Rules / Terms and Conditions of Band Quest

The deposit is merely a safeguard to make the platform run smoothly, ensure quality promotion of the events and to ensure bands don't misrepresent the platform. So, the terms on which the deposit is repayable. Bands are entitled to a full deposit return from 31st July subsequent to the competition phase. Deductions may be made if a band chooses to utilise this money for services provided during the quest.

1. That the band does not pull out of the competition at any stage including any event date agreed to by any means of communication.
2. That the band or any members of that band do not bring the project and organisers and any party linked to the project into disrepute. No negative campaigns or inflammatory comments neither about the project nor to any entity and not limited to the businesses, bands and individuals involved shall be made by the band nor any other member of it.
3. That no equipment or property belonging to the neither venues nor organisers shall be damaged or stolen during the course of the project.
4. The band agrees not to play a gig locally* a minimum of one week either side of the heat date they have picked unless previously agreed in writing by the host promoter for that event in advance or the undertaking of a 3rd party.
5. Should the band proceed with a track on the CD, a £5 deduction will be taken from the deposit per member as security for the track being placed on the CD. With a small per track fee of between £1-£20 for the track position* (per band)
6. Band members who are under 18 and are seen consuming alcohol on the premises or grounds of any venue will be disqualified and deposits lost for the entire band.
7. Bands must advertise the events they play through a minimum of 1 world facing promotional avenue but not limited to 1 or the following areas: Social networks, Gig Guides, Local and national Paper listing bands self managed websites and Myspace addresses. Proof will be sought if a dispute of this is opened, bands are advised to invite the host promoter to the listing for viewing.

*Locally: This means a 10 mile radius of the event venue where a performance of the band is due and a 10 mile radius of the bands nominated home town (primary contact).

Terms and conditions may be changed throughout Band Quest.

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Band Quest seeks to promote and help original music. Therefore, cover versions are not allowed to be performed at any stage.

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Voting: Is this not the fairest Way? We have looked at ALL the known band competitions and come up with balanced voting system, it isn't a battle of the fans nor should any one person be able to decide the destiny of any one band.

The scoring will be based on a 50% Crowd vote and 50% Judges vote, here's how it breaks down. However this year the judges will also be scoring in another way on top of the night results and creating a 'Professional Score' which will be collated and announced at the end of the Heats.

Here is the breakdown of the heats and semi finals nightly scoring platform:

The Crowd: We will be giving every person coming to each show a scoring card, with 3, 2, and 1 points on them, there will be 3 bands per night and voting will be based on best, 2nd n third, the crowd have to vote for all the bands or none at all, this gives a reflection of how each person felt about each band that night. We then add up all the votes and then create an average.

The Judges: 3 judges per night will be scoring in 5 categories, each will reward bands 3,2,1 points based on who was the best. All points have to be allocated to ensure a full 100% casting of points.

The formula (an example):

Crowd Vote e.g. if 78 people come to a show, they are given 6 points each (3,2,1) if all votes are cast the total would come to 468 points cast, this could be Band 1 = 168, Band 2 = 153, Band 3 =147, so we create and present the score as a Percentage as Band 1 = 35.90%, Band 2 = 32.69%, Band 3 = 31.41%

Judges Vote e.g., 5 categories 6 points form 3 judges means a pool of 90 points, The Judges, might score Band 1 = 29 points, Band 2 = 39 points and Band 3 = 22 points, this would create a percentage score of Band 1= 32.22%, Band 2 = 43.33% and Band 3 24.44%.

We then take the 2 scores and merge them to create an average, the highest being the winner: Band 1 Ave = 34.06%, Band 2 38.01%, Band 3 27.93%, thus making BAND 2 THE WINNER!!

Judges Votes and New Separate Professional Status Score:

3 Judges will be voting on each night, based on 5 categories, they will allocate 3,2,1, points based on quality of bands on each night. The 5 categories will be worth 90 points and this will be split between the 3 bands and turned into a percentage. The bands however are not judged on who they are up against, they are in fact being scored on how well they have done in respect of their type of act. This means that it won't matter what genre or style the band is it's how well 'they' pull it off on the night.

Below are the 5 categories that bands can impress the judges with:

1. Musicianship: Playing Ability, Style of Physical Play, Creativity of Play
2. Style: Visual Presentation, Suitable Dress/Costume, Physical Posture
3. Crowd Reaction: Movement, Noise Made, Cheering, Clapping, Singing Along
4. Song Quality: Writing, Vocal Presentation, Hooks, Riffs, Rhythm
5. Professionalism: Conduct, Set Management, Handling Difficulties, Working the Non Fans, Encouragement towards other bands, Understanding the Rules, Reading the Situation!

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Through the undertaking of over 100 events in previous years we have decided to add another criteria to the judges score. The judges will now have a standalone category called 'Overall Professionalism'. This will NOT form part of the 'on the night' result but instead offer a possible route to the final to a band who have shown the most professionalism during the course of the competition but have failed to progress in the traditional means.

The judges will have small section they complete which recognises how far a band has come and measures how far a band has to go. The aim here is to generate a score for the highest quality bands based on the following:

1. Equipment: Standard of, Prepared to bring All, Condition
2. Merchandise: Sellable Merchandise, Music Copy and Where to buy stuff
3. Quality of Performance: The strength in delivering their set
4. Promotional Value: Do they have anything to say, give away
5. Communications: Does the band clearly define itself to the audience before and during set

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The heats will be made up of 3 bands per night and 30 min slots per band, we aim for the slots to be 8.30. 9.30 and 10.30. the time Of a performance is generated by the order in which a band has joined the platform and chosen a date. This means if 3 bands want a date the band who chooses to be involved at the earliest point will get the 10.30 slot and the second will get the 9.30 slot unless previously arranged and agreed with all bands o that show. The voting commences 15 mins into the final bands set and last for 30 mins. Each vote is counted and voting slips must be fully completed by each eligible voter. (Red Lion will be 30 mins later) We ask all bands to arrive between 6pm and 6.30pm on all evening heats or a min 2 hours before set time.

Semi finals are made up of the heat winners, Heats 1-3, 4-6 and 7-9. Bands that finish 1st in the Semi-final will go through to the final, the bands that finish second will take part in a 2nd tier final and the bands in 3rd we will be looking to reward in another way. There will be 36 finalists (18 Metal and 18 Alternative) All will receive a prize worth £100 or more in value no matter where they finish.

Each of the 4 finals will consist of 9 competitive bands; these will be ranked based on their score's in each of the semi finals. 3 of the bands will be winners from the semi finals and 3 further bands will be invited into the final, based on best crowd score, best judge's score and any band we feel deserves another chance. Further slots are created through bands scoring highly in the Professional Status category. A headliner band will be picked to play a 1 hour set so to enable scores to be collated accurately and prizes fairly allocated on the night.

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The schedule will allow us to create 18 heats producing 18 heat winners which will play off in groups of 3, this gives us 6 winners from 2 venues. We'll also include best of's to add to the Final. Our final on 31st May will have in attendance representatives from Bloodstock who will pick a minimum of 1 band from the bands they see. Bands who played last years bloodstock, can only be chosen by Bloodstock reps and only have the chance to be considered for Main Stage this year.

We have been appointed to allocate at 2 slots for our local bands this year in Kent and Essex, we do not control the out-right winner at the final as that falls to the representative from Bloodstock. However, we will be holding second Stage where bands may be considered for a Slot at Bloodstock Open Air 2010.

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