[habiTat]

THE PAWPRINT CHALLENGE (a song for the dogs)
Hot on the heels of the Blueprint challenge, Dutchbeat came up with the idea of going one better and doing something similar but this time, for charity…  As you may be aware, Tone has previously done some musical work for a charity which helps to rescue unwanted dogs from being put down. With his support I’m launching this competition independently of his previous efforts, but for the same cause.  What I plan to do is run the competition, gather all your entries together and create an online album to try and raise some awareness and hopefully some money for the dogs, here is the blank album page currently being constructed http://pawprintchallenge.bandcamp.com/track/test

The chosen charity is BADAW (Barnsley And District Animal Welfare) REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 1128029. They rescue and rehome unwanted and abandoned dogs in South and West Yorkshire. I have contacted them and they are fully behind the competition. Visit http://badaw.org/index.html for more info on what they do.

Basic Aim/Rules
Following suggestions from Dutchbeat and Nooms, and given that this is a song ’writing’ forum, this one will be a lot less restrictive. The only rule being that your song must concentrate on the subjects of homelessness and abandonment (to reflect the plight of the dogs). Anything goes on this really, just let your mind run with it. It doesn’t have to be a sad song, you could focus on the hope and joy of finding a new family/home etc.

Your Submission
You’ll be getting about six weeks to complete your entry. Just submit your song in the normal way, in the competitions section and include ‘Pawprint entry’ in the title . Please make your song available for download so that it can ultimately be uploaded by me to the online album. If you decide to add a video to your song, along the same theme, please feel free. I know some of you would like to do a video. This is by no means compulsory but it may add weight to your entry if you’re looking to win. Video’s however cannot be hosted on the final album page, so a link to your video will be included in the song’s description so that fans can find it.

Deadline.
The closing date will be… SATURDAY 17th NOVEMBER 2012. You’ll then have two weeks to review each other’s work and vote for your winner (by PM to me).

Winner/Prizes
Once all votes are in, the winner will be announced. The prize?.. the honour of your song becoming track NUMBER ONE on the final album of submitted songs and the single to be played as the opening track on the dedicated Pawprint Challenge bandcamp page.

Disclaimer thingy..
Just so you are fully aware before entering, YOU, as the artist, will retain all rights to YOUR song. Your name and website etc. will be included on the individual track credits, Just let me know if there are any specifics you want to include. The songs will be offered indefinitely on the bandcamp site for FREE download ONLY. There will be no option for people to pay through that means. If people want to donate to the charity they must follow the links to the BADAW page. IF YOU DON’T WANT YOUR SONG FEATURED ON THE ONLINE ALBUM, BUT STILL WANT TO PLAY, PLEASE MAKE IT CLEAR THAT YOU WISH TO OPT OUT. Also, if you do submit your song, then subsequently change your mind, just let me know and I’ll remove it from the album.

Remember, this is first and foremost, a fun artistic challenge, if we can help to raise awareness and a bit of extra cash for them, then that will be a bonus.

One more thing.
Having put all the work in, and having the privilege of being featured on an actual online album, please, where you can, use the bandcamp link to help spread the message on your various social media/soundcloud accounts. This could have the added bonus of getting your music exposed to new audiences.

Oh yeah, and also..
If anybody wants to volunteer to do some professional mastering on these tracks, let me know.

Ok, I think that’s it, if you're finding this thread a bit late, don't worry, feel free to join in, the more, the merrier.

If you’re up for it, stick a note on this thread so we know who’s playing.

GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY WRITING!

[man of simple pleasures]

yeah sounds good like am in!   

[andy5544]

i like dogs , i have three of the them , so i'd better have a go at it , or they wouldn't be impressed   

[stephaniedema]

I can't promess anything, but I'll def. try my best.
Have always had at least one dog, so can't really imagine live without them. Love them!
Look at that face 


Hope I can come up with smt. Every dog deserves a good home.

SD

[habiTat]

Great to have you on board guys. The two dogs currently pictured on the bandcamp page are mine. The Jack Russell, 'Ellie' was rescued by us, she was abandoned, neglected and underweight living in an empty house. All good now though 

Time to start writing...

[Dutchbeat]

yes, i am in, in fact Binladeda and i are having our first discussions about a collaborative project for this, but let's do this in a way that we see what we come up with first...

have a nice competition and challenge again first, doing the best we can, and then on the basis of the quality of the material, and, i would say, on what Tone and Cathy think of the material, we decide how big we are going to make this project

I think what we come up with sort of needs Tone's approval, before we really connect this to his cause and also website, and it needs to be really good before making it bigger than a competition we have among us as songwriter forumites

does that make sense?

but let's go for a great result! I was wondering whether some of the lyricists would be willing to try to come up with options for lyrics...so that the instrumentalists, who are practically illiterate as you all know lyricists, have a better chance of making decent songs

i hope everybody who loves this forum will put in their creativity

come on, songwriters of this forum, unite!

or should i say: collaborate!

[habiTat]

I think what we come up with sort of needs Tone's approval, before we really connect this to his cause and also website, and it needs to be really good before making it bigger than a competition we have among us as songwriter forumites

I've spoken to Tone and we've decided to keep this as a separate entity, with the bandcamp site linking directly to the charity rather than his page. This is due to the high workload in administering and distributing funds via his original setup.

Hope thats ok..

[Dutchbeat]

That is very ok!

of course!

but nevertheless i think we may want to do a sort of quality check..

so that when we run this for this cause, that is well recepted, and good for the cause
not just a collection of songwriters who had fun
i think ??

i hope you understand what i am trying to say, i am looking for the right words in English

it needs to be great, perhaps worthy is the word i am looking for

i mean to connect it to the cause and we may need to be critical on ourselves???

don't get me wrong...i only hear great songs and serious songwriters out here

but this would be more serious than a songwriting challenge among us, a songwriting challenge just for the challenge, we want to make the best CD / EP in the world

(ok i am just trying to put the pressure on all of you, as my contestants)

[habiTat]

That is very ok!

of course!

but nevertheless i think we may want to do a sort of quality check..

so that when we run this for this cause, that is well recepted, and good for the cause
not just a collection of songwriters who had fun
i think ??

i hope you understand what i am trying to say, i am looking for the right words in English

it needs to be great, perhaps worthy is the word i am looking for

i mean to connect it to the cause and we may need to be critical on ourselves???

don't get me wrong...i only hear great songs and serious songwriters out here

but this would be more serious than a songwriting challenge among us, a songwriting challenge just for the challenge, we want to make the best CD / EP in the world

(ok i am just trying to put the pressure on all of you, as my contestants)

hehe agreed.

hence the request for someone to do some mastering 

I guess we'll see if anyone is up for it.

Good points Dutch

[flossie]

I love you Dutchbeat, that's all! 

[Michael]

This is a great idea !
Can't make any promises, as I'm not very good or creative when it comes to writing lyrics, but I'll try my best to participate here.

I was wondering whether some of the lyricists would be willing to try to come up with options for lyrics...so that the instrumentalists, who are practically illiterate as you all know lyricists, have a better chance of making decent songs

Yeah I agree, I think this would do a lot to improve the quality of the songs (of those lyrically untalented like me)

[habiTat]

Shameless bump!!

Hoping to grab the attention of some of you weekend night owls.

Go on...   join the comp....

[Dutchbeat]

i hope the lyricists from this forum will also consider helping.....there will be a need for good lyrics for this project, not easy

perhaps we need to post a request in the lyrics section?

[habiTat]

i hope the lyricists from this forum will also consider helping.....there will be a need for good lyrics for this project, not easy

perhaps we need to post a request in the lyrics section?

Go for it Dutch, I feel like I'm spamming this place a bit with all my challenges but feel free to put the feelers out

[mihkay]

Ok.
This is a tricky one. I feel there is a certain "quality" threshold to pass here.
I'm in, but nothing I've produced before is what you could call "broadcast" quality and I believe we're looking for that level here. 

Head down. Work required.