Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQ

User FAQ Organizer FAQ Adjudicator FAQ

General

What is New Music Engine?
New Music Engine is an online system to upload your music online. It creates a hassle free process for the composer to submit, update, and upload a submission with confidence that the opportunity will receive it.

New Music Engine is a great way for organizations, ensembles and musicians to reliably receive submissions online.

How do I know what competitions are using New Music Engine?
Every competition or opportunity that uses New Music Engine will have a link to www.newmusicengine.org.


User Accounts

What browsers are supported?
Users are encouraged to visit our site with a standards-compliant browser, such as Safari and Google Chrome. The site was written to conform to current web standards in HTML 5 and CSS 3. Users of Internet Explorer may experience layout and formatting anomalies.

What's my password?
Your account password is encrypted on our server. New Music Engine support staff is not able to retrieve your password for you, and we will never ask you for your password. You should not share it with anyone. If you forget your password, reset your password here.

What do I do if I can't login?
Please note that login credentials are case-sensitive and cookies must be enabled in your browser to use New Music Engine. In ordert o login, you must also have Cookies and Javascript enabled. Note that some browsers ship with these features disabled by default.

Learn how to enable Cookies on your browser here.
Learn how to enable Javascript on your browser here.
Read our cookies policy here.

My page document expired what do I do?
If you hit the BACK button on your browser you may encounter an error that your document expired. Just refresh your browser screen and all should be well. Navigating without hitting the back or forward buttons will also avoid this problem.

How do I upload a picture on New Music Engine?
To upload a picture all you need to do is:
  • Login to New Music Engine
  • Hover over on your name in the menu bar and choose "My Artist Profile"
  • On the subsequent page, choose the edit button.

What is the New Music Engine Privacy Policy?
Our privacy policy is located here.

How do I make my Artist Profile public?
To make the necessary change, follow these steps:
    1) Login to newmusicengine.org.
    2) Click your name at the top of the screen.
    3) Click the pencil on the page to the right of your picture.
    4) Change the privacy drop down to "Public."
    5) IMPORTANT: Hit the "submit" button at the bottom of the page.

I never changed my account but I received a message from New Music Engine that my account was edited?
New Music Engine has several layers of security for our users. If you ever suspect your account has been compromised contact us immediately.

In order to be a judge on New Music Engine, certain privileges must be granted to your account to have this ability. When an administrator makes this change to your account, our system will notify you that changes have been made.

If you feel that you have been made a judge in error, please let us know by emailing support@newmusicengine.org.

Submissions
How do I submit to a competition?
Submitting your work to opportunities on newmusicengine.org is really intuitive and straightforward; however, if you run into any problems send an email to support@newmusicengine.org.

To begin:
  1. Click the name of the opportunity for which you want to submit in Opportunities panel on the left-hand side of the screen.
  2. Click the Submit button in the upper right-hand side of the screen on the subsequent page. If you haven't already logged in you will be directed to do so before proceeding to the submission form.
  3. Next, enter the title and the name(s) of the submission's creator. Then click "Continue." At this point, your submission record has been created and you come back at a later time to edit your submission until the deadline of the opportunity.
  4. Enter your submission information and upload media files, if applicable, one at a time. Click "Save".
Some opportunities permit multiple submissions. To create multiple submissions for an opportunity, follow the same steps outlined above.

Do not copy/paste from Microsoft Word or other word processor. Doing so may create unwanted characters and formatting information. If you must copy/paste, please consider using a text editor like Notepad (PC) or TextEdit (Mac)



Can I view or edit my submissions?
As long as the opportunity is still accepting submissions, you can verify, edit, and view your submission.
To view your submissions, hover over the cog wheel and choose "My Submissions":


Can I change or update my submission?
You can continue to edit your submission, including uploading a new audio file or score, until the opportunity is closed by the organizer after the deadline.

Where is the "submit" button? Is my work submitted?
There isn't a "submit" button, but instead a "save" button. If you do nothing else, whatever you have saved is what will be reviewed by the organizer of the opportunity when when the call is closed. If you wish to make edits, you can up until the opportunity is closed by the organizer.

The media player displays a message that my file type is not supported. What gives?
New Music Engine is designed to support HTML 5 standards where possible. Of the file types New Music Engin accepts for submissions, the HTML 5 <audio> tag only supports .mp3 and .wav. It does not support other file types such as .aif. If you see that your media file is not supported by HTML 5, please know that it has still been received and will be adjudicated. The warning message simply means that the HTML 5 media player is unable to play your audio file because it is not compatible with HTML 5. Clicking the download button will either download the file to your computer or open it up in a new tab/window and begin playing using the plugin assigned to play the .aif filetype by your browser.



Why am I receiving upload errors?
Less than 1% of users actually receive an error that requires help from us. Most errors are the result of intermittent poor internet connections. if you receive an error while trying to upload a media file:
  • Try again. It may be the result of an intermittent connection issue. Try quitting your browser and logging back into NME
  • If you use a VPN service, turn it off.
  • Make sure that your media filenames follow standard convention and do not contain punctuation marks, diacritical marks, non-Latin characters, spaces, or other glyphs.
  • Double-check that your media file is a supported format:
    • Audio Formats: .mp3, .aif, and .wav
    • Image Formats: .jpg, .gif, and .png

I received an email saying UPLOAD PROBLEM. What do I do?
If you receive this email, something went wrong during your file upload. To see which files failed to upload and/or attempt to repair the problem, you can view and edit your submission by navigating to the appropriate opportunity using the "My Submission" menu item on the New Music Engine website.

Some things to check when facing upload problems:
  • Make sure your files are of the correct type. Your audio recordings must be .wav, .aiff, or mp3 files and your score file must be a pdf file.

  • Remain patient and do not hit the "Back" or "Refresh" buttons. The file uploads may take a long time depending on their size and the speed of your connection to the internet.

  • Pay attention to the error message you are receiving. There will often be information there that will aid in troubleshooting your upload. The error message you received was:

      • ERROR: Your submission has been created but it is not complete. The audio file you uploaded is not the correct file type. The uploaded file had a mime-type of audio/x-m4a. To complete your submission, you must re-upload your file. An email has been sent you with more information and instructions.[note error #88089]

  • Be advised there is a known bug in Firefox that prevents uploaded files passing the security check New Music Engine has in place. Try another browser.

  • Rest assured that the problem you have run into will not cause you to "miss the deadline", or negatively affect the evaluation of your submission. We are committed to making sure each submission receives the same care and consideration you have put into creating it.

I'm still unable to resolve an upload error?
If you are unable to resolve the problem yourself, email support@newmusicengine.org and please include:
  • Your browser version
  • Any error messages you have received
  • Your submissionID
  • Opportunity name
  • Title of your submission
  • Your name

The deadline is very soon and I'm still receiving an upload error. What do I do?!
Don't worry. As long as you have created a submission record, we can help you get your media files uploaded if you are still receiving errors, even after the deadline. The most important thing is that you have created a submission record and have a submission ID.

How do I delete a submission?
As long as the opportunity is still accepting submissions, you can delete your submission(s) to that opportunity by clicking on the trash can icon next to the submission name on the "My Submissions" page (from the cog wheel drop down menu). If the opportunity has closed, submissions cannot be deleted by the user.


New Music Engine for Organizers

How does this work?
New Music Engine does not charge composers and artists a fee to create an account or to submit their works to calls for works. There is a small fee to organizers who want to use New Music Engine to host a call for submissions. Contact us by emailing support@newmusicengine.org.

Why use New Music Engine for a call for scores?
New Music Engine is a respected web application in the composer community. It reaches out to thousands of composer interested in submitting their creative works to competitions and for performance considerations.

New Music Engine keeps all of the submission data in one location! With our system, there's no more tracking down audio or PDF files in different google drives, making sure composers give you the correct permissions, fussing with odd file naming or file formats, massaging google forms, dropbox errors, etc..

Collecting and reviewing scores and audio submissions is easy with New Music Engine. Our website and collection of tools guides composers to complete a thorough submission with all of the necessary requirements. Submissions are automatically reviewed and composers are notified about complete and incomplete entries.

Once the deadline for the opportunity call has been met, and administrator reviews the submissions and prepares the judging rounds. Judges can review submissions, rate and grade them in any number of pre-selected criteria, and select candidates, semi-finalists, and finalists.

A flexible judging application allows for the selection process to happen anywhere the judges have internet access. Selections and comments are recorded and can be reviewed and tabulated. At any time judges and administrators can download PDF scores and audio files.

To learn more about New Music Engine and to find out how affordable it is to manage your next call for works, contact us by emailing support@newmusicengine.org.

I am interested in using New Music Engine. How do I start?
Easy... Check out our Plans & Pricing, then just send us an email.

We will charge a submission fee. Can we still use NME?
Yes; however, we do not facilitate payments from artists. Most organizations who have charged submission fees provide an external link to a service (e.g., Paypal) that processes payments. In the submission form, they then create a text element where artists include their receipt for payment.

Organizers: Creating/Editing Opportunities
Where do I create my opportunity?
After you purchase a package to host a call on New Music Engine, a new option labeled "My Opportunities" will appear in your cog wheel menu when you login. From this page you will be able to create and manage your call for submissions.

Why isn't my opportunity available?
When you first add or edit any call in New Music Engine, the opportunity is placed an "unpublished" state. After creating an opportunity, you must set the state of the opportunity to published.

I have a NME account already as a composer. Should I create a new account to host an opportunity?
In most cases, you should use your existing NME account.

Can I create an account using an organization email address so that multiple people in my organization can access the NME account?
No. This is a violation of New Music Engine's terms of use because it requires the sharing of a password. Under no circumstances should a username and password be shared by multiple people.

What is an opportunity administrator?
The administrator of your opportunity is the person who will be responsible for:
  • Creating and editing opportunities
  • Communicating with New Music Engine staff.
  • Communicating with artists who submit.
  • Setting up Judging Rounds

How many opportunity administrators should I have?
In most cases, you should have only one opportunity manager. If you want to share submissions with other people on your team, you should set up judging rounds for them. Often times, multiple administrators can lead to confusion for those submitting.

I'm new at hosting a call. What should I be considering early in the process?
Here are a few items to consider before creating your call for submissions:
  • Do you want to make the judging process anonymous? If so Judges will not see submission identities. (As long as no indication is made on the score or audio.) Administrators will have access to all submission details including the name and contact information of submitting artist.
  • Who is administering the call? Any additional Contact Names?
  • Who is the call open to? Are there any limiting factors for the applicants?
  • Is there a prize for being selected? If so what is it?
  • New Music Engine only processes digital online submissions.
  • What is your deadline or expiration for the call.
  • How many submissions are allowed per applicant account? Please understand that New Music Engine cannot take responsibility for false information provided by applicants nor duplicate accounts made under false pretenses.
  • The maximum length you need for applicant biographies.
  • The maximum length you need for applicant for program notes.
  • The maximum length you need for applicant for performance requirements.

What is the opportunity status "Post-Production"?
After you have selected a winner(s) for your opportunity, be sure to change the status of your opportunity to "Post-Production." Doing so will publish the announcements in the "Opportunity Announcement Builder: Manage Announcements" section of the opportunity edit page. These announcements are published to the Notifications box for all of the artists who submitted to your opportunity.

Organizers: Managing Submissions
Some submissions are incomplete? What do I do?
If any required form elements are missing, the submission will be flagged as "incomplete", and you will notice that the row in the "view submissions" spreadsheet will be highlighted in red. Using our built-in email utility, you can email those artists with incomplete submissions. In some cases, you may notice that a submission form is only missing one or two items and decide to move the work into an adjudication round. Although we are happy to help you and provide recommendations, the ultimate decision on how you proceed with submissions is yours to make. We are here to support you in those decisions.

I need to email the artists that have submitted
To send out a message to those that submitted:
    1) login and choose “My Opportunities” from the cog wheel
    2) Choose “View Submissions”
    3) Select all of the submissions by clicking the check box in the upper left-hand corner of the spreadsheet view
    4) Choose “Email Selected” from the “Actions” menu
On the next screen, you can insert the person’s name and title of piece chosen, but these must be in all-caps and surrounded with curly brackets. For example, {NAME} and {TITLE}. Review the styling help pop-up window on the email page for more information.

New Music Engine currently recommends not including any URLs in the email because this raises the likelihood that the email will be flagged as spam by the recipient’s email client.

Can I access the email addresses of the artists who submitted?
No. There is some data that we are unable to share. We do not share our members' account email addresses; however, you can conveniently email artists through our system. We do share with organizers all of the information entered into an opportunity's submission form, therefore, some organizers collect contact email addresses in their submission form.

Can I download submissions data?
Yes! Choosing the download button on the "view submissions" spreadsheet will generate and download a CSV file of the submission data to your computer.

Organizers: Judging Rounds
What is a Judging Round?
Once ready to begin evaluating submissions, the organizer will move the status of the opportunity to "Judging." When the status is changed, a new "judging round" section becomes available to the organizer. From the "view submissions" page, the opportunity organizer assigns submissions to a judging round. The organizer defines parameters for judges in the judging round, and once ready, makes the judging round active. In this last step, submissions are distributed to judges for judging.

How do I choose a winner(s)?
We recommend that you begin thinking about adjudication early in the process. What is the criteria? How will judges communicate to you the work(s) they believe are best? Most often a score 1-10 and a comments section for one round is all that is necessary; however, adjudication rubrics on NewMusicEngine are customizable and extremely flexible.

How does a judge get assigned submissions?
The organizer assigns submissions to a judging round, and then assigns adjudicators in the judging round. If a New Music Engine account does not already exist for a judge, the organizer will have the option to create an account for the judge. In this case, the judge will be sent an automated message with information on how to login to New Music Engine.

Once the judging round is ready, the organizer makes the status of the judging round "active." In this step, submissions are distributed to judges who will see a notification when they login to New Music Engine. We highly recommend that the organizer send a personal email to the adjudicators letting them know that their submissions are available for review on New Music Engine.


Adjudicator FAQs

How does this work?
New Music Engine does not charge composers and artists a fee to create a New Music Engine account or to submit their works to calls for works. There is a small fee to organizers who want to use New Music Engineto manage a call for submissions. Contact us for more information.

I'm a judge. How do I begin?
Please consult the following video:


The media player displays a message that my file type is not supported.
New Music Engine is designed to support HTML 5 standards where possible. Of the file types New Music Engin accepts for submissions, the HTML 5 <audio> tag only supports .mp3 and .wav. It does not support other file types such as .aif. If you see that your media file is not supported by HTML 5, please know that it has still been received and will be adjudicated. The warning message simply means that the HTML 5 media player is unable to play your audio file because it is not compatible with HTML 5. Clicking the download button will either download the file to your computer or open it up in a new tab/window and begin playing using the plugin assigned to play the .aif filetype by your browser.