a promise!

Myth #3
OurStage.com gives everyone an equal shot to be heard, seen and ranked.

True. Our smarts are smart. The democracy of OurStage mandates equal opportunity for all artists to be heard, seen and ranked. But it’s up to the fans to decide how those rankings turn out.

Myth #4
My fans can vote for me.

True.
Of course your fans can vote for you, so long as they’re judging in the same channel you’re competing in. Chances are they’re going to have to vote for other artists before they come across your track. And it could be a few battles, or loads of battles. Hence we’re not a popularity contest. But remember, honest voting for other artists helps your rankings! So having your fans just vote is helping you and art in general. Hence the continued call that everyone should be honest in their opinions at all times. That can only help you.

Myth #5
Channel competitions are only helpful for my career as an artist if I win.

Busted. Big BUSTED actually.
Take a read of some of our artist success stories we’re compiling (and more coming in everyday). Many of these artists were HIGH RANKING but not necessarily the winners of their channel or monthly grand prize. Participating in our monthly competitions is the BEST way to introduce yourself to potential new fans.

Read our Artist Success Stories if you don’t believe us.

Myth #6
Voting down the better artists will help my favorite artist win.

Busted. Another big Busted.
Trying to be cleaver, sneaky and downright dishonest only wastes your time. And don’t get all conspiratorial on this topic either. There are simply too many relationships analyzed behind the scenes and too much battling going on for that to happen. If some content does slip in the rankings, it’s because of what the fans decided as a collective. Be fair and honest and everyone wins. Including you. Why? Because honest voting for other artists helps your rankings.

Myth #7
There is great music and video even lower in the ranks.

True.
Bottom line is there is a lot of great music AND video throughout OurStage. However, your tastes may not reflect the tastes of the masses. That’s ok too. We encourage you to browse the channels and use OurStage for what it is—the ultimate discovery destination for emerging music and video artists.

Myth #8
If I judge enough battles I’ll get to judge my song or video.

True.
But that doesn’t guarantee how many battles it will take. It could be 1 battle or 1,000 battles or even more. There are too many variables at work for you to predict. Our job is to ensure that all content gets a fair chance to be heard and ranked. If you’re rating content, then its your obligation to the artist who made it to rate it fairly against the other item. If you’re judging only to get to your own stuff, then sadly you’re missing the point.

Myth #9
Entering late in the month improves your chances of winning, or ranking high.

Busted.
It only decreases the number of days raters have to discover your talent. Why do that to them or yourself?

Myth #10
Once you rate something you’ll never be asked to rate it again.

Busted.
You are part of a collective pool of tastemakers. To ensure a fair and accurate rating process you may rate something one time, or a bunch of times. But you’ll never rate the same pairs twice.