Steemit Open Mic Gains Momentum with New Judges, 420 Steem in Prizes, for the Next Bob Dylan and Carole King: How to Participate

by A. Horrigan
8-Oct-2017

The Steemit OpenMic music competition recently named five official judges, and I've been starting to take a closer look at how the whole thing works. It's great that the judges take the time to introduce themselves in this announcement.

The host of Open Mic, and one of the five judges, is @luzcypher, a musician who fronted a touring rock band for a decade and offers sage advice to performing musicians. "Watching the collaboration happen online between musicians who played and met on Steemit Open Mic is very rewarding, and many of the people who play and post earn some nice rewards for playing a song," he said in his recent announcement of Open Mic Week 52 winners.

The host of Steemit Open Mic is @luzcypher, who along with Steemit witness @pfunk donates a total of 420 Steemit for prizes that go to winning performers and composers of original songs and covers each week.

The judges hail from the music industry and are dedicated to the idea of supporting the musician community.

"We all have different opinions and things we look for in performances, and it has been a real treat to share in this process with them," said Open Mic judge @JessamynOrchard in her introduction. She is also the founder of Steemit Local Music Society on Discord, a new project to bring together musicians across all genres, as well as Steemit Musicians on Facebook. "Both of these arenas provide a great place for Steemian musicians to share, promote, and network with other folks with similar interests," she said.

How to Participate in Steemit Open Mic

As with all things Steemit and blockchain, there's a bit of a learning curve to participate in the Open Mic contest. I found this post very helpful in getting started--it's a list of rules for the competition: Open Mic Rules.

It's very important to study those rules, and @Luzcypher does a good job explaining why they exist. But I'll note a few main points here. You'll need to:

• Submit a video of a live performance made just for Steemit Open Mic, with the spoken words "Steemit Open Mic Week XX" (insert current week number) right at the beginning.
• Post your video, with "Steemit Open Mic Week XX" also at the beginning of the post's title.
• Use "openmic" as the first tag in your post.
• Go to the contest announcement post and submit a comment with a link to your post. Watch the Open Mic channel or check @luzcypher for announcement posts each week.

All of this is to ensure that the judges find your submission, as this is a decentralized network, after all, and there is no submission form or email address to send your entry to.

Submissions are due on Fridays, and you're allowed just one submission per week. On Saturdays the judges create a post with all the entries, giving everyone an opportunity to watch the performances and vote on their favorites. The winners are then announced in a separate post. Again, watch the Open Mic channel or check @luzcypher for announcements.

The week ending Oct 6, 2017 was "Week 53," so the next one starting today is Week 54. Here's the page where you can upvote those entries you like best.

One of the original songs I like from the Steemit Open Mic 52: "Swing My Way" by @kjablonski. It was a Top 5 pic of Open Mic judge @soundlegion.

420 Steem per Week in Prizes

There are prizes awarded, thanks to Steemit witness @pfunk and @luzcypher, who generously donate their own funds to the prize pot.

According to luzcypher, @pfunk donates 200 Steem each week, which goes to the top three picks, and then kicks in another 120 Steem, which the competition splits among people who submit original songs. (@luzcypher cautions not to try to game the system, noting "we will look for real original songs, not just some chords you slapped together and called it a song.")

@luzcypher adds another 100 Steem each week, for a total of 420 Steem per week in prizes--quite impressive.

(Note: As a Steemit witness, @pfunk also helps keep the platform running smoothly. You can show your support for @pfunk's efforts by upvoting him here: Steemit Witnesses).

Scouting for Original Songs: "Wow Factor" and Heart

While everyone is invited to submit covers of their favorite songs, there is an underlying vibe and excitement of potentially discovering the next Bob Dylan, Carole King, Tom Petty, or [insert your favorite songwriter]. That would really put Steemit on the map.

Open Mic judge @Verbal-D said in his introduction that he looks out mainly for original artists: "I look for the best performances in this category because, as an original artist, as well, I know how difficult it is to make an original composition or song of your own and perform it with everything you possess."

As for covers, only those that are "simply stunning and gripping, that catch me off guard, will grab my attention and my vote," he added. Check out @Verbal's top 5 pics for week 53. He provides a lot of insightful comments on the submissions he chose.

Open Mic Judge Shavon Bonnie Legion (@soundlegion), a California singer-songwriter and co-founder of the online Collaborative Music House and Label, Sound Legion, said she finds Steemit Open Mic to be "a great place for discovering new talents and inspiration." She's looking for unique and original songs, "wow factors" in voice and instrument, and "a lot of heart."

Blockchain for Musicians: Make a Living from Creative Works

My daughter is a budding singer-songwriter (check out Growing Up to hear one of her originals), so I've been watching the music industry closely over the past few years to see if it will recover and perhaps offer a viable career opportunity.

With Web 2.0, the advent of file sharing and social networks spawned a lot of music piracy, as skillfully chronicled in "How Music Got Free," by Stephen Witt. Fairly quickly, music became "free," and most musicians have now lost all hopes of making a living from recorded music.

Many musicians were convinced that if they give away their music to gain exposure on the megalithic social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook they would gain valuable exposure and someday "monetize." But we now know the reality is that only a few big stars like Justin Bieber rise to fame and fortune that way.

Even great musicians these days, save for mega stars like Adel, don't make much from recordings and have to "sing for their supper" and go on grueling tours that may or may not net much income. Jaron Lanier, the father of virtual reality and winner of the 2014 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade Association, outlines this sad turn of events for musicians in his seminal book, "You Are Not a Gadget."

We're entering a new age now, which some call Web 3.0. New paradigms such as blockchain and Steemit offer the promise of not only connecting musicians directly with fans, but also funneling micropayments in digital currency from fans to musicians, without a "midde man" cutting into the profits. Hopefully, we'll see increasing financial support funneling back to musicians, and good musicians again may be able to make a decent living, even if a modest one.

The Steemit Open Mic project is one positive step in this direction. "For many, it's easier to get some Steem in your tip jar by playing for Steemit Open Mic than it is to play music on the street," noted @luzcypher, in the Open Mic winners announcement for Week 52.

As Steemit grows, the competition will likely expand. "The five judges have been actively discussing and planning this for months now, we have so many great ideas and new possibilities for the competition," said Open Mic judge @Krystle. She is also helping connect Steemit Open Mic with the Minnow Support Project, which seeks to help Steemit members "succeed through education, personal connection, intellectual growth, leadership, and community curation."

I appreciate all the effort the Steemit Open Mic host, judges and sponsors are putting in to provide a forum for musicians here and look forward to following the competitions.

My Daughter's Songs

Aside from enjoying great music, what draws my interest in revitalizing the music industry is my daughter, Madeline Horrigan. I would love for her to have a way to make a bit of a living from her beautiful compositions, even if she decides not to pursue music as her main profession.

So far, we've put only a couple of her songs up on CDBaby and the streaming sites. Although she's too busy to participate in Steemit or Open Mic, I've just started to promote some of her published pieces in my posts. Check out one of her original songs here, and on the related posts below:

• Stream: Goodbye
• Download: Goodby

Related Posts

Original Award Winning Song: "Growing Up" by Madeline Horrigan

Original Song: "Say What You Want to Say" by Madeline Horrigan (live performance)

"Growing Up" won First Place for Best Original Composition in the 2017 Connecticut Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Reflections competition, and a National Merit Award at the national level.