How to post your track - All Please Read

[Paul Stix]

This one post is all you need to read on how we roll here at Stix. This is so it's all in one neat place. There are three sections to this: how to lay out your track, how to include an [mp3preview] stream of your track, and the available sites to host them. Please read and heed, folks ;)


SECTION 1 - LAYOUT

This is a template that shows the prefered format of submitting your mashes....

***SUBJECT TITLE SHOULD GO LIKE SO***
Producer's Name - Track Name (Sources Used)
ex. Dj Dylan - Miley Is My Girl (Miley Cyrus vs. The Rolling Stones)

Now lets get to the actual post
-----------------------------------------------------


notes: Post your cover art first.
If you don't have any coverart then use the default mashstix cover art found at this link http://www.mashstix.com/Templates/pictu ... ctric1.gif


Dj Dylan
notes: now goes your dj name
Track Title
notes: now goes your track title
Sources Used
notes: now go the sources you used
I used my all time favorite singer Miley Cyrus because I love her!! I used Magix along with various filter/pan proggies and this is dedicated to my little sister who is ten.
notes: now goes your message....whatever you would like to say

- Paul Stix


SECTION 2 - HOW TO INSERT A PREVIEW PLAYER

Step 1: click the [MP3PREVIEW] tag button (its right next to the [video] tag)

now you should see something like this....
[MP3PREVIEW][/MP3PREVIEW]

so obviously you need to stick your mp3 link between the two tags...
[MP3PREVIEW]STICK MP3 URL HERE[/MP3PREVIEW]

---------------------------------------------------------------

Step 2: a couple of rules apply here..
RULE 1: Use one of the services listed in the next section. If you are unsure as to whether a hosting site is permitted, ask a mod here.

RULE 2: For Official.fm and Soundcloud.com tracks MAKE SURE YOU ENABLE DOWNLOAD. If you don't enable download then no one but you will be able to stream it.

RULE 3: Official.fm and Soundcloud.com no longer need the .mp3 at the end of the URL and now only need /download at the end of your track url. However, on other websites sometimes the URL you insert has to end in .mp3

---------------------------------------------------------------

Step 3a: For Official.fm links
Following the total relaunch of Official.fm in July 2012, their links look something like this..
http://official.fm/tracks/2l6f

However, that link will not play in the players here so you take your original link and just add /file to the end, like so....
http://official.fm/tracks/2l6f/file
(this is the URL that goes between the 'MP3PREVIEW' tags)

now lets try a live example

No Flash Installed

notice two things here...... one, the preview player works, yay!, and two, the http://official.fm/tracks/2l6f url has become a direct mp3 link just by adding the /file/ to the end.... yay!

(note: previously, it was necessary to add several 'cdn's in the URL, but Dan Mei has found a much quicker and easier to remember method ;) )

---------------------------------------------------------------

Step 3b: For Soundcloud links
Please read the next section regarding SoundCloud links, but in a nutshell, these are limited to 100 downloads on free accounts, after which, the link will die. For more info and options, read the next section.

if your soundcloud track looks like this http://soundcloud.com/leedm101/leedm101-find-myself-a-heap-of-love

notice that there is no /download so EVERY SOUNDCLOUD link has to end in /download

Ok, so take your original link and make it like so....

http://soundcloud.com/leedm101/leedm101-find-myself-a-heap-of-love/download

(this is the URL that goes between the 'MP3PREVIEW' tags)

now lets try a live example

No Flash Installed

very very simple right? all you did is add /download .... yay!

---------------------------------------------------------------

Step 3c: For hosted on Dropbox/your website/blog links

no need to go into detail here as you simply put "http://www.yoursite.com/trackname.mp3" into the tags.....
Dropbox users - copy the public link and put it between the tags...

Hope that gets everyone squared away.... and remember.... link HAS TO END in .mp3 and crap hosting services wont work.

Have Fun!

- Paul Stix


SECTION 3 - PERMITTED HOSTING SITES

This is a list of sites that have the ability to stream here on MashStix and the ones we'd like you to use. If you're just starting out, don't worry, there's plenty of free options.


1. If you want your tracks to be streamable in the forums and be Frontpage friendly, they need to be hosted on one of the following sites (and be mp3. Wavs won't stream here). Also remember the link between the [mp3preview] tags should end in /download (for SC and Official)? Funnily enough, that means a download, not a stream. A stream here is a download there.

2a. SoundCloud
Free SC accounts have a 100 download limit and so, any links here to download/stream it will go dead after that (remember, the FP is *very* popular - if we FP a free SC account track, it'll go dead in a day. If 50 people listen to it then download it, that'll be it gone) so please bear this in mind when submitting tracks. Lite accounts are good for 1000 downloads and all above that are unlimited.

2b. Official.fm/new.official.fm
For the time being, we are still accepting these, but obviously, when Official stops accepting mashups and becomes an 'artist and label only' platform, we'll have to stop this. We'll cross that bridge of dead links when we come to it (it's already massive anyway, so..). Downloads are still unlimited and free users get 10 tracks.

2c. Your own site
If you operate your own website (and haven't placed any restrictions on downloading, obviously), you're more than welcome to use this.

2d. Dropbox
This is fast becoming the most effective method available for everyone here - unlimited downloads/streams, free accounts get 2 GB space, there's no Content ID system so it won't get flagged as copyrighted and blocked and if you say a friend recommended you, they get more space. The only downside to this is you can't track the number of downloads or streams.

2e. Mashed In Plastic
If you're lucky enough to be on Mashed In Plastic, this is good as well - again, unlimited downloads and stuff. There's only a few of you on there (CLT, Reborn Identity etc) so I appreciate this option's not available for everyone but it's there and it works for those who it is available for.

---------------------------------------------------------------

3. Cyberlockers such as Zippyshare, Hulkshare, Mediafire etc are simply not permitted. This is due to a variety of reasons (such as automatic deletion after a period of inactivity, hard to find actual streamable mp3 link, possibility of being shut down..) so please avoid using them. As mentioned above, there are other free options you can use.

---------------------------------------------------------------

There may be other sites that I've missed or that appear so if you want confirmation of it before you submit your track, let me or one of the mods know and we can test it.

- Hifi Banjo Strings



Now you've read and know how to set out your posts here.. what are you waiting for? Get creating and posting! :D

[RockstarBruski]

Also, if you're wondering how to post a download link to your Official.fm track into the word "Download" rather than the whole URL appearing then see below instructions. (Thanks goes out to Paul Stix for this tip.)

1. Copy and paste the below link:

[url=http://official.fm/tracks/2l6f/file]Download[/url]

2. IMPORTANT - Change the track number to your track number

3. Click on the Preview button to see how it looks and if it looks good and your done with your post then click on Submit button.

and then it should look like the below link with one word "Download"
>>Download<<

that's it! :)

[[MMM]]

Step 3: For Official.fm links
most Official.fm track links look like this..
http://official.fm/tracks/88187

so you notice that there is no .mp3.... also Official.fm has increased their stream protection but its very easy to override... so EVERY Official.fm link has to end in /download?pwd=.mp3...

Maybe a stupid question, but for now my players work fine with only typing /download behind the Official.fm link. I have to change that in the future?

[lloyd]

Nope... it was once neccessary to add /download?pwd.mp3 now just /download works

[RockstarBruski]

Yup, neither need .mp3 anymore just the /download at the end of the url. So, I updated the original post to reflect the new syntax and cleaned up the how to a bit, fix the broken links to the examples, washed the car, fed the dog, watered the plants...

[davidaustin]

Quick question... This may have been asked before so I apologize in advance.

Are there any plans for a frontpage system that doesnt require the download tag to be placed after soundcloud links?

I ask because it really throws off your stats since listens are counted as downloads.

Its a little odd to look at your tracks and see a couple hundred listens and a couple thousand downloads.

I have seen many blogs with the ability to have soundcloud tags that allow for the individual player and even those nice looking widgets.

Any plans for tweaking the system so we can get a more accurate representation of actual traffic to our tracks?

[Hifi Banjo Strings]

Us mods use the links we're given - if you provide a SoundCloud link as the mp3 preview in the post, that's what we'll use. I agree, it's a bugger when you see your stats messed up - that's why I use Official.fm as well

Yes, I suppose the only way around this would be to have it embedded or as a widget instead, but if we do that, we might as well have that in the forum as well and to add this all in would take time - time I don't think Paul has. Also, we FP links from all over the place. People have their own sites, Official.fm, SoundCloud etc, so if we enable a SC widget/embed on the FP, it can soon get pretty untidy with all the different styles on there.

Another thing to consider is that we (or at least, I) try to avoid FPing SoundCloud links in the first place - if you have a free account, you're limited to 100 downloads and with the traffic on this site, that'll burn up in a few days and then we have a dead link to remove/change. I know you have unlimited downloads, but other people don't. Yes, I know they can upgrade your account to enable more downloads, and while 1000 isn't as likely to run out on here, if you've got the money to upgrade accounts, why not upgrade your Official.fm account? Yes, it's not a pretty fix, but it does the job.

Another another thing is that Yes, we could just provide the URL without the 'download' at the end, but I can't see people being too happy about jumping through hoops to download a song they want - much better to have a listen and download in one place on the same page which brings me back to my second point - the widgets. Possible, but not probable.


tl;dr - probably not.

[lloyd]

I don't like to speak for Paul but i would suggest the "tweeks" that you are refering to will never happen.
I visit many many music sites that have a "frontpage" and almost all have a uniform look about them... they maintain that uniform look by standardising their links, this is usually done in a few ways; one by stealing the submitters track and hosting it themself or by asking the submitter to post to one of the shareware sites (hulkshare, zippyshare, tunescoop...) None of these options are as good as the one we offer here, here at least all musical content is coming from the artist and they still have control, If they wish to stop sharing their track they can, I know it's not ideal to not know exactly how many downloads are actual downloads but surely that is better than not knowing at all and having no control over your own work.

[clark5901]

Thanks for the nice information in the post...

[lloyd]

Hi guys, a quick addition to this post

Due to the now slightly shorter subject bar at the top of your posts, please could you all now add "Producer's Name - Track Name (Sources Used)" into the main body of your posts... thanks guys