Tutorial: How to manage a sound design contest?
This tutorial contains detailed information for everyone who is interested about arranging and managing contests on AudioDraft.
AudioDraft’s contest managing process can be separated to three smaller steps:
Listen and give feedback -> Modify the brief if necessary -> Pick the winner and receive the files
Step 1: Listen and give feedback
After you have launched your AudioDraft contest the sound designers will start working on their music to match your design brief. It can take a while before you get first entries to your contest, so be patient. It’s important to be active and guide the sound designers with your feedback during the contest because that is the only way to get desired results. So listen to the new entries regularly and give feedback on the entries by different ways:
Rate:
Rating the entries (in range of 1 to 5 stars) is a very simple way to tell to the sound designers which kind of entries you prefer the most. It’s the fastest and easiest way to guide the contest to the right direction. With constant rating the designers will know which kind of entries you prefer the most and you’re will get even more suitable tracks to your contest.
Give comments:
You are able to give public comments of the entries on the General discussion area of the contest page and give private comments about each directly to an individual sound designer. The importance of the private feedback is increasing when you think that the contest has very potential entries and only minor chances are needed. When you give feedback remember to keep it constructive.
Eliminate:
If some entry is a definite no-go you are also able to eliminate it from the contest, but please remember to be polite and discrete to the sound designer community. It is also a good idea to leave a comment to the designer, whose work you have eliminated, explaining why his/her work has been eliminated from the contest.
Step 2: Modify the brief if necessary
If you notice that some information is missing from the design brief, or if it’s accidentally misleading the designers, please modify the brief. You’re free to do changes to your design brief during the contest, but it’s also recommended that you mention about the changes to all the sound designers on the general discussion area of your contest page.
Step 3: Pick the winner and receive the files
After your contest is over, and you’ve found the perfect track, you can select the winner by simply clicking the “Award” button on the entry listing.
Note: If your contest is a “sprint contest” you can select the winner at any time (before contest deadline) and the contest will end when all the winners are selected. Sprint contest is an extra feature and you have to select it before launching your contest.
The private “Handover” section will open after you have selected the winner. There you are able to discuss with the winning sound designer and request the track in the highest quality format. After you’re happy with the files you’ve received, just click the “Release payment” button. Then you are instantly able to download the tracks and AudioDraft will take care of transferring the prize money to the designer.
It’s easy, just create your contest and start managing it today. Start the process here!
