Official Rules: Fantastic Scholastic 9 Recording Competition

1. HOW TO ENTER: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.

ELIGIBILITY / SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE COMPETITION

Ten (10) entries will be chosen from all eligible entries in a random drawing (a “Drawing” as defined below) to participate in the 2012-2013 Shure Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition (the “Competition”).  The Competition is open to teams of students enrolled at a college, university or institution of higher learning located within the fifty United States or the District of Columbia who are pursuing a bachelor’s or associate’s degree program with a focus or concentration in fields related to Audio Engineering (for example, Music Production, Audio Recording or Engineering, Electronic Media, Sound Recording, or a similar program). In these Official Competition Rules (the “Official Rules”) each such educational institution is referred to as a “School” and a team of students at a School is referred to as a “Team”. Each Team may be comprised of no more than five students and must have a faculty advisor (who serves on the teaching faculty in a music or related department at the same School as the Students) who serves as the Contact Person (defined below) for the Team in connection with the Competition.  Only one entry per School is permitted for consideration in the Drawing (as defined below).  In the event that multiple entries are received from a School, Shure will conduct a random drawing from among all entries received from a particular School prior to the Drawing so that only one entry from each School is entered into the Drawing.  Failure to abide by these Official Rules will result in disqualification.  The Competition is sponsored by Shure Incorporated (“Sponsor” or “Shure”).

For a chance to participate in the Competition, the Team’s Contact Person should complete the official entry form available at the Shure Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition website at www.shure.com/contest (the "Competition website").  The official entry form requires Entrants (as defined below) to specify all Team members who will participate in the engineering, producing, and recording of the recording that will be submitted in the Competition (the “Recording”) if such official entry form is selected in the Drawing detailed below.  The musical composition to be embodied in the Recording must not have been previously released by a major label.  The official entry form must be completed completely and accurately and submitted during the Registration Period to be eligible to participate in the Competition. The Registration Period begins at 12:00 a.m. (as determined in the Central time zone in the United States (“Central Time”) on Monday, October 1st, 2012 and ends 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Friday, October 26th, 2012.  For purposes of the administration of the Competition and award of any prizes, Sponsor will communicate with the faculty advisor listed on the official entry form and such person with be deemed the “Contact Person.”  Contact Person, on behalf of himself and/or herself and all Team members represents and warrants that he or she and the Team members, as the case may be, have all authority, rights, and permission to submit the Recording and any other materials submitted to Sponsor in connection with the Competition, including, without limitation, project notes, digital photos, video updates, commentary and photo journals (“Materials”) in the Competition, and to permit streaming audio transmissions of the Recording (including the musical composition), in whole or in part, from the Competition website and posting of the Materials, in whole or in part, without compensation.  The Materials together with the Recording and any component thereof are referred to individually and collectively as the “Submission.”  Any licenses or permissions required to include the musical compositions embodied in the Recording shall be the sole responsibility of the Entrants.  Entrants must use their legal names in connection with their entry in the Competition.  Sponsor’s collection and use of entrants’ personal information is for the purpose of administering this Competition.  Where permitted by law, entry in the Competition constitutes each Entrant’s consent to receive additional promotional information from Sponsor (as used in these Official Rules, the term “Entrant” refers to the Contact Person and Team members).  Elsewhere, marketing communications will not be sent to an Entrant unless such Entrant provides express permission to do so (for example, on the Entry Form).  Please see Sponsor’s Privacy Policy available here:

http://www.shure.com/americas/legal/privacy-policy

The Official Rules will be posted at the Competition website for the duration of the Competition.  Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any lost, late, misdirected, illegible or incomplete entries, or for any computer, software, online, telephonic, data entry or technological malfunctions. If for any reason the Competition is not capable of being conducted as contemplated in the Official Rules, including, without limitation, if due to computer virus, bugs, tampering or technical failures which compromise the administration or integrity of the Competition, Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to terminate or modify the Competition and, to amend the Official Rules at any time. All entries become the property of the Sponsor and none will be returned. Sponsor and Competition judges reserve the right to disqualify any Entrant who tampers with or attempts to tamper with the entry procedure or the Competition website or violates these Official Rules.
 
COMPETITOR SELECTION/RECORDING CRITERIA/RECORDING SUBMISSION

On or about Monday, October 29th, 2012, ten (10) entries will be selected by random drawing in Niles, Illinois from the pool of entries made on the official entry form and submitted during the Registration Period (the “Drawing”).  Odds of being selected by random drawing depend on the number of entries received. Each selected Team will be contacted by telphone, mail and/or email to the Contact Person for such Team. Subject to eligibility confirmation, the Teams designated in those selected entries will have an opportunity to submit a Recording in the Competition.  Any ineligible entries drawn or Entrants that notify Shure on or before Friday, November 2nd, 2012 that they have opted not to submit a Recording will be disqualified in which case additional random drawings will be held until a total of ten valid entries of Teams have been selected and confirmed.

The Teams selected to submit Recordings in the Competition (“Recording Teams”) will be posted at the Competition website on or about Monday, November 5th, 2012.  

On or about Friday, November 9th, 2012, each Contact Person for the Recording Teams will receive, from the Sponsor, a Shure microphone kit (“Toolkit” as defined below), on a loan basis only, for use in making the Recording. The “Toolkit” is defined as the following Shure products: two KSM313, two KSM32/SL, two KSM44A/SL, one KSM42/SG, two KSM141/SL, four SM57-LC, two SM27-SC, one BETA 52A, one BETA91A, three BETA 98AMP, two BETA 181/S, two RPM181/O, one SM7B, one VP88, and one A27M.  The Contact Person agrees to return the Toolkit to Shure no later than Monday, February 11th, 2013, whether or not a Recording is submitted, using the prepaid UPS return label supplied by the Sponsor.   

The Recording shall be of a live ensemble (i.e. no sequencing, samplers, or line level sources) using only the following Shure microphones provided by Sponsor and no other microphones: KSM313, KSM32/SL, KSM44A/SL, KSM42/SG, KSM141/SL, SM57, SM27, BETA 52A, BETA91A, BETA 98AMP, BETA 181/S, RPM181/O, SM7B, VP88, A27M.  The Recording shall not exceed five minutes in length.  The musical content is at the discretion of the Recording Teams, subject to the above limitations, as long as the submitted Recording contains at least one vocal track. The production and engineering may only be conducted by Recording Team members.

Recordings must be received on CD at Shure to the attention of Mike Lohman, Shure Incorporated, 5800 West Touhy Ave, Niles IL, 60714 (the “Competition Address”) by 11:59 p.m. Central Time by Tuesday, February 12th, 2013.  The audio track of the Recording must be delivered in Red Book CD audio format on a CD (16 bit, 44.1 kHz sample rate) and should consist of a stereo mix.  The project production notes must be emailed to the Sponsor contact (address to be provided by Sponsor to Contact Person) and must include the following information: A) song name, song composer(s), copyright owner of the musical composition and sound recording; B) performers; C) track list for the finished mix; D) designation of microphone used on each track (source); E) placement for each microphone (approximate distance and angle relative to source); F) polar pattern, sensitivity pad, filters used (if applicable); and G) microphone preamp and signal path from microphone to recording device.

In addition to the above information, each team is required to deliver six digital photos (minimum 300 dpi, 1MB file size) and three short (minimum of one minute, maximum of two minutes) video updates (minimum 30MB, maximum 100MB file size) about their project during the period from Friday, November 9th  2012, through Friday, February 15th, 2013. The first two photos and video update are due on Friday, December 7th, 2012, and should offer commentary and illustrate the pre-production and planning phase of the project; the second two photos and video update are due Friday, January 11th, 2013 and should provide commentary and illustrate the tracking sessions of the project; and the final two photos and third video update are due on Friday, February 15th, 2013, and should offer commentary on the post-production process and the project as a whole. These video files must be provided in one of the following formats: .mpg, .mov or .avi, and may not exceed 100MB in size. These files should be submitted via Dropbox. The Sponsor will provide specific details about uploading these files to Dropbox by Monday, December 3rd, 2012. The Sponsor will select some of these photos and video updates for posting on the Competition website and on some or all of Shure’s social media sites, including but not limited to www.youtube.com/shureinc, www.facebook.com/shureinc, and www.twitter.com/shureinc.

Each team also is required to provide an electronic photo journal of the project, which includes digital photographic files sufficient to show all microphone placement. Each photo should have accompanying text/captions that document the microphone selection, placement and technique for the given source.  The photo journal should be submitted as a single PDF file with a file size of no more than 5 MB.   The photo journal should be a minimum of five (5) pages and a maximum of twenty (20) pages in length.  All documentation should be submitted to the contest coordinator via email at lohman_mike@shure.com.

2. ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS

You are not eligible to participate in the Contest if you are an employee of Sponsor, its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, representatives, advertising and promotional agencies, suppliers of materials or services related to the Competition, the Competition judges, or a member of the immediate family (spouse, including common law spouse, parents, grandparents, siblings and children, regardless of where you reside) or household of any such employees. Any School named the Grand Prize, Runner-Up, or Honorable Mention winner of the 2011-2012 Shure Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition and any participant on such a winning team is ineligible to participate in the 2012-2013 Competition.  Entry in the Competition constitutes the agreement of Entrants to be bound by these Official Rules. Entrants agree to be bound by the decisions of the Competition judges and such decisions shall be final. In the event of a tie, the Competition judges will break the tie by re-judging the tied entries. All decisions of the Competition judges shall be final.

3. COMPETITION JUDGING/WINNER SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION

Recordings will be judged by the Competition judges utilizing the following criteria:  (a) Clarity of Sound (30%; fidelity, signal to noise ratio and overall clarity of acoustic sources), (b) Microphone Technique (30%; selection and placement of microphones as they contribute to the overall spectral balance and stereo field, consideration given to creative, or unusual use of microphone selection and placement, phase coherence or room acoustics), (c) Mixing Technique (30%; overall sonic balance of the combined acoustic sources and placement of musical elements in the stereo field.  Greater consideration will be given to effective and creative placement and relative levels of recorded sources in the stereo field and lesser consideration given to the effective use of equalization, compression and other signal processing of sources to create an engaging mix), and (d) Performance/Production (10%; evaluated on performance characteristics over which the recording engineer has some control.  For example, poor intonation of instruments, audible edits or “punch-ins” and inconsistencies within composite takes will grade less well.  Especially energetic or dynamic performances will grade better.)

At the conclusion of the judging, a tentative awarding of the Grand Prize, Runner-Up, and Honorable Mention Winners will be declared, pending confirmation of the eligibility of the applicable Entrant(s) and receipt of an Affidavit of Eligibility, Release of Liability and Publicity Release from such Entrant(s).   Announcement of the Grand Prize, Runner-Up, and Honorable Mention Winners will take place on or about Monday, April 29th, 2013 at Niles, Illinois.  Tentative winners will be contacted by email, telephone and/or mail.  Within fourteen (14) days of attempted notification that a Team is the tentative Grand Prize, Runner-Up, or Honorable Mention Winner, the Entrant(s) submitting the Recording designated as the tentative Grand Prize, Runner-Up, or Honorable Mention Winner will be required to execute an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release.  By entering the Competition or by accepting a prize each Entrant agrees that Sponsor, the Competition judges, and their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and the officers, directors, representatives, agents and employees of any of the above entities (collectively, “Competition Parties”) are not liable for injury, loss, death, or damage of any kind due to or associated with acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the Toolkit and any prize and/or participation in the Competition. Each Entrant further releases and holds harmless the Competition Parties from and against any and all claims based on publicity rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, trade mark infringement or any other intellectual property related causes of action that relate in any way to the Submission, including the Recording, the digital photos video updates, and the photo journal. Each Entrant agrees to fully indemnify and hold harmless Sponsor and the Competition Parties from any and all claims by third parties relating to the Competition, without limitation. Except where prohibited by law, Entrants who have been selected as having submitted the Grand Prize, Runner-Up, or Honorable Mention Winning Recording hereby further grant to the Sponsor the right to use such Entrants names, photographs, voices, likenesses, and cities of residence for purposes of advertising, promoting and publicizing the efforts and activities of the Sponsor without further consideration or approval, except where prohibited. Non-compliance or the return of any prize notification as undeliverable may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate Grand Prize, Runner-Up, or Honorable Mention Winner.

4. PRIZES  

The School represented by the Grand Prize Winning Team will be awarded a new set of assorted Shure products comprised of the following: one KSM313 ribbon microphone, two KSM44A, one KSM42/SG, two KSM32/SL, one KSM141/SL STEREO mic pair with A27M stereo mic stand adapter, two SM27-LC, two BETA 181/S, two RPM181/O, and six SRH840 Professional Monitoring Headphones (approximate retail value of $11,694.00 (USD)).  Additionally, each student Team member of the Grand Prize Winning Team will receive a KSM42/SG microphone (approximate retail value $999.00 (USD) each).  

The School represented by the Runner-Up Prize Winning Team will take ownership of one KSM44A/SL, one KSM42/SG, one BETA 181/S and one RPM181/O, one SM27-LC, one KSM141/SL STEREO mic pair with A27M stereo mic stand adapter, and six SRH440 Professional Studio Headphones (approximate retail value of $5,395.00 (USD)).  Additionally, each student Team member of the Runner-Up Prize Winning Team will receive an SM27-SC microphone (approximate retail value $374.00 (USD) each).

The School represented by the Honorable Mention Prize Winning Team will take ownership of two SM27-SC, one BETA 181/S, and four SRH440 Professional Studio Headphones (approximate retail value $1,872.00 (USD)).  Additionally, each student Team member of the Honorable Mention Prize Winning Team will receive an SRH840 Professional Monitoring Headphones (approximate retail value $250.00 (USD) each).

Sponsor reserves the right not to award any prize or prizes, should Competition judges, in their opinion, deem insufficient entries satisfactory to warrant the award of a prize or prizes as the case may be.

Prizes will be sent by mail, UPS or FedEx to the winning Teams in care of the applicable Contact Person.  Prizes will be sent within one (1) month of the determination of winners.

5. GENERAL TERMS/CONDITIONS. GRANT OF LICENSE TO SPONSOR

All federal, state, and local taxes on prizes awarded in the Competition are the sole responsibility of the recipients. No prize substitutions permitted, except by Sponsor, who may substitute a prize of equal or greater value if advertised prize becomes unavailable. Prizes are not transferable.  

Entrants should retain at least one copy of the Recording, and hereby release Sponsor from any and all liability for loss of, or damage to, the copy of the Recording submitted.  Sponsor may, at its discretion, keep or discard any entry after completion of the judging.   
Recordings submitted in the Competition may not have won previous awards. Team members must also be amateur engineers.  An amateur engineer means that during the twelve-month period preceding the start of the Competition such person did not earn more than $5,000 (USD) from recording and/or engineering, including any income earned from royalties and any monies earned from any other recording and/or engineering contests. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend this Competition should causes beyond the Sponsor’s control corrupt the administration, security or proper administration of the Competition.   

Grant of Rights:  By submitting a Submission in the Competition, each Entrant agrees to and thereby waives any and all moral rights that exist in the Submission submitted to Sponsor in connection with the Competition, and any derivative works made therefrom.  All Entrants hereby grant to Sponsor an everlasting, royalty-free, assignable, irrevocable, license to use, utilize, replicate, alter, adapt, modify, publish, broadcast, translate, produce derivative works from, distribute, present, display, sublicense and exercise all copyright and other intellectual property and personal rights with respect to the Submission worldwide and/or to include such Submission in other works in any media now known or later created, anywhere and forever. Each Entrant agrees and grants Sponsor permission to make available and display/perform and otherwise distribute Entrant’s Submission in all media in perpetuity without compensation.  

Additional Representations and Warranties:  By submitting a Submission in connection with the Competition each Entrant represents and warrants to Sponsor that (i) your Submission is your own original work and that you have the sole right to submit it to the Competition; (ii) your Submission does not violate in any way rights of third parties, including but not limited to copyright and other intellectual property rights; (iii) your Submission does not violate any applicable laws; (iv) you have obtained all necessary licenses or permissions from all appropriate third parties required for the production and submission of the Submission in the Competition and use by Sponsor as contemplated in these Official Rules; (v) the posting and/or display of your Submission or other use by Sponsor or those deriving rights through Sponsor will not violate the intellectual property rights or rights of publicity or rights of privacy of any third parties or otherwise breach any provision of any applicable law or regulation; (vi) Sponsor has your irrevocable permission for the posting of any and all information included in your Submission in connection any permitted use of your Submission; and (vii) use and posting of the Submission or any part of the Submission provided by you to Sponsor in any manner in connection with the Competition or as otherwise permitted by these Official Rules is and will be without any compensation, regardless of whether your Submission is a winning Submission.   

6. LIST OF WINNERS

For the name of the Grand Prize, Runner-Up, and Honorable Mention Winners, available after Friday, May 3rd, 2013 and before Friday, September 6th, 2013, send a self-addressed stamped envelope (except where not required by State law) to: Competition Winner’s List at the Competition Address.

7. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED

The Competition, including the interpretation of these rules, is governed by the laws of the state of Illinois and is VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.