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RPM Challenge

bmccosar	Date: January 24, 2007 @ 4:40 PM On another site, someone posted information on the RPM challenge--the goal being to write and record an entire album in the 28 days of February. More details on their site: http://www.rpmchallenge.com/ Now, I spent a decent amount of time looking for terms and conditions--you know, the little poison pills that sites like MySpace like to stick unsuspecting artists with. Can't find anything. Does this look like something cool and innovative, or like a lurking trapdoor spider?
Distilled1	Date: January 24, 2007 @ 6:23 PM I have seen this each year I believe its on the up and up. I think someone here did it last or the year before
shadowself	Date: January 24, 2007 @ 7:00 PM Man, I am lucky if I write one song a year!
ShadowMom	Date: January 24, 2007 @ 8:24 PM Was this the one Apertome entered last year? When he wrote all the tracks based on elements?
bmccosar	Date: January 24, 2007 @ 10:37 PM You mean like earth, air, fire, water, or wind, thunder, lightning, rain, or strontium, chlorine, boron? Actually, if it's on the up and up, I was considering entering. Thing is, it seems like DMusic would have enough talent to drop about 7 to 10 albums on the joint if we collaborated. I just wonder what happens with rights and stuff--I came to DMusic, Jamendo, and Soundclick from the Creative Commons site, via my experience with Linux and the GNU public license. DMusic is straight and upfront about rights, even has the process of CC'ing the work streamlined. When I can't find the terms up front, I start getting paranoid. On the other hand, we have the talent pool to end all talent pools, and one of the goals of our site is collaboration.
MickeyBreezy	Date: January 24, 2007 @ 11:04 PM does anyone kno if hip hop artists are allowed to enter, it seemed pretty up front about bein for rock, electro, and jazz n stuff, didnt see anything at all about rap tho.
wailingmiserere	Date: January 24, 2007 @ 11:27 PM I did FAWM last year (as did Apertome and I think some other people from DMusic) and it was cool. I'm guessing this RPM thing is a FAWM spin-off type thing, since it sounds pretty much identical. If people are interested, I would say join FAWM, it's more widely known and has all sorts of cool features on the site. They also put together a CD compilation of the best tracks. SnomaN, as far as I remember from last year, absolutely any type of music is welcomed as long as you can attempt to make an album out of it.
wailingmiserere	Date: January 24, 2007 @ 11:28 PM In response to the thread-starter, terms and conditions for FAWM are here.
GeneHilbert	Date: January 24, 2007 @ 11:58 PM This is a kewl thing and a great exercise.... Even if you don't keep these tunes or they are simply throw-a-ways. Being able to produce within a deadline can be a beneficial ability to indulge.
bmccosar	Date: January 25, 2007 @ 8:31 AM wailingmiserere: Thank you for the FAWM link--actually, their site looks a thousand times better. The terms have to be up front--if I have to hunt, I start to wonder. Probably harmless, but I think that's what the first person to eat puffer fish thought. After a bit more research, I found this origin story: RPM and FAWM
bmccosar	Date: January 25, 2007 @ 8:39 AM Haha! I have a working title for the album: Lope de Vega Syndrome
bmccosar	Date: January 25, 2007 @ 8:55 AM OK, with all this said, let me refocus my original post: Compare RPM to FAWM. I see that RPM requires you send in a physical demo cd; however, they DO host your music on their site. [Wonder how long that'll hold out.] In contrast, FAWM wants you to link to an off-site .mp3 area. They even list DMusic as a possible host, but I think here we can only deep link 5 tunes--leaving 9 in the cold. There is a partnership with Broadjam, but the free account is limited to 3. Clearly I need to do more research. Anyone see anything I'm missing?
wailingmiserere	Date: January 26, 2007 @ 4:24 AM I could be wrong about this but I think FAWM has set up some kind of deal with Broadjam where you can get a special account free for six months if you're registered with FAWM. I haven't checked it out, but I presume that gives you more space than their standard free acount and would allow you to post all 14 songs. I think? Not sure. I remember last year I just posted my songs on my DMusic account and then gave the address. Other FAWM participants wanting to have a listen to my stuff didn't seem to mind going to my site and finding the songs themselves. I should also add that on FAWM you are not actually obliged to post demos. All you really need to post are the song titles themselves, with lyrics or a demo if you want to. I think they just trust people to be honest and not post titles to a load of songs they haven't actually written.
bmccosar	Date: January 26, 2007 @ 7:45 AM There you have it! That's what I was missing. I sort of assumed some sort of upload policy, but on a reread, yep, they only want the song titles and a link to your page. Looks like I have 195 Mb left here. This is looking better all the time.
MickeyBreezy	Date: January 26, 2007 @ 12:29 PM if a rapper joins this thing, do the beats have to be made in february too, or just the lyrics and recording?
bmccosar	Date: January 29, 2007 @ 7:52 PM Mr. Checkov, Warp 8, now. I'm signed up for FAWM. wailing&, thanks for the heads up. La page: http://www.fawm.org/writers.php?id=662
wailingmiserere	Date: January 29, 2007 @ 8:24 PM Cool cool! Here is my page, it has an 'amusing' (and completely true) story about my FAWM experience last year: http://www.fawm.org/writers.php?id=228
hephaist0s	Date: January 31, 2007 @ 10:41 AM Hello! We now have over 1100 groups from all over the world participating in the RPM Challenge this year... it is going to be wild fun. Artists retain all rights to their music -- we hope to stream all completed CDs in the online jukebox, but even that is voluntary. http://www.rpmchallenge.com/rpm_player.html We just do this for fun -- it started as a local challenge last year, but this year we opened it up to the whole world and the response has been wonderful. You bet we were inpired by FAWM, but the emphasis on turning in a physical CD seems to have made a huge difference -- creates a real, tangible endpoint. Check out the gallery of the 165 CDs we got last year! http://www.rpmchallenge.com/component/option,com_zoom/Itemid,278/catid,1/ We also really emphasize listening to the music... that is why we have the jukebox, so anybody can browse and stream all the completed projects, and it is why we had a city-wide listening party last year here in Portsmouth, NH. (This year, we are working on a more global party...) Sorry if this post seems like self-promotion, but RPM isn't a business or part of a label or anything, it is all volunteer-run, just a creative challenge meant to stimulate art and get musicians excited about their work again. I just thought I could shed some light on this thread. There are some gaps on the website -- like alack of explicit terms -- simply because it has expanded so darn fast. -Dave
JonNolan	Date: January 31, 2007 @ 3:01 PM hey guys! i see dave already posted, but i just wanted to chime in too, and introduce myself. i'm one of the clowns who "came up with" RPM last year. Jon here. Nice to e-meet you. Yes indeedy, the RPM Challenge is very much like FAWM, it's true. we're like it's backwards, yankee first cousin me thinks. i'm glad to see that some of you have signed up for FAWM already. FAWM rocks! i know some folks did both last year (the crazies). anyway, Ann Bryant, the RPM promo queen found this thread somehow. i/we're glad to have found it since, as dave said, it addresses a few issues that we had yet to consider in the midst of our furious growth spurt. the internet is wacky. the aforementioned concerns are totally understandable. happily, yes, RPM is just about fun/inspiration/community - the artists retain complete rights of their material, performances, recordings on every level. we're scrambling to put something about this up on the site now! so, thanks for chatting about it. turns out it's helped us. i've just had cup of coffee number three. i feel a long history o' RPM thingy coming on....(RUN!) for those who are curious about our origins: so, my pal andrew grimm has done FAWM for a few years. two years ago he came up to NH to do some gigs with me and hang out, and he gave me his 2005 FAWM disc, "Moutain Halo." As those who followed that Pitchfork link know, his record totally inspired me. i mean, it was fucking great! it was interesting for me for a few reasons beyond his killer songs. it helped me crystalize some things in my head that had been floating around for a while. for one, i also had his band (June Star) record, which i knew that he had dropped some cash on, and it showed. amazing songs, and truly amazing sounds. but Moutain Halo was just as compelling. sure, it didn't sound like he did it on a studer 2" deck with a neve or something (i think he used a four track & some 58's, in fact) but it sure worked. he won. awesome stuff. also, i had just finished and released my first solo record after ten plus years with my old band say zuzu (yes, a shitty name), and i had recorded myself for the first time ever - to a roland vs1680 with a mackie and some cheap mics, and with some good success (i think). i had been pretty frustrated that i couldn't afford to go into a "real' studio. i wanted my solo thing to sounds good, and appeal to my fans (and, uh...me?) but after listening to grimm's disc, i realized - good gear helps, but good songs and compelling performances are the most moving regardless of the format, right? i felt free. it finally hit home. i like hanging with other musicians and talking about music, redcordings, gigs whatever. it charges my batteries. it erases bad gigs. it makes me feel "a part of." selfishly, i wondered what it would be like if, somehow, somebody could get the ENTIRE state of NH to do FAWM. what would happen to our little scene!? i pictured little twos and threes of people chatting about what kind of songs they were writing/recording - people who maybe play in very different projects, who wouldn't normally have a such a direct common experience to relate to. i pitched the idea to dave from the wire magazine, an arts and culture paper here in portsmouth, NH that i was the music editor for. we pitched it to a couple other wire peeps. everybody got psyched. when we met to discuss it all, we realized the logistical problems we faced in trying to get folks from NH to all do the FAWM thing. we really liked the idea of incorporating the recording aspect too, so that people could surprise themselves with what they came up with - if only by accident. another layer of potential inspiration. so, we decided the best path was to "create" our own, slightly different thing. it pains me/us to think that anybody might think of FAWM and RPM as competitors, as we are definitely not! i hope that's not how we are viewed. i personally owe them a debt of gratitude. FAWM is truly awesome, i hope that you and others give it lots of support. everybody is completely welcome to join our merry little event too. all of our criteria are merely suggestions. there aren't any fees, no RPM police to make sure people 'follow the rules.' hopefully, just a bunch of artists who make some amazing discoveries about themselves and their music. there are some amazing songs in last years' jukebox (in the archived 2006 site). spend some time and check 'em out! maybe we'll see some of you around. but in anycase, have fun. make music. get inspired. best of luck to all of you in your own musical adventures! Cheers, Jon Nolan www.jonnolan.net www.myspace.com/jonnolan
JonNolan	Date: January 31, 2007 @ 3:10 PM hey guys! i see dave already posted, but i just wanted to chime in too, and introduce myself. i'm one of the clowns who "came up with" RPM last year. Jon here. Nice to e-meet you. Yes indeedy, the RPM Challenge is very much like FAWM, it's true. we're like it's backwards, yankee first cousin me thinks. i'm glad to see that some of you have signed up for FAWM already. FAWM rocks! i know some folks did both last year (the crazies). anyway, Ann Bryant, the RPM promo queen found this thread somehow. i/we're glad to have found it since, as dave said, it addresses a few issues that we had yet to consider in the midst of our furious growth spurt. the internet is wacky. the aforementioned concerns are totally understandable. happily, yes, RPM is just about fun/inspiration/community - the artists retain complete rights of their material, performances, recordings on every level. we're scrambling to put something about this up on the site now! so, thanks for chatting about it. turns out it's helped us. i've just had cup of coffee number three. i feel a long history o' RPM thingy coming on....(RUN!) for those who are curious about our origins: so, my pal andrew grimm has done FAWM for a few years. two years ago he came up to NH to do some gigs with me and hang out, and he gave me his 2005 FAWM disc, "Moutain Halo." As those who followed that Pitchfork link know, his record totally inspired me. i mean, it was fucking great! it was interesting for me for a few reasons beyond his killer songs. it helped me crystalize some things in my head that had been floating around for a while. for one, i also had his band (June Star) record, which i knew that he had dropped some cash on, and it showed. amazing songs, and truly amazing sounds. but Moutain Halo was just as compelling. sure, it didn't sound like he did it on a studer 2" deck with a neve or something (i think he used a four track & some 58's, in fact) but it sure worked. he won. awesome stuff. also, i had just finished and released my first solo record after ten plus years with my old band say zuzu (yes, a shitty name), and i had recorded myself for the first time ever - to a roland vs1680 with a mackie and some cheap mics, and with some good success (i think). i had been pretty frustrated that i couldn't afford to go into a "real' studio. i wanted my solo thing to sounds good, and appeal to my fans (and, uh...me?) but after listening to grimm's disc, i realized - good gear helps, but good songs and compelling performances are the most moving regardless of the format, right? i felt free. it finally hit home. i like hanging with other musicians and talking about music, redcordings, gigs whatever. it charges my batteries. it erases bad gigs. it makes me feel "a part of." selfishly, i wondered what it would be like if, somehow, somebody could get the ENTIRE state of NH to do FAWM. what would happen to our little scene!? i pictured little twos and threes of people chatting about what kind of songs they were writing/recording - people who maybe play in very different projects, who wouldn't normally have a such a direct common experience to relate to. i pitched the idea to dave from the wire magazine, an arts and culture paper here in portsmouth, NH that i was the music editor for. we pitched it to a couple other wire peeps. everybody got psyched. when we met to discuss it all, we realized the logistical problems we faced in trying to get folks from NH to all do the FAWM thing. we really liked the idea of incorporating the recording aspect too, so that people could surprise themselves with what they came up with - if only by accident. another layer of potential inspiration. so, we decided the best path was to "create" our own, slightly different thing. it pains me/us to think that anybody might think of FAWM and RPM as competitors, as we are definitely not! i hope that's not how we are viewed. i personally owe them a debt of gratitude. FAWM is truly awesome, i hope that you and others give it lots of support. everybody is completely welcome to join our merry little event too. all of our criteria are merely suggestions. there aren't any fees, no RPM police to make sure people 'follow the rules.' hopefully, just a bunch of artists who make some amazing discoveries about themselves and their music. there are some amazing songs in last years' jukebox (in the archived 2006 site). spend some time and check 'em out! maybe we'll see some of you around. but in anycase, have fun. make music. get inspired. best of luck to all of you in your own musical adventures! Cheers, Jon Nolan www.jonnolan.net www.myspace.com/jonnolan

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