Hello! Welcome to the unofficially official Newgrounds Audio Deathmatch 2013 (NGADM) newspost! If you've never heard of the NGADM and you're an Audio Portal musician, then you, my friend, have been living in a cave :).

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The competition is split into two: The AUDITIONS phase and the KNOCKOUT phase. 64 artists from the auditions phase will be chosen to take part in the main knockout competition.

Here's a set of rules that competitors should follow for the auditions:

1.) You are allowed to post a music track that you've made from scratch for the auditions, or a music track that you've made in the past.
2.) The audition may be a cover/arrangement, but unless you're entering as a team, it cannot be a collaborative effort. Having someone play an instrument or sing for you doesn't count as a collaborative effort in this contest.
3.) If you posted your audition track but change your mind and wish to change it, state CLEARLY in the thread.
4.) If you're entering as a team of two, your audition can be a collaborative effort between you and your collab partner, or a track by any one of you individually. Remember, though, that the prize will have to be split between both of you!
5.) Auditions posted after the deadline will not be accepted unless it's for a ridiculously good reason.

And here's a set of rules for the main knockout competition:

1.) Every track you make in the knockout contest has to be made from scratch, by you, for the competition. No remixes, covers or arrangements. Having said that, you may ask someone to play an instrument for you or sing for you, as long as all the composition is done by you.
2.) If you enter the contest as a team of two, you are allowed to "tag-team" the rounds (i.e. one collab partner does one round, the other does another round, etc) or collaborate on tracks, but you can't switch collab partner mid-contest!
3.) Keep in mind that this is a MUSIC competition. We won't judge voice-acting, experimental noise, sound effects or anything that doesn't count as music.
4.) If you finish a round's track early, you may start another one which you can use for the following round, assuming you make it through.
5.) Keep to the deadlines of each round! This contest is massive and tough; you're expected to dish out a track every two weeks until you're eliminated! If you can't keep up with this pace, or you know you're going to be busy, then reconsider taking part. Walkovers just make things messy and hard to handle.

And some general rules:

1.) All tracks posted to the competition must be uploaded to Newgrounds. Audition tracks which aren't uploaded to Newgrounds are accepted ONLY on a special-case basis, so you'd better have a good reason.
2.) Keep any suggestions, arguments and complaints to PMs. Do NOT argue or complain about a judge's score, for example, in the thread. Please also note that Back-From-Purgatory is watching the thread closely, analysing it for any foolish rule-breaker who he can use as his next play-toy.
3.) Use the NGADM threads to post your submissions, but you may also post any kind of discussion. That said, try to keep it NGADM-related or music-related. As we say every year, you can talk about how your cat bit your ass which suddenly gave you inspiration to make the most amazing song ever, but you can't talk about your cat and you certainly can't talk about your ass.
4.) All Audio Portal rules apply, and all BBS rules apply. This should go without saying!
5.) Lastly, this contest is here to have some competitive fun, keyword being FUN. Do not enter it with the sole intent of winning; we encourage friendly discussion, posting reviews on each other's tracks and being a good sport. However, don't all be softies either. This is called a deathmatch for a reason! Now put your game face on.

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Schedule:

Auditions
Starts: 06/15/2013
Ends: 07/15/2013

Auditions (J)
Starts: 07/15/2013
Ends: 07/20/2013

Round 1
Starts: 07/20/2013
Ends: 08/03/2013

Round 1 (J)
Starts: 08/03/2013
Ends: 08/10/2013

Round 2
Starts: 08/10/2013
Ends: 08/24/2013

Round 2 (J)
Starts: 08/24/2013
Ends: 08/30/2013

Round 3
Starts: 08/30/2013
Ends: 09/13/2013

Round 3 (J)
Starts: 09/13/2013
Ends: 09/18/2013

Quarter Finals
Starts: 09/18/2013
Ends: 10/02/2013

Quarter Finals (J)
Starts: 10/02/2013
Ends: 10/06/2013

Semi Finals
Starts: 10/06/2013
Ends: 10/20/2013

Semi Finals (J)
Starts: 10/20/2013
Ends: 10/23/2013

Finals
Starts: 10/23/2013
Ends: 11/06/2013

Finals (J)
Starts: 11/06/2013
Ends: 11/09/2013