Rules

General

  • The challenge starts on the 1st of each month and runs for the entire length of the month.
  • All submissions must be made with free (libre) software only. This includes the DAW and all plugins. A non-free operating system is allowed.
  • Submissions must be original work produced specifically for this contest. No covers, remakes, or remixes of existing work.
  • There is no song length limit.
  • Collaborations are allowed.
  • We might request project files to ensure that the song complies with the rules. Failure to provide this will result in disqualification.
  • Regardless of any challenge-specific restriction on plugins, basic utility plugins are always allowed, unless specified otherwise. These include things like Limiters, EQ and Filtering, Volume and Pan, and MIDI manipulation.
  • Regardless of any software restriction, you are also allowed to use any hardware device to enhance your workflow, e.g. midi keyboards or other controllers.

Submission

  • You must submit your entry before the end of the month, by providing an audio file of your song.
  • You must announce your submission in this forum thread, providing a link to the audio file of your song. You must also include a short description of how it was made. At the very least, list all of the software, plugins, and instruments that you have used.
  • When submitting an entry you agree that your song will be made available under the CC-BY-SA license. You can publish your song under a different license, but CC-BY-SA is the license that we will apply to your song once it's in the archive of the challenge.
  • You must provide your audio file in a libre file format. Generally either FLAC or Ogg Vorbis. A WAV file is allowed, but it will be encoded as FLAC for the archive upload.
  • The audio file name must follow the following convention: "Artist Name - Song Name". You can use any capitalization.
  • You can upload your song anywhere you like, including streaming platforms. But ensure the audio file is accessible or provide it alternatively.
  • Publishing your project files is not mandatory but encouraged, in the spirit of learning and sharing knowledge with each other.
  • You can keep working on your submitted song until the challenge is over. Only the final version will be considered for voting.

Voting

  • Voting runs from the 1st to the 15th of the month following the end of the challenge. Failure to vote in time will result in disqualification.
  • Voting is done by giving all submissions a score from 1 to 5 (where 5 is best).
  • All participants are required to vote on ALL of the other songs. Not doing so will result in disqualification.
  • Participants of previous challenges are also welcome to vote, even if they haven't made a submission.
  • The submission with the most points is the winner.
  • There is no prize other than eternal glory. The winner will be awarded the "LMC Winner" role on unfa's Discord server.
  • All submissions will be stored on archive.org indefinitely, freely available under a CC-BY-SA license.