JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum So Where Does Your Song Rank On Ourstage?

I'm sharing this as a public service....Jim, I think the scenario will look quite familiar....

....my gripe is with Ourstage for not regulating their channel entry process and making sure entrants are following not only the rules of the channel you enter, but any criteria set forth by a partner organization for eligibilty to enter the channel in their sponsored competitons.
EXAMPLE:

JPF decides to run a promo channel on ourstage, say, an Acoustic Challenge channel, where the song must be an original composition, played strictly on acoustic instruments, under 5 minutes in length, and participants must be members of the JPF. The first place prize is a featured spot on the JPF Euro Tour with sponsors providing travel expenses. Pretty good incentive to enter.

Fred Flintstone is a JPF member, enters his song on the channel, its well written, and performed with acoustic guitar, vocals and harmonica. The song is 4:58.

He enters at the beginning of the month, and yo yo's up and down the charts at first and lands solidly and consistantly in the top 20 out of 43 entries.

Mid month, Jed Clampett enters his song with a screaming stratocaster lead on it, never heard of JPF, but its 3:20.

No one flags it. and it bumps Fred out of the top 20. Fair?

Fred manages to get back into the top 20.....and remains there for 2 weeks solid.

The day before the quarter finals start, 20 people jump on the band wagon for the channel, like a swarm, because they know that new songs entered get put up more frequently than the ones that have been on the channel for a while. Several of the songs are over 5 minutes, 8 of them are not JPF members, and 3 have electric instruments on them, one of the songs is one word repeated over and over.

In the flurry of judging, poor fred, who has followed all of the rules, stuck out the entire month, Stayed relatively solid in the top 20, just before midnight, is 21st, and out of contention for the quarter finals.

7 of the top 20 are the last minute entries, and somehow, Jed squeaks in at #20.

Out of the top 20, 6 of them are not JPF members, and 1 song is 6:29.

Fair?
You decide....

I did e mail Daniel, and suggested that 72 hours prior to the quarter finals, entries to the channels close so that the last minute flurry of new entries don't skew the voting, kind of a settle down period before the quarters.

I hope you understand it a little better now, my problem is with the Ourstage regulation process for their channels. There is obviously not anyone watchin the store.

I e mailed the JLSC, this is a copy of what I sent, as of yet no response.

Ourstage competition and the JLSC‏
From: Cathy Stewart (carpentryone0one@hotmail.com)
Sent: Thu 10/23/08 11:06 PM
To: leon@jlsc.com


The JLSC is one of the premier songwriting contests available, and I feel honored to be a part of it as a participant.
However....
When I added my entry to the Ourstage competiton via my Sonicbids account, after going through all of the entries in the judging process, I found it dis-heartening that there are a few entries that do not fit the criteria for the actual JLSC competition.
The two main infractions:
Songs well over 5 minutes
And at least 1 cover (a song written by Masser and Goffin and recorded by Marilyn McCoo in 1978 and Whitney Houston in 1985).
I'm not sure about the rules you have regarding sampling.

I don't know how stringent you are about the 5 minute rule, but when some songs are stretching to and past the 6 minute mark...that is blatent disrespect for the rules.

I am curious as to how many of these entries are actually a part of the JLSC. Who regulates that on Ourstage? With so much at stake, and excellent competiton (some really great songs!) I thought that this "channel" would be well scrutinized. I've e mailed Ourstage about my concerns and questions, and have had no response as of yet.

I hope that you may be able to answer these questions for me. I think all of the participants would benefit from your answers. I would ask for permission to pass on your information if possible.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Cathy Stewart

I also e mailed Ourstage via their site....not daniel, at the time, but the contact they had listed at http://www.ourstage.com/contact/community , unfrotunately, it doesn't save your outgoing.

Re: payment
No, I paid my submission fee to the JLSC to enter the contest via sonicbids, then posted my song on the Ourstage JLSC channel per the rules for being on the channel which stated that to enter this channel you must be entered in the actual JLSC competiton. If some of these songs were actually JLSC paid entries, then they were not in compliance with the JLSC rules, which state clearly (This is copied directly from the JLSC site):

Each entry requires the following elements:
One song five (5) minutes or less (mp3, CD or cassette)
A lyric sheet -- no lyrics necessary for instrumental compositions
A payment -- $30.00 per song
A completed application



Read the Rules & Regulations carefully before entering.



AND to save you time of hitting the link, at least the first rule/regulation which states:



2008 Rules & Regulations

1. Each song submitted must be contestant's original work. Songs may not exceed five (5) minutes in length. Songs may have multiple co-writers, but please designate one name only on the application. Contestant may submit as many songs in as many categories as he/she wishes, but each entry requires a separate cassette, CD, or MP3 file, entry form, lyric sheet, and entrance fee. One check or money order for multiple entries/categories is permitted. (Entrance fee is non-refundable. JLSC is not responsible for late, lost, damaged, misdirected, postage due, stolen, or misappropriated entries. The JLSC is not responsible for faulty file uploads accompanying online entries.)




My question was were all of the entries in the channel (especially all those last minute entries (30+) AND those over 5 minutes in length) actual PAID JLSC entries as stated as a requirement for being on this channel? Those that were over 5 minutes would have been a waste of money for those that entered because they would not even have been considered.

Who, if anyone, checked the entries to make sure they were?

And, obviously, no one was checking because a BLATENT cover song (Saving All My Love For You) was entered in the channel and never removed even after flagged and commented on that it was a cover and NOT original work.

That is why I question the validity of the entries in the JLSC channel on Ourstage.

I hope that clarifies my concerns.


I really appreciate this dialog. I guess the shame is that as far as I know at this point, no one else has questioned the process.

I seem to be the only one who ever steps up and takes one for the team even if it means sacrificing something major. All I ask for is honesty in the competitions that I enter. For everyone involved.



Cathy