Frequently Asked Questions

About
the Project

• Who can take part in the Beyond Music Project?

  The Beyond Music Project is open to all artists invited and registered to the Beyond Music platform.

  If you would like to apply for an invitation to Beyond Music and you are a professional musician, composer, singer and/or songwriter, please click here and tell us more about you as an artist.

• What kind of music is the Beyond Music Project looking for?

  We are looking for creative collaborations! All contributions should reflect the Project’s theme (see corresponding FAQ below). Artists from at least two different cultural backgrounds must work together to develop and submit an original piece of music. The participants are completely free to choose the style of music and to decide whether they create a purely vocal, instrumental or mixed piece. The most important factor is that the music is characterized by cross-cultural musical interaction and collaboration.

  The compositions must not have been released for commercial exploitation through other platforms (e.g. iTunes) or made available on recording media prior to upload. After being submitted to the Beyond Music Project, pieces of music may not be exploited commercially on other platforms (e.g. iTunes) or sold on other recording media. Please find out more in the Conditions of Participation.

• What is the musical theme of the Beyond Music Project?

  Seeking the Songs for the Planet

  Our planet is suffering in many ways. As a global community we see it from different angles. When you share your own point of view musically, it increases consciousness, urges action, transforms and heals.

  We are searching for folk songs, pop and rock songs, instrumental pieces, protest songs, odes to beauty, ballads, chants, choir music, gospel songs and hymns that range from the solitary voice to the communal voice, from anger to hope, from lament to joy.

  This is a place of connection, dialogue and debate. It encompasses a plurality of cultures and styles that require constant translation. It is a testing ground of comprehension, ideas, poetry and music.

  The collaboration must be developed by a minimum of three artists from at least two different cultural backgrounds, in accordance with the idea of Beyond Music "Uniting Cultures through Music". Any genre and any combination of genres is welcome.

• I don’t have access to a studio. How can I produce and record a composition for the Beyond Music Project?

  Music submitted to the Beyond Music Project is not required to be professionally recorded and produced in a studio. Feel free to use online digital audio workstations (DAW) for your recording, producing, mixing and mastering. Many of these workstations are free to use. You can find lots of articles about good DAWs on the net, this is just an example and without checking the accuracy of the information.

• How do I enter the Beyond Music Project?

  After you have created an original composition in a cross-cultural collaboration, you must nominate one ensemble member as “administrator”, who will upload the piece as an entry for the Project.

  The administrator should specify all contributing members of the ensemble so the composition will appear in each member’s profile under “music”. Each contributor must furthermore approve the submission before it is officially registered. Your ensemble must provide a short text explaining on the cross-cultural background of the piece you submitted. The ensemble can create various tags that will allow other users to search for the piece at a later stage according to vocals, instruments, cultural background and genre.

  Your collaborative ensemble may upload a maximum of three pieces to the Beyond Music Project.

  If you are a member of more than one ensemble, you can enter three compositions with each group. We encourage you to join in with different collaborations and submit various pieces of music to the Beyond Music Project.

  We can't wait to listen to your musical versatility and creativity! 

• What is the procedure and time schedule of the Beyond Music Project?

  
  The Beyond Music Project is composed of these stages:

  1. Collaboration Stage
  Get to know professional musicians, composers, singers and songwriters from all over the world within the Beyond Music community and connect with them! Share your experiences and talk about possible collaborations! Work together and create an original piece of music based on the theme of the project (see FAQ above). Important: The collaboration must be developed by a minimum of three artists from at least two different cultural backgrounds, in accordance with the idea of Beyond Music "uniting cultures through music". Any genre and any combination of genres is welcome.

  2. Submission Stage
  During the submission stage, artists can upload their collaborative works to the platform. The submission stage goes from November 4, 2019 to September 10, 2020. Each of the collaborators involved in a piece must agree to the upload in order for it to be successfully submitted.

  3. Song Selection and Album Stage
  Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it is not possible to invite artist teams from around the world to a workshop and album recordings for our Project Vol. 2. Instead, we will honour outstanding collaborative works submitted with Creativity Awards. The winning music pieces of the Creativity Awards will form the Beyond Music Album Vol. 2 and will be prepared for release by a Producer. We will upload the music titles to the most relevant download and streaming services. The music tracks and album will be marketed and distributed. All revenues from the exploitation of the tracks will be paid out to the winning artist teams.

  4. Mentoring Stage
  Three fantastic artists form the Mentoring team for the Beyond Music Project Vol. 2: Elina Duni, Yaron Herman and Manu Katché. These outstanding artists are excited to share their experiences and knowledge. They will create video tutorials on topics such as improvisation, songwriting, production techniques and career development advice. They will provide expertise, tips, inspiration and insights. The video tutorials will be produced starting in September 2020 and are exclusively available to the Beyond Music community. The Mentors will also present the last nine Creativity Awards - each of them will select three collaborations they enjoyed the most.

  You can find an overview of the changes due to the virus pandemic here.

  Please see below for more details about the prizes.
   

• What are the prizes for the Beyond Music Project?

  Since the album recordings cannot take place due to the worldwide pandemic, we will honour special music pieces submitted to the Beyond Music Project Vol. 2 with a total of 16 Awards (Creativity Awards and other Awards). The prize money of 4,000 US dollars for each winning team will be increased up to 5,000 US dollars starting with the 3rd Award. The increase is combined with this regulation: Each member of a winning team will receive 1,000 US dollars for his or her participation, up to a group size of 5 members. Collaborations of more than 5 artists have to share the prize money of 5,000 US dollars equally.

  The winning music pieces of the Creativity Awards will also be prepared for release by a Producer. Beyond Music will make these music titles available to the market-relevant download and streaming services (Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer) both as individual tracks and later as part of the Beyond Music Album Vol. 2. The individual tracks and the album will be marketed and distributed by Beyond Music. All revenues from the exploitation of the music titles will be paid out to the winning artist teams. Direct payments from collecting societies to the performing artists' are not affected by this.
   

• What criteria does Beyond Music base it's decision on?

  We select the winning music pieces on both objective and subjective musical and content-related criteria. The musical performance is rated by musicality, vocal and/or instrumental performance and originality. In addition, we will also take into consideration how the submitted pieces fit with the Project’s theme.

• Who are the Mentors for the Beyond Music Project Vol. 2?

  Due to the coronavirus pandemic and worldwide travel restrictions, it is not possible to meet for a workshop and album recordings this year, so we want to provide you with a great Mentoring Team instead. Three outstanding artists are excited to share their experiences and knowledge: Elina Duni, Yaron Herman and Manu Katché. They will create video tutorials on topics such as improvisation, songwriting, production techniques and career development advice. They will provide expertise, tips, inspiration and insights. The video tutorials will be produced starting in September 2020 and are exclusively available to the Beyond Music community. The Mentors will also present the last nine Creativity Awards - each of them will select three collaborations they enjoyed the most. Here you can find all biographies of the Mentors.

• Where can I find out more?

  All additional information can be found here: 

  • Conditions of Participation
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
• How can I contact the administrative team?

  For all other inquiry, please contact the Beyond Music team by using the contact form or write to info@beyondmusic.org.