Rules and Agreements: The Next GAC Star
MUSIC NATION AND GREAT AMERICAN COUNTRY CONTEST – THE NEXT GAC STAR (the “Contest”)
OFFICIAL RULES AND PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT
In effect as of June 17, 2008
THE CONTEST IS OPEN ONLY TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES AGED SIXTEEN (16) AND ABOVE WHO AGREE TO COMPLY WITH THESE OFFICIAL RULES AND PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT DURING THE REGISTRATION PROCESS. BY CLICKING “THE OFFICIAL RULES” OPT-IN BOX UPON REGISTRATION, YOU ARE AGREEING TO COMPLY WITH ALL TERMS AND CONDITIONS CONTAINED IN THESE OFFICIAL RULES AND PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT. YOU AGREE THAT THIS AGREEMENT IS ENFORCEABLE LIKE ANY WRITTEN NEGOTIATED AGREEMENT PHYSICALLY SIGNED BY YOU.
SPONSOR: Music Nation, Inc., located at 455 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, New York 10013, is the sponsor of the Contest (“Music Nation”).
ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible to participate in the Contest, you and all members of your musical group (if you are not a solo artist) must (i) be a legal U.S. resident; (ii) have registered on the Music Nation web site (the “Website”) and agreed to the Website Terms of Use (located at http://musicnation.com/terms), Privacy Policy (located at http://musicnation.com/privacy) and Prohibited Content Policy (located at http://musicnation.com/copyright) as well as these Official Rules and Participation Agreement, (iii) be above the age of sixteen (16) in the state in which you reside at the time of registration, and (iv) not be under any third party agreement with a record label, production company, publishing company or any other third party who might interfere or claim to have superior rights with you and/or your musical group’s participation (as applicable) in the Contest and/or receipt of the prizes awarded as described below. As used in these Official Rules and Participation Agreement “you” refers to you and all members of your musical group on whose behalf you are entering the Contest. Employees, officers, and directors of the member companies of Music Nation, Scripps Networks, LLC d/b/a Great American Country (hereafter “GAC”) and any other prize suppliers, their subsidiaries and affiliated companies and their immediate families and those living in their households, are not eligible to participate in the Contest. THE CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.
PERSONAL INFORMATION: Music Nation will be collecting personal information about you as a participant when you register and participate in the Contest. Music Nation will share this personal information in order to fulfill the requirements of the Contest, including sharing such information with GAC, record label partners, promotional partners, agents and other third parties in connection with the Contest. You agree that the personal information you provide may be shared, sold or disclosed to the parties listed above and they may contact you via said personal information from time to time in the future. In addition, Music Nation may, at its discretion, share your personal information with its affiliates, parent, and subsidiary companies, or other third parties whose products and services Music Nation believes may be of interest to you. For more information on the privacy practices of Music Nation, please visit the Privacy Policy. Submission of a completed registration constitutes acceptance of these Official Rules and Participation Agreement, including the terms of the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Prohibited Content Policy.
TERM: GRAND PRIZE: The Contest will commence on April 28th, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. EST and end on or around September 10th, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. EST (“Term”). Qualifying Artist Pages (as defined below) submitted prior to 6pm. EST July 14th, 2008 are eligible to compete to win the Grand Prize.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE: To enter the Contest(s), you must create your artist page with other materials you created that you wish to submit (“Qualifying Artist Page”) and “opt-in” to the Contest by agreeing to these Official Rules and Participation Agreement and indicating that you wish to enter the Contest. You and your Qualifying Artist Page will then be considered in the Contest against all of the other participants and Qualifying Artist Pages submitted in the Contest. All Materials (as defined below) submitted in connection with the Contest must fall into the “county music” genre. Music Nation reserves the right to take down and remove any Materials from the Contest in their sole discretion that it does not believe is within the “country music” genre. The Materials that are taken down and removed shall not be eligible to win the Contest. Music Nation and GAC may offer a list of pre-cleared musical compositions that you can perform for your submission to the Contest. These musical compositions (if any) will be listed on the Contest website.
PARTICIPATION BY MINORS: If you are sixteen (16) years of age or older, but under the age of majority in the state in which you reside, you will need to have your parents consent to your registration. In the event that you are chosen as a semifinalist and are below the legal age of consent in your state of residence but over the age of sixteen (16), you will be required to obtain and provide the signatures of your parents or legal guardians in order to proceed forward in the contest. In the event that you cannot provide same you will be disqualified from the contest.
REQUIRED FORMATS FOR MATERIALS
VIDEO: Your Video must meet the following format requirements: (1) it must be in AVI (Audio Video Interleave); MOV (QuickTime); DV (Digital Videos); MPG (MPEG-2); ASF/WMV (Windows Media Video); or MP4 (MPEG-4) format; (2) it must not be larger than 100MB; (3) it must not be longer than 10 minutes; and (4) it must have a resolution of 320 x 240. STILL IMAGES: Any still images you upload must meet the following format requirements: JPEG, GIF or PNG, AUDIO FILES: Any audio files you upload must meet the following format requirements: MP3.
WARRANTIES: By submitting a Video and any other materials (Video and any other materials shall collectively be referred to as the “Materials”), you warrant and represent that (i) the Materials embody original work, created solely by you ; (ii) the use by Music Nation and GAC as permitted herein and as provided in the Terms of Use and Prohibited Content Policy does not infringe upon or violate any third party's rights, including without limitation copyrights, trademarks, or other proprietary or personal rights; (i i i) the Materials do not contain material which could be construed as defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, causing harm, obscene, profane, pornographic or otherwise sexually oriented, threatening, harassing to anyone or which may impair others from using or enjoying the Website; (i v ) the underlying composition(s) embodied in the song(s) you perform is/ are composition(s) that you own and fully control (i.e. you wrote the composition(s) yourself and have full control over the publishing rights associated with same) for all of the uses to be made of the Materials by Music Nation, GAC and/or their licensees pursuant to the grant of rights hereunder for either commercial or promotional purposes; or (v) you have chosen to use a pre-cleared composition(s) from the Sony ATV list provided on the Website.
In addition, you warrant and represent that (i) the Materials are free and clear of any claims and liens by any person whose performances or depictions are embodied in the work, or any person rendering services in connection with the work and (ii) the Materials do not contain any materials owned or controlled by a third party, including without limitation, samples, clips, “mashups,” “remixes,” or the like.
TAKEDOWN RIGHT: In addition to Music Nation’s right to take down Materials that do not fall into the “country music” genre as stated above, Music Nation also reserves the right to reject, refuse to accept, remove or otherwise handle as Music Nation deems appropriate any Material(s) that it deems to be inappropriate for submission to the Contest or otherwise in violation of these Official Rules and Participation Agreement, the Terms of Use or the Prohibited Content Policy, including but not limited to this Warranty, without notification to you and Music Nation shall have no liability to you or any other person in connection with any such action.
OTHER CONDITIONS ON PARTICIPATION: By participating in the Contest, you agree that (i) you are not participating on behalf of any employer or third party, (ii) all registrations and votes are the property of Music Nation, (iii) registrations and votes will not be returned or acknowledged, (iv) Music Nation is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, incomplete, illegible or otherwise voided entries, Materials or votes, or for any computer-related, online, telephonic, or technical malfunctions that may occur, (v) registrations, votes, and Materials will be considered void if they are in whole or in part illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, submitted on behalf of any third party, produced in error, forged, mechanically reproduced, or otherwise obtained through fraud or theft.
OWNERSHIP IN MATERIALS AND LICENSES GRANTED: You retain all ownership rights that you have in your Materials. However, by submitting the Materials to Music Nation, you hereby grant to Music Nation a worldwide, non-exclusive, non-restrictive, royalty-free, sublicenseable, and transferable license in perpetuity to use, reproduce, distribute/license, transmit, make available, prepare derivative works of, display, perform, edit, mix, combine, superimpose, create or add special effects and/or other materials to all or any portion of the Materials (including any titles of the Materials and your name and likeness), and any audio and/or visual excerpts thereof, in connection with the Contests, on MusicNation.com (and all places where some or all of the content from MusicNation.com is available), and otherwise in connection with any of Music Nation's and/or its affiliates’ and/or partners’ current and/or future businesses, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of MusicNation.com (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels. For clarification purposes and avoidance of doubt, Music Nation hereby has the right to grant to GAC (i) a royalty-free right to use, reproduce, distribute, display, transmit, perform, exhibit, exploit, modify, adapt, advertise, market, and promote your Materials, (ii) the right to use your name, voice, likeness and biography in advertising, publicity and promotion of the Contest (regardless of media format) on GAC and/or GAC’s affiliated programming services and (iii) the right to use you for publicity or promotional purposes relating to the Contest (regardless of media format). You also hereby grant each user of MusicNation.com and any of its licensee’s sites a non-exclusive license to access and view the Materials. If you do not want Music Nation to share your Materials or obtain any rights in your Materials, please do not upload these materials and/or participate in the Contest. Additionally, you agree to grant to Music Nation all rights to use any Materials that you submit, and your image, likeness, voice, name, and photograph in correlation with the Materials in any presentations, marketing materials, reports, publicity or advertising relating to the Materials, Music Nation and its partners and licensees, and/or the Contest(s).
HOW TO WIN THE CONTEST
4/28/08 to 7/14/08
Sign up and Upload Period – During this period, you will be able to sign up for the Contest and upload your Materials.
5/23/08 to 7/21/08
Weekly Rounds to determine Semi-Finalists
During this period, there will be eight (8) weekly rounds of judging. Each week, a panel of industry insiders who have experience or knowledge related to the music or entertainment industries (the “Insiders”), Music Nation and registered Website voters (“Voters”) will vote to select two (2) participants as potential Semi-Finalists. Specifically, the Insiders and Music Nation, in their sole discretion, will select one (1) participant during each weekly round to be a potential Semi-Finalist. The second person to be selected each week as a potential Semi-Finalist will be selected by Voters through the Music Nation Head-to-Head Player, subject to final approval by Music Nation to ensure that the Voters comply with the Official Rules and Terms of Use and the judging criteria described below. Votes will be considered void and will not be counted if Music Nation determines that they (or the applicable user’s registration) are in whole or in part illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, submitted on behalf of any third party, produced in error, forged, mechanically reproduced, generated by a robotic, programmed, script, macro, other automated means, or otherwise obtained through fraud or theft. The Insiders, Music Nation and Voters must use the following judging criteria when reviewing the participants and placing their votes: Musicianship - 20% Performance skills - 30% Image - 30% Personality - 10% Songwriting skills - 10%. Votes may not be accumulated or combined from week to week during any weekly rounds. Each week, all eligible remaining participants will be evaluated based on the judging criteria listed above and no weight or value will be given to any previous evaluation(s) related to Materials previously evaluated, but not selected to advance to the next round of the Contest. Participants who are not selected during a weekly round will remain in the pool of participants and may be selected in a later week. At the end of the eight (8) weekly rounds, if a participant has not been selected, he or she will not be able to move to the Semi-Finals. At the end of the eight (8) weekly rounds, there will be up to sixteen (16) participants in the Contest who move forward into the Semi-Final Round. In the event of a tie during a weekly round, Music Nation will make all final selections.
To be eligible to participate in the Semi-Final Round, all participants who were selected to move forward to the Semi-Final Round must sign an Affirmation of Eligibility and Publicity/Liability Release and the Semi-Finalist Option Agreement (and provide parental consent for such agreements if necessary). A summary of the Semi-Finalist Option Agreement may be obtained by contacting Music Nation. Only if these documents are fully executed may the participant move into the Semi-Final Round. If a participant: (a) does not wish to move forward to the Semi-Final Round; (b) is ineligible; or (c) does not complete and return the required paperwork within five (5) business days of receiving these documents, the participant may be disqualified and Music Nation will select, as an alternative, the participant who had the next highest score in the applicable weekly round. All eligible Semi-Finalist artists will be published on the Website and possibly on GAC TV/cable network within a reasonable time after their selection. In order to become a Semi-Finalist, you must also agree to appear and perform on the GAC live performance portion of the Contest if you are selected to advance in the Contest and execute any necessary paperwork regarding same. Music Nation reserves the right to designate a song to be recorded by each or any Semi-Finalist.
7/27/08 to 8/17/08
Judging to determine Finalists.
During this period, a panel of judges who have experience or knowledge related to the music or entertainment industries (the “Judges”) will vote to select six (6) Finalists. The Judges will evaluate the Materials based on the following criteria: Musicianship - 30% Performance skills - 30% Total Votes - 40%. The Judges will select the six (6) Semi-Finalist with the highest scores to move forward into the Final Round. In the event of a tie during the Semi-Final Round Music Nation will make all final selections.
9/8/08
Final Televised Round
In the Final Round, there will be a total of six (6) Finalists. Music Nation reserves the right to designate a song to be recorded by each or any Finalist. The Finalists will perform on the GAC TV/cable network in order to determine the winner of the Contest. The winner will be selected by the TV/cable viewers based on the following criteria: Musicianship - 30% Performance skills - 30% Image - 20% Personality - 10% Entertainment - 10%. At the end of the Final Round, the winner will receive the Grand Prize described on the Prize Page. In the event of a tie during the Final Round, Music Nation will make all final selections. TV/cable viewers will have up to two (2) ways to vote for the winner. First, the TV/cable viewers will be allowed to vote online for their favorite artist (TV/cable viewers may make only one (1) vote per artist per day via the Website). Second, TV/cable viewers may also be allowed to vote via mobile phone for their favorite artist (standard text message rates will apply, and again, TV/cable viewers may make only one (1) vote per artist per day during via their mobile phone). Celebrity commentators may also appear on the GAC TV/cable network program during the Final Round to offer commentary on the artists performances.
9/10/08
Announcement of Winner
The winner of the Contest will be announced on the GAC TV/cable network on the date listed above. If a potential winner declines their prize, fails to claim their prize, fails to meet the requirements for fulfillment of their prize, fails to abide by the Official Rules and/or Participation Agreement, the Terms of Use and/or Prohibited Content Policy, or is otherwise determined to be ineligible in Music Nation's sole discretion, Music Nation may select as a new potential winner, the participant with the next highest overall score in the Final Round of the Contest.
SEMI-FINALIST OPTION AGREEMENT: If you are selected to become a Semi-Finalist, you will be required to sign a written Semi-Finalist Option Agreement with either GAC and/or Music Nation that grants to GAC and Music Nation the option to enter into an exclusive development and/or recording agreement with you, which will include the exclusive right to record and distribute sound recordings and which will, at a minimum, include all customary terms in a recording agreement for development level artists. This document will also set forth your obligations regarding your agreement to appear and perform on the GAC TV/cable network live performance portions of the Contest.
If you are selected to become a Semi-Finalist, but do not win the Contest, you agree to grant to GAC and Music Nation the option to enter into a demo-type recording agreement with you which will, at a minimum, include all customary terms in a demo-type recording agreement for development level artists.
Summaries of both the development and demo agreements described above are available upon request from Music Nation. Click here to request a summary of these agreements.
WHAT DO YOU WIN?
Grand Prize. The participant selected as the Grand Prize winner will receive: (i) the prize(s) as more fully described on the Prize Page (http://musicnation.com/contest/gacstar/prizes), which shall include a development agreement with either GAC and/or Music Nation which consists of GAC’s and/or Music Nation’s exercise of the Semi-Finalist Option Agreement described above; and (ii) if applicable, additional prizes will also be listed on the Prize Page. For the approximate retail value of the Grand Prize and/or any other prizes, please see the Prize Page or contact Music Nation if such information is not listed.
In the event that there are any promotional obligations in connection with the Contest, you agree to comply with such obligations. In connection with these obligations, the Grand Prize winner will be provided with hotel accommodations and transportation for said promotional obligations that arise out of the Contest (e.g. television appearances, show performances).
Music Nation reserves the right, in it sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant who is under a third-party agreement which Music Nation deems as contradictory to the amateur nature of this Contest. Music Nation assumes no responsibility for any disputes among members of bands that are entered into the Contest with regard to the songs submitted into the Contest, or any disputes among the various individuals and/or entities that have collective interest in any submitted song. In the event that any such dispute or personnel change interferes with the operation of the Contest, entrants and their respective band members involved in the dispute may be disqualified, in Music Nation's sole discretion. Music Nation reserves the right to hold additional, separate sub-contests that will be announced during the term of the Contest. In the event that Music Nation chooses to hold additional, separate sub-contests, it will post the information on the Website.
ABILITY TO TERMINATE: Music Nation reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend all or part of the Contest. If Music Nation, in its sole discretion, determines that the Contest, or a portion of the Contest, is impractical, or if any portion of the Contest is deemed to be fraudulent, void, unlawful or if there are any technical or administrative malfunctions, errors or other problems that affect the structure, terms or lawful administration of the Contest, Music Nation may terminate, cancel or otherwise modify the applicable Contest, in whole or in part.
DISQUALIFICATION: Any violation of these official rules by any participant, in Music Nation's sole discretion, will result in such participant's immediate disqualification from the Contest.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: By submitting a completed registration on the Website, participants release Music Nation, GAC, and any other prize provider and their affiliates, parents, and subsidiaries companies, record label partners, sponsors, employees, agents and officers, advertising and promotion agencies, as well as all others providing prizes and/or otherwise associated with the development and execution of the Contest, from and against any and all liability with respect to or in any way arising from the Contest, and the awarding and use of any prize(s). Music Nation assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction of, or unauthorized access to, any Contest registration, voting or Materials submission, or alteration of registration data.
LAWS: The Contest is governed by the laws of New York without regard to the conflicts of law provisions.
WINNERS LIST: To obtain the names of the winners of the Contest, please visit the Website located at www.musicnation.com where a winners list will be posted for at least thirty (30) days following the completion of the Contest.
OFFICIAL RULES AND PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT
In effect as of June 17, 2008
THE CONTEST IS OPEN ONLY TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES AGED SIXTEEN (16) AND ABOVE WHO AGREE TO COMPLY WITH THESE OFFICIAL RULES AND PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT DURING THE REGISTRATION PROCESS. BY CLICKING “THE OFFICIAL RULES” OPT-IN BOX UPON REGISTRATION, YOU ARE AGREEING TO COMPLY WITH ALL TERMS AND CONDITIONS CONTAINED IN THESE OFFICIAL RULES AND PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT. YOU AGREE THAT THIS AGREEMENT IS ENFORCEABLE LIKE ANY WRITTEN NEGOTIATED AGREEMENT PHYSICALLY SIGNED BY YOU.
SPONSOR: Music Nation, Inc., located at 455 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, New York 10013, is the sponsor of the Contest (“Music Nation”).
ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible to participate in the Contest, you and all members of your musical group (if you are not a solo artist) must (i) be a legal U.S. resident; (ii) have registered on the Music Nation web site (the “Website”) and agreed to the Website Terms of Use (located at http://musicnation.com/terms), Privacy Policy (located at http://musicnation.com/privacy) and Prohibited Content Policy (located at http://musicnation.com/copyright) as well as these Official Rules and Participation Agreement, (iii) be above the age of sixteen (16) in the state in which you reside at the time of registration, and (iv) not be under any third party agreement with a record label, production company, publishing company or any other third party who might interfere or claim to have superior rights with you and/or your musical group’s participation (as applicable) in the Contest and/or receipt of the prizes awarded as described below. As used in these Official Rules and Participation Agreement “you” refers to you and all members of your musical group on whose behalf you are entering the Contest. Employees, officers, and directors of the member companies of Music Nation, Scripps Networks, LLC d/b/a Great American Country (hereafter “GAC”) and any other prize suppliers, their subsidiaries and affiliated companies and their immediate families and those living in their households, are not eligible to participate in the Contest. THE CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.
PERSONAL INFORMATION: Music Nation will be collecting personal information about you as a participant when you register and participate in the Contest. Music Nation will share this personal information in order to fulfill the requirements of the Contest, including sharing such information with GAC, record label partners, promotional partners, agents and other third parties in connection with the Contest. You agree that the personal information you provide may be shared, sold or disclosed to the parties listed above and they may contact you via said personal information from time to time in the future. In addition, Music Nation may, at its discretion, share your personal information with its affiliates, parent, and subsidiary companies, or other third parties whose products and services Music Nation believes may be of interest to you. For more information on the privacy practices of Music Nation, please visit the Privacy Policy. Submission of a completed registration constitutes acceptance of these Official Rules and Participation Agreement, including the terms of the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Prohibited Content Policy.
TERM: GRAND PRIZE: The Contest will commence on April 28th, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. EST and end on or around September 10th, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. EST (“Term”). Qualifying Artist Pages (as defined below) submitted prior to 6pm. EST July 14th, 2008 are eligible to compete to win the Grand Prize.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE: To enter the Contest(s), you must create your artist page with other materials you created that you wish to submit (“Qualifying Artist Page”) and “opt-in” to the Contest by agreeing to these Official Rules and Participation Agreement and indicating that you wish to enter the Contest. You and your Qualifying Artist Page will then be considered in the Contest against all of the other participants and Qualifying Artist Pages submitted in the Contest. All Materials (as defined below) submitted in connection with the Contest must fall into the “county music” genre. Music Nation reserves the right to take down and remove any Materials from the Contest in their sole discretion that it does not believe is within the “country music” genre. The Materials that are taken down and removed shall not be eligible to win the Contest. Music Nation and GAC may offer a list of pre-cleared musical compositions that you can perform for your submission to the Contest. These musical compositions (if any) will be listed on the Contest website.
PARTICIPATION BY MINORS: If you are sixteen (16) years of age or older, but under the age of majority in the state in which you reside, you will need to have your parents consent to your registration. In the event that you are chosen as a semifinalist and are below the legal age of consent in your state of residence but over the age of sixteen (16), you will be required to obtain and provide the signatures of your parents or legal guardians in order to proceed forward in the contest. In the event that you cannot provide same you will be disqualified from the contest.
REQUIRED FORMATS FOR MATERIALS
VIDEO: Your Video must meet the following format requirements: (1) it must be in AVI (Audio Video Interleave); MOV (QuickTime); DV (Digital Videos); MPG (MPEG-2); ASF/WMV (Windows Media Video); or MP4 (MPEG-4) format; (2) it must not be larger than 100MB; (3) it must not be longer than 10 minutes; and (4) it must have a resolution of 320 x 240. STILL IMAGES: Any still images you upload must meet the following format requirements: JPEG, GIF or PNG, AUDIO FILES: Any audio files you upload must meet the following format requirements: MP3.
WARRANTIES: By submitting a Video and any other materials (Video and any other materials shall collectively be referred to as the “Materials”), you warrant and represent that (i) the Materials embody original work, created solely by you ; (ii) the use by Music Nation and GAC as permitted herein and as provided in the Terms of Use and Prohibited Content Policy does not infringe upon or violate any third party's rights, including without limitation copyrights, trademarks, or other proprietary or personal rights; (i i i) the Materials do not contain material which could be construed as defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, causing harm, obscene, profane, pornographic or otherwise sexually oriented, threatening, harassing to anyone or which may impair others from using or enjoying the Website; (i v ) the underlying composition(s) embodied in the song(s) you perform is/ are composition(s) that you own and fully control (i.e. you wrote the composition(s) yourself and have full control over the publishing rights associated with same) for all of the uses to be made of the Materials by Music Nation, GAC and/or their licensees pursuant to the grant of rights hereunder for either commercial or promotional purposes; or (v) you have chosen to use a pre-cleared composition(s) from the Sony ATV list provided on the Website.
In addition, you warrant and represent that (i) the Materials are free and clear of any claims and liens by any person whose performances or depictions are embodied in the work, or any person rendering services in connection with the work and (ii) the Materials do not contain any materials owned or controlled by a third party, including without limitation, samples, clips, “mashups,” “remixes,” or the like.
TAKEDOWN RIGHT: In addition to Music Nation’s right to take down Materials that do not fall into the “country music” genre as stated above, Music Nation also reserves the right to reject, refuse to accept, remove or otherwise handle as Music Nation deems appropriate any Material(s) that it deems to be inappropriate for submission to the Contest or otherwise in violation of these Official Rules and Participation Agreement, the Terms of Use or the Prohibited Content Policy, including but not limited to this Warranty, without notification to you and Music Nation shall have no liability to you or any other person in connection with any such action.
OTHER CONDITIONS ON PARTICIPATION: By participating in the Contest, you agree that (i) you are not participating on behalf of any employer or third party, (ii) all registrations and votes are the property of Music Nation, (iii) registrations and votes will not be returned or acknowledged, (iv) Music Nation is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, incomplete, illegible or otherwise voided entries, Materials or votes, or for any computer-related, online, telephonic, or technical malfunctions that may occur, (v) registrations, votes, and Materials will be considered void if they are in whole or in part illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, submitted on behalf of any third party, produced in error, forged, mechanically reproduced, or otherwise obtained through fraud or theft.
OWNERSHIP IN MATERIALS AND LICENSES GRANTED: You retain all ownership rights that you have in your Materials. However, by submitting the Materials to Music Nation, you hereby grant to Music Nation a worldwide, non-exclusive, non-restrictive, royalty-free, sublicenseable, and transferable license in perpetuity to use, reproduce, distribute/license, transmit, make available, prepare derivative works of, display, perform, edit, mix, combine, superimpose, create or add special effects and/or other materials to all or any portion of the Materials (including any titles of the Materials and your name and likeness), and any audio and/or visual excerpts thereof, in connection with the Contests, on MusicNation.com (and all places where some or all of the content from MusicNation.com is available), and otherwise in connection with any of Music Nation's and/or its affiliates’ and/or partners’ current and/or future businesses, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of MusicNation.com (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels. For clarification purposes and avoidance of doubt, Music Nation hereby has the right to grant to GAC (i) a royalty-free right to use, reproduce, distribute, display, transmit, perform, exhibit, exploit, modify, adapt, advertise, market, and promote your Materials, (ii) the right to use your name, voice, likeness and biography in advertising, publicity and promotion of the Contest (regardless of media format) on GAC and/or GAC’s affiliated programming services and (iii) the right to use you for publicity or promotional purposes relating to the Contest (regardless of media format). You also hereby grant each user of MusicNation.com and any of its licensee’s sites a non-exclusive license to access and view the Materials. If you do not want Music Nation to share your Materials or obtain any rights in your Materials, please do not upload these materials and/or participate in the Contest. Additionally, you agree to grant to Music Nation all rights to use any Materials that you submit, and your image, likeness, voice, name, and photograph in correlation with the Materials in any presentations, marketing materials, reports, publicity or advertising relating to the Materials, Music Nation and its partners and licensees, and/or the Contest(s).
HOW TO WIN THE CONTEST
4/28/08 to 7/14/08
Sign up and Upload Period – During this period, you will be able to sign up for the Contest and upload your Materials.
5/23/08 to 7/21/08
Weekly Rounds to determine Semi-Finalists
During this period, there will be eight (8) weekly rounds of judging. Each week, a panel of industry insiders who have experience or knowledge related to the music or entertainment industries (the “Insiders”), Music Nation and registered Website voters (“Voters”) will vote to select two (2) participants as potential Semi-Finalists. Specifically, the Insiders and Music Nation, in their sole discretion, will select one (1) participant during each weekly round to be a potential Semi-Finalist. The second person to be selected each week as a potential Semi-Finalist will be selected by Voters through the Music Nation Head-to-Head Player, subject to final approval by Music Nation to ensure that the Voters comply with the Official Rules and Terms of Use and the judging criteria described below. Votes will be considered void and will not be counted if Music Nation determines that they (or the applicable user’s registration) are in whole or in part illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, submitted on behalf of any third party, produced in error, forged, mechanically reproduced, generated by a robotic, programmed, script, macro, other automated means, or otherwise obtained through fraud or theft. The Insiders, Music Nation and Voters must use the following judging criteria when reviewing the participants and placing their votes: Musicianship - 20% Performance skills - 30% Image - 30% Personality - 10% Songwriting skills - 10%. Votes may not be accumulated or combined from week to week during any weekly rounds. Each week, all eligible remaining participants will be evaluated based on the judging criteria listed above and no weight or value will be given to any previous evaluation(s) related to Materials previously evaluated, but not selected to advance to the next round of the Contest. Participants who are not selected during a weekly round will remain in the pool of participants and may be selected in a later week. At the end of the eight (8) weekly rounds, if a participant has not been selected, he or she will not be able to move to the Semi-Finals. At the end of the eight (8) weekly rounds, there will be up to sixteen (16) participants in the Contest who move forward into the Semi-Final Round. In the event of a tie during a weekly round, Music Nation will make all final selections.
To be eligible to participate in the Semi-Final Round, all participants who were selected to move forward to the Semi-Final Round must sign an Affirmation of Eligibility and Publicity/Liability Release and the Semi-Finalist Option Agreement (and provide parental consent for such agreements if necessary). A summary of the Semi-Finalist Option Agreement may be obtained by contacting Music Nation. Only if these documents are fully executed may the participant move into the Semi-Final Round. If a participant: (a) does not wish to move forward to the Semi-Final Round; (b) is ineligible; or (c) does not complete and return the required paperwork within five (5) business days of receiving these documents, the participant may be disqualified and Music Nation will select, as an alternative, the participant who had the next highest score in the applicable weekly round. All eligible Semi-Finalist artists will be published on the Website and possibly on GAC TV/cable network within a reasonable time after their selection. In order to become a Semi-Finalist, you must also agree to appear and perform on the GAC live performance portion of the Contest if you are selected to advance in the Contest and execute any necessary paperwork regarding same. Music Nation reserves the right to designate a song to be recorded by each or any Semi-Finalist.
7/27/08 to 8/17/08
Judging to determine Finalists.
During this period, a panel of judges who have experience or knowledge related to the music or entertainment industries (the “Judges”) will vote to select six (6) Finalists. The Judges will evaluate the Materials based on the following criteria: Musicianship - 30% Performance skills - 30% Total Votes - 40%. The Judges will select the six (6) Semi-Finalist with the highest scores to move forward into the Final Round. In the event of a tie during the Semi-Final Round Music Nation will make all final selections.
9/8/08
Final Televised Round
In the Final Round, there will be a total of six (6) Finalists. Music Nation reserves the right to designate a song to be recorded by each or any Finalist. The Finalists will perform on the GAC TV/cable network in order to determine the winner of the Contest. The winner will be selected by the TV/cable viewers based on the following criteria: Musicianship - 30% Performance skills - 30% Image - 20% Personality - 10% Entertainment - 10%. At the end of the Final Round, the winner will receive the Grand Prize described on the Prize Page. In the event of a tie during the Final Round, Music Nation will make all final selections. TV/cable viewers will have up to two (2) ways to vote for the winner. First, the TV/cable viewers will be allowed to vote online for their favorite artist (TV/cable viewers may make only one (1) vote per artist per day via the Website). Second, TV/cable viewers may also be allowed to vote via mobile phone for their favorite artist (standard text message rates will apply, and again, TV/cable viewers may make only one (1) vote per artist per day during via their mobile phone). Celebrity commentators may also appear on the GAC TV/cable network program during the Final Round to offer commentary on the artists performances.
9/10/08
Announcement of Winner
The winner of the Contest will be announced on the GAC TV/cable network on the date listed above. If a potential winner declines their prize, fails to claim their prize, fails to meet the requirements for fulfillment of their prize, fails to abide by the Official Rules and/or Participation Agreement, the Terms of Use and/or Prohibited Content Policy, or is otherwise determined to be ineligible in Music Nation's sole discretion, Music Nation may select as a new potential winner, the participant with the next highest overall score in the Final Round of the Contest.
SEMI-FINALIST OPTION AGREEMENT: If you are selected to become a Semi-Finalist, you will be required to sign a written Semi-Finalist Option Agreement with either GAC and/or Music Nation that grants to GAC and Music Nation the option to enter into an exclusive development and/or recording agreement with you, which will include the exclusive right to record and distribute sound recordings and which will, at a minimum, include all customary terms in a recording agreement for development level artists. This document will also set forth your obligations regarding your agreement to appear and perform on the GAC TV/cable network live performance portions of the Contest.
If you are selected to become a Semi-Finalist, but do not win the Contest, you agree to grant to GAC and Music Nation the option to enter into a demo-type recording agreement with you which will, at a minimum, include all customary terms in a demo-type recording agreement for development level artists.
Summaries of both the development and demo agreements described above are available upon request from Music Nation. Click here to request a summary of these agreements.
WHAT DO YOU WIN?
Grand Prize. The participant selected as the Grand Prize winner will receive: (i) the prize(s) as more fully described on the Prize Page (http://musicnation.com/contest/gacstar/prizes), which shall include a development agreement with either GAC and/or Music Nation which consists of GAC’s and/or Music Nation’s exercise of the Semi-Finalist Option Agreement described above; and (ii) if applicable, additional prizes will also be listed on the Prize Page. For the approximate retail value of the Grand Prize and/or any other prizes, please see the Prize Page or contact Music Nation if such information is not listed.
In the event that there are any promotional obligations in connection with the Contest, you agree to comply with such obligations. In connection with these obligations, the Grand Prize winner will be provided with hotel accommodations and transportation for said promotional obligations that arise out of the Contest (e.g. television appearances, show performances).
Music Nation reserves the right, in it sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant who is under a third-party agreement which Music Nation deems as contradictory to the amateur nature of this Contest. Music Nation assumes no responsibility for any disputes among members of bands that are entered into the Contest with regard to the songs submitted into the Contest, or any disputes among the various individuals and/or entities that have collective interest in any submitted song. In the event that any such dispute or personnel change interferes with the operation of the Contest, entrants and their respective band members involved in the dispute may be disqualified, in Music Nation's sole discretion. Music Nation reserves the right to hold additional, separate sub-contests that will be announced during the term of the Contest. In the event that Music Nation chooses to hold additional, separate sub-contests, it will post the information on the Website.
ABILITY TO TERMINATE: Music Nation reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend all or part of the Contest. If Music Nation, in its sole discretion, determines that the Contest, or a portion of the Contest, is impractical, or if any portion of the Contest is deemed to be fraudulent, void, unlawful or if there are any technical or administrative malfunctions, errors or other problems that affect the structure, terms or lawful administration of the Contest, Music Nation may terminate, cancel or otherwise modify the applicable Contest, in whole or in part.
DISQUALIFICATION: Any violation of these official rules by any participant, in Music Nation's sole discretion, will result in such participant's immediate disqualification from the Contest.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: By submitting a completed registration on the Website, participants release Music Nation, GAC, and any other prize provider and their affiliates, parents, and subsidiaries companies, record label partners, sponsors, employees, agents and officers, advertising and promotion agencies, as well as all others providing prizes and/or otherwise associated with the development and execution of the Contest, from and against any and all liability with respect to or in any way arising from the Contest, and the awarding and use of any prize(s). Music Nation assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction of, or unauthorized access to, any Contest registration, voting or Materials submission, or alteration of registration data.
LAWS: The Contest is governed by the laws of New York without regard to the conflicts of law provisions.
WINNERS LIST: To obtain the names of the winners of the Contest, please visit the Website located at www.musicnation.com where a winners list will be posted for at least thirty (30) days following the completion of the Contest.