What is the goal?
Danube Sounds’ goal is to provide emerging, regional artists with the opportunity to collaborate and create something new, while the tasks and processes are supervised artistically and on a project management level by an experienced mentor team from the music industry. Emerging but already established artists would be given the chance to form or join regional supergroups, collaborate online on composition and production and, if selected, record their tracks under professional conditions with A class producers, regional professionals and partners.
What is the process?
PHASE 1.
Application deadline 31st May
2) Find partners in your own network, pitch your ideas on Facebook or ask the mentors
3) Record you demo or demos
4) Upload the demo until the 31st of May and tag all the contributors
Evaluation: 1st - 7th June
Mentors sort out the application creating two lists of 10 tracks and hand them to the headmentors (producers) who will select the final four tracks. Each producer guides two teams through the recording process. All the contributors of the selected tracks will be invited to participate in all the next steps of the program.
PHASE 2. If your track has been selected
Preparation for the recording
6) Take part in the second online workshop with mentos and headmentor
7) Prepare for the recording session
Recording session and masterclass on A38 Ship, Budapest - in June
9) Take part in recording, production processes and dedicated workshops
10) Each group will spend two days on A38 Ship, one of them is fully dedicated to the recordings, the other will be spent with seminars and workshops about productions, recording, artwork, publishing, promotion, legal background and finances etc.
Post production
12) Take part in an online discourse with mentors and head mentor
Publishing
14) Participants promote published materials as well
Who may apply?
The call is for musicians, singers, songwriters, producers and composers, who already have professional experience and a range of published materials. In order to secure that applicants do have the relevant background they need to hand in at least 2 out of the following assets:
1) officially published, registered track, where applicant is registered as author or co-author (min. 20%) (2018.01.01 or after)
2) officially published, registered track, where applicant is collaborator or featured (2018.01.01 or after)
3) video of live music performance on an official gig (club or festival), where applicant is clearly visible (2018.01.01 or after)
How to apply? (Step by step)
1) Register
Fill the registration form to participate in Danube Sounds! Each participant must fill the registration individually on the website, but only uploading your final demo as a team is considered as an application. Upload your professional biography which represents your relevant background to the program and a photo (preferably a portrait). Provide links of your previous work that prove your eligibility. When the teams upload their final demo they can mark all the contributors using their registered nickname as an identification.
Read the terms & conditions for more and precise details!
2) Form a group & find members
Form a group consisting of three to six people, where at least three members come from different nations.
You may find partners in your already established network, but also can post a concept, personal or group calls in order to find relevant members using the official Danube Sounds Facebook page or you can ask for the mentors’ help via this website.
3) Groups: working process of the groups
After finding the relevant group members and forming the new supergroup, the team needs to collaborate on the composition of single(s) and online recordings. Each member needs to have a specific role and well recognizable feature. Every group has the possibility to contact the Danube Sounds mentors if they have any question regarding the recording or artistic features
4) Uploading the final demo(s)
Each member needs to fill out the registration form, but uploading their demo(s) is considered as application. Only one member has to upload the track, they can add the other members with their identification code. Each team can alter the uploaded track until the deadline, 31st of May.
Groups may hand in maximum three tracks with the exact same members. However, applicants may join as many groups as they like and could create extra consortiums or mutations. Each track is considered to represent an application where all the documents of each member need to be handed is as well.
Applications and track uploaded will not be made public at this phase. All materials will be handed in on an online platform only accessible for the project team, mentors and curators.
What is the criteria for the uploaded tracks?
1) All materials handed in need to be original. The program is not focusing on covers or any rearrangement of formerly published tracks or themes.
2) In case the track contains samples, this needs to be noted in detail within the application.
3) Each group can hand in maximum three tracks with the exact same members.
Are there any genre limitations?
Danube Sounds is not genre based, however the applicants need to consider that the professionals involved have relevance in contemporary pop-rock culture, clubs and media.
For further details please read the program’s terms & conditions!
How will the selection work?
Applications and uploaded tracks will not be made public at this phase. All materials will be handed in on an online platform only accessible for the project team, mentors and curators. Mentors create two shortlists each consisting of 10 tracks, all the selected teams will be notified about their shortlist status. Steve Dub and Mo Hausler will choose 2-2 tracks to work with in the second phase. The contributors of the final four tracks will be given the opportunity to participate in workshops, masterclass and recording sessions.