🎶 I Just Gave Away A Bonus $3000+ USD To Our Top 22 Open Mic Songwriters Challenge Entrants! 🎶
So for those of you readers who like a good marathon and actually get through my sizeable posts, well you may have had a hint this was coming...
The Songwriters Challenge crew knew we wanted to spoil our super talented entrants, we had been speaking about it for weeks before we launched the Challenge - I even reached out to several whales and dominate figures to see if we could find some extra support.
But it was to no avail, I either got no's (sometimes for odd reasons) or just no reply at all - well I wasn't too happy bout that, so I figured I would step in and try and offer something myself.
Well at first the plan I had was to launch another radio show, like the one I already host with @isaria and @swelker101 - we feature the Open Mic judges top five selections each week and we give out 30 SBD to 3 entries chosen by the live audience.
My thoughts were we replicate this show, but instead of Open Mic it's the Songwriters Challenge - well as I'm sure many of the entrants can attest, this Challenge was a whirlwind event.
As it really gained it's stride we reached an end, in spite of our hopes and plans we never managed to arrange the show in time - so the place I had intended to give some rewards away on never came, so I never donated anything.
I believe early on in the Challenge I may have mentioned, that I would be donating the liquid funds from my Songwriters Challenge Judge posts to something - but I never ended up clarifying and for those not in the judges private chat they never heard about it again.
But in the judges room we were conspiring together, hatching a plan to hopefully make some of the lives of our entrants better - and most importantly know how much we appreciate, all the effort that went into their contributions.
@meno, @passion-ground and @luzcypher all loved the idea, so we decided then I'd save my SBD and give it out after the Challenge was complete - my posts weren't the biggest on steemit, but liquid rewards are liquid rewards.
Well I think it was literally week one we were all in a little bit of shock, the quality of the music we were hearing was next level - like ready to go in a studio and my mere pittance of a payout seemed insufficient once more.
Little did we know over the coming weeks that the price would climb so dramatically, it's almost as though a higher power was controlling the payouts I was receiving - I had SBD rewards from my posts that ranged from 16 SBD to a whopping 70 + SBD on the week 8 post!
Over 8 weeks that adds up and the total came in at around the 304 SBD range, we only had the full figures after my final post paid out hence the delay - but then we had to figure out how to share it amongst our super talented artists.
Well @passion-ground, @meno spent a lot of time trying to help me math (thanks again guys), but it's hard to figure out how to split up the funds fairly - I mean the whole way we structured this Challenge, was to encourage the love of music and the support of fellow musicians.
You guys took to this goal with gusto and I am still a little amazed at how supportive, this little community has been of one another - the more I looked at our leaders board, the more I struggled to divide the funds fairly and continue to make this community know we too feel that it was all for the music and creativity.
So rather than trying to come up with a division of funds, I thought what would be a good amount of funds to receive - too little and transfer fees could suck it all up, too much and too many of you miss out altogether.
I was stuck in a no win situation if I followed that logic path to come to the conclusion, people would be happy with $100 USD - but to ensure they actually get that in funds round it up and add some gravy, make it an even $140 that should more than cover any BTC fees.
Then I was trying to figure out how many people I could award with that, let's just say it still didn't feel like enough of you were being shown the true level of appreciation - I know the judges all felt towards you.
Try as I might I couldn't afford to give everyone that entered a big chunk of thank you, so I did what I could and I added some extra funds to the pool - I took the new total up to 484 SBD or in USD $3092!
Now that will go a bit further, how much you may ask -well enough to take the total amount of entrants that we could give a reward up to 22!
I had to dip into my other post earnings to cover the costs, but you guys just entertained me for 8 weeks straight - so it only seemed fair to return the love and some much deserved adoration in your direction.
So here it is the top 22 entrants from the Open Mic Songwriters Challenge Volume 1, receiving their much deserved rewards - thank you so very much from all of the judges, we love you guys!
"The true beauty of music is that it connects people. It carries a message, and we, the musicians, are the messengers." - Roy Ayers
A massive thanks to our top 22 entries! (in no particular order)
Congratulations again to our first place winner @onetrubrother!
@basilmarples - You Dirty Soul Sucking Theives
I so wish I could have paid everyone who entered in the end, but hey there is always the next round!
It really has been such an immense privilege to join you all on this wonderful adventure, the range of emotions is hard to narrow down - but it's safe to say you made all the judges laugh, cry, love and feel pain and emotions through your music.
It was an honour to have all of you with us and I hope this begins to show the level of gratitude all the judges have for our entrants, you guys rock our world week in and out - you have shared parts of yourselves with us so willingly and openly it truly is breathtaking to behold at times.
I love you all and cannot thank you enough for the amazing contributions you have given us, it has been a once in a lifetime experience we hope to repeat in the near future - but it really was just an unbelievable thing to be a part of.
It's not just the Songwriters Challenge judges you have impressed, I was talking with @soundlegion the other day and she was saying how much she had been loving the entries - you guys are just making big waves everywhere.
You are all so valued and appreciated for all the hard work and dedication you put into each and every song each and every week, you deserve all this and much more.....
Which is why I am honoured to say this isn't the last surprise we have in store for the first Songwriters Challenge, the best in my opinion is yet to come!
What was your favourite entry from the first Challenge?
Check out my story
or follow me on twitter @krystlehaines
Please consider voting @ausbitbank for witness here
Wow! Krystle! This just left me in shock! What can I say ... you truly are a hero for all of us in the Open Mic community , your passion and attention to detail to each one of our entries is just astounding! I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we feel immense gratitude for your support to all of us musicians wanting to give and share our music! It is such an honor to appear on this list with all these talented musicians and friends! Thank you for the mention! the support and for pushing this ''music wheel'' to new places, I can see big things happening in the future and surely you are one of the lights we all follow :) . Much love - Pechiche
this comment says it ALL! thankyou pechiche, I am going to second it! I have been throwing SO much love at krystle, I feel in danger of sounding like a stuck record, and now she goes and does this!?? How much more JOY must she bring us!? I have ALREADY HAD the icing on the cherry on the cake, so what the heck is this reward!? RAINBOWS on the icing? Sugar frosted unicorn kisses? Little twisty candy macaroni pieces glued with toffee and filled with chocolate maple syrup that was poured by dancing angels and continues to be poured liberally over your face while you CELEBRATE the SHEER BEAUTY of the cake you are just about to eat?? How am I going to survive all of this happiness? And apparently theres something ELSE coming..... swoon. I think entering this challenge goes down as one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. I love you all x
what are you doing to me Basil!? you know i have to draw this ^^^ now. have you no mercy?
hahaha! PLEASE DOOOO! Can we make it in honour of @krystle???
but of course! @krystle is the reason for all this decadence.
Well sounds like I might get to see another masterpiece coming out of this Challenge, I'll be keeping my eyes peeled - but seriously you guys are gonna make me blush ;)
You guys are too much <3
Oh wow, I can't even imagine where you'd start with that one love - it sounds like it would be an intense task to undertake lol :D
if Basil can describe it then there must be a way to create a visual... and i think i got it
this is REEEAAAALLLY Exciting!
May the Steem be with you.
Tehehe I love that man - May the Steem be with you too <3
I love that cakeish comment so much i literally wanna eat it.
Bahahaha I know right, but where would you start :P
"Little twisty candy macaroni pieces glued with toffee and filled with chocolate maple syrup that was poured by dancing angels and continues to be poured liberally over your face while you CELEBRATE the SHEER BEAUTY of the cake you are just about to eat??" -@basilmarples - HAHAHAHAHA!! that sounds dangerous! XD
sounds like a great song to me
EXACTLY!!! XD
Ohh Basil you always know how to make me laugh, this was just another perfect example of your never ending creativity - thank you so much for your lovely sweet words, you are all gonna go making me emo with this.
I think being a judge has to go down as one of my best decision as well, it has been like getting a perfect present of your favourite things week after week - for 8 whole weeks, it was damned amazing.
I'm just glad I was in a position to put my money where my mouth is and show my words are truly coming from the heart, it was 8 weeks of saving put to good use and well worth it in my opinion - and I'd do it all over the same again if I had the chance, it was just a perfect experience.
So thank you for being a big part of that, I appreciate all you do especially your joyous nature - much love to you all <3
You know what sir, I just arrived from walking to release some stress from a bit busy job here in KSA and as I opened my phone I found my steemify notification that @luzcypher made new post, @meno has made a new post, @passion-ground has made a new post and it caught my attention when I read @krystle mentioned @g10a in a post so I opened it first and I thought that my original song was featured again in Msp-Waves Radio. But I was shocked when I saw the black image below that thre's an amount transferred to my account. This community really rocks and inspiring.
Haha I love hearing how different people learned of the transfer, makes me feel like it's a late Christmas for everyone :D
Mate you are a true legend, you make such beautiful music that I could listen to all day long and never grow weary - with skill like what you displayed along with the other entrants, it's impossible not to get inspired and want to share it with the world to ensure it gets received and rewarded.
You guys make my job so easy, with the inspiration and passion packed into each song - I can't help but get swept up in the moment.
With steemit there is always more to come and with Open Mic the best is yet to come, the future is bright and I see amazing opportunities and experiences on the horizon for us all!
Thank you so much for the lovely words <3
:3
@krystle thank you so much you are a very generous person...being a starving artist myself I can tell you that this is a meaningful gift for me in more ways than one.
You along with the other judges and entrants and listeners have touched me deeply.
And can I just say that I was deeply moved that your son Kai had a connection to my song, it chokes me up when I think about it. I send all my love to both of you, and I am forever grateful to you for being the beautiful human being that you are!
Peace to you my friend
Ok and there we have it, you made me cry lol - good tears, happy ones but tears nonetheless I knew this was coming....
Firstly I always wanted to be able to help out, it's only with the price increase that I managed to get so much to be able to send it out to so many - I am really stoked to see how people are responding to it, the artist that starves for their craft is a true master of that craft!
As for Kai it was really fun for me to watch as well, one of the things we can share together is music - when I saw his reaction to your music, I just had to snap a pic and share it with you.
Being autistic means he can have trouble focusing even for a moment at a time, but for that song he wouldn't budge - and as an added bonus he loves to sing and I believe if he hears it a few more times he will be singing his heart out with you, he is non verbal so no words but he is pitch perfect and I reckon he will go for gold :D
You are one of a kind, your music is a gift you gave to the world and words cannot express how much I believe in your music - much love and peace <3
May the Steem be with you.
Ha Ha! And with you too my friend.
Holy maccaroni @krystle! I wasn't expecting this!
Wow, I was going along with my day, doing some work and then I get a Ginabot notification haha, I thought, why would Krystle send me SDB directly?, she must have hit the wrong link or clicked the wrong button! But then I read the memo and it all became clear in my mind! :D
This is an incredible gesture of generosity!!
I assure you many, if not all, of us have felt your deep appreciation for our work each week of the challenge, sometimes even when we felt like we didn't manage to do our best.
The time you take to give us your kind feedback and words not only encourages us, but can sometimes change our own perceptions on our own work.
That time you take is so tremendously kind and generous all on it's own, that this gift is really a beautiful piece of icing on the great cake that has been this first edition of the challenge.
Thank you soooooo much for all you do for this community!
The way our entries make you feel and the incredible community that has formed around this contest is the reason why I make music, and the reason why sometimes I can't believe I'm part of it!!
P.S.
Now I'm even more curious about the second announcement ;) hahahaha
We are lucky to have @krystle as part of the Open Mic Team and your musical contributions are a big part of Open Mic. Thank you both.
Oh thanks so much @luzcypher, I swear someone will be making me cry before I get through all of these.
Lmao I had a feeling you'd be on to it ;) I left you until the last transfer cause I was a little worried I'd give the whole thing away before I posted - I have never cut and pasted images so fast before lol.
I'm so glad to hear you say that because that is what it is to me, massive love, adoration and appreciation of the music being created and the magnificent people behind it - music has the ability to create massive changes in the world and the better the music the bigger the impact it can have, I happily sacrificed my liquid rewards to ensure the right people knew what it really meant to me.
I love hearing that people like my reviews, I worry I go a bit overboard at times - but somethings just need to be said lol.
I originally came here as a writer, I have always been a singer but my new passion was writing fantasy - I love to analyse language, find the different interpretations and meanings.
I felt that these songs were of such a high quality, that my inner story teller was having a field trip - oh the way I swoon for the brilliant use of language in music, well it went into overdrive during this Challenge.
You have a great power, wield it with responsibility ;)
P.S. tehehe you should be :D
Hahaha, you did it well, I suspected you were gonna do something very nice for us, but never thought you would do that!
Your reviews rock!, you should keep making them as long as you feel they need to be, they're never long to me :)
There has been great use of language, I agree! And the songs came out brilliant! I really can't wait for the next songwriters challenge!!
I shall use my power with the utmost responsibility ;)
Krystle... I'm pretty sure I love you:D
Thank you x1000 for all you have done. You are a super hero.
Bahaha oh mate you crack me up, your a legend! BTW listening to When Animals Attack right now, still makes me crack up every time - much love <3
@krystle you rocked my day. I cannot thank you enough!
It was already a gift to have been part of this but that is the cherry on the top of that cake @basilmarples talked about.
I have a dream that one day we'll all write a song for you together.
LOVE and gratefulness here!!! Thank you SO MUCH!
Oh wow @melavie I am so happy to hear that and your more than welcome.
As for the song that would be insane and awesome lol, I'm not worthy of a song just for me surly - but I appreciate the sentiment deeply, you really are too kind.
Your an amazing musician I just can't get enough of, I'm just wanting to show my appreciation for what you create and share so generously with us - it is an honour and a privilege!
Much love <3
<3
wow, wow wow wow
@krystle Thank you so very much. This is very inspiring and motivating, to keep on going further. Wow.
I have been on a "life crossroads" basically since I joined steemit, and hey it is really influencing which way I might go. Thanks for being our messenger not to forget about what is important.
Big hug. I am so grateful.
And to all the beautiful musicians, I feel so honored to be on the same "page" like all of you.
<3
Thanks for gracing my feed with your beautiful voice. May the Steem be with you.
No worries at all, I love your unique style and your hypnotic vocals - I'm super thrilled if I have encouraged you to keep trecking here on steemit, it can be hard but know your music is deeply appreciated.
A big hug back to you and much love <3
Wow! Maam @krystle I felt the same way with @pechichemena am still in shocked by this time. Thank you so much open mic team for inspiring all musicians who shared their piece of music.
To sir @pfunk for supporting this musical community here in #steemit. To sir @luzcypher for hosting the biggest music challenge. To sir @meno my huge High Five to you sir for making this #openmicsongwriters challenge came true. To sir @passion-ground for his never ending guidance/tips. And to all the judges you are all awesome.
I am so grateful that I belong to this community. You know what mam and sir @meno I really did not expect this one. Coz I am fine and really thankful that my simple music made you all smile. And as I submit those pieces music I always believe I already won not only me but all of us who made it through.
MUCH LOVE & PEACE
Thanks for sharing your music @g10a
Thank you sir for creating this awesome community here in #steemit and the reat of the openmic team.
No worries, I'm just happy it's going to people who appreciate it and are creating outstanding content - much love <3
Hi, my name is Priscilla Hernandez, singer songwriter and absolutely clueless newbie around, I think I missed this but could someone share how the open mic works or point to an article with the guidelines for future participation? Of course I will do my research too but I would be grateful. ❤️🎶 Also trying to find other fellow musicians as I just joined.
Hello there and welcome to steemit :D
We have a new Open Mic contest every week, the events are always hosted by our supreme leader @luzcypher - here's a link to this weeks contest Open Mic, it has all the rules laid out in it.
Were pretty chill about things, but we have had some scammers of late so following all of the rules is paramount - you can use the openmic tag to search for other entrants and reach out to them (they are a very friendly bunch and this is all about support).
Good luck on your journey here and I look forward to hearing your first entry soon - Cheers :D
Thanks for your reply, I have followed you both, so I can get to read the notifications about it, and I will do my homework and read the guidelines before entering. I have barely landed and just posted my introduction, I still need a little time to settle and get the gist of it all. I am pretty sure I will post my entry shortly but meanwhile it is also a way to surf around and find other fellow singer-songwriters. I am new in "steemit town" and besides my partner who invited me enthusiastically I don't know anyone around or much about it yet, learning on the go! . All in due time... Thanks for your welcome!
Hey @krystle, that was abslolutely huge to see the SBD at my wallet. That contest turned out so big and really really great, you @meno, @luzcypher, @passion-ground and all the others of the openmic people, you can be so proud of what you did! I wrote a comment right on the other post, but again, thank you and all the others so much! Makes my day! Or to be more precise my evening;)
Really enjoyed your music @senzenfrenz
What's the point of having money if you can't share it with those who truly deserve it? I'm just happy people are happy, this has been a really unique experience and I just love watching this unfold :D
@krystle I wish I had met you when we were little, I so wanna be your friend! Hahahah I owe you a song! I didn't forget 💜 I've been pretty overwhelmed lately but I'll contact you soon. Thank you sooooo much for all the love and passion you give away with just your words! 😊
Lmao lovely we can still be friends now, but be warned you'd be befriending a rabid fan :D -I get ya though I would have loved to grow up with a friend like you the music and the mischievous behaviour would have been a blast :P
I don't remember being owed a song, but I am all down for it in every way (I'm a little sleep deprived so forgive the dodgy memory) - your ever so welcome and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Much love <3
I'm so happy to have picked the Open Mic Team we have, for they always go above and beyond in helping build, connect, and support the music community on Steemit. This gesture showcases perfectly the deep commitment and appreciation we all have for the music and the musicians creating it. Thank you all and may the Steem be with you.
Without you none of this would be happening for any of us, the judges of the entrants - it was your idea, your vision that sent us on this path of success, we have been following your lead every step.
I love the team and our community, it's a really inspiring place to be a part of and it has truly changed my life in an epic way - so thank you for all you do, I know this was another massive work load added to your already insanely busy schedule.
You made a lot of people very happy, so again thank you - you really are the reason for it all in the end!
Much love <3