Vote for the Q2 (Apr/May/Jun) 2023 "Covers" festival

[64Guitars]

I almost didn't post and feel free to ignore me all together, but why can't a single song be in two years? If it was released in '82 on album and in '83 as a single then it was released in both years and could qualify. Just make the rule that if a songcrafter covers a song then that recording can only be in a single festival. If someone else covers it for another festival down the line then so be it.

Would it be any different than say if I recorded "I wanna be like you" for monkeyfest and then someone else recorded it for a future children's fest or disneyfest or soundtrack fest. (Which come to think of it, are all decent suggestions.) Edit to add another example: A song for neilfest that someone later does for a yearfest like 1982 or something. I didn't actually look but he's so prolific, it wouldn't surprise me if this isn't already the case.

Obviously, I'm good with whatever the mods decide but I think it might avoid a few hurt feelings. I honestly cannot see a downside to having two covers of the same song on two separate fests if they were done independently of each other.

Good point T.C.  I hadn't looked at it that way till you mentioned it.

Okay, we'll change the rule. A song is eligible for 1983Fest if the single was first released in 1983 or if the album was first released in 1983, as long as the releases are in consecutive years (or the same year, obviously). And if someone else submits the song for a future 'year fest' for the other year, it will be eligible.

For example, if the album was first released in 1982 and the single was first released in 1983, it's eligible for 1983Fest and someone else could submit it for a future 1982Fest if we have one. Likewise, if the album was first released in 1983 and the single was first released in 1984, it's eligible for 1983Fest and someone else could submit it for a future 1984Fest if we have one. However, if the album was released in 1981 and the single was released in 1983 it would not be eligible for 1983Fest because they weren't released in consecutive years, so we'd ignore the single and only consider the album release year to determine eligibility. Of course, sometimes the single is released first and is included on an album in a later year. In that case, if they were not released in consecutive years, then we'd ignore the album release and only consider the earlier single release year.

Only the year of the first successful release will be considered. So, if one artist first released the song in 1983 but another artist released the song in 1972, for example, and it was reasonably successful, then we'd consider it to be a 1972 song, so it would not be eligible for 1983Fest. On the other hand, if the 1972 release was by some obscure artist and didn't have much success in most of the world, then we'd ignore that release and consider it to be a 1983 song, so it would be eligible for 1983Fest since the artist who covered it in 1983 had the first successful release of the song.

Of course, all other festival rules still apply. For example, all festival submissions must be new recordings made specifically for the festival. So if someone submits a song for 1983Fest, that same person can't submit that same recording for a future 1982Fest or 1984Fest. However, they could submit a new recording in a completely different style for a future fest. For example, if someone submitted a rock song for 1983Fest and sometime in the future we have another Reggae Fest, then they could make a new recording of their 1983Fest song but done in a reggae style and it would be eligible for the Reggae Fest.

I hope that makes the fest rules simpler and clearer for everyone.

Thanks for your excellent suggestion T.C.

I'll add StephenM's song to 1983Fest now as it qualifies under the new rules.