NGMT 24 has finished!

1st place - @Carboluka

2nd place - @Jernemies

3rd place - @Aedr

Full results here!

After over eight long years, the time has come to wake Newgrounds Music Triathlon from hibernation for its 2024 incarnation!

What is NGMT?

Newgrounds Music Triathlon (NGMT in short) is a contest where, just like in a real triathlon, there are three different phases, each testing a different aspect of one’s auditory prowess. Each two-week phase has a theme for contestants to follow in addition to certain restrictions on instrumentation and effects. After each phase there is a one-week-long voting period, during which you vote anonymously on submissions made by the other contestants, awarding three of them 4, 2 and 1 points. Points awarded are kept between phases, and in the end, the contestant with the most points in total wins the triathlon!

How do I enter?

First of all, join the Newgrounds Audio Pub discord server, as that is where you will be able to listen to the submissions.

And here’s the part where this event differs quite a lot from others. To enter NGMT, you must not publish your submission publicly! Instead, upload it privately on a file hosting service of your choice, for example Newgrounds’ dumping grounds, and send a download link to me using Newgrounds private messages.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that you do not need to compete in all phases. You can drop off simply by not submitting anything to a phase, and you can also enter for any phase, even if you hadn’t submitted anything for previous phases.

You can also pair up with one other person. To match the flexible nature of this contest, you can form and break your pairing freely for each phase separately. You both will be awarded half the points your submission gets, but you and your pair will also be treated as a separate "contestant", who gets awarded full points from all phases where you worked together.

How are the submissions judged?

As mentioned previously, NGMT does not have specific appointed judges. Instead, the judging is an anonymous peer effort, done by you, the contestants.

When the one-week voting period begins, submissions are stripped of all metadata, and they are given a generic filename, such as TRACK-A-05. The tracks are put up in the Newgrounds Audio Pub discord server, in the channel #ngmt24-submissions where they can be listened to. You then listen to the submissions made by other contestants, and pick three of them that you think execute the theme and challenge the best and are the most well-made overall. Your first pick gets awarded 4 points, your second 2 points, and your third 1 point. Cast your votes by sending me a private message on Newgrounds, on which you state which is your first, second, and third pick. Make sure to vote, as you can only be awarded points that phase if you voted!

If you participated in an earlier phase, you are allowed to vote in all following phases, even if you did not submit anything, although your votes will only grant half the points.

If you entered as a pair, both of you may vote, in which case your votes will grant half the points as well. Alternatively, you can pick your top three together, in which case only one of you needs to send me your votes, and they will grant full points. Please mention in your message whether you are voting separately or as one.

Does this mean I need to listen to all entries?

By default, yes. However, some precautions are put in place in case the number of submissions grows larger than expected. In case there are more than 19 submissions in a phase, the contestants are divided into groups simply titled A, B, C etc. Groups are populated randomly, and each will have at least 10 members and at most 18, with the least number of groups prioritized. When voting, the groups vote each other in order, so that in case of 3 groups, A votes on B, B votes on C, and C votes on A.

If you skipped a phase but participated earlier, you are allowed to vote on any group you wish. You are however highly encouraged to listen to most if not all of the entries, which may be a long list.

Submission rules & guidelines

• Only start working on your submission for a phase after the discussion thread has been started for that phase.
• Your submission may not be a remix / vip / cover etc. of an existing song.
• If the submission is clearly not trying to follow the challenge, it will be rejected.
• Following the theme is not a hard requirement, but failing to do so will likely affect your score.
• Only one submission is allowed per contestant / pair for each phase.
• Do not upload your submission publicly until voting period has concluded. This also means no asking for feedback on WIPs on public chats.
• Try to keep the length of your submission reasonable, as too long submissions might tempt voters to skim through it. 2 to 4 minutes is a good ballpark where to aim for.
• And as this is Newgrounds Music Triathlon, your submission must abide by Newgrounds Audio Guidelines, even if you are not planning on publicly releasing it here.

Voting rules & guidelines

• Be open to varying interpretations of the themes, they are designed to allow for multiple ways to tackle them.
• With the above in mind, when voting think how well the submission fits the theme, how well it is executed in context of the challenge, and how well made it is overall.
• Send your votes to me (AED-4) using Newgrounds private messages. Votes sent using Discord, WhatsApp, SMS, by telegraph or any other communication method will be ignored.
• You must vote on three entries. No more, no less.
• To avoid misunderstandings, clearly indicate the order of your votes, preferably explicitly stating which is your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice.
• Remember, 1st choice = most points given.

Schedule

The schedule for NGMT 24 is as follows:

• Phase 1: Jan 24 00:00 AM – Feb 06 11:59 PM
• Voting 1: Feb 07 01:00 AM – Feb 13 05:59 PM
• Phase 2: Feb 14 00:00 AM – Feb 27 11:59 PM
• Voting 2: Feb 29 01:00 AM – Mar 05 05:59 PM
• Phase 3: Mar 06 00:00 AM – Mar 19 11:59 PM
• Voting 3: Mar 20 01:00 AM – Mar 26 05:59 PM
• Results : Mar 27 00:00 AM

Times before 10th of March are expressed in Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Times after 10th of March are expressed in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

What happens if I win?

The overall top three will get cool forum signatures to boast their achievement with, and I will personally gift the top three a year-long supporter status as well.

TL;DR

• Follow the challenge and theme for each phase.
• Send your submissions privately to me.
• Vote on 3 favorite submissions by privately messaging me on Newgrounds.

If you have any further questions, please ask below, in the active phase thread, or in the #ngmt24-discussion channel on the Newgrounds Audio Pub discord server.