This is a list of rules and scheduling details for the NGUAC 2025, a music contest here on Newgrounds. If anything is unclear, please comment below.

How do I enter?

To submit a track for tryouts, simply go to this forum thread, click “respond to this topic” on the top-right, and post a link to your track. BUT FIRST:

1. Make sure it's clear whether you have a teammate/collaborator for the contest. If you are entering as a solo artist, you cannot submit a collaboration to the competition. Having someone else sing or play an instrument for you is fine, but you must still compose the music and lyrics yourself AND mix/master the piece. Your non-teammate singer/instrumentalist is not allowed to improvise for your track. If you are entering as a team of two, you cannot collaborate with anyone beside your teammate. Both team members must contribute to all of the pieces submitted as part of the contest. You can’t just submit a collab as your tryout piece when your team member isn’t around for the rest of the contest. Teams of more than 2 are not allowed. 
2. Obey the NG Audio guidelines. Copyrighted samples are never acceptable and can get independent websites like Newgrounds in a lot of legal trouble. AI-generated content is not your original work, so treat it like a sample and don't upload full-length tracks of it to Newgrounds.
3. Don’t overuse presets or stock loops. Songs that use full-length acapella vocals or pre-made drum loops - even if they’re not copyrighted - will be accepted on a case-by-case basis. Covers, arrangements, remixes, remakes, and mash-ups are acceptable for the tryout round only, not the knock-out or final rounds. 
4. Post a song from NEWGROUNDS. No submissions from Soundcloud, Bandcamp, etc. will be accepted! 
5. Submit a piece of MUSIC (of any genre). No comedy pieces, sound effect reels, or voice acting.
6. Only submit ONE song.

Other cool (but optional) things to do:

1. You can change your submission any time BEFORE the deadline. Just clearly state in the thread that you’re changing it. AFTER the submission deadline, please don’t replace or delete the audio file in Newgrounds' Project System until the following round starts.
2. You can submit a song to the NGUAC that you had previously submitted to another contest on Newgrounds, like the NGADM. Just make sure to follow the rules for both contests. 

What happens after tryouts?

The contest has 3 distinct rounds (tryouts, a knock-out round, and finals), each consisting of a submission phase of roughly 2 weeks, when the contestants make and upload their tracks, and a judging phase of 4-9 days, when the judges score those tracks. Some contestants are eliminated after each round, and once you're eliminated you can't get back in (unlike the NGADM, there are no substitutions for people who drop out).

The last two rounds are tougher than tryouts, for a couple of reasons. First, PARTICIPANTS MUST WAIT to start working on their tracks until the corresponding forum thread is posted. You also can’t create samples for the purpose of using them in a Knock-out or Final round piece before that round begins. Also, in the last two rounds, covers, arrangements, VIPs, mash-ups, remakes, and remixes ARE NOT ALLOWED.

All submission phases close at 23:59 (11:59 p.m.) Eastern Daylight Time on the final date of each phase (see the schedule below). Submission phases open as soon as the forum thread for that round is posted.

Full contest schedule:

How will my song be scored/judged? 

The judges score participants out of 10 by considering a variety of parameters. These parameters and how much they each influence your score may vary by judge. Scores are averaged among the judges to determine who advances to future rounds. Generally, the top 50% of competitors from each group are accepted into the Knock-out Round from Tryouts, and about 20% are accepted into the Final Round from the Knock-out Round. Most rounds, a given judge won’t score all of the competitors; we’ll divide it up by group. 

Late submissions to any round will be accepted until 24 hours after the deadline with a “tax” on your score, according to the following paradigm:

Hours late = percentage off final score

<1 = 5% 

1-3 = 10% 

3-6 = 15%

6-24 = 20%

>24 = 100%

If you’re, say, EXACTLY 3 hours late, your submission will fall in the “3-6 hours” category. 

How do the contest groups work?

After the tryout submission phase, participants are grouped evenly based on their fan totals. These groupings help ensure that the best of the “Underdogs” advance as far as possible without directly competing with more experienced and knowledgeable musicians. It’s kinda the premise of the entire competition. 

To be clear, the groupings are NOT an indicator of how good you are at making music - often Underdogs have fewer fans because they’re relatively new to the site, and All Stars have more fans for non-music reasons. But overall, fans are probably the best, reasonably simple way of determining who might have a similar experience level, both with music-making and Newgrounds.   

Also, if your team members would belong to different groups as solo artists, the team will be assigned to the group with the highest fan total among its members (i.e., if one member has 20 fans and one has 60, and the All Stars each have 50+ fans, the team will compete in the All Stars group).

What happens if I win the contest?

Prizes will include forum signatures for the top 3 finishers boasting of their success in the competition, and your Final Round track will get posted on the front page of the Audio Portal the week after the competition. I’ll also personally give a year-long supporter status to the top 3 finishers.

TL;DR: DEFINITELY DON’T DO THESE THINGS

• Submit a piece to the Knock-out or Final Round that you worked on before the round started
• Submit a collaboration as your tryout piece when you’re not on a team
• Update your track in the project system during the judging phase
• Submit your track after the deadline
• Use copyrighted or stolen content

Thank you in advance for following the rules. Good luck and (most importantly) have fun! :D