Contest Rules “Official Contest Rules”

The “WorldSingsTM, World’s Best Song” Contest (“Contest”) is an international competition where members of WorldSings.com (“WorldSings”) can participate in selecting the best song from any song entered into the contest. Members select twenty contestants who compete at the “WorldSingsTM Live Concert” in Las Vegas for prizes totaling $100,000. Any musician or band registered with WorldSings can enter their own original song in the contest. Musicians and bands are required to read and accept these Contest Rules, WorldSings’ Privacy Policy, and the Terms of Use Agreement (“Agreement”), which is incorporated herein by reference and all definitions used in the Agreement are incorporated herein by reference. Musicians and bands who enter an original song to compete in the Contest are referred to herein as “Contestants”.

Eligibility:
This Contest is open to any person 13 years of age or older, professional or amateur (including record labels and music groups), from any part of the world. All Contestants are responsible for ensuring their submission is in compliance with the legal requirements of their respective country. Contestants from the United States must also comply with the laws of the state in which they reside (residents of the District of Columbia shall comply with local DC laws) pertaining to contests. WorldSings reserves the right to disqualify any Contestant that violates any relevant national or state law or standard. Disqualified Contestants will not be entitled to any refund. There is no fee or charge to become a Contestant and submit one video Entry. Employees, officers and managers of WorldSings.com, LLC, its subsidiaries and its affiliates, are not eligible to enter.

Chances of Winning:
Odds of winning depend upon number of Entries and number of votes for each Entry, which cannot be anticipated in advance.

How to Enter
All Contestants must 1) register online with WorldSings as a Musician or Band, 2) submit an Official Contest Entry Form and 3) indicate that they accept the Terms of Use, Contest Rules and Privacy Policy. Contestants will then be able to enter videos of the Contestant performing an original song (“Entry” or “Entries”). Registration and entry of the first video is free. Additional video Entries will be subject to a $10.00 processing fee for quality assurance monitoring. (All monetary amounts are quoted in United States currency.) There is no limit on the number of Entries per Contestant.

 Once you have linked a song for competition it cannot be changed, unless it is for technical reasons. Please contact the Worldsings Staff for help via email at contact@worldsings.com.

Entry Period
All Entries must be submitted by 12:00 a.m. (24:00) Pacific Standard Time on October 1, 2012.

Format and Content of Entries
Each Entry must consist of an original video recording of a single original song.

Entries must contain original lyrics and melody. Purely instrumental music that does not contain any lyrics will not qualify for entry in the contest. Lyrics may be sung in any language. Purely lyrical music that does not contain melody will not qualify for entry in the contest.

To enter a video, Contestants must upload their video in AVI, WMV, MP4, MOV, GP3, FLV format onto their Profile page, which will be hosted on the WorldSings web site.�  WorldSings is not responsible for lost data, technical issues with uploads or any technical failure related to the upload process.

Entries can only be uploaded online to the WorldSings web site.

All prohibitions contained in the Terms of Use Agreement are fully enforceable against Contestants. Entries that contain prohibited material as determined at the sole discretion of WorldSings will be refused. WorldSings reserves the right to refuse or disqualify any Contestant that violates or circumvents any of the Contest Rules or the Terms of Use Agreement, as determined in their sole discretion, and terminate their access to any of WorldSings’ Services.

Member Voting and Judging to Determine Winners
All Contestants are eligible to win one of several cash prizes subject to the terms and conditions contained herein.

Selection of winning Contestants will be determined in two phases: A member voting phase (the “Member voting phase”), where Members vote throughout the year for Entries submitted by Contestants, followed by a live concert phase (the “Live Concert”) where 20 finalists from the Member voting phase will have their live performance judged by a six judge panel.

Twenty finalists will be determined by the Member voting phase. The Member voting phase period commences with the launch of the Contest and ends on October 31, 2012 at 12:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Only registered Members of WorldSings are eligible to vote. Contestants are not eligible to vote. Members may cast votes for as many Entries as they want, but may only cast one vote per Entry.

All votes cast by October 31, 2012 will be tabulated, and Entries will be ranked according to the most number of votes received.

Only the top vote getting Entry of any Contestant may qualify that Contestant as a Finalist to perform at the Live Concert. If a Contestant has more than one Entry in the top 20, only the Entry with the most votes will count.

20 Finalist candidates will be selected according to the top number of votes for their single Entry and may be eligible to compete at The Live Concert that will be held in July of 2013 before a live audience.

Each Finalist must perform their Entry receiving the highest vote at the Live Concert. All vocals must be performed live.

Performances at the Live Concert will be judged solely by a select six judge panel, as determined by Worldsings in its sole discretion. Ranking of the Finalists for the grand prize and runner up prizes will be determined by combining the scores given by the judges at the Live Concert with results of the Member voting phase. The judge’s scores and the results of the Member voting will be weighted equally.

At the conclusion of the Live Concert, after the scores have been tabulated, the Finalists will be ranked from first to last and the top ranked Finalist will be the grand prize winner of the Contest.

In the event of a tie between two or more Contestants at the Live Concert, the Contestants’ ranking at the conclusion of the Member voting phase will be used to determine the winner.

If a contestant has been selected as a Finalist, but is unable to participate at the Live Concert, the next Contestant who’s Entry has received the most votes, as determined during the Member voting phase, will be selected as a Finalist and participate at the Live Concert. Only Contestants that participate at the Live Concert are eligible to win prizes. Finalists are responsible for facilitating their own participation at the Live Concert, including all travel and lodging expenses and obtaining necessary passports and visas in time to participate.

Awards and Prizes
The cash prizes shall be as follows:

One Grand prize of $50,000.
One Second prize of $30,000.
One Third prize of $20,000.

Royalties: In the event that WorldSings produces and distributes a compilation recording on digital media, Finalists will be entitled to a royalty from net sales thereof, subject to the terms of the Recording Agreement executed between the parties prior to the Live Concert.  

Management Agreement: The recipient of the Grand Prize shall also have the option to sign to an artist’s management agreement with WorldSings.com, LLC, subject to the terms of a Management Agreement Contract executed between the parties on or about the conclusion of the contest. If the Grand Prize winner elects not to exercise the Management Agreement Contract option, the next ranked contestant will be granted the option. Pursuant to the terms of the management agreement, WorldSings.com, LLC offers to assist, advise and counsel the recipient with respect to the advancement of their musical career.

Recording Agreement: The recipient of the Grand Prize shall also have the option to sign to a recording agreement, subject to the terms of a Recording Contract executed between the parties on or about the conclusion of the contest. If the Grand Prize winner elects not to exercise the Recording Contract option, the next ranked contestant will be granted the option.

Notification to Finalists
The top twenty Contestants will be notified of contest results by any practical means including by telephone, mail and/or email, in WorldSings sole discretion, on or about March 1, 2013. Finalists will be required to sign and execute appropriate documents related to participation in the Contest�  and return them to WorldSings within five (5) business days�  of notification. Failure to timely remit such executed documentation will result in forfeiture of such Contestant’s eligibility as a Finalist. Contestants are advised to have legal counsel review the documentation on their behalf.

Announcement of Prizes
Finalist prizes will be officially announced online after finishing of The Live Concert in July of 2013 at WorldSings.com .

Entrant Responsibilities
Contestants are entirely responsible for all entry-related costs, including, but not limited to, recording, equipment and production costs of their Entries as well as travel and accommodation costs in connection with participation in the Live Concert.

Winners will be entirely responsible for any taxes or charges related to the receipt of any prize.

Contestants must possess the exclusive rights to each Entry, and (jointly and severally, if a group or band) warrants that it owns all copyrights, trademarks, publicity rights and any other relevant proprietary rights related to its Entry, and are responsible for having obtained any necessary permission relating the subject/subject matter. WorldSings will not be responsible for any claims or complaints against infringement of rights or damages from third parties relating to the subject/subject matter of entries, and the Contestant (jointly and severally if a group or band) agrees to indemnify, defend and hold Worldsings, its officers, directors, employees, agents, shareholders and attorneys harmless from all damages, claims, penalties, liabilities, costs and expenses attributed to a breach of the foregoing in such cases.

Live Concert Recording License
By agreeing to participating in the Live Concert competition, all Finalists hereby grant to WorldSings, throughout the universe, an, irrevocable, perpetual, exclusive, transferable, assignable, royalty-free fully paid license (with the right to sublicense through multiple tiers) to produce, use, copy, modify, publicly perform, publicly display, transmit, televise, reproduce, reformulate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute by rental, lease, sale or other transfer of ownership (collectively “Exploit”), a recording of the Live Concert (the “Recording”), in whole or part, in any media format and through any media channels now know or hereafter devised, for any purpose including commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with WorldSings and the promotion thereof, and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the Recording. Such license is inclusive of all rights without obtaining the further permission of any Finalist and without offering any further compensation in any form so that no other license is required to be obtained by WorldSings in order to fully Exploit the Recording without limitation, including all copyrights, synchronization rights, and publicity rights including rights to use the Finalist’s name, likeness, image, voice and photograph. Finalists retain all ownership rights in their Entries and continue to have the right to use their Entries in any manner of their choosing.

Live Concert Revenues
WorldSings will be donating a portion of revenues from the Live Concert and the Recording to a charitable organization of its choosing in the amount of which shall be determined in their sole discretion. 

Disclaimers
WorldSings reserves the right to rule on any issue not addressed in these Contest Rules, in its sole and absolute discretion, without right of appeal or claim by the Contestant. Contestant hereby agrees that any decision by Worldsings shall be absolute and conclusive. A Contestant that does not agree with the decision made by WorldSings has the right to withdraw his/her Entries from the Contest as its sole and exclusive remedy.

In the event that the efficiency, security, selection procedure, fairness of the contest or any related operations are deemed to have been compromised by forces beyond the control of WorldSings, including, but not limited to: computer network or other technical malfunction, computer virus infections, unauthorized computer access, fraudulent voting activities, then the receipt or acceptance of some or all Entries via the internet may be postponed or discontinued.

WorldSings reserves the right to take any and all appropriate action in response to any attempts by members or contestants to subvert or distort the voting system and winner selection process, including by pursuit of appropriate legal actions.

Cancellation Policy
WorldSings reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any Contestant for any reason including violation of any of the Contest Rules or for violation of any term of the Terms of Use Agreement. Disqualified Contestants will not be entitled to any refund.

 Worldsings reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to reschedule or cancel the concert or the contest at any time, including prior to or after the commencement of the Live Concert, for any reason, including but not limited to technical, administrative, production, or operational difficulties or malfunctions. In the event of cancellation, WorldSings is not required to and will not provide any prior warning. Cancellation of the Concert by WorldSings will result in the following awarding of prizes such that the Contestant will be entitled to prizes depending of the ranking of any song at the time of cancellation; one first place of $1,000, one second place of $500, and one third place of $100. Contestants agree to compete at their sole risk. WorldSings is not responsible for any costs incurred by Contestants in creating their Entries including labor and production costs or any travel related costs incurred by Finlists related to the Concert. In the event of a cancellation, WorldSings may, but is not obliged to, only reimburse Contestants who have paid any fees to enter more than one Entry in the Contest, but in no event will any Contestant that has not paid any fees to WorldSings be entitled to any reimbursement.