Soundtracking: Gather's First Tracks Competition!

	SOUNDTRACKING Gather's First Tracks Competition! Soundtracking is a weekly column featuring indie, alternative, and all around amazing music - published by music correspondent Laura Cushing on Gather.com. Soundtracking includes interviews, CD reviews, band and concert news, music trivia, playlists and much more!

This week on Soundtracking: Gather's First Tracks Competition!

Finally back after our long holiday hiatus - and just in time, too. Undoubtably you've heard of the First Chapters competitions, and how some amazingly talented writers have received publishing deals. Now Gather and Decca Records is offering the same great opportunity for the music community with the First Tracks competition! I'm so excited about this - not because I can make any music myself (I can sing, but that's about it!) but because I've seen so many great musicians publish to our Soundtracking group. Gather is full of musical talent! This week's Soundtracking takes a look at the upcoming competition and what you need to know to enter!

January 23 - Tainted Blue Studios Special Launch Event!
Do you live in, or can you get to the New York area Wednesday January 23rd, 2008? Unsigned musicians of any and every genre are invited to come to the legendary Tainted Blue Studios (formerly the Quad Penthouse) to record an original single! Music industry experts will be on hand to give tips on recording, how to perfect your style, and how to optimize your music online!

Instruments available at the studio include: Steinway concert grand piano, percussion (including drums), bass (electric and upright), guitar and vox. If any other intstruments are required for your recording, you will have to bring them with you. They also ask that you prepare an acoustic arrangement of your song.

The song you record will then be uploaded to Gather.com and entered into the First Track competion for your chance to win a recording contract with the Decca label group!

When: January 23rd 2008 7am - 5pm
Where: Tainted Blue Studios, 723 7th Avenue at 48th Street NYC, NY

January 23- February 27th - Enter Your Song!
Can't make it to the launch event, or already have your song recorded? No problem! You can upload your song via MP3 or video to Gather and enter the competition that way.

All unsigned musicians seeking to enter the contest can submit their entry to the First Tracks group (firsttracks.gather.com) starting January 23rd and continuing up until February 27th. More information will likely be released when the contest officially launches - so it's a good idea to join the group now and keep an eye on it.

Vote! Vote! Vote
For those of us who aren't musical - how do we participate? By listening, of course - and rating the songs that you think are the best!

Over the course of the competition, the videos and MP3s will be rated by the Gather community and a judging panel.

Winning!
After the voting, five finalists will be selected. One Grand Prize Winner will then be chosen by the community to win a major record label recording contract.

It could be you!


The Fine Print
The contest is open to unsigned musicians or bands of any genre. The song you record and submit should be an original work, and it must be uploaded to Gather as an mp3 or video and submitted to the First Tracks group between the dates specified.

No wacky entry rules - seems pretty straightfoward to me.

First Tracks in Soundtracking
I imagine this will be something like the excitement of First Chapters where everyone is asking you to come and check out their work. For the sake of sanity, the Soundtracking group will NOT be accepting articles whose only content is 'come vote on my song!' I will however being posting an article asking members of our group who are in the contest to comment with a link to their work so that we can check them out that way. This way it'll be fair to everyone, and the group won't get clogged with a lot of First Tracks Comments.

I will likely be posting the progress of the competition as a little section of my regular Soundtracking contests, and maybe even sending out a reminder or two to make sure our musician friends don't miss out on any important contest dates.

Are you excited? I'm excited! Good luck everyone!

For more information:

First Tracks community
First Tracks contact email (for any questions)
Tainted Blue Studio

SOUNDTRACKING GROUP
Join us in the Soundtracking Group on Gather!

We are currently at over 1100 members!

Catch up on Soundtracking, read about upcoming participation opportunities, or post your own music related articles.

There'salways something interesting and music-related to read in theSoundtrackinggroup. We're moderated to keep on the topic of music, but I approve content as long as it has something to do with music in someway - so please join and share your musical posts.

Also catch Soundtracking on Myspace and Imeem!

CDs and promotional materials, interview and/or review requests can be sent to:

Soundtracking
PO Box 141 Newtonville, NJ 08346-0141

Email: Soundtracking@labarc.com / AIM: Lab Arc Designs

		Laura Cushing, Music Correspondent - Soundtracking
	Laura's column, 'Soundtracking' is published every Saturday in Gather Essentials:Music. Soundtracking is your guide to indie and alternative music -- featuring musician interviews, CD reviews, MP3 mixes, and discussions. Laura Cushing is a 37 year old writer from the New Jersey Pines. In addition to music journalism, she writes fiction and poetry. Keep up with Laura's music series by joining her network, or subscribing to her content.