SONGWRITING COMPETITION - a game on the Mix Challenge community

[Compyfox]

Hello everyone, a short information for you:

Songwriting Competition 095 will run from 01st July 2025 until 24th July 2025 (24 days left)

Genre: (Video Game) Soundtrack
Theme: "Video Game Soundtrack - HOG-in' it"

Direct link to the current game can be found here



Image Source: Pexels, photo by Giuseppe Di Maria, released under Creative Commons CC0

This month's Songwriting Competition is special.

SWC095 will play-act how a company is approaching and interacting with artists in a work-for-hire scenario. The basic premise is that an imaginary company / indie developer approaches musicians in the hope of finding one or more songwriters for a fictional video game in development. As usual, there is "a brief" and various audio examples present.

Unlike other songwriting competitions on the Mix Challenge audio community - where there is just a simple task with the encouragement to interact with each other already during the game - there is an active client interacting this time around as well. Each participant will get a response by the "commissioning party" (until/including 21st of July) for ones production, telling you if you understood the brief, if you are on the right track and/or what one could still improve until the deadline has been reached. Something that would happen if you were to (e.g.) actively write a song for a commercial, or music for a short film, etc.

This endeavor does not only try to simulate a commission-based work scenario, but also encourages more early/direct interaction for future songwriting games. As bonus incentive, if there are more than 15 participants, the Winners Podium might be opened up to offer a 5-position Winners Podium.

The focus of this game is to "just make music". Giving and receiving constructive criticism/feedback being one of the main game mechanics, with the added bonus of also being able to edit/enhance your production until the the 24-day deadline has been reached.

Joining is absolutely free. If you can't join yourself, it would be tremendously help if you could spread the word about the Songwriting Competition. The more participants, the more interaction and feedback, the more fun.



All participants of the KVR "Music Cafe Songwriting Competition" (MCSC) and KVR One Synth Challenge (OSC) are more than welcome. Please take a look, say hello, and maybe stay for a little longer.

The Mix Challenge audio community is also still celebrating it's 11th Anniversary. Join the festivities.


More on:
https://mix-challenge.com

[Compyfox]

Hello everyone, a short information for you:

Songwriting Competition 096 will run from 01st August 2025 until 24th August 2025 (23 days left)

Genre: free to select
Theme: "Puzzled" (Picture Theme)

Direct link to the current game can be found here



Image Source: Pexels, photo by Magda Ehlers, released under Creative Commons CC0


The focus of this game is to "just make music". Giving and receiving constructive criticism/feedback being one of the main game mechanics, with the added bonus of also being able to edit/enhance your production until the the 24-day deadline has been reached.

Joining is absolutely free. If you can't join yourself, it would be tremendously help if you could spread the word about the Songwriting Competition. The more participants, the more interaction and feedback, the more fun.



All participants of the KVR "Music Cafe Songwriting Competition" (MCSC) and KVR One Synth Challenge (OSC) are more than welcome. Please take a look, say hello, and maybe stay for a little longer.


More on:
https://mix-challenge.com

[Compyfox]

Hello everyone, a short information for you:

Songwriting Competition 097 will run from 01st September 2025 until 24th September 2025 (24 days left)

Genre: free to select
Theme: "Cognitive Overload" (Mental Health Awareness Month)

Direct link to the current game can be found here



Image Source: iStock.com, photo by quantic69/Corona Borealis Studio


The focus of this game is to "just make music". Giving and receiving constructive criticism/feedback being one of the main game mechanics, with the added bonus of also being able to edit/enhance your production until the the 24-day deadline has been reached.

Joining is absolutely free. If you can't join yourself, it would be tremendously help if you could spread the word about the Songwriting Competition. The more participants, the more interaction and feedback, the more fun.



All participants of the KVR "Music Cafe Songwriting Competition" (MCSC) and KVR One Synth Challenge (OSC) are more than welcome. Please take a look, say hello, and maybe stay for a little longer.


More on:
https://mix-challenge.com

[Compyfox]

Hello everyone, a short information for you:

Songwriting Competition 098 will run from 01st October 2025 until 24th October 2025 (24 days)

Genre: free to select (with a focus on guitars)
Theme: "Rock the house!"

Direct link to the current game can be found here



Image Source: Pixabay, photo by William Gallardoa, released under Creative Commons CC0


The focus of this game is to "just make music". Giving and receiving constructive criticism/feedback being one of the main game mechanics, with the added bonus of also being able to edit/enhance your production until the the 24-day deadline has been reached.

Joining is absolutely free. If you can't join yourself, it would be tremendously help if you could spread the word about the Songwriting Competition. The more participants, the more interaction and feedback, the more fun.




We are also running a thread to collect self-created sounds and samples until 24th November 2025 in preparation for the Songwriting Competition 101 in January 2026. The material will be the main source of sounds for this particular, yearly recurring game called "Community Scramble".

Get involved, and shape the "general tone" for this upcoming game.

Direct link to this endeavor can be found here.


Image Source: Pixabay, photo by Nachrichten_muc, released under Creative Commons CC0



All participants of the KVR "Music Cafe Songwriting Competition" (MCSC) and KVR One Synth Challenge (OSC) are more than welcome. Please take a look, say hello, and maybe stay for a little longer.


More on:
https://mix-challenge.com

[Compyfox]

Hello everyone, a short information for you:

Songwriting Competition 099 will run from 01st November 2025 until 24th November 2025 (24 days)

Genre: Techno
Theme: "Pulse Mechanic" (TECHNOvember)

Direct link to the current game can be found here



Image Source: Pexels, photo by Pachon in Motion, released under Creative Commons CC0


The focus of this game is to "just make music". Giving and receiving constructive criticism/feedback being one of the main game mechanics, with the added bonus of also being able to edit/enhance your production until the the 24-day deadline has been reached.

Joining is absolutely free. If you can't join yourself, it would be tremendously help if you could spread the word about the Songwriting Competition. The more participants, the more interaction and feedback, the more fun.




We are also still running a thread to collect self-created sounds and samples until 24th November 2025 in preparation for the Songwriting Competition 101 in January 2026. The material will be the main source of sounds for this particular, yearly recurring game called "Community Scramble".

Get involved, and shape the "general tone" for this upcoming game.

Direct link to this endeavor can be found here.


Image Source: Pixabay, photo by Nachrichten_muc, released under Creative Commons CC0



All participants of the KVR "Music Cafe Songwriting Competition" (MCSC) and KVR One Synth Challenge (OSC) are more than welcome. Please take a look, say hello, and maybe stay for a little longer.


More on:
https://mix-challenge.com

[Compyfox]

Hello everyone, a short information for you:

We're celebrating our 100th songwriting game!

Songwriting Competition 100 will run from 01st December 2025 until 24th December 2025 (24 days)

Genre: free to select
Theme: "Journey" (Picture Theme)

Direct link to the current game can be found here



Image Source: Pixabay, photo by Hans Bischoff, released under Creative Commons CC0


The focus of this game is to "just make music". Giving and receiving constructive criticism/feedback being one of the main game mechanics, with the added bonus of also being able to edit/enhance your production until the the 24-day deadline has been reached.

Joining is absolutely free. If you can't join yourself, it would be tremendously help if you could spread the word about the Songwriting Competition. The more participants, the more interaction and feedback, the more fun.



All participants of the KVR "Music Cafe Songwriting Competition" (MCSC) and KVR One Synth Challenge (OSC) are more than welcome. Please take a look, say hello, and maybe stay for a little longer.


More on:
https://mix-challenge.com

[wagtunes]

Hello everyone, a short information for you:

We're celebrating our 100th songwriting game!

Songwriting Competition 100 will run from 01st December 2025 until 24th December 2025 (24 days)

Genre: free to select
Theme: "Journey" (Picture Theme)

Direct link to the current game can be found here



Image Source: Pixabay, photo by Hans Bischoff, released under Creative Commons CC0


The focus of this game is to "just make music". Giving and receiving constructive criticism/feedback being one of the main game mechanics, with the added bonus of also being able to edit/enhance your production until the the 24-day deadline has been reached.

Joining is absolutely free. If you can't join yourself, it would be tremendously help if you could spread the word about the Songwriting Competition. The more participants, the more interaction and feedback, the more fun.



All participants of the KVR "Music Cafe Songwriting Competition" (MCSC) and KVR One Synth Challenge (OSC) are more than welcome. Please take a look, say hello, and maybe stay for a little longer.


More on:
https://mix-challenge.com

Hey Fox, How's it going? I went to the page but I don't see anywhere where we actually submit out songs. I can't find rules or anything. Can you help me out?

[Compyfox]

The rule book is in it's own section. The rules are repeated and linked to multiple times throughout the game's thread. However, what has been written in the thread (especially the first 3 posts, and the song collection post) has higher priority (I only have so many hours of time in the day to stay up-to-date).

Please check previous songwriting games if you're lost what to do. It's fairly simple.

Enjoy SWC100.

[Compyfox]

Hello everyone,

Happy New Year!
I hope you're doing great.

Before I start with the usual "short information", I wanted to express a heartfelt "Thank You" for all of your support in the last couple of years. Thank you ever so much for your time and interest.

This will actually be one of the last posts about the Songwriting Competition here in the Music Cafe. There are only so many hours in the day, and I find it increasingly difficult to keep up with the updates.

However, there are still updates via the KVR Audio News Section (most notably the "Competitions & Events" section, which is also listed in the KVR Audio Newsletter). Not to mention all known Social Media outlets of the Mix Challenge audio community. I also try to post in the Competitions thread in the "Everything Else" section.

I may bump this thread for special games. For example the "Video Game Soundtrack" based Songwriting Competition, which will probably happen again in July. I'll think about it.

With that said...



A short information for you:

Songwriting Competition 101 will run from 01st January 2026 until 24th January 2026 (24 days)

Theme "Community Scramble" (Special Sound Design Challenge)
Genre: free to select

Direct link to the current game can be found here



Image Source: ArtsyBee (background, via Pixabay), released under Creative Commons CC0


Through October and November 2025, the Mix Challenge audio community has collected a very small but interesting selection of self-created sounds and samples to be used as the main sound source for the Songwriting Competition 101 (SWC101).

The twist, is to create a production with just these sounds and samples. But there is absolutely no limit on how you get there - you are allowed to use any tool that is at your disposal. Participants can mangle this material through re-sampling, modulation, wavetable synthesis or similar. As long as you don't use any additional synth or instruments that do not use the given content as main sound source (vocals are an exception). Else, the rules of the Songwriting Competition apply.

The main idea is to push creativity with a limited selection of sounds.


The focus of this game is to "just make music". Giving and receiving constructive criticism/feedback being one of the main game mechanics, with the added bonus of also being able to edit/enhance your production until the the 24-day deadline has been reached.

Joining is absolutely free. If you can't join yourself, it would be tremendously help if you could spread the word about the Songwriting Competition. The more participants, the more interaction and feedback, the more fun.



All participants of the KVR "Music Cafe Songwriting Competition" (MCSC) and KVR One Synth Challenge (OSC) are more than welcome. Please take a look, say hello, and maybe stay for a little longer.


More on:
https://mix-challenge.com

[Compyfox]

Hello everyone, a short information for you:

Songwriting Competition 103 will run from 01st March 2026 until 24th March 2026 (24 days)

Theme "Eight Track Alchemy" (Special Task Challenge)
Genre: free to select

Direct link to the current game can be found here



Image Source: Pexels, photo by Jonnathan Gonzalez, released under Creative Commons CC0


The twist -- you must work as if you're using an 8-track recording environment. Meaning, while you may be working with multiple channels on a mixer before "printing to tape" (think recording a choir, a drum kit, or a guitar amp), you can still only "print" to 8 tracks until your mix is finished and exported to stereo.

There are multiple games of this type planned. More in the future.


The focus of this game is to "just make music". Giving and receiving constructive criticism/feedback being one of the main game mechanics, with the added bonus of also being able to edit/enhance your production until the the 24-day deadline has been reached.

Joining is absolutely free. If you can't join yourself, it would be tremendously help if you could spread the word about the Songwriting Competition. The more participants, the more interaction and feedback, the more fun.



All participants of the KVR "Music Cafe Songwriting Competition" (MCSC) and KVR One Synth Challenge (OSC) are more than welcome. Please take a look, say hello, and maybe stay for a little longer.


More on:
https://mix-challenge.com