While there is a rule in place that states all entries must be original and unreleased, there is no clear definition of what is allowed during a battle's life cycle. I myself recently, while stressed about looking for money/work, got snotty with some individuals about them sharing their entries elsewhere on the web during a battle. I've also been asked directly what the policy is on this and my answer has been "It's frowned upon." That isn't a clear rule though. It's a wishy-washy answer with a negative connotation.

So I'd like to make a rule proposal and I'm looking for feedback before it is officially appended to the battle common rules list.

I want to do what's best for the BotB community and least upsetting or annoying for the BotBrs.

I'm thinking that if you release an entry on the web (during it's battle) outside of BotB (soundcloud, youtube, personal website, etc.) that "Battle of the Bits" should appear in the title and filename. This could be put in parenthesis or brackets or the like -- could look like this [Battle of the Bits (entry|{format})] or similar. A link to the battle must be provided in the description.

I don't believe this is an unfair request and should hopefully garner more interest in the site/community. I know that many of you already do this and it is greatly appreciated.

I have participated in the Chip=Win compilations the past two years. First as an artist and secondly as a judge. I don't plan on adopting their rule that a track on the comp can not have an album release until after a year has passed, but it makes plenty of sense in aiding their bandcamp sales. Any ideas in getting more buyer avatars on BotB bandcamp releases are very welcome. Battle of the Bits quantitatively has some of the best chiptune compilations available in the world.

My only other request (and I'm not sure it could be made a rule) is that when releasing albums with tracks from BotB battles, that you give Battle of the Bits a shout-out. I don't want to name names, but I personally find this insulting, frustrating, saddening, etc when I see no mention of BotB and recognize songs from battles.

Once we mull this over togetherly, I'll write up a lyceum page focused on re-releasing BotB entries outside of BotB.

Thanks all!!

I usually put a link to the BotB battle in my S.C. descriptions, but we all know how many people actually read descriptions.

I'll be updating the titles throughout the afternoon

I think you have every right to ask for exclusiveness, and I'm grateful that you don't!

I agree with normalizing the shout-out for all instances.

I also think all uploads to external pages should wait until after the battle is over (that is, no uploading during both submit and vote periods).

Just to be clear none of this will apply to someone uploading a song _after_ a battle is done and we already know our placement, right?

No, BotB holds no exclusivity over an entry after a battle has ended. Just the right to distribute. Also, I found out Chip=Win is only holding a 6 month exclusivity starting this year.

I thought BotB owns your soul, once you post something here you _{never go}baaaaaaaaack
allhailpuke7fromwhomweallderiveourbitpacks

Under normal circumstances, my filenames already have BattleOfTheBits in them by default (OHBs are the exception). The tracknames for the majors come later, and I state that they come from Battle of the Bits.

I try to promote botb to the best of my ability but if it were mandated that I had to then I probably would have never even entered a battle in the first place just out of principle.

I disagree with this. It's only fair to give a little shout out to botb when releasing tracks elsewhere, but as a rule, no way. Especially not for track titles. The title of my track is "xyz", not "xyz | battleofthebits | autumnchip XIXXVV | nsf³". You don't see people slapping "Evoke/Revision/Chaos Constructions/whatever" on their sc/bc/album releases either.

If you're that anxious to share your new track while a battle's still going on, what's the problem with linking people to your entry?

Let me reiterate what I mean: If you want to repost/share an entry from a running battle then you promote the site/battle. When the battle is over it no longer matters. If you really hate the idea of cluttering up the title of your song in social media is it too much to ask that you wait a few weeks before sharing?

The problem, or rather the question is, what are you -the botbr- hoping to achieve by this? Do you want your soundcloud fans to join botb so they can vote for your entry? Leaving voter strengths aside, I thought voting on botb was mostly based on qualified opinion, not a popularity contest.

Or do you want to raise awareness about botb among fellow musicians? Then it should be a conscious and voluntary choice. A sort of "good practice" perhaps, that is encouraged by a little comment on the submit page. But never an obligation.

Disclaimer, I never share tracks from ongoing battles elsewhere. But that doesn't really solve the problem at hand, does it?

TBH I have the same reservation on hacking up song titles, but I've also always kept it private until the battle is finished anyway, so I've sorta dodged the issue entirely. :P

Relatedly, I try and make a point to link back to botb during post-releases (as few of those as there are), but if I ever miss it, let me know because I missed a spot.

i've updated my SC song titles to conform with this new guideline. let me know if i missed anything

My entire goal is to promote running battles and the site. I've spent some time thinking about the stated objections, and chatting with other BotBrs on the issue. The truth is is that this is not really enforceable. I don't think anyone wants to do the policing involved. I'm merely asking that if you want to release your entry elsewhere before the battle is over, that you promote the battle and/or site. As far as pulling in friends/fans to boost your votes, well, that's part of why voter strength was implemented; your friends/fans will have to vote on mostly everything in the battle to have true impact.

Again, I don't think this is a crazy request.

I can probably do this, but maybe not in the title itself. On soundcloud (ithink) and youtube you can see the description, and starting that off with botb's site would look a lot nicer then stretching the title out. \.o./

As far as I can tell this is pretty reasonable. I normally upload before the battle is over but I do include that it's for BotB and link my entry on BotB. Would linking the battle itself be a better choice? I'll probably hold uploading my stuff everywhere in the future and change my descriptions to include the battle itself and not just my entry. Some clearly defined guidelines would be helpful in the future after this discussion.

Does it really need to be in the title? Rep the site, rep why you made the track and encourage others to get involved. Easy enough to do right? I'm always proud to show what I've done for this site. It helped me grow as a musician and I get to rep other good music and people etc. I know I don't participate at all anymore but you guys are really special to me and I completely agree with b-knox that we should push the site in some manner. (Plus don't you want to show off your placement!!!!!)

Well, I'm glad that's settled. As I said, it might be a good idea to put a little note about this on the submit page, so new users are made aware that this is "good botb practice", so to speak.