*** This thread is for SUBMISSIONS AND CONTEST UPDATES ONLY. Please use the DISCUSSIONS THREAD for any COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS!! **
Hello everyone and welcome to the 12th Art-Inspired Music Contest! This annual Newgrounds compo challenges composers to create music inspired by a piece of art uploaded to the Newgrounds Art Portal.
This year’s promo art is done by @DrSaturn2. Thank you so much for your charming and vibrant work of art! Please check out more of @DrSaturn2's amazing work!
IMPORTANT
This thread is only for SUBMISSIONS and updates related to the contest from the organizer or another user authorized by the organizer. Use the discussions thread for any questions or comments! Non-submission posts are subject to removal.
HOW TO ENTER
- Review the rules to understand what's allowed and what's not!
- Pick a single piece of art from the Newgrounds Art Portal.
- Create a piece of music inspired by that art.
- Upload your submission to the Audio Portal, include "AIM" in your song title (e.g. AIM - Strawberries) and tag your track with AIM2025.
- Review the rules again, then post a link to your submission and a link to the art inspiration in this thread. If selecting a multi-image work, specify which image you used as your art inspiration.
- After submission, I will check over your entry to ensure it is eligible for judging. If it meets the criteria, it will be added to an Approved Entries playlist (which I will link in a later post once created). If it is not eligible for judging, I'll reach out in your Newgrounds DMs to let you know why the entry was not accepted. You will be able to update your entry or create a new one up until the end of the submissions period.
TIMEFRAME
- You have until Monday, June 16th at 11:59 pm PDT (GMT-7) to post your submissions to this thread. I will post 1 week and 24 hour warnings to this thread to help keep you stay on track.
- Once the submissions period closes, the judging period will follow. A Fan Voting thread will be posted shortly after the judging period starts in this thread and all non-judges will have a chance to pick their favourite entries for the Fan Favourite prize!
- The judging period generally runs for about 3-4 weeks (depending on the number of entries received), but a 24 hour advance notice will be given when the Fan Favourite thread closes and the results are announced shortly after.
JUDGES AND SCORING
Here are your judges for this year's AIM:
- “Hey there! Nice to meet ya, I’m bossi – a newer face around here and excited to be part of the AIM 2025 judging panel. I’ve judged a few contests outside of Newgrounds and have been composing for about 10 years with a classical violin background, mostly writing in lo-fi, classical, jazz, and ambient styles. Really looking forward to diving into the entries and hearing everyone’s music!”
- “AED4 here, another returning judge from AIM '24. Around here I'm probably most known for hosting last year's NGADM, and doing pretty much anything but finishing my own tracks. On the rare occassions that I do get around to that, one can expect to hear some oldschooly trance bops.”
- “Hello! I'm L. Mity, and I had the pleasure of serving as a judge for AIM 2022 before. as mainly active as a solo piano composer on Newgrounds. I'm excited to once again hear all the passionate and heartfelt works submitted for AIM 2025. As a judge, I’ll be focusing on the emotional of the melodies and how fit the art.”
- "Yo, I’m Creeperforce24, or CF24 for short. I dabble in the pixel art once in a while, but my main passion for the last 3-4 years has been music and reviewing! Perhaps you’ve seen me around, I’m kinda all over the place. Favorite kinds of music are Techno/Orchestral & Breakbeat, I make a bunch myself. I also want to review some more music, and this AIM seems perfect to do so! Can’t wait to hear what you have to offer!"
- I’m Random-storykeeper or RSK for short. I’ve been an organizer and judge for the Art-Inspired Music Contest since 2019. It’s always exciting to see many returning composers and newer musicians alike, and I look forward to hearing what you’ll produce this time around. Outside of AIM, I have composed for several indie games and I also enjoy editing wikis.
Approved entries will be scored by the judges in the following four categories:
- Composition/Structure: How well do the melodies and chord progressions flow from one to another? How is the track formed as a whole, in terms of its sections?
- Production: How is the mixing of the track? Are the elements balanced or is one layer too overbearing?
- Emotion/Atmosphere: How well does the track convey a sense of feeling or atmosphere? Is there anything that could be adjusted in the track to evoke the intended emotion/atmosphere more effectively?
- Art Relevance: How inspired does the track feel from the art? Does the art feel incidentally picked or does it seem like the composer of the track took inspiration from this specific art?
WINNERS
There will be 21 winning entries in total:
- First Place
- Second Place
- Third Place
- Runner-Ups (17 entries total)
- Fan Favourite (more details below)
Winners are based on the entries with the highest total number of points.
Fan Favourite
The Fan Favourite vote is a chance for all non-judges to pick and choose the entries they like most from the contest! More details on how this works will be posted in a specific thread made just for the Fan Favourite vote after submissions close.
PRIZES
1 - Compilation Album
Your track will be included in the AIM compilation album on Bandcamp (see past AIM albums here)
2 - SoundPaint Gift Cards (TOP 3)
We introduced Soundpaint gift cards as prizes for the top 3 last year, and they are back again! They will be distributed as follows:
- First place - $100 USD
- Second place - $75 USD
- Third place - $50 USD
More prizes may be added here as they are announced.
END NOTE
Remember, here's the post with the rules and the link to the Discussions thread if you have any questions. Have fun and good luck with your entries!
