KingTiger

Hey, look, what's that? https://mobile.twitter.com/ocremix/status/875445330883432448
Yeah, I'm slow a bit

Just submitted a new version of my track, sorry it's a couple hours late (in my time zone anyway )

Photos!
 
ferris wheel in National Harbor:

 
who is this strange man in my bed?? (with Bradley Vanderhoef)

 
Retro Gaming Jeopardy:

 
Jeopardy contestants (including YouTuber SomeCallMeJohnny [the right-most contestant]):

 
Rick!!:

 
Igneous Rock Pie cosplay at the Tiny Waves PJ Chiptune Rave:

 
Another photo of Igneous Rock at the PJ rave (complete with a wild @Flexstyle):

 
Last day, at Thai Pavilion restaurant:

 
I spotted the 10th Doctor!

 
Chillin' with Trab Naxes:

 
 
more to come...

I'm coming. 

Definitely getting the feels from this one. Which is what this source deserves. Clean & well-balanced production and some great sound design here. An unexpected arrangement for sure, which makes it that much better - it's mellow and reflective, and has a good dynamic curve. Great work!!

Just posted my WiP. Feedback is appreciated!

Just posted my WiP. Feedback is appreciated!

@Jorito & @Black_Doom - just making sure you got the WiP I sent in. I'm making pretty swift progress currently. Also, could I please get access to the project subforum?  

@Jorito & @Black_Doom - just making sure you got the WiP I sent in. I'm making pretty swift progress currently. Also, could I please get access to the project subforum?  

Okay folks, we're one month away from the second check-in deadline, so here's the obligatory reminder. We've been making good progress with the album, but you know what would be awesome? A new update from @Jorito, @GaMeBoX, @evktalo, @zykO, @Audiocolor, @Chernabogue, @DusK, @Lucasonic, @Tuberz McGee, @~Faseeh~, @generaloffensive, @Bowlerhat and @Unknown Alias!
You know what would even be more awesomer? A WIP from @KingTiger, @WillRock, @wildfire and @jnWake! Eager to see what they come up with, I bet it's gonna be fab
Me and Black Doom are happy to give you feedback on your tracks and help you remove any roadblocks. Since this is the last check-in before the final deadline on October 30, this check-in would be a good opportunity for you to catch up with your friendly album directors and make the album the best it can be!
Oh... and we may or may not have some other progress to share with you in the near future

The purpose of this thread is to give people a clear idea of how OCR operates, how revenue is generated (and where that revenue goes), and the relationship between OCR, its operations, and the people that contribute to it.

Is content on OCR licensed?

No. We do not license the ReMixes distributed on our site (and through channels like YouTube). (There is one exception, which is described below.)

Why aren't the remixes licensed?

It's simply impossible to do this for several reasons.

1. Mechanical licensing via the compulsory licensing permission (the one that does not require publisher permission) requires that the source material be published commercially in the United States prior to licensing. Many remixes on the site are of source material never released in soundtrack form in the US, therefore they cannot be licensed.

2. Even if the music could be licensed, since OCR is founded on the concept of distributing music for free, it would be impossible to support the massive licensing costs necessary for all remixes on the site. To use some napkin math: assume 3400 remixes are each downloaded 100 times per month, which is a gross under-estimate. At 9.1 cents per copy downloaded, this would require licensing fees of over $30,000 a month - for downloads alone.
3. No established license mechanism could cover free downloads of MP3s and ad-supported streaming. Compulsory mechanical licensing only covers downloadable copies; as a result, custom licensing agreements would need to be made with every publisher (which they could simply reject, unlike a compulsory license.)

For total emphasis, there is no conceivable way that the content on OCR could be licensed, and especially not while remaining compatible with the site goal of distributing free music.

Does that mean OCR is illegal or infringing copyright?

By default, any use of copyrighted material without express permission of the copyright holder is considered infringement. However, US copyright law makes provisions for "fair use" of copyrighted material as a defense to infringement in a court of law. Fair use is the legal principle that allows for things like educational usage, commentary, parody, and satire, among other uses. While fair use cannot be established except in a court of law, and there are no strict guidelines allowing anyone to decide whether a use is fair or not outside of the court system, it's possible to make an educated guess as to whether a use is fair or not.

This educated guess is based on an evaluation of the factors evaluated for determining fair use, and precedent. The biggest of these factors are whether a work is transformative, and whether it is 'commercial'. These are both loose and nebulous terms, but that being said, our strongly-held belief (reinforced by the belief of consulted legal counsel) is that OCR's distribution of fan-created arrangements for non-commercial educational purposes is fair use. This has been discussed at length in other posts but suffice it to say that when analyzing all these factors, we've made a very strong case for this if a court case were ever to happen.
Isn't it worse to upload music to YouTube, especially if it's monetized?
No. If fair use applies to OCR's activities, it would certainly extend to YouTube. If it doesn't apply, then the site's current activities (on and off YouTube) would be considered infringement, in which case it's a moot point.
YouTube is actually a better place to address issues of infringement than elsewhere, because Google provides content creators with several tools: the ability to claim a video (which grants the publisher/claimaint all further revenue from the video) or issue a takedown. Both of these would not entangle either party in the court system, as Google/YouTube mediates any disputes, avoiding a costly legal battle. In short, we'd much rather defend ourselves to YouTube, ON YouTube, with the assistance of YouTube specialists who have extensive experience in copyright disputes.
Also, keep in mind that on YouTube (and off), a creator can claim infringement regardless of whether someone is generating revenue from a work or not. My own personal experience with YouTube claims and takedowns has exclusively been with un-monetized videos. In short, if a publisher took issue with OCR, not running YouTube ads would not protect us in any way.
Does OCR generate revenue from its content?

Yes. Since the early 2000s, ocremix.org has run ads throughout the site. Other revenue is generated from sales of OCR merchandise (not music; music on the site is not sold commercially) such as t-shirts and hoodies. Within the last few years, OCR launched a Patreon page which also generates revenue. Ads were also enabled on <1% of videos on OCR's YouTube channel from June-August 2016 for testing purposes, which has also generated a small amount of revenue. Until OCR officially becomes a registered non-profit organization, and YouTube ads are discussed further with the community, YouTube ads will only be served on the videos of ReMixers who have given OCR their explicit permission.

Why does OCR need to generate revenue?

OCR as a website has technical costs, such as the cost of a dedicated server, mirrors, and bandwidth. These expenses are necessary for the basic operation of the site. Revenue is also needed to create promotional materials for the site: that includes merchandise like t-shirts and hoodies, as well as strictly-promotional physical copies of album projects. (These promotional physical albums are not sold, and the content on them is available for free on ocremix.org. They are given away at conventions). OCR has also been attending conventions such as Otakon, MAGFest, and PAX (among any others) to evangelize video game music, promote recent album releases, and give away free stuff. Expenses directly related to OCR panels at these conventions (such as technical equipment needed for panels) are sometimes covered by OCR as an organization.

There are also many plans for the organization that require revenue to achieve. For example, the OCR YouTube video template has not been updated in many years and looks dated. We're in the process of commissioning custom visualization software to produce better-looking videos strictly for the enjoyment of viewers and fans. Also, we're looking to obtain true non-profit organization status, which we believe will take a substantial amount of money to file and maintain properly.

Where does surplus revenue go?

For a long time, there was no surplus revenue. Expenses were often paid out of pocket by Dave and other staff. Now that revenue is exceeding expenses, the revenue... isn't going anywhere. It's staying in OCR's accounts until it is used for purposes like those described above. The aforementioned non-profit filing process will likely take most if not all saved money.

So is OCR a non-profit organization?
From our submission agreement: OCR legally cannot distribute submitted materials for for-profit endeavors. Furthermore, OCR is legally bound to spend any revenue on costs directly associated with operation and promotion of OverClocked ReMix.
However, OCR as an entity does not have true non-profit status - 501(c)(3) - which is why achieving that official status is a major goal.
Are any ReMixers or site staff paid for their work?

No. Nobody has been paid for their work contributing to the site either as a remixer, staff member, or administrator, djp included.
(Fine print: OCR has released one commercial album, For Everlasting Peace: 25 Years of Mega Man, as an officially licensed release in partnership with Capcom, with Capcom retaining ownership of the music. ReMixers were paid for this release, which was licensed directly with the publisher. This music is not available on the site and was not submitted through the normal channels, so it's an outlier.)
Will ReMixers ever be paid?
Not for regular submissions to the site, which are distributed for free. Not only would the logistical overhead be unmanageable, but it would invalidate our fair use case, as it would be impossible to justify those payments as necessary to the direct operation of the site as a non-profit entity. However, we'll continue to explore separate licensed projects like MM25, or officially licensed commercial albums through our sister site OverClocked Records. We view these as separate from the core work that OCR does: distributing and evangelizing free music.
Will site staff ever be paid?
There is absolutely no plan to do this, nor has it been seriously discussed among site staff in all years of operation. It's conceivable that it could happen someday, after 501(c)(3) status is achieved and we're complying with all regulations for transparency, corporate bylaws, etc. djpretzel wants there to be a plan for the site should anything ever happen to him, and operating a 501(c)(3) will require more administrative duties for things like bookkeeping and accounting. Again, if it were to ever happen, it would be executed properly to the letter as per federal guidelines for non-profit organizations and in full compliance with our own legally binding submission agreement.
Is there anything to prevent revenue from being distributed as profit to staff now?!

Of course. Just because OCR is not a 501(c)(3) yet does not mean our submission agreement isn't legally binding: it is. And that agreement, which applies to OCR as an organization, strictly limits how revenue can be used. Again, site staff have never been paid nor are there any plans to do so.

I'm going to close this thread up. A spirited discussion to be sure, but @djpretzel indicated what the next steps are going to be for OCR with regards to shifting ads over to YouTube.
I don't think it's healthy for us to sit around and do a post-mortem of the arguments/discussion. Let's get back to talking about video games, music, and video game music.

I'd be happy to take S3 credits, but it wouldn't be orchestral (which I believe is what @Black_Doom was hoping for). What I'm envisioning would be "uplifting" or "epic" trance, like this: Armin van Buuren - Love You More feat. Racoon or maybe more like this: Conjure One - Extraordinary Way (Antillas Club Remix) My track wouldn't have any vocals though, and my buildups/breakdowns wouldn't be *quite* so long, lol (I wouldn't be going for the full "club"/"DJ" experience here, although I may make a separate "club edit" similar to what was done with Super Cartography Bros). It'd probably have more elements of progressive trance, as well (along the lines of Above & Beyond's most recent "artist" album, We Are All We Need).
 

Yes, I'm sure! I'll start working on it real soon thanks! 

I'd be happy to take S3 credits, but it wouldn't be orchestral (which I believe is what @Black_Doom was hoping for). What I'm envisioning would be "uplifting" or "epic" trance, like this: Armin van Buuren - Love You More feat. Racoon or maybe more like this: Conjure One - Extraordinary Way (Antillas Club Remix) My track wouldn't have any vocals though, and my buildups/breakdowns wouldn't be *quite* so long, lol (I wouldn't be going for the full "club"/"DJ" experience here, although I may make a separate "club edit" similar to what was done with Super Cartography Bros). It'd probably have more elements of progressive trance, as well (along the lines of Above & Beyond's most recent "artist" album, We Are All We Need).
 

I'd be happy to take S3 credits, but it wouldn't be orchestral (which I believe is what @Black_Doom was hoping for). What I'm envisioning would be "uplifting" or "epic" trance, like this: Armin van Buuren - Love You More feat. Racoon or maybe more like this: Conjure One - Extraordinary Way (Antillas Club Remix) My track wouldn't have any vocals though, and my buildups/breakdowns wouldn't be *quite* so long, lol (I wouldn't be going for the full "club"/"DJ" experience here, although I may make a separate "club edit" similar to what was done with Super Cartography Bros). It'd probably have more elements of progressive trance, as well (along the lines of Above & Beyond's most recent "artist" album, We Are All We Need).
 

I'd be happy to take S3 credits, but it wouldn't be orchestral (which I believe is what @Black_Doom was hoping for). What I'm envisioning would be "uplifting" or "epic" trance, like this: Armin van Buuren - Love You More feat. Racoon or maybe more like this: Conjure One - Extraordinary Way (Antillas Club Remix) My track wouldn't have any vocals though, and my buildups/breakdowns wouldn't be *quite* so long, lol (I wouldn't be going for the full "club"/"DJ" experience here, although I may make a separate "club edit" similar to what was done with Super Cartography Bros). It'd probably have more elements of progressive trance, as well (along the lines of Above & Beyond's most recent "artist" album, We Are All We Need).
 

Topic has been locked and links removed; @SnappleMan wrote the rationale/reasoning perfectly, so I don't have to.
The seriousness of the content in question and the acts that it depicts trump decorum and tact, in my mind, but I actually think many responses were quite calm & reasonable, including the one I quoted above.
I appreciate your appeal to principle, art, and policy. On the third point, I disagree with you that our standing policy surrounding pornography does not apply.
On principle & art... I'm a passionate defender of free speech and I'm opposed to censorship, but my choosing for OCR to be a place devoid of content that in any way exploits sexual abuse & rape is a form of speech too. This is me speaking: I'm not okay with this site and this community providing a resource that aids in the creation of content of this nature.

Dude that's a ton of work you did there. Awesome! (also I'm sorry for the all the extra work you had to do because of all the sources used in mine & Flexstyle's -.-)

Electro-Swing! Electro-Swing! Electro-Swing! That opening...I can't help but see the needle drop on one of those old wind up gramophone record players, it just sounds so much like it's spinning, as matter of fact I feel like I'm spinning while I listen to this track and that guitar is the channeled spirit of Django Reinhardt, everything that is old is emulated perfectly and everything that is new is on point! I enjoyed dropping in on Felxstyle's twitch sessions when he was mixing this and I've been waiting for this one....must...resist....urge to...Charleston....

I'm just gonna keep posting new stuff here periodically :3
 
Yoshi:

 
My wife's late chinchilla:

 
aaand the Magician, from modern-era Rayman. Flexstyle's claimed this one

If I'm hearing this correctly, you're saying it's cool for folks like me to continue typing those huge ass dissertations with 47 paragraphs about how dat filter sweep had me feelin some type of way, yeah?
 
 
 
hoooly shit, the forums are upgraded as fuck.

This def has a lot of potential. As far as focusing on sounds 1st vs arrangement 1st, it can work either way; I do a bit of a hybrid, but generally I tend to focus on sounds 1st because otherwise I'll wind up building my mix (that is, EQ, compression, how everything sits together) around "bad" or incomplete sounds.
 
Some general thoughts: Needs more happening throughout. Some more pads, or arpeggios, or something. Especially at the end of phrases or patterns to help keep things interesting. Production-wise, it sounds like you're using some stock stuff, which is fine (I currently use mostly stock stuff in Logic), but def needs some a wee bit more attention to keep it from sounding too vanilla, patch-wise. You've definitely got some cool sound design going on, it just needs a little more work. Actually, what would help a lot of it is some attention to the mixing in general, especially in the reverb and delay departments: most of your patches are way too dry for the soundscape you're trying to build, IMO. Those two things alone would breath a ton of life into this track. Also put a compressor on your bass, that would help a lot. I personally like the lead you have, just roll off the bottom end (everything below 200 Hz or so - in fact most of your mix could use this - if it's not a bass-focused instrument like a kick or a bassline then it doesn't need those frequencies cluttering everything up - and some producers cut even higher than that and it really depends on the instrument. Using a graphic EQ with a visualizer to show each patch's range really helps too) and then give it some life with more verb or delay as mentioned above. 
 
(Jeez that's a clutter of thoughts, I hope that's all readable)
 
Time-specific comments:
1:30: I echo brokenbirthday's thoughts about that sweeping synth that enters around this time; it feels too mechanical, for one thing, and it's got too much mud or something, EQ-wise... I would try scooping out some frequencies in the 200-500 range. If you want more specific help with that, just ask. After doing some EQ, I would compress it, for sure; then it may fit a bit better with what you're doing.
 
2:30 The resonant sweeps around this time are a bit piercing; be careful with those. Try reducing the resonance or compressing the patches that are sweeping so that those frequencies don't jump out like that, and the whole thing will feel smoother too.
 
3:10 Awkward transition is awkward; but you probably already knew that I really like the groove you've got going on though, keep that up.
 
I'm pretty familiar with both themes (especially Elemental Stars - GS is one of my favorite games and I absolutely love that theme), and arrangement-wise (in terms of source usage), I don't notice any major problems; you've got plenty of melody and other harmonic stuff from both sources, as well as some great interpretation, IMO. In terms of the overall flow of the song, I feel like it works; I can see where you're going, and with some more TLC I think it'll be great. The beginning doesn't really bother me, but I definitely feel like it needs a proper ending.
 
I hope I don't come across arrogant or overbearing; I'm pretty confident in my feedback but you're the artist here - this is your track - so let's definitely discuss further if you feel like I'm wrong about something or you want more help.

DUDE CALLUM!!!!!!111! yissssss congrats on your 1st solo mixpost!!
 
This seriously is really good, and not what I expected from you (but seriously you're always surprising me, so I shouldn't be surprised ). Mixed well, sequenced well, the mood is frekking fantastic. Grood Jorb D00D!

DUDE CALLUM!!!!!!111! yissssss congrats on your 1st solo mixpost!!
 
This seriously is really good, and not what I expected from you (but seriously you're always surprising me, so I shouldn't be surprised ). Mixed well, sequenced well, the mood is frekking fantastic. Grood Jorb D00D!