The next competition

[quintin3265]

While it looked for a while as if too few people would enter Composition Combat for it to be a success, I think that the competition was enjoyed by all, was fair, and was a great learning experience for everyone involved. I'd like to start talking about a new competition.

It's impossible to sustain prizes at the level of the last competition. Still, I believe that prizes encourage people to participate and provide a well-deserved reward to those who worked hard on their entries.

Fortunately, I believe there is a self-sustaining way to host competitions that can still award valuable prizes. Over the past few months, we have had an agreement with Chris at squareenixmusic.com to obtain advertising for the site. I wrote 19 reviews, and he posted a banner for remixSite. While I decided to terminate the contract because of low bounce rates, I don't have anything against Square Enix Music and Chris indicated that he is willing to pay me and shawnphase to write reviews in the future.

I was thinking of asking Chris if that offer extends to other people as well, or if reviews can be ghost written and submitted under my name. Competitors who wish to participate in the next competition would then be required to do one of two things. First, they could write a six-paragraph review of a fan-arranged video game music soundtrack published by Overclocked ReMix, the Bad Dudes, or other groups that have released albums. This probably requires about two hours - one to listen to the music while doing something else, and one dedicated hour to write the review. Alternatively, someone who doesn't want to write a review can pay $12 to enter the competition. The reviews will be sent to Chris, and his standard rate could be used to fund the competition.

I think that, if Chris would agree to something like this, we could obtain enough funding to host a number of future competitions. If ten people enter as they did now, there is enough money to pay for two free games, some software, a cheap keyboard, or something like that. People wishing to enter would be required to declare their commitment up front, and if there aren't enough entrants to guarantee a minimal prize, then no money or reviews will be collected.

Comments? Would anyone have a problem performing an hour of dedicated work or paying an entry fee? Should I ask Chris if we could come to an arrangement?