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Sunday, October 17, 2010

SpinTunes #2: Round 2 Challenge

The Musician Strikes Back - We want you to write a sequel. A song that picks up where another famous song left off. (2 minute minimum) (your submission is due October 24th 11:59PM Sun)

We are going to define "famous" by making you pick a song that has at some point been on Billboard's Top 20 for at least 1 week. This gives you a lot of options while making it easy for the judges to say if your song was "famous" enough.

(There have been a number of questions asked that the above statement doesn't cover. I addressed them in the comments below...I suggest reading them.)

Examples Of Songs With Sequels:
"Peggy Sue" & "Peggy Sue Got Married " by Buddy Holly
"It's My Party" & "Judy's Turn To Cry" by Lesley Gore
"Space Oddity" & "Ashes To Ashes" by David Bowie

(Please send the song title & artist of whom you are writing a sequel for when you e-mail your submission to me. A link to the chart they're on would be great.)

Final Clarification:
There was confusion about EST & EDT...mostly on my part, but I'm going to make this simple. Just use the timer I link to up above. It'll be set to Cincinnati time (my time), and when it runs out...you're time has run out. (TIMER LINK)

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.

- 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.

- File sharing options if you need them: YouSendIt, RapidShare, ZShare & MediaFire. 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.

16 comments:

  1. Dave suggested I post my comment/question from Artifiction here.

    The challenge doesn't say you have to match the song in style, only that it should be a sequel. My guess would be you wouldn't get DQ'ed for not matching in style, but you'd get more points for doing so. What say you?

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  2. You do not have to match the style of the original song. If you decide to do that, be careful not to plagiarize the original tune.

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  3. Top 20 singles? Any style? Not just songs on a top 20 album, right?

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  4. Use the singles charts...not a chart for albums. Different countries have different BillBoard charts...you can even use another countries singles chart if you want.

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  5. Is it possible for me to submit my song idea and get a ruling as to whether or not it will meet the challenge? It has to do with my personal interpretation of the original song and how my own experience has subsequently differed from that of the original artist.

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  6. I don't really see a problem with that, but you should know that it's not 1 person who decides if a song meets or fails the challenge...it's a group decision. So your response may take a little while. It's possible that your idea COULD meet the challenge, but your final song doesn't...since we can't really HEAR anything until we have your song. Feel free to e-mail me.

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  7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_number-one_hits_(United_States)

    Here is a page with a complete list, per year, of every number one on the billboard chart since it started in 1958. (US only)

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  8. "I don't really see a problem with that, but you should know that it's not 1 person who decides if a song meets or fails the challenge...it's a group decision."

    What ????
    Judges are discussing songs 'in committee?
    That's... umm... just wrong.

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  9. I'm kinda with joe. Either it's a sequel to a song or not and either it was a tope 20 billboard single in some style in some country or not. A paper you write about a movie is not a sequel to the movie.

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  10. Travis Norris asked if he could use a song off the BillBoard Alternative list.

    http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100#/charts?tag=allcharts

    You can use songs off Billboard as long as it was in the top 20 for at least 1 week. Use can use lists from different countries & different genres.

    You have to use a singles list though, you can't pick an albums list & take a song from a popular album. The song itself has to be on a singles chart.

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  11. @Ross: No, I can see where the decision about whether or not a song is a sequel can be a tough one to make. Someone writing a song about a breakup can make the claim it is a sequel to any of thousands of songs about getting together. Whether or not it's actually a sequel could depend on the specifics of the song and how tightly it references details of the first.

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  12. is it safe to assume that marvin gayes whats going on is a 'famous song'?

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  13. It's famous, but it has to have been in the top 20 of one of the Billboard lists for it to be ok for this challenge.

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  14. A request: is there a way you could post the lyrics to the songs concurrent with the listening party? I'd love to be able to read through as I listen. Just a thought.

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  15. Maybe...I can...it's just if I remember & have time.

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  16. This challenge makes me want to cry.

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