Enter a piano composition competition via Internet without leaving home

[fideliocontest]

VII Piano Composition Competition Fidelio via Internet.
Dear friend,
if you think that you are capable of composing a piano piece 1 to 3 minute long, perhaps you may be interested in this competition via Internet from home. No matter how far you live. To enter this piano competition you only need to play your own piano composition and send your recording audio file. Registration costs 10 euros or equivalent in dollars. 3 cash prizes. In this competition there is not jury, only the entrants can choose the winner through a voting system published in the website. When you vote, you only vote for the music you hear, you don't know who the author is nor the nationality. This is only known after voting results. Maximum compositions allowed per participant are four. Deadline to submit your works: May the 15th-2017. Many countries involved. Enter here to read complete guidelines:
https://concursodecomposicionparapianofidelio.com/bases-del-concurso/

All the best. Antonio Ruiz
Colmenarejo (Madrid)Spain Smiley

[perfect_pitch]

Given your history on this site... your credibility looks 'shaky' at best, especially after the last post you created.

I wouldn't touch that link with a 10-foot pole, and anti-virus software.

[fideliocontest]

I really don't know how you can say this to me when people only have wonderful words towards this competition. The participants and past winners are in the website and you can communicate to any of them to proof that I am honest doing this competition. Fortunately the participants are enjoying this competition, this year I have increased the cash prize. I invite you so that you can proof that I am honest and  my love for music and for this project is real. I am making a big effort with hard work so that unknown composers can show their talent.

[kalospiano]

I've already visited the website of this competition in the past and listened to some of the pieces that had won the previous editions.
Doesn't seem like anything fishy.
Looking it up on google I found that past editions were advertised on the websites of public Spanish conservatories, although the website was different at the time. Also, it seems like a guy from another piano forum that I follow has participated without any issues one year ago.
I might be wrong but I'd say it's a legit competition.
My only problem with it is the time limit. A friend of mine could have been interested in participating with one of his works if the pieces didn't have to be under 3 minutes. Pity.

[fideliocontest]

Thank you for your comment, it is very simple to check that this is not a fake competition. You can read the names of the participants in the web and find many of them in facebook to ask. Regarding the time allowed I am sorry to tell you that maximum allowed this year is 3 minutes + 10 additional seconds. In fact I want people to show their talent in sort time. If it was much longer people would develop long works with less merit and it would take a long process to vote. Thank you anyway. All the best. Antonio

[lostinidlewonder]

Where are the terms and conditions? Who owns the music that is uploaded to the competition? I would be very hesitant to enter something which can use the works in any way they please or even claim it their property.

[fideliocontest]

You don`t have to upload your music, just send your audio file to participate via email,  and you are the owner. The music is protected in the website againts downloading and you never loose the rights on your music, this is the link to read complete guidelines:
https://concursodecomposicionparapianofidelio.com/

[lostinidlewonder]

You don`t have to upload your music, just send your audio file to participate via email,  and you are the owner. The music is protected in the website againts downloading and you never loose the rights on your music, this is the link to read complete guidelines:
https://concursodecomposicionparapianofidelio.com/

I see this link:
https://concursodecomposicionparapianofidelio.com/ganadores-ediciones-anteriores/

You have already posted previous winners files on your website and thus they can be ripped from your site. You are also contradicting yourself or don't understand english

sending audio file via email = uploading.
You have NO TERMS AND CONDITIONS that I can find anywhere on your website and because of this you can simply use the files however you like, we have to just trust you. I think I'll pass on this competition.

[fideliocontest]

I see you have a problem reading the guidelines, that's strange, it doesn't happen to nobody but you. I am sorry I cannot help you, if you believe this competition doesn't exist, it is your problem. There is nothing I can do unless you contact to the winners via internet, all the names are in the website and to contact is quite simple via facebook. More than 500 participants in six competitions and more than 40 countries involved. Thanks anyway.

[fideliocontest]

By the way, when I said  "you don't have to upload" I meant, upload directly to the website.

[lostinidlewonder]

I see you have a problem reading the guidelines, that's strange, it doesn't happen to nobody but you. I am sorry I cannot help you, if you believe this competition doesn't exist, it is your problem. There is nothing I can do unless you contact to the winners via internet, all the names are in the website and to contact is quite simple via facebook. More than 500 participants in six competitions and more than 40 countries involved. Thanks anyway.

The Terms of Service Agreement is mainly used for legal purposes by websites that store a user's personal data. These are done to increase public awareness. You have not put anything but the fees and length of time works have to be.

Goodness me 500 participants? All paying 10 euros each per work, that's money in your pocket given the small prize money offered. Nice cash grab.

What is even more laughable is that the judging is done by participants themselves there is no official judge. This opens the competitions for exploitation. Very shonky to say the least.

[lostinidlewonder]

By the way, when I said  "you don't have to upload" I meant, upload directly to the website.

Quit trying to talk your way out of it. Upload means upload.

[kalospiano]

I understand suspicion but sometimes around here there's an insane obsession on wanting to discredit other users.
From what I see, if the competition's website says the truth, there are three prizes: 500, 200, 150 euros, plus a few other stuff like cd's and sheet music. Total value might amount to 1'000 euros or so, u guess.

10 euros per 500 participants in six competitions is 5'000 euros.

1'000 euros prize per six competitions is 6'000 euros.

Without considering possible miscellaneous costs,  There's already more money going out then going into?

If so, this "money in the pocket" accusation, I don't see it.

This, of course, assuming that the prizes' value was more or less the same for each competition, and it is 500 participants in total and not per each single competition (in which case I immediately change my mind :-) ). This is at least how I understood it, might be mistaken of course.

Also, this is not an important world class competition, this is just an amateur thing and the approach here is to let users vote instead of judges, might like it or not but I really don't see why that should be an issue.

[lostinidlewonder]

You just look shonky because there is no legal disclaimer on your website, we have no idea what you will do with what we upload to you, there is no details at all. For all we know you could use all files uploaded to you any way you like. If you don't want to be fully transparent thats your own choice but it doesn't leave a good impression.

Also getting competitors to vote is really silly. If there are say 100 entries I am not going to listen to all 100 and make a judgement. What a waste of time. And also this is open for exploitation, I know a good scam you could do with this.

[fideliocontest]

500 hundred entrants is more or less the total amount overall in all competitions, and of course you do not have to listen to all the entries, that wouldn't make sense, you just have to listen to your groups depending how many works you submit, maximum allowed per contestant are four. If you submit two works for example, you have to vote within two groups in each round. If you consider that 10 euros per work sent is much for you despite showing your composition to many composers from many countries, I definitely recommend you not to enter the competition so that you do not suffer for loosing so much money.

[lostinidlewonder]

You are saying around 100 people enter each year, so if each one sends one piece that is 100 pieces to listen to. If some send more than one then its much more.If you are splitting these up into groups then this competition is open to a huge scam. Who knows how many peices are entered and who is voting on what? You can simply create fake competitors and have them vote however you like. You simply can make up the results and we wouldn't know because we are forced into voting only in a small group and have no idea of the whole sample space. I wont enter this competition because I don't feel like giving you any cash in pocket.

[fideliocontest]

Please do not enter

[fideliocontest]

I see you still do not understand anything, so please don't enter.

[perfect_pitch]

I think the smart move for anyone with a brain is not to enter your dodgy contest.

[lostinidlewonder]

Please do not enter

I don't need your permission for that one!

I see you still do not understand anything, so please don't enter.

Oh I understand the scam you could be pulling quite well. Ill start voting on a small group of pieces in group A, you create 80 competitors voting on group B,C,D,E and none of us know what they are voting on. You trickle through whichever ones you want to go onto the next level and still hold 80 fake contestants who can vote however you like in the following rounds which gives you vito power, you allow your own enteries to win and you pay your fake contestants the money which goes into your own pocket. Golly, you need to create a more elaborate scam to fool us.

I think the smart move for anyone with a brain is not to enter your dodgy contest.

I guess he reckons many of us are pretty stupid and don't think lol.

[keypeg]

A couple of things that puzzled me:
It's a composition contest, compositions are works that are written i.e. notation, but what is asked for are audio files - only.  Some of what I heard sounded more like improvisations but I can't be sure.
One thing that struck me when I listened to a number of them is that quite a few all start in the same way: individual melodic line for a while, with more voices coming in later.  I didn't know what to make of that.
I listened in terms of winners for I don't know which year.  The winners all seemed to be ones that had this same style of melodic line gradually evolving to something more.  I remember there was one piece which was more complex and quite interesting - it was not one of the winners.

I don't quite get the purpose of the whole endeavour.  I felt rather lost entering the site, and wouldn't enter for that reason alone.

[kalospiano]

damn, I'm used to always assume innocence until guilt is proven, but apparently I'm complete brainless idiot for doing that... it will always remain a mistery to me why, for certain pianostreet users, keeping a respectful tone is such an impossible feat and direct or indirect insults can't be avoided...

Well, at least I'm not alone in my brainlessness, since through a quick search on google I could find that two music schools in Spain and one British society advertised this competition in the past years:

https://basca.org.uk/discounts/composition-competition-piano-fidelio/
https://www.cedam.es/iii-concurso-de-composicion-para-piano-fidelio-musical-editorial/
https://bibliotecacsma.es/web/2013/03/iv-concurso-de-composicion-para-piano-fidelius/

Also, apparently there's now a guitar-related competition, which might be a way to increase the scam-related profits. This Spanish newspaper, though, claims having interviewed the winner of the first edition:

https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/vigo/vigo/2016/07/30/melodia-cabeza-duermo-acaboadicto-guitarras-limites/0003_201607V30C8996.htm

By the way, these guys on youtube claim being two of the winners of the previous competitions, and I guess in someway one could manage to contact them to ask them if they actually received their cash prize:

Also, the "3 minutes limit" rule of this competition is somewhat contrasting with the idea of a scam, isn't it? Allowing for all kinds of time ranges would allow for more entries and possibly increase the revenues.


This doesn't prove anything of course, but neither the scam is 100% proven so hopefully a person might not be a complete idiot just for not suspecting anything fishy straight away.


I do find find that LIW makes a valid point though, with the hypothesis of fake accounts to pilot the votes and get all the money in the end.
Still, I wonder if any user here, besides insults, also has any constructive suggestion as to how this risk could be avoided.

[lostinidlewonder]

Insults? I don't think so, I ask my questions directly and lay out my concerns clearly without tip toeing around the issue, I am not throwing insults at them, if I did it would be a lot more vicious lol! I'll antagonize for explanation if none is given. If there are clear answers to these questions the competitions clears itself, since they are putting smokes and mirrors up they are discrediting themselves and I don't need to do anything more at all. I am getting zero answers to any of these questions:

1) Where are the terms and conditions beyond the entry fee and time of compositions?
2) How do we know what you will do with what we upload to the competition without being able to read any legal contract?
3) Why is there no official judge, why are the competitors judging it?
4) I highlighted how one could scam this entire competition by the way in which the judging is segmented into parts.


I don't realy have interest to highlight how all of your links don't really give this competition any legitimacy (which you of course acknowledged) but lets consider BASCA.

BASCA is a legit website however they offer advertising for a fee, check here
https://basca.org.uk/advertising/

So long you pay them they will happily advertise for you, they do not investigate legitimacy of competitions.

I can't be 100% sure but I rely on my sense often and its not often wrong. Prove me wrong and I will be happy to submit!

[lostinidlewonder]

A couple of things that puzzled me:
It's a composition contest, compositions are works that are written i.e. notation, but what is asked for are audio files - only.  Some of what I heard sounded more like improvisations but I can't be sure.
One thing that struck me when I listened to a number of them is that quite a few all start in the same way: individual melodic line for a while, with more voices coming in later.  I didn't know what to make of that.
I listened in terms of winners for I don't know which year.  The winners all seemed to be ones that had this same style of melodic line gradually evolving to something more.  I remember there was one piece which was more complex and quite interesting - it was not one of the winners.

I don't quite get the purpose of the whole endeavour.  I felt rather lost entering the site, and wouldn't enter for that reason alone.

Good questions/observations keypeg I will be interested in the response but I wouldn't hold your breath!

[fideliocontest]

For the very last time, please do not destroy this competition, feel free to enter or not but stop trying to put in doubt my hard work. In this competition the voting results are enterely published in the website, this is clearly a different kind of competition more amateurish if you prefer to call it but people enjoy it a lot since the most important thing perhaps is not to win the prize for many of the participants but to exchange views after the contest with other composers and show their music as well as being promoted in the web in some ways by linking their websites. Guidelines are clearly published and most of the questions are answered via email. 10 euros is not the end of the world I think but it seems too much important for you, read testimonies of past participants to get an idea of what they think. All the ones who are talking badly about it do not deserve good things. Instead of being rude you could leave people to decide about entering or not. As simple as that. Fortunately I have always received wonderful works from the participants of the competition.

[lostinidlewonder]

Maybe we have to ask the questions in Spanish because he still don't wanna clear anything up.

If we wanna be rude we wouldn't ask legitimate questions. Just because you don't know how to answer them you think its rude, thats just smoke and mirror avoiding an answer. If you have clear answers it would be easy for you to do it.

You could easily say, "Oh I didn't think about doing a proper legal terms and conditions, thanks for mentioning that I will get onto it" instead you avoid it altogether and cry that we are attacking you. That's just too bad for you.

[fideliocontest]

It is quite clear that you cannot read or perhaps you have not read the menu explanations of the website, perhaps you cannot read it through you computer. At any rate questions like ¿why there is not official jury? the answer is quite simple, because this competition is not like others. Is it so difficult to understand? why? because in my opinion musicians and composers have their own opinion on the music they like and I wanted it to be totally transparent by publishing the results in the web and offer something different. Participants also send comments on the works during the voting process, these comments are sent via email privately after results are given. This is a different competition. You are free of course to enter or not but stop attacking it please.

[fideliocontest]

Don't you think that if I have received 500 works from more than 40 countries might be duet to the fact that they all understood perfectly well the guidelines published in the website?

[lostinidlewonder]

Hilarious your responses still ignoring questions asked of you lol. Keep it going.

It is quite clear that you cannot read or perhaps you have not read the menu explanations of the website, perhaps you cannot read it through you computer.

I can't see terms and conditions other than the price of entry and the length of time. You gave us a link which you said shows all your terms and conditions but it says nothing else but this. This tells people who are entering this competition nothing about what you will do with their uploaded files, it lays out absolutely zero legality issues. So no I can't read it because IT IS NOT THERE. It would be very simple of you to send us a link which shows how competitors are protected but you have not.

At any rate questions like ¿why there is not official jury? the answer is quite simple, because this competition is not like others. Is it so difficult to understand? why?

If this is your answer it is so thin and flimsy its laughable. I have already highlighted how it can be exploited and yet you offer no rebuttal.

because in my opinion musicians and composers have their own opinion on the music they like and I wanted it to be totally transparent by publishing the results in the web and offer something different.

You have not defined what it means to "publish the results" what do you mean? Show us other links of past competitions where all of these results are published. There should be 500+ results published right? Where are they? Where are the 500 recordings of what people have entered?

Participants also send comments on the works during the voting process, these comments are sent via email privately after results are given.

So we simply have no idea who is commenting on what since it is all in private, who knows how many pieces are actually entered and which ones are real? You could simply create 80 competitors with 80 pieces you composed and have them all vote, we would be none the wiser.

This is a different competition. You are free of course to enter or not but stop attacking it please.

How is it different? I have seen amateur competitions run a lot more transparent than what you are trying to do, they have clear legal details laid out for all to see.

If you think I am attacking it that just shows that you are unable to clearly explain yourself and try to make it look like an attack. I really hope people see through your silliness.

[perfect_pitch]

[fideliocontest]

You like destroying other,s work, don,t deserve goog things to happen to you, no problem, if you are happy employing your time with me, carry on believing that this competition does not exists while, it is quite clear that everybody understand The guidelines but you. Ask 500 people, mames are in the web but perhaps you cannot find them while others can. Please don,t forget to answer, I know this is important for you, excuse me if I delay this time, I am with friends busy today.

[perfect_pitch]

You do realise, lostinidlewonder does bring up some very good points.

Apart from the length and cost of the competition, you do not legally state EXACTLY what you will do with the files once uploaded.

I've searched your web-site. Your poor grammar and spelling aren't convincing me that this competition is legitimate either.

[lostinidlewonder]

Why are you ignoring Keypeg's questions? She is ultra polite to you and you have ignored her also.

Why are you lying that all this info is on your website? If it is SOO CLEARLY on your website why don't you please provide us with a link? The link you have provided us does not satisfy what we are asking for.

In any respect if this is how you deal with people questioning you I fear anyone entering your competition.

There is a copyright on your website with your site name on it, so anything posted on there becomes your property since it comes under your copyright. Shame on you for not telling competitors this.

[lostinidlewonder]

You like destroying other,s work,

Again you are avoiding answering our questions and CRYING that we are attacking you. If asking legitimate questions is destroying your SCAM i can understand that, but simply asking is not destroying a legitimate competition.

don,t deserve goog things to happen to you, no problem, if you are happy employing your time with me, carry on believing that this competition does not exists

You obviously cannot read english. Where have we said IT DOES NOT EXIST? We have more elaborate questions than this which you are totally ignoring or answering flippantly or with lies.

while, it is quite clear that everybody understand The guidelines but you.

Not everyone understands the guidelines in details, you have only told us the TIME and COST, you have said nothing about MORE IMPORTANT ISSUES which we are asking about.

Ask 500 people, mames are in the web but perhaps you cannot find them while others can.

Why don't you give us links then, what about the 500 comments on past pieces you said were published? I don't see that anywhere. Waiting for a lame excuse from you.

Please don,t forget to answer, I know this is important for you, excuse me if I delay this time, I am with friends busy today.

Don't worry i can answer you for hundreds of pages, don't worry about that one.

[dogperson]

Really, why is this type of posting being allowed contrary to forum rules that commercial postings are prohibited???  This is not a 'public service announcement' but a way for the OP to make money through advertising of a for-profit competition.

[fideliocontest]

I just want to give unknown musicians and composers the opportunity of showing their works in this competition as well as offering prizes in cash. It seems that nobody understand this idea. This is a competition more amateur than professional. Feel free to join or not but stop talking badly please. Fortunately many people support this project after having participated.

[lostinidlewonder]

How can we avoid criticizing you when you are totally ignoring all of our questions? You think it's "talking badly" this just highlights your disinterest in dealing with our questions.

In your own words you wrote this:
"I am at your disposal to solve all your doubts in case you consider sending a piano piece. You will be very welcome!"

The link where you stated this: https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=62425.msg667903#msg667903

You seem to NOT be at our disposal to solve ALL of our DOUBTS and our questions are not welcome by you and you seem to think it is just "talking badly". So yes we will continue to critique you since you seem to be very two faced.

[keypeg]

My question was simply about the composition competition, and the written (score) part, since compositions are by definition written down.  I seem to only see reference to sound files.