#PI: FAQ Thread

[Hyun. 55,715]

GENERAL INFO

What is PopIndustry?
#PopIndustry is a music themed competition in which you portray a real-life recording artist in a quest for music stardom.

Who are the hosts?
The hosts and judges of #PopIndustry are @CHANEL #1 @Habits @Hyun. and @RihannaRTT

How often does #PopIndustry run?
This year is the 9th season of #PopIndustry. Season 9 will have three parts, each planned to last five weeks (excluding the sign-up weeks).

How do I play #PopIndustry?
First of all, you sign up as one (or more) artists - please see the 'ARTISTS' section below for more info. One massive change to the new season of #PopIndustry is the game’s overall focus moving to the charts aspect - read the ‘CHARTS’ section of this FAQ for info.

How do I win #PopIndustry?
The winner of #PopIndustry will be determined by the total number of chart points received (as lead artist) from the two major charts: Hot Singles Chart and Top Albums Chart. Each winner of #PopIndustry will receive a 2 Months VIP courtesy of the FOTP admins.

ARTISTS

Which real-life celebrity can I sign-up as?
You can sign-up as any real-life celebrity. It's advised that you pick someone music-related but it's not required. The only exceptions are those artists who are reserved by a) the judges, b) legacy artists or c) players who held an artist in an earlier part of a season. For a new full season, the c) restriction does not apply.

How many artists can I sign-up as?
New players can sign-up as up to two different artists, however they are only required to choose one. Players who have been awarded a legacy artist may have up to two non-legacy artists and an unlimited number of official legacy artists.

Which artists are reserved by the hosts/judges?

@CHANEL #1 - Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey
@Habits - Amelia Lily, Christina Aguilera, Dagny, Marina
@Hyun. - Ariana Grande, Troye Sivan
@RihannaRTT - Carrie Underwood, Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried), Katy Perry, New York (Tiffany Pollard), P!nk

What is a legacy artist and who are they?
A legacy artist is rewarded that title after five-part seasons of being portrayed by the same member. These are then unavailable for use by other members to keep the legacy of said artist untarnished. These artists are

Adam Levine - @sexotheque.
Ariana Grande - @Divine
Christina Aguilera - @Habits
Ellie Goulding - @Andres
Erika Jayne - @Royalty
Justin Timberlake - @Desnudate
Karen Smith - @RihannaRTT
Katy Perry - @RihannaRTT
Kesha - @edwinfg
Lady Gaga - @CHANEL #1
Mariah Carey - @Sylk
Marina - @Habits
Natalia Kills - @Enigma
P!nk - @RihannaRTT
Rihanna - @Feoba
Taylor Swift - @Robert.
Troye Sivan - @Hyun.

One exception to the above rule is that if the legacy player explicitly states another member can use their legacy artist, then they are allowed to do so.

MUSIC RELEASES

What does my music consist of?
Each of your songs should contain the following: Song Title, List of Artists, Track Length, List of Songwriters, List of Producers. It is also advisable to create a cover artwork for any singles or albums you release. You will never be required to write lyrics or actively record a song, but you can if you wish.

Does my artist's real-life discography and / or past success exist in this game?
Your artist's real-life discography does NOT exist in this game. In most cases you start off as a new artist, but if your artist has been used before in #PopIndustry then their #PI discography will be listed in the Chart Database. More information on these releases may also be found in the Song Database. You are encouraged to use these resources if you play as a returning artist. In a similar fashion, the real-life discography of other players also do not exist so keep this in mind and be careful not to cover songs that don't exist. For non-musical events, it's your choice whether or not to reference them in your portrayal.

How do I release music?
Every week you will be able to release new music in the Weekly Releases Thread. Each of your artists may release up to one official single and one official album per week. You will also be able to release up to one promotional single and one promotional album per week, and an unlimited number of non-charting releases. You will have until Friday 7pm UK Time each week to post your releases.

What is a remix/reissue?
A remix or reissue can be released for any of your official singles/albums after their initial release week. This allows these releases to chart for one week longer than usual. You cannot remix a single and release a new single in the same week, and you cannot remix an album and release a new album in the same week. Promotional and non-charting releases cannot be remixed.

What is a promotional release?
In addition to your official releases, you also may release promotional releases. These releases are an extra little boost to your chart success, but only receive 50% of their actual chart points due to their promotional nature. They cannot be remixed or re-issued.

What is a non-charting release?
Non-Charting releases also exist within the game. This allows you to release a single or album which will never chart, if you don’t want them to chart for whatever reason. They cannot be remixed or re-issued.

Do the judges also release music?
Yes. The judges can also release music. The judges will be scored by the other judges during the game, but will no longer score themselves, allowing for them to still take part and compete fairly with everyone else.

CHARTS

What is the charts feature in #PopIndustry?
The Billboard Charts are the main feature of #PopIndustry. Each week - excluding the sign-up weeks - there will be published weekly music charts. There are nine charts altogether - however the two "official" major charts are the Hot Singles Chart and the Top Albums Chart.

How do I chart?
First of all, you need to release music (see above). Afterwards, your position on the weekly chart will be determined via our new chart formula. The chart period closes at 7pm UK Time on Sunday, and the official charts will be posted later on that evening.

What are the individual charts and how are they calculated?
Hot Singles Chart - The official singles chart. Calculated based on the results of the Digital Songs Chart, Radio Songs Chart, Streaming Songs Chart and the Trending Songs Chart.
Top Albums Chart - The official albums chart. Calculated based on the results of the Digital Albums Chart, Streaming Albums Chart and the Trending Albums Chart.
Digital Songs Chart / Digital Albums Chart - Minor charts calculated based on the weekly iTunes Store form where all players buy an exact number of releases.
Radio Songs Chart - A minor chart calculated by votes from the label executives; scoring everyone’s current releases. They do not score their own.
Streaming Songs Chart / Streaming Albums Chart - Minor charts calculated based on the number of toots you made that week. See the ‘STREAMING & TRENDING’ section for more info.
Trending Songs Chart / Trending Albums Chart - Minor charts calculated based on the judges’ scores of your mini-challenges. They do not score their own. See the ‘STREAMING & TRENDING’ section for more info.

What are the chart formulas for the two major charts?
Hot Singles Chart - 30% Digital, 20% Radio, 30% Streaming, 20% Trending
Top Albums Chart - 40% Digital, 40% Streaming, 20% Trending

Is there an archive of past charts somewhere?
Yes! We have a chart drive containing every weekly chart to date in PDF format. This drive also contains the all-time charts, the chart-database and the seasonal artist rankings - all updated at the end of the season. You can access this drive HERE.

STREAMING & TRENDING

What is the Streaming mechanic all about?
During the event, you will be welcomed to our official #PopIndustry Mastodon instance. This instance is hosted by ourselves and is a world away from worlds. One account for each of your artists will be created for you in advance of the event. This mechanic is important as it represents your streaming points for the season and will count towards your chart position. However, by using your account(s) you agree to these rules:

Mastodon Rules & Guidelines

You will not boost ANY toots - be it yours or someone else's - during the season.
You will not unfollow, mute or block any other account local to the #PopIndustry instance.
You will not make any personal insults, threats or extreme jokes about serious topics.
You will not post any explicit NSFW material.
You will not change the following settings or preferences;
Email Address, Password, Lock Account (Disabled), This is a Bot Account (Disabled), Show Confirmation Dialog Before Boosting (Enabled), Posting Privacy (Public), Opt-Out of Search Engine Indexing (Disabled), Hide Your Network (Disabled), Email Notifications (All Disabled), Two Factor Authentication (Disabled)
Failure to adhere to the above rules may result in your account being suspended, banned or your disqualification from the event.

What are Billboard and TMZ?
Billboard is an account created for the judges to post important updates. You can also DM the Billboard account with headlines or images you wish for them to post. Throughout the season, our resident interviewer @Habits will also host interviews with some artists and post them through the Billboard account. Get in touch if you wish to book an interview.
The TMZ account is an account which can be used by anyone, to post or message other accounts anonymously. The log-in details for this account are pinned on the TMZ page and should not be shared with non-players. The above rules apply to the usage of this account also.

What is the Trending mechanic all about?
Each week, you will be able to submit one mini-challenge for each of your artists. You must pick one challenge from the List of Challenges Thread. You can do an individual challenge multiple times but each entry must be unique and not a repeat of a previous entry. It is highly recommended that you do a range of challenges over the season. These challenges should be between 300-500 words each and should be submitted by PM to ALL of the judges by 7pm UK Time on Friday. Late entries will NOT be accepted. Your entries will be scored out of 100 by each judge, and these scores count towards your Trending Charts position.  

OTHER FEATURES

What do record labels have to do with the event?
Ultimately every artist will sign to a record label. During the sign-up week, for each artist you control, you'll be required to rank the record labels - which are run by the judges. Your label executive is there to give advice and answer any questions you ask, and will also be responsible for selecting which of your releases will be submitted to the PI Awards. However, you don't need to feel confined to your label executive however as all judges are happy to help when available.

What is Metacritic all about?
Like the real-life equivalent, our Metacritic takes reviews from each of the judges and aggregates them to provide an official ranking of each season's album releases. Albums are automatically reviewed after being posted in the Weekly Releases Thread; so long as they meet the criteria (see below). You can view the Metacritic archive HERE.

What is the eligibility criteria and rating criteria for Metacritic?

Eligibility Criteria:
The release can be a Studio Album, Unofficial Album/Mixtape, Soundtrack or EP.
The release cannot be a Greatest Hits Album, Compilation or a Remix or Reissue.
The release can be formatted as Official, Promo or Non-Charting.
The release must be the standard edition.
The release must be six (6) or more tracks that match the Rating Criteria.
The release must contain at least 50% new tracks - songs which were not rated in a past release - that match the Rating Criteria.

Rating Criteria:
Intros, Interludes and Outros should be clearly marked as such, and will NOT be scored.
Remixes or alternate versions of individual songs will NOT be scored
Reprises or “Part” versions (such as Part II) should be clearly marked as such. These will NOT be scored unless they are the only “version” of that track on the tracklist.

What is the Billboard Boxscores feature?
Near the end of each season, you will be able to submit your tour to the Billboard Box Office. During the final week of each season, players will be given a budget and will be able to buy tickets to tours from the other artists. You can view the Billboard Boxscores archive HERE.

What are the PI Awards and when do they take place?
The PI Awards take place in the final part of a season and reflect the season as a whole. These awards are a multi-step process mimicking the GRAMMY awards in real-life. More info on these will be delivered during the final part of the season. You can view the PI Awards archive HERE.

What are Best Feud and Best Moment about?
These two PI Awards categories are write-in categories for which we collect suggestions throughout the season. You can suggest Best Feuds and Best Moments in the designated Best Feud and Best Moment Suggestion Thread.

What is the Song Database?
The Song Database is a new folder that contains a document for each artist to upload details about their own releases. This differs from the chart database in that it focuses on individual songs and their characteristics like songwriters, producers and tempo. It is heavily encouraged that everyone adds their releases to this database. If you would like a database for your artist, please message @RihannaRTT. You can access the public database folder HERE.

 

What should I do if I have more questions?
If you have any more questions about the event, please either post them below or contact one of the judges in private and we'll get back to you. Don't hesitate to ask if you feel unsure about anything! Good luck and have fun!

[Chris Morlock 50,108]

Can i use real life titles/lyrics (not talking full songs) as a part of lyrics I make up for this?

and can I make up a collab with an artist that an FOTP hasn't chosen to act as?

[RihannaRTT 14,277]

9 minutes ago, Chris Morlock said:

Can i use real life titles/lyrics (not talking full songs) as a part of lyrics I make up for this?

and can I make up a collab with an artist that an FOTP hasn't chosen to act as?

The main rule is that your song titles must be different from any songs officially released by your artist. We'd generally advise against using lyrics released by that artist. You could technically use a song title from real life as part of the lyrics, as long as the song title is different, but its advisable to stay away from that completely. 

 

You can collab with any artist you want, but if it's somebody else in the game (player or judge), they'd need to agree to the collab. If the artist isn't playing, you can collab with them no problem at all. 

[Chris Morlock 50,108]

2 minutes ago, RihannaRTT said:

The main rule is that your song titles must be different from any songs officially released by your artist. We'd generally advise against using lyrics released by that artist. You could technically use a song title from real life as part of the lyrics, as long as the song title is different, but its advisable to stay away from that completely. 

 

You can collab with any artist you want, but if it's somebody else in the game (player or judge), they'd need to agree to the collab. If the artist isn't playing, you can collab with them no problem at all. 

ok so stay away from my artist's real life anything pretty much. I can do that. 

[RihannaRTT 14,277]

Just now, Chris Morlock said:

ok so stay away from my artist's real life anything pretty much. I can do that. 

yep pretty much. if they have non-music ventures in real-life, you can choose whether or not to reference them (for example, you can choose whether Meghan is/was a judge on The Voice UK), but actual music is a no-no. 

[sexotheque. 5,083]

9 hours ago, RihannaRTT said:

We'd generally advise against using lyrics released by that artist.

Did all of the judges sign off on this statement

[V For Vendetta 2,995]

Can I do a "Single" challenge and a "Music Video" challenge in the same week?  

[RihannaRTT 14,277]

23 minutes ago, V For Vendetta said:

Can I do a "Single" challenge and a "Music Video" challenge in the same week?  

No, it's one challenge per artist every week. However you could do the Music Video one next week (Week 2) for the same song as you did for Single this week.

[Chris Morlock 50,108]

where can i find a good spotify/itunes album page mockup? all i can find is spotify playlist mockups  

[Hyun. 55,715]

4 hours ago, Chris Morlock said:

where can i find a good spotify/itunes album page mockup? all i can find is spotify playlist mockups  

i use the inspect element tool on the browser to change the site i'm looking at and then take a screenshot of that

[Chris Morlock 50,108]

8 hours ago, Hyun. said:

i use the inspect element tool on the browser to change the site i'm looking at and then take a screenshot of that  

I did not know that could work