General

1. The 50 Hour Music Challenge is open to participants from across the globe.
2. The song can be in any language. Regardless of the language of the track, the team is required to send the lyrics in the Romanized text and the English translation of the same.
3. Each team will select their genre during registration. Teams can change their genre in the registration form before registration closes.
4. Team members will receive the theme online on IFP’s Instagram, as well as on the registered Team Leader’s Email ID and WhatsApp.
5. All the Winning tracks will be promoted and distributed by IFP on all the affiliated channels.
6. All team members must be volunteers, meaning they are participating without receiving payment for their services. This ensures the spirit of the challenge remains focused on creativity and collaboration.
7. The team can have a minimum of 1 person and a maximum of 10 people, including singers. E-certificates will be awarded only to registered team members and sent to the email address provided during registration.
8. Once participation is confirmed, refunds will not be issued.

Tech

1. Music-making hours are scheduled from STARTING DATE (TBA) (GMT+5:30) to END DATE (TBA) (GMT+5:30).
2. The entire song must be created within the 50 hour timeframe. Pre-composed music or lyrics will result in disqualification.
3. A compulsory element will be given to the team at the beginning of the challenge. Teams must adhere to the theme, genre, and include the compulsory element to qualify.
4. The finished song should be a minimum of 3 minutes and a maximum of 5 minutes.
5. The final master should be professionally recorded using microphones (condenser or dynamic), properly mixed and mastered in a noiseless environment for optimal sound quality. The final song must be mastered in 16-bit, stereo, and 44.1kHz and uploaded in uncompressed WAV format.
6. The uploaded song file size must be strictly below 100 MB. The file name should be your Creator ID (e.g., MU2100.wav).
7. Using sound samples and sampling from existing songs is prohibited, except for royalty-free sound samples, which require proper credit in the lyrics document.
8. The track must be an original work and must not infringe any third-party rights. It must be suitable for publication. The track must not contain any copyrighted elements not owned by the team.

Submission

1. Participants must submit their song via the upload link provided to the Team Leader. The upload link will be sent at the beginning of the challenge.
2. Along with the song, teams must submit lyrics in a PDF document (maximum file size 5MB) following the provided sample format (Courier font, size 12). The file name should be your Creator ID (e.g., MU2100.pdf). For non-English songs, provide Romanized lyrics and an English translation in the same document. [Link to Sample Lyrics Document]
3. Each team must submit the signed Creator’s Agreement for all team members along with the upload. These documents will be sent to the Team Leader via email at the start of the 50-hour challenge. The track will not be evaluated until the signed agreements are received. [Link to Agreement]
4. Teams are ideally expected to keep 48 hours for music making and 2 hours for upload. A 4-hour extension will be granted for genuine technical difficulties. However, late submissions will be penalized: 0-1 hour late: 5% deduction; 1-2 hours late: 7.5% deduction; 2-4 hours late: 10% deduction.

Evaluation

1. Your submission will be evaluated based on: Creativity and originality, Lyrics, Melody, Structure, Adherence to the theme, Adherence to the chosen genre, and Incorporation of the compulsory element.

Disclaimer

1. The track must not contain any material that violates personal rights, religious beliefs, incites violence, makes derogatory remarks about someone’s sexuality or belief, invades privacy, or infringes on the rights of any person, firm, or entity.
2. Teams are requested to keep the original recordings and project files for three years after submission. IFP may choose to utilise these tracks for various purposes, requiring the highest quality.
3. IFP may add to or amend these rules at any time before the music challenge begins without prior notice.
4. Tracks containing prohibited or inappropriate content, as determined by IFP and its partners, will be disqualified.

Genre Suggestions (For Reference Only)

Teams can explore the following sub-genres within their chosen genre for inspiration:

• ROCK: Hard Rock, Funk, Alternative, Grunge, Punk
• POP: Dream Pop, Acoustic Pop, R&B, Singer-Songwriter, Bollywood
• ELECTRONIC: Psychedelic, House, EDM, Techno
• HIPHOP: Rap, Trap, Pop-Rap
• FOLK FUSION: Indie, Fusion, Classical, Folk