Liontamer

Contact Information * Your ReMixer name: Matt Castilho * Your real name: Matheus Vieira de Castilho * Your email address: mattcastilho@gmail.com * Your website: - * Your userid: 24196 Submission Information * Name of game(s) arranged: Tidal surge ~ Nightscape ~ Bonus round * Name of individual song(s) arranged: Everything's Blue * Additional information about game including composer, system, etc: System: Genesis / Composer: John Holland * Link to the original soundtrack: * Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc: "Basically, what I'm willing to do here is to make an electronic music based on a video game music. I'm really glad to work with music I speccially liked when I was young. -- Matheus Vieira de Castilho Film & Video Student Member of Marketing AIESEC - Florianopolis, Brazil www.aiesec.org.br/florianopolis --------------------------------------------------------------- The one track from Vectorman I really loved, and you grooved it up. Nice. Let's see what's up... http://project2612.org/download.php?id=47 - "Day 3: Tidal Surge, Day 12: Nightscape, Bonus Round" 2:12's worth of buildup for a 4:59-long mix is nearly 50% of the track. I don't mean to sound genre-biased, but the intro is probably too long; now, I can roll with it more than most judges, because you're clearly gradually building and evolving. But, arguably, it's still pretty bloated. Personally, I can run with it. Once the simplified theme (a valid approach, BTW) truly kicks in, it's just on top of the established groove from 2:12-2:57. Nice dropoff at 2:57, featuring an electrosynth interpreting another portion of the source while the track built itself back up for 3:41's section. 3:41-4:24 retread 2:12's section verbatim, which felt lazy, while the final section closing things out also retread 2:57's section with some new effects. Perfectly fine close, in a vacuum. Would have been better if the last few minutes weren't such a retread though. I like the general direction and groove, and the production was fairly solid. It's leans on the groove too much, but, on a groove bias level, this generally works. I'm surprisingly cool with the intro, but the latter half of the arrangement simply needs more development and substance to justify the 5 minutes. The reuse of prior material from 3:41-4:59 really needs something more to distinguish itself from the first time you hear that stuff. You have some new background instruments and effects, but the overall feel was basically the same. Throw a few more ideas in there, and you'd be in much better shape. Cool stuff so far, Matheus! I'll be keeping it. NO (resubmit)

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Published 1995 by Nintendo for Super Nintendo Entertainment System Remix of Disco Train by PanManDan Original by Dave Wise ----------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=dkq - "Disco Train" (dkq-16.spc) This was...half-decent in terms of personalizing the theme, but it still sounded too much like the original. The track seemed pretty empty the whole way through. Dynamically, pretty flat as well. This was almost too subtle, and the core groove felt repetitive overall. Not really a lot going on here, though this would have made solid in-game BGM. The synth in the background from 1:33-1:47 was slightly off-time, IMO. If you can bring some most life to this via more pronounced dynamics and evolution, this could really pick up. It doesn't mean you have to make some parts uber-powerful/loud. But there's need to be more sophisticated textures that fill out the soundfield and that you're able to build up and take down. The genre isn't the same, but you might learn something about the technique studying a track like The Orichalcon's Raptor/FF7 mix "PlectraSubCity." NO

Attached is a submission of mine called Simon The Vampire Killer. My ReMixer name is: Willrock07 My real name is William Harby The game arranged in my remix is: Castlevania The individual songs arranged are: Theme Of Simon Belmont Vampire Killer The track starts off with the theme of simon belmont and merges in to vampire killer with my own original sections and solos in-between. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it. Thankyou for your time. ------------------------------------------------------------- Seems a lot more like a Super Castlevania IV mix given the overall sound being so similar, plus both sources are in that one, so that's what game I'm classifying the sub as. http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=scv4 - "Theme of Simon" (scv4-04.spc) & "Vampire Killer" (scv4-21.spc) I always complain about snare drums, and the tone of these samples didn't work well, IMO. The mixing was on the rough side. Transition at 1:45 felt pretty abrupt; better when you know it's coming, but still a pretty awkward transition that could have flowed better. Moved pretty quickly back to "Theme of Simon" at 2:12 with a more planned transition. The arrangement was basically very straightforward up until 3:25, but with (good) drum writing. Still, 2:20-3:25 essentially felt like a cut-and-paste from :40-1:44, which felt pretty unnecessary. Not really much melodic interpretation to speak of, or changes in the dynamics beyond what's already structured into the original song. Moved onto some cool but brief soloing at 3:25 before going into "Vampire Killer" from 3:33-4:05. Too similar (if not the same) drum patterns from the "Theme of Simon" sections were getting used and abused again at 4:13. "Vampire Killer" got recycled as well from 4:29-5:01. Drum-focused ending at 5:44 was a pretty silly finish; there's a way that could be made to work, but that wasn't quite it. The track isn't poorly put together, but it's taxing to listen to. Not really enough going on dynamically, and way too much repetition and fat. This could be half the length and say the same thing. If you're gonna rehash entire sections, you need to make the presentation meaningfully different/evolved from section to section. More melodic interpretation would be very welcome as well, because right now you don't have enough. It can't just be the new drums carrying the attempt to create a new feel for a cover-ish arrangement (especially since those drums repeat a lot as well). NO

Original Submission: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13900 Your ReMixer name: Joren de Bruin Your real name: Joren de Bruin Your email address: ayato_kamina1@hotmail.com Your userid: 16286 Name of ReMix: Polar Star Overdrive Name of game(s) arranged: Cavestory Name of individual song(s) arranged: Last Battle (Linkage) Your own comments about the mix: I'll keep this short and sweet and refer you to my first submission for any information pertaining the inspiration and influences behind the mix. I've spent a lot of time honing my production skills since then (I hope you can tell ) and I'm quite confident you'll find the production and mastering a lot more cleaner this time around, hopefully to the level of giving this a yes. I've kept the arrangement the same since it was apparently already well above the bar. Enjoy! -Joren --------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks a lot for providing the source, Joren. Cave Story (Game Rip) - (31) "Last Battle" Wow, the whole track sounded extremely sizzly thanks to those cymbals. The separation of of the parts still needed some work, IMO, but maybe I'm getting up there in age and can't handle the \m/ no mo'. Initially, it seemed like the melody should have been more prominent (:01-:21), even if it was handled by what sounded like the bass guitar. But the focus was more on the strings synths, which was a reasonable idea. Not really feeling the bubbly synth on lead from :21-:41; didn't really fit the balls-out rock instrumentation surrounding it. It gave off a Mega Man X kind of vibe, but the synergy wasn't there; same for the return of the bubbly synth from 1:39-2:09. It's a more minor crit; probably could use some effects on it to make it mesh more, but I think better overall EQing would help this, and I don't think the sound has to necessarily be changed. Props on the synth strings from 1:04-1:19; they sounded really fake, but were couched fairly well in the soundscape; enough to downplay some shortcomings in the sequencing. Went back to the main melody from :59-1:18, again with the melody more in the back and the counterpoint seemingly in the foreground. I'm not really sure that worked; there wasn't much to focus on for those sections, so it seemed meandering. In terms of the balance, same crits there as last time. But still a pretty big improvement, and the arrangement was all sorts of awesome; just a bit more tweaking of the EQ to get some better separation and this would be good to go, IMO. If someone could help on that, I think this would be pretty deadly. I'm gonna roll with it and see if we can get this tweaked a bit. YES (conditional) EDIT (8/11): Well, if the project file went poof, I've unfortunately gotta go NO based on the production. It doesn't look like that should affect this passing in the long-run though, so good luck on the rest of the vote!

This is our current oldest submission. 6 months?!? Get it going guys!

Sixtooooo! Juan is deadly. And the best is yet to come! Awesome stuff here, with some zircon flavor to put it over the top. Too much nostalgia for this game!

Jordan's too good to go down. Not when his star is rising. You've still got a lot of work left to do, so get better, bro!

I got locked out of my OLR account too, trying to update the email address. As far as the thread goes, I think in trying to point out how some popular people don't meet the OCR bar because of weak production or too conservative of an arrangement, Doug inadvertently made it look like we're out-of-touch douches. We're very in-touch. We love to touch all of you.

* Nekofrog * Justin Jones * nekofrog@gmail.com (changed since last submission) * www.metalfrog.org * 5151 UPDATED 8/18/08 Remix Link: http://metalfrog.org/music/chronotrigger/ctbattle-138.mp3 * Name of game(s) arranged: Chrono Trigger * Name of individual song(s) arranged: 90% Battle Theme, 5% Schala, 5% Reptites (A Shot of Crisis) * Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site) * Your own comments: It may be hard to believe, but I have never been a fan of Chrono Trigger the game. I remember playing it the day it came out (a friend of mine had been following it throughout the old days of magazines, and tried to get me interested), and a few times after that, but not really enjoying it much. Fast forward to well over a decade later and lo and behold, I still don't really like the game. The soundtrack, is a far different story. One of the most amazing soundtracks ever put down for a videogame -- probably the best of its era -- and it has always been near the top in my favorites list. A year ago I did a very brief cover of the Battle theme for the May 2007 gamesarefun.com podcast, and left it at that. Ever since then I've had the urge to revisit it, and finally I did. Heavy guitars and a lead tone that I'm actually finally happy with; this is easily one of my favorites. It was recorded with my custom Ibanez RG7621 7 string guitar -- so yes if you try to learn to play it you will discover that you either need to tune down to B standard or buy a 7 string -------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ct - "Battle 1" (ct-112.spc), "Schala's Theme" (ct-306.spc) & "A Shot of Crisis" (ct-123.spc) Fairly straightforward call for me, although I wasn't feeling the production. It was on the muddy side, with parts bleeding into each other too much; could use better EQing and separation of the parts. The background also sounded empty; this could have used something to pad things out more. The way it ended at 4:02 was really cold as well. I would have faded off the last guitar note at least. Otherwise, a fairly solid arrangement with some excellent style in the performance that showed off a lot of personalization. Some more polish would really make this a killer, but it's still bueno for the YES. He's only gonna get better.

http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6716

You should stop by Dave's house and get a copy for yourself. The bundle in the DVD case is the official copy.

Damn, what's your secret?

Awesome! Glad you like the music enough to consider donating. Especially because we're broke. OK, maybe just me. And the site too, but particularly me.

Winner!

C'mon, vBulletin, don't let me down.

* ReMixer name - Brand New Retro * real name - Liam Fairclough * email address - brandnewretro@gmail.com * userid - 24173 * Name of game(s) arranged - Final Fantasy VI * Name of individual song(s) arranged - The Serpent Path * My track title - This Hazy Place As I have particularly nostalgic memories of this track, I wanted to create a version that sounded a bit distant and hazy, like a past memory. I attempted to achieve this by recording some of the synth melodies to old analogue tape, giving a slightly warbled, aged effect. I'd like to think this track evokes nostlagic childhood memories of playing this wonderful game. --------------------------------------------------------------- Just prefacing that I loved Quinn Fox's "mode serpent", so I know that this rather unassuming theme has a lot of potential. http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=ff6 - "The Serpent Trench" (ff6-119.spc) Ultimately I listen to this, and this sounded fairly purposeful and skillfully put together. The stuttering synth at 1:45 sounded super cheap and exposed, plus slightly behind the beat, which was probably the main negative about the track. The arrangement also managed to avoid being melodious until 3:03 when the strings were brought in for the final minute, which I gotta tip my hat to. This was some pretty crazy shit. The cut-and-paste repetition of the string writing 4 times was disappointing. Even subtle but meaningful variation within the iterations would have made the string usage much more substantive. Liam, I'm feeling the core concept of what you've got here. It might seem nitpicky, but it's pretty difficult for a track like this to feel cohesive enough without some refinements to have everything clicking. If you tighten the timing on that synth at 1:45 (and possibly use a new/better sound for it), and consider varying up the final string usage from 3:03, I could definitely roll with this all the way. Really cool stuff so far; hopefully the others see the same promise in the track that I do. Good luck with the rest of the vote! NO (refine/resubmit)

-Contact Information: ReMixer Name: Kr!s Real name: Cristián Escobar E-mail: kris@phiband.net Website: http://kris.phiband.net Userid: 24170 -Submission Information: Game Arranged: Street Fighter II: The World Warrior Song Arranged: Guile Stage -Additional Comments: This is my first attempt at a remix, and also I used it as an introduction on recording myself on my computer, I think it sounds decent enough. I wanted to create a version that didn't went too far from the original, what I wanted to do was to capture the essence of what the song caused in me, and then enhance it by giving it a lot of power. Although the whole rythmic section was re-arranged, the lead melody is identical to the original. Also, I haven't heard a remix of this song with this really heavy-rock characteristic before. I hope this gets through the mighty judges panel, because I pretend to contribute a lot more in the future. Regards, from Chile (First chilean submission, maybe?) -Kr!s Download link: --------------------------------------------------------------- http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=sf2 - "Guile" (sf2-08.spc) Mixed a bit muddy, but sounded fairly decent. More distinct separation/EQing of the parts would really help this shine. More interpretation or personalization with the Guile melody during the verses would have put this over the top. The intro was great on that level, and seemed like it was headed toward an easy YES. But once things picked up at :22, the arrangement was too conservative, in my opinion. The drum writing also had some awesome fills in there on occasion; they reminded me of Big Giant Circle's ideas on Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for his version of Guile's theme, very progressive. But during the verses, the drum writing oftentimes sounded too straightforward and plain. Make sure the drum writing stays interesting the whole way through and drives the track forward. What's in place now is pretty solid, so don't stop working on it. Definitely resubmit this one, Cristián, but add more of your own flavor to the melody to make the track stand out as your own unique creation, refine the mixing of the parts so that your soundscape is a bit cleaner and better defined, and get those drums sounding strong and energetic the whole way through. NO (resubmit)

Hello, this here is a submission for the game XENOSAGA, in actuality the track has been around in some form since part 1, but did not get the spotlight until part 3, it is a simple yet convincing "gregorian chanting" melody given to the followers of the Ormus cult in the game, the original track is simply titled "Ormus" during the game, we get to discover how twisted their beliefs and then they are put out as a group that believed in a lot of falsehoods and evil... here is where I come come in, and irreverently mix deeply religious overtones with the taboos of sex, it is, a bit over the top I admit, I attempted to keep the same atmosphere of the original, infused it with pure evil, as it is my trademark, this will definitely be controversial, as it mirrors two very distinct things and then assaults you with complete instinct of sexuality amidst the immaculate voices of purity, it does contain a few things that are maybe offensive but it is in my opinion a homage to a part of xenosaga that was controversial to begin with, just what was the relationship between a pubescent pellegri and priest chancellor margulis? and just what was it that made her become enemies with Jin Uzuki? I had no idea what I would name it, so I put 2 different names to itI like the word ritual however Enjoy, Evilnos The ultimate evil PS, I have a soundclick and an acidplanet profile if you watn to check more out http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=304106&T=3500 http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=113877 -------------------------------------------------------------- I always loved this source tune, performed by Metro Voices. Let's see how you messed it up: Xenosaga Original Soundtrack - (201) "Ormus" Yeah, so this has jack shit to do with "Ormus" and has a bunch of chanting with pr0n moaning thrown in. Hahahaha! I love how the sub letter tries to pass this off as some sort of deep statement. That's gotta be bullshit, because no one can possibly be that deluded. This is so fucking awful. Literally. ROOOOOOOFL

contact info------- Remixer Name: GK Real Name: Gerald Kaye Website: tekkaxe.blogspot.com submission information--------- Name of Game arranged: Kirby's Dreamland 3 (SNES) Name of song arranged: Sorry, I couldn't locate it, but its the 3 or so song you'll hear booting up Kirby 3 for the SNES. Its the song from the file-select screen. Link to soundtrack: http://www.zophar.net/download.php?file=/zsnes/spc/KDL3.rar (zophar says its got it in SPC format) Blurb: Kirby's Dreamland 3 is one of my favorite game soundtracks. I think every track on there is golden. I'm not really sure why I picked this one though, when I had so many to choose from. Anyway, simplicity was the mindset this time around. Enjoy. -GK -------------------------------------------------------------- Dunno how you're gonna get the substance you need from a 5-second track, but let's see: http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=kdl3 - "File Select" (kdl3-03.spc) Arrangement-wise the opening brass samples from :00-:06 was too liberal an interpretation of the brass from the source tune, so I didn't count it. Still, I liked the rhythms there. The textures were on the empty side though. The drumkit brought in at :27 ended up being thin, leaving the background sounding empty. You may need to add something in the back to function more like a pad. Meanwhile the other instrumentation sounded fairly lo-fi and poorly separated. Meanwhile the source tune was marginalized in the background the whole time as the bassline while you built original writing on top. 1:08's section was primarily original composition, and so was 1:35's section. And that was basically the dealbreaker issue regarding the level of source usage; the source tune was never the focus. You need to read the Submissions Standards more closely to avoid falling with those issues. The ending cut off abruptly at 4:20, by the way. Ultimately, I think you did a decent job crafting an original, groove-based track in the style of KDL3, but you ended up going off the rails in terms of making the source usage dominant and identifiable. When you can reign things in, try again. Otherwise, try another theme entirely. You seem to have a good base of skills, but need to keep the interpretation more grounded. NO

J-hosted source

This is a remix to Tale Of Destiny's Title theme. I've learned from my mistakes from my last submission. The feedback from the judges have helped to realize my strengths and weaknesses. In my last submission Liontamer pointed out that i have the skills necessary and that I just need to develop them. Thank your for your time. * ReMixer name: Jewbei * Real name: James Joyner * Email address: jjoyner17@yahoo.com * Website: http://www.myspace.com/Jewbeii Here's the link to the song. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Nearly 6 minutes, eh? It'll be interesting to see if you can stretch out such a brief source. Definitely liking the source though; nice choice. Tales of Destiny Soundtrack - (102) "Tales of Destiny" Pretty liberal treatment, but I could make the A-to-B connections. I needed 169.5 seconds' worth of source usage. Let's go for a breakdown: :56-:58, 1:02-1:04, 1:09-1:11, 1:16-1:18, 1:23-1:25, 1:30-1:32, 3:34-3:36, 3:40-3:42, 3:47-3:49, 4:56-4:58, 5:03-5:05, 5:09-5:11, 5:16-5:18, 5:23-5:25, 5:30-5:32 - all based from the melody in the first two seconds of the source 1:37-3:28 - main melody (:00 of source, with rhythmic arrangement/interpretation), and countermelody (:21 of source) 3:54-4:22 - interpretation of countermelody (:21 of source) 4:35-4:49 - main melody (:00 of source, with rhythmic arrangement/interpretation) That's about 183 seconds worth. Even rounding down those 2 second usages down to 1 second, it's still good. The synth choices felt a little cookie-cutter, but the production was fairly solid nonetheless, with some solid beatwork, textures and effects to make up for the other shortcomings. The arrangement itself was an interesting take on such a minimal source. A very rhythmically liberal take on the source finally showed up at :29 in the buildup (not counting it), before an interpretation of the source's opening melody eventually arrived at :56, all in a larger buildup to the overtly arranged melody at 1:37. When things picked up and got fuller at 1:51, the soundscape became cluttered, more of a problem from 2:05-2:32. There was also some sort of consistent popping/crackling noise tied to one of the supporting parts that was in rhythm with the electrosynth added in at 1:51. Nice touch at 2:05 though, using the string countermelody from :21 of the source. Solid dynamic contrast for the genre, moving into the most beat-driven, melody-focused section yet at 2:32, bringing back the source's countermelody at 2:59. Nice dropoff at 3:27, before interpreting the source's countermelody from 3:54-4:22. Definitely a nice idea to keep things fresh while retaining the same sounds. I didn't recognize the additional writing after 4:22, but the arranged melody returned from 4:35-4:49 before going for the finish. All in all, pretty solid. The arrangement was able to do a lot with a little and get interpretive without going off the rails; pretty intelligent stuff. I think the production could use some touchups to get rid of that one audio deformation issue at 1:51 and better separate the parts, but otherwise, I'm good to go on this. Good luck on the rest of the vote, James! Even if this didn't make it somehow, you're definitely on track to get something posted here. I enjoyed this! YES (conditional) EDIT (8/2): New version fixes the clipping and tones down the mud. I'm all set on it for the full YES.

Original Decision: http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13905 ReMixer name : Scaredsim Real name : Simon Sternis Email address : scaredsim@hotmail.com Website : http://ssternis.free.fr Userid : 20011 Name of the remix : Daily Training Name of game ReMixed : Crusader of Centy Name of individual song(s) ReMixed : Rafflesia Training Grounds, Place of Peace Original soundtrack : http://project2612.org/download.php?id=16 Composer : Motokazu Shinoda Publisher : Atlus, 1994 System : Sega Genesis Here's my resub of that arrangement. ------------------------------------------------------------- http://project2612.org/download.php?id=16 - 07 "Rafflesia Training Grounds" & 21 "Place of Peace" As always I do a minor complaint about the snare drum being too punchy, but otherwise, this was an excellent revision. The arrangement was already strong, but just needed a bit more refinement and humanization in the sound. I liked the track before the key change employed in the resub, but this nonetheless turned out very nicely. This could easily be actual in-game music and retains a really laid-back adventurous RPG vibe. Awesome stuff, Simon; nice job shining light on an under-appreciated soundtrack, and thanks a lot for being willing to take another look at this one and resubmit! YES

* Your ReMixer name : Prometheus * Your real name : John Revoredo * Your email address : yesterdaygeneration1750@hotmail.com * Your website : none yet. * Your userid 9896 * Remix name: Pirates of Oblivion * Remixed music: Elder Scrolls main theme. I'd say Oblivion, since many games of the saga share the same theme, but that's the newest one. * Comments on the mix: I'm having serious doubts about this. Honestly, I don't like the mix, but had pretty much support, so thought it could be reasonable giving a try. Please, if this mix is rejected, I'd like the link to the remix to be kept. Regards, John ------------------------------------------------------ The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Special Edition Soundtrack - (01) "Reign of the Septims" The string sequencing opening things up sounded mechanical and exposed, but the track beefed up a fair deal at :11 and then got rid of the strings as the lead at :26, mitigating the issue. I thought the overall volume was also too loud, particularly with stuff like the brass. It wasn't a huge deal, but could have been toned down. The track goes for a pretty bombastic feel, but the separation of the parts could have been better. Otherwise, there were a lot of cool things to enjoy about the piece, including the percussion from :24-:50. Good wind SFX at :50 as well, showing how important the little touches can be. The belltone-like sounds that started at 1:56 dragged on for way too long, even as a background player. 2:28 could have been a good moment to either drop them out or introduce them in the first place. Otherwise, I liked the variations of the source tune throughout. The ending at 2:44 felt like a cop-out, honestly. At the very least, I thought it was a pretty cold, weak resolution. Nearly everything else was clicking well enough though. I can give it a weak pass, which sounds like backhanded compliment. But if I really wanted to cut this down, I'd give it a NO. Wouldn't mind some revisions on this one to bring out more of its potential, but it's tiptoes on the line. Could still get NOed though, so we'll see how it goes. Even if this doesn't make it as is, this is already in pretty good shape, John. Keep improving! YES (borderline)

We know, but that was more of a cameo, whereas the involvement here was lot more extensive, and a legit collab. I loved it when I first heard it, and I love it now. Awesome work from Doug and Sharon on a classy powerhouse of a mix.

Sure, I agree with PhiJayy that making the quaterfinals doesn't mean your song is good. BUT it's still difficult to make the quarterfinals due to the low signal-to-noise ratio and that people have to vote within huge rounds to make a dent for you. IMO, that's largely left up to the "unwashed masses" to decide, and you hope the cream rises to the top. If you can get help, that's great, because otherwise, even if your track is awesome, it can get lost in the shuffle. I definitely never claimed that. The OCR fans obviously make a difference, and I think that's great. I'm proud that being an OC ReMixer means you have a great fanbase to call on who will actually go to bat for you, and CARE about an artist's original work. It just shows why this community is great, and that it's a legitimate community. But they don't guarantee any wins. And if they did, OCR guys would win $5K every month, no contest. OCR doesn't have little control, but the influence of OCR fans isn't some sort of unstoppable victory force. Now, you're also complaining because artists are willing to offer up free downloads of paid material or coupons for sales of music if they win, because that's unfair. Now if OurStage says it's unfair, then sure, don't do it. But if they have no issue with that, then it seems to me like that's tough shit. These artists can offer stuff in the first place because their music is good enough and has earned enough of a reputation where it is now desired by others. So people are willing to do things to get the music. If your music doesn't command that kind of reaction from people, that's tough shit again. I agree that sucks, but that just means you try harder. Short of encouraging people to game the system, these guys and girls are trying to win, and they happen to have more resources at their disposal because they had a head start through more experience and built-in fanbases. If you were winning, in all likelihood you wouldn't be questioning this system. You would be too busy being glad that you were winning. So according to your system, popular artists can't call on their fans to support them, because they have too many?!? And they might win?!?