A: Overview of MySongCast

1. What is MySongCast?

2. Who can join?

3. Is it free?

4. Why should I join MySongCast?

B: Accounts

1. Signing up

2. Artist Accounts

3. General Fan/Member Accounts

4. Editing 'My Account'

C: Using the site

1. What is in the tabs?

2. Uploading material

3. What are the hot tags?

4. How do I search?

5. How do I send a message to a friend?

6. What is a fan?

7. Can I send outside emails?

D: The Media Player

1. What is the media player?

2. How do I play a song?

3. How do I add a comment just for the band?

4. Can I download a song?

E: My Artist/Band Page

1. What is on my artist page?

2. How do I edit my band profile?

3. Can I send my fans a message?

4. Can I link to my other artist web pages?

F: My Fan/Member home page

1. Everyone gets a fan page, where is it and what is it?

2. Can I change the sections on my home page?

3. Mow do I make a playlist?

4. How do I edit my friends?

5. Can I edit my favourites?

6. Who can add a comment?

7. How do I delete a comment?

8. How do I report other members or inappropriate material?

G: Competitions

1. What is the competition?

2. Who can enter?

3. Does it cost anything to enter the competition?

4. How do I enter the competition?

5. How do I vote for a song?

6. What happens if there is a tie?

7. How do you win?

8. What are the prizes?

9. Can I vote for a song more than once?

10. I've just signed up, but I can't vote. Why?

11. I've had my account for ages, but I still can't vote. Why?

12. Can the competition be rigged?

13. What are POPRepublic.tv's Terms and Conditions?

H: Our Policies

1. Copyright

2. Terms Of Service

3. Privacy

4. Safety

A: OVERVIEW OF MYSONGCAST

1. What is MySongCast (MSC)?

Mysongcast is a worldwide website creating a community of artists, fans and Venues. It is a showcase of music for you to find the next big thing or just support your friends and favourites!

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2. Who can join?

Anyone who loves new music!

ARTISTS, FANS and VENUES

Everyone will have a fan/general member page where you will be able to save your favourite songs and artists, make your own playlists of songs, find new friends and share your page, playlists and music favourites. Support your local band, find new ones from around the world... or make up your own genre and subscribe to it via RSS.

Artists can have their own page where their music can be heard. Fans can add themselves to your fanbase, listen to your songs, and share them with others. Upload photos, upcoming gigs and your bio and you are away!

We also run a free monthly competition with cash and prizes up for grabs for the overall winner and runner up. Voting will be done online.

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3. Is it free?

Yes this is a free site for you as an artist or fan to view, interact with each other and have your own member page. You can share playlists and friend each other.

We are offering VENUES a 3 month trial and then will invite you to continue on a monthly subscription. We will advise the rates in due course.

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4. WHY should I join MySongCast over other sites?

Firstly we are indie musicians ourselves, and we are NOT representing any kind of corporation, nor do we seek to take your material or copyright from you.

We have tried to build a site that is all about and just about the music. It is about creating a music community and connecting you the artist with you the fans and venues. We hope to see an online and offline community growing from your neighbourhood to the world.

You will not get lost in pages and pages of non-music material!

We run a FREE monthly competition where the community votes online for their favourites. We are offering $1000 every month in cash (and maybe sometimes equivalent value prizes). The song with the most votes is the winner, and there will be a runner up prize of $500. Obviously if you win that you will get a lot of attention!

We have lots of ways for you to be showcased. As an artist, build a fan base, and the bigger that is the more music and industry attention you will attract.

We have a series of pages like a most viewed page, so you can see what is getting the most attention, and filter it by genre.

As an artist you can upload as many songs as possible, and our player is a standalone one which keeps playing even if you leave the site. You can create and share your songs with others in albums that you put together.

In our search area you can find all the music you want by location/genres and it will give a list of all songs/artists/fans and venues tagged by the categories you are after.

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B: ACCOUNTS

1. Signing up

a. How do I sign up?

Signup at top right of page, you can sign up for an ARTIST or general MEMBER account: Just click here to begin the signup process. We need you to decide what your member name will be, assign a password and we will need your email address. A verification email will be sent to you, just use the details there to login to the site as a member.

b. Do we give out emails or sell them?

NO WE DO NOT SELL or give out your EMAIL ADDRESS or personal details.

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2. Artist Account:

a. What is an artist account and how do I get one?

When you LOGIN: You will be taken to the artist page when you first login so that you can fill in your artist or band details and start uploading your music, photos, gigs and material about yourself or your band.

We collect more information on you as an artist, including the need to know a bit about your band, any members, what music influences you or your band have, perhaps who you sound like, your genre category, add a band icon or photo and don’t forget you need to add your band or artist biography.

The more information you give us when you sign up the easier it is for fans and the music industry to find you.

Your artist page will allow you to tell others about your upcoming gigs, people can add comments and you can add photos of your band or any other photos you want to add on behalf of the band. Click on a song and people can easily LISTEN to YOUR MUSIC.

b. What is a fan and how do people become a fan?

Other members and artists will be able to become a fan of yours from your home page, by clicking on the 'become a fan' button. This means you will be able to send a message to all your fans with ONE click, as they are giving permission to hear from you. They are essentially friends of the band or you as the artist. You will find your 'fanbase' mail options in your inbox.

c. What do I do once my page is set up?

Once you have set up your artist account and made your albums and or song lists and added your bio, you don't have to do a lot after that if you don’t want to. Just check in and see how your songs are going and what comments you are getting. You can enter one of our free monthly competitions. See how your fan base is going and most of all...tell others about your page and when to vote for you...

d. What is a tag?

A series of tags are added to each song. A tag is a word attached to a song that helps us track your song and helps fans find them. You can have 4 tags to a song. These can be changed in your myaccount section which is at the top of the page once you log in, then go to the 'mymusic' section and click on the edit/delete songs section, select the song that you want to change the tags and away you go.

e. Where can I see all of my song stats?

These are a feature that will be upcoming in the 'myaccount' section where you can check out your song stats once logged in.

f. Can I set up links to my other websites like myspace?

Yes you can set up links to your myspace or other pages so people can easily find your other music pages. You can do so when you are setting up your page or add any later through the 'myaccount' link at the top of the page.

g. How do I enter a song into a competition?

You can enter any of your songs into our free monthly competitions through the home page or via the competition tab and the enter competition box in there. Entry is free and we will be interested to hear from you about the prizes you would like to see on offer.

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3. General Fan/Member Account:

a. What is a general member account?

If you aren't an artist, (or don’t want to set up an artist page), you can sign up for a free FAN or general MEMBER account: Just click to create account in the signup at the top of the page or via the SIGNUP AS A FAN in the top left box about the fan membership and what it gives you. Note you can change upgrade your account type later through the 'myaccount' section. Just go the 'my account' at the top of the page when you are logged in and you will see an upgrade to artist account button, just click this.

We will need you to select a username and password. We also need your email address, country, gender and DOB. All of these we collect to allow us to collect demographic data about the site's usage – so we can get advertising to keep the site free. We DO NOT give out your personal details. Check out the terms of use and privacy policy to find out more about this.

We will need to verify your account via an email sent to you with your login details, and then you can setup your home page. When you login the first time you can edit your details at through the 'myaccount' tab at the top of the page once you are logged in. Also your username will appear at the top of the page and you can access that at any time.

b. If I am an artist or in a band, can I have my own page here?

Yes, you get a MEMBER ACCOUNT also as an ARTIST. We give you your own member page where you can keep your own music favourites and playlists from other artists and bands. When you log in you will see 2 names at the top. It will say welcome to 'you' (member name) of 'artist name'. You can click onto either of these at anytime to quickly go to your member or artist page.

c. How will I know if there are any messages for me?

If someone has sent you a messages, the number of messages in your inbox will appear at the top of the page. Just click on the inbox to see your mail.

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4. Editing 'My Account'

a. How do I change my password?

You can change your password in the 'myaccount' section which you can access via the top of the page at all times. Go to edit my details to change your password.

b. How do I edit my account?

You can access 'myaccount' anytime from the top of the page. You will go to a page where you can edit any details of your member or artist profile.

c. What is the menu at the top right of the page in the myaccount section?

On that page there is a mini menu on the top right which gives you a quick link to any section.

d. How do I edit my artist profile and songs?

The ARTIST editing options are in the blue boxes on the page. They include, editing your artist profile, photos, gigs, fans, and of course you can edit all of your music – songs and albums from the 'My Music' green box.

e. How do I enter a song into the competition?

You can enter a song into a competition via the 'Competition' box on the home page or via the competition tab.

f. How do I edit my general FAN/member account?

Your MEMBER editing options are listed in the silver boxes. You can edit any of the following in 'My Account': change your password, change your location and other general details. You can edit your RSS subscriptions, your friends, favourites and your playlist. Again you can access the mini menu to quickly navigate to those areas you want to edit.

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C: USING THE SITE

1. What is in the tabs?

BROWSE TAB, Click on this tab to browse four categories – Genres, Artists, Fans and Venues.

COMPETITION TAB, Click on this tab to check out the current competition leaders, the most popular genres, see the current prizes and you can also look at the past competitions. If you have a song uploaded on the site, enter the current or next competition from the competition box on the page.

FORUM TAB, Click on this tab to enter the forum section where we have a number of categories for you to post your thoughts and interact with other members of the site. This will commence with the LIVE LAUNCH of the site. Meanwhile we appreciate your feedback, so send us a comment by filling out the box currently on the page. Let us know of any problems or suggestions you have or just email us at admin@mysongcast.com

RESOURCES TAB, Click on this to find all the groovy sites that can help you as a musician or just links you might want to use. We have personally checked each of them and use a lot of them ourselves. These include links to songwriting and music resources and magazines. If you know of a site that others might like send us a comment at admin@mysongcast.com

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2. How do I upload material to the site?

You must be signed up to the site, and logged in as an artist to upload media to the site. You can add new songs at any time through the 'myaccount' link at the top of the page or there is also an 'upload song' shortcut on the home page under the login.

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3. What are the hot tags?

Hot tags are a reflection of what is most popular on the site today.

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4. How do I search?

At the top of the page at all times is a search box, enter the term and select if you want to use a genre to help you search and then click search. In the search there are a number of advanced options which you can explore. They will help you find what you are looking for.

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5. How do I send a message to my friends?

Your mail box is located at the top of the page at all times. If you have mail, a number will appear next to the mail box telling you how many messages there are for you.

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6. What is a fan?

A fan is just an artist or band's friends. You can become a fan of any of our artists by clicking on the 'become a fan' button on the artist's home page. By doing so you are allowing that band to send you information and messages.

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7. Can I send emails outside of the site?

You can send a limit of 2 emails at a time outside the site to share your playlists or invite other friends. We limit the number of emails to this to reduce the potential misuse of the site for automated processes such as spamming.

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D: THE MEDIA PLAYER

1. What is the media player?

The media player is our standalone player that enables you to listen to and watch songs. The song may be in audio or video format. So there may just be a photo, depending on what has been uploaded.

There are buttons to enable you to rate, comment on, vote for (if relevant), or favourite the track. You will also be able to embed this onto other sites.

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2. How do I play a song?

Just click on a song to play it. Click on the artist or band name to go to their home page, or click on another song to add it to the player. The song will queue up and you can click on it at anytime to listen to it

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3. How do I add a comment just for the band?

Go to the artist's home page to add a comment for the artist or another fan... Go to the browse section and explore.

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4. Can I download a song?

Not yet, but we will be adding that soon. This will be something that the artist will decide – whether you want someone to download it or not and whether you want to attach a fee for your song.

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E: MY ARTIST/BAND PAGE

1. What is on my artist page?

Their music we hope, but also about them, you can see their fans, gigs and comments. You can access all these – the top headings are links to that part of the page.

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2. How do I edit my band profile?

Go the 'My Account' section of the site via the link at the top of the page and you will see all the artist edit options listed there. Alternatively you can use the mini menu on the right hand side. You can upload and edit your music, artist profile, gigs and manage your fans. You can add photos to your page as well here.

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3. Can I send my fans a message?

Go to the mail box at the top of the page to access your fan base, this is a distribution list for you, so as an artist you can send a message to all your fans at once.

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4. Can I link to my other artist web pages?

Yes you can add links to your own artist page or other sites such as myspace.

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F: MY FAN/MEMBER HOME PAGE

1. Everyone gets a fan page, where do I find it, and what is it?

This page is accessed by clicking on the link to your 'username' that you signed up as at the top of the page. You can tell others about yourself. You can organise your favourite music into your own lists and share these with friends.

You can favourite other artists and songs from around the stie and these will appear in your favourites. You can edit these via the 'myaccount' link at the top of the page.

You can subscribe to your favourite bands and even genres via RSS feeds. You can edit these in the 'myaccount' section.

There is a section for the friends that you have accepted requests for. You can edit these via the same link at the top of the page.

People can add comments to your page. You can delete any comments you don't like. If they are offensive or in any way breach our TOS, then report them to us.

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2. Can I change the sections on my home page?

At this point you cannot change the layout, but we will be introducing this.

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3. How do I make a playlist?

You can edit your playlist on your home page when logged in or by going to the 'My Account' section.

Make up your own 'albums' or playlists and save them there. You can organise your own categories.

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4. How do I edit my friends?

You can edit 'My Friends' by going to the 'My Account' section, and going to the my friends section.

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5. Can I edit my favourites?

Yes you can go to 'My Account' and edit your favourites there.

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6. Who can add a comment?

Anyone can add a comment! So be careful what you say, and don't post offensive material or you could be blocked or banned. You should play fair when you add one. If you don't like the comment, then delete it from your page

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7. How do I delete a comment?

Just delete the comment using the delete button under the comment.

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8. How do I report other members or inappropriate material?

We have included a button on every home page no matter whether artist or member to 'report user'. The community relies on people reporting things that are thought to be violations of the TOS. These are investigated and taken seriously. Breaches may result in suspension or termination of your account – so don't do it.

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G: COMPETITIONS

1. What is the competition?

We run a competition monthly in which the most voted song by an artist or band in the current competition wins. It will run over a month from midnight EST until 23:59 on the last day of the month. The next month's competition then starts and the last month's winners are announced. There is a runner up prize as well.
Only one song per artist can be entered for each month

Mysongcast reserves the right to adjust the vote tally and/or outcome of the competitions if we find evidence of misconduct.

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2. Who can enter?

You must be or have the permission of the copyright owner to enter a song into the competition. If you are under a record contract or other publishing rights agreement, you must have their permission to enter the song. Check the TOS and make sure you do not breach them.

You will be ineligible to enter a competition if you won or placed runner-up in the previous competition - this helps more artists get a share of the limelight! Each artist can enter one song per competition.

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3. Does it cost anything to enter a competition?

There is no entry fee for the competition.

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4. How do I enter the competition?

There are lots of ways to enter, via the home page or from the competition page. Of course you must be or have the permission of the copyright owner to enter the competition.

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5. How do I vote for a song?

Firstly you must have an account with Mysongcast. To join, just click on one of the signup buttons. Once you have signed up, you will be sent an email with your username, password and activation code. Just click on the activation link and you are ready to vote.

Simply login and vote online: when you find a song you like just click on it to load it into the media player. There is a vote button which you click and your vote will be recorded. You can only vote for each song once.

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6. What happens if there is a tie?

In the event of a tie, the prize winner will be decided by Mysongcast based on when the song was entered into the competition, the quality of the song, the song reviews and artist fanbase.

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7. How do you win?

The song that records the most votes for the month is the winner. If any competition entry breaches our terms and conditions, or those of any of our affiliates, we reserve the right to adjust the results accordingly.

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8. What are the prizes?

We will notify you of what the prizes will be every month. We are starting with cash as maybe that is the most useful prize as you, the artist, can determine what to spend it on.

Tell us what prizes you would like to see in the future and we will try and get other prizes that our members would like to compete for.

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9. Can I vote for a song more than once?

No. To keep the competition fair, you can vote for each song only once (but you can vote for as many songs as you like). Do not create multiple accounts for the purpose of voting for a song - this is not fair play and we will either deduct votes that look suspicious, or disqualify the song entirely. You will not help a song's cause by cheating.

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10. I've just signed up, but I can't vote. Why?

If you have signed up using a free email account (such as Yahoo or Hotmail), you Mysongcast account requires membership for 48 hours before you can vote. Other email addresses are not affected by this rule.

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11. I've had my account for ages, but I still can't vote. Why?

Have you voted for the song already? We limit the voting rate from a single location - if you are using a shared network or computer, you may find that if you wait for a few minutes, your vote will be accepted.

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12. Can the competition be rigged?

We have done our utmost to ensure that the competition is fair and unbiased. In order to prevent cheating, we have put in place many checks and restrictions on who can vote and when.

At the end of each competition, we carefully look through our logs and verify each vote. If there is any evidence of cheating we will adjust the votes accordingly.

There are people who would misuse the site so we want to deter that aspect. This a site for music... where new music is heard and seen... Let's all play fair... It is your band or song that may suffer loss of credibility if the process is misused :)

Mysongcast reserves the right to make the final decision on the winner and runner up each month without further correspondance.

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13. What are POPRepublic.tv's Terms and Conditions?

1. The winner of the determined package will be responsible for the delivery of internet ready banner artwork to the publication "POPRepublic.tv" - artwork must be to IAB standards. The winner, if providing the own artwork can request a specs sheet and supply outline from POPRepublic.tv. Place of the ad and its size will be alllocated by the publisher based on inventory availability.
2. The packages must be taken and used up to and before the final day of the month the package is offered for, any unused inventory or delay in uploading of the campaign will not be rolled over or be due any form of compensation whatsoever. All campaigns will cease if allocated inventory is not exhausted prior, on the final calendar day of the month.
3. The uploaded campaigns must be in lin ewith Government and legal guidelines as to the acceptable imagery and content of the campaign.
4. The campaign must be designed for general consumption and must not be offensive or contain anything deemed illegal. It must promote the winner and be approved for broadcast, not only by the publisher, byt by Mysongcast as well. If both the publisher and Mysongcast deem the requested campaign inappropriate or against the intent of the promotion, we reserve the right to cancel the offer without any compensation, communication or legal recourse.
5. The winner may choose one of three methods of linking for the campaign:
   1. Their artist website (must be their own domain/URL, not a geocities or other "free host" account).
   2. iTunes - an authorised iTunes phobos URL (we will not link to any other retailer or store).
   3. Their Mysongcast band/artist profile page
6. The package offered in no way represents a cash prize, is not transferrable and not redeemable for cash.
7. Should you not wish to partake, or are unable to fulfil the obligations and terms, you forfeit all rights to the campaign.
8. The publisher, "POPRepublic.tv" and AKA Entertainment reserve the right to refuse placement to any winner for any reason it chooses, without explanation or any form of correspondance.
9. Editorial components of the prize are at the sole discretion of the publisher, and will be included or excluded at their discretion. Editorial for the winner will only appear in the allocated prize month's issue. It is not transferrable and has no cash value.

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H: OUR POLICIES

All of our policies are listed at the bottom of every page, and they include the following:

About us

Terms of service

Privacy policy

Copyright material

Also we have links for contacting us or advertising with us. We look forward to seeing you on the site. The MYSONGCAST team :)