unsignedAct

So what have I missed?
When does this all get aired on tv?
How massive is this peanut?
Who didn't get seen?
Do we care?
of course we do

Yeah it's sour grape central from a few people Bird Flu! I don't really see what there is to complain about either. People are speculating its gonna be 50 same same indie bands before the results come out and being bitter about it already. These same people would get bitter about the next Radiohead album being rubbish before it's made - so it's best to take no notice.

It doesn't matter at all if we have to wait few more days for final 50 either. Everyone knows if they are in the comp already or not, and the shows goes on for the next few months so in the long run it's nothing. Patience is a virtue severley lacking with some members on this site

The Susanna's and Sean's of this world need to stop being so bitter.

Thanks Sam. There you have it Suzanne - you've been told three times on the site now - no one has come on the blog complaining they didn't get seen - and there really isn't any reason for the Orange unsignedAct team to lie. Everyone got seen. I rest my case. Amen sister.

Oh come on, it is obvious it is going to be all indie, perhaps maybe a couple wild cards...that will all be following one genre. They are not going to take on something that is differnt but is still incredible, everyone knows that so many people in this country follow each other like sheep, in a sad pathetic way, that is the only place were money is at the moment in indie music. how does massive peanut for a brain (nicely done sean) know that 'everyone got seen' were you stood their monitoring the situation in your new role as orange's act consultant...no...didnt think so either.

Sean instead of throwing mindless insults about why not take the time to say something at least slightly constructive or worthwhile - my response to an earlier post was basically "everyone did get seen," people who don't have a clue post misinformation and then you jump on the bandwagon and stick up for them without having a clue what you're on about

******Video of the day on our myspace page under the video section, follow the link from our page to myspace, cheers*****
Darnell travelled down to London to take part in this years orange unsigned open audition. Part of the journey and the queuing up were filmed by Darnell. Hope you enjoy this little video, who knows, you may even be on it!! ps Update, Darnell did not make it through to the next stage of Orange Unsigned, but we had a great time. All the staff and the people we met on the day were great. We travelled a long way for the audition and it cost a lot of money, but we think it was worth it!!

hahahaha :D woooo ok yea

omg its like chinese whispers on here! pmsl. i was told along with the other people in the queue that we would all be seen. they didnt say c u next tues! not to us anyway.

They were told that they should try Tues. No-one was told individually - it was an announcement made about 2 o/c to the whole queue.

I dont know what happens tomorrow if the bands that left after being told that they probably wouldnt get seen Sat turn up? Apparently lots of bands left after this was announced!

i know a couple of bands that went down and while they were waiting were told aroung 20 bands had been 'invited' down and went through to the auditions first! that sounds a bit funny to me!!!

I posted this before and have been informed that I got the myspace address wrong – SORRY! Here it is again, with the correct myspace link this time!

An interesting opportunity?
Some people I know have set this up….

Our Friends Electric (www.myspace.com/rfriendselect ric) is looking for bands and artists.
Their main provisos are no ACOUSTIC drum kits and SONGS OF A HIGH STANDARD
If you’re interested, request an add on myspace – if they like you they’ll be in touch. If not, they ask that you don’t try to re add.
Initially looking for London based bands, but not to put off bands from other areas applying.

Good Luck! Sounds intriguing!!

Oh, we already have! And Slice the Pie are glad to have us back.

Don't think we'll make showcase this time, but next time...

OK... I've received some emails about the tour, which I think we should call the "LEMON STILL UNSIGNED TOUR"

If you are interested, lemme know (steve@torn-asunder.com), and when we have enough names, we'll see what we can do.

Serious acts ONLY need apply. If we want to get some decent venues, then we need some decent acts, so Svein93 WILL be listening to your stuff... :-)

Saturday was a good day, met some inspirational people in the queue. Did'nt know who the judges were, they never introduced themselves but said our song, "like a bird released" is, "an excellent song". What they don't know is I have been writing songs for years and have hundreds of songs of this quality, just never approached any record label or attended any auditions before.
All the best to every act that attended on Saturday and I hope the show is a success.
Kevin from a little known band called "Rhondda" X

well torn asunder, roller coaster ride from hell but very exciting too so be proud of yourselves!

x!

Yes, thanks torn Asunder. I read the article you'd posted earlier (after having asked if I'd missed anything!)
Perhaps you should re join Slice the Pie now and see if you can get your hands on £15,000!

Well, the biggest thing that we have learned is "read the small print"... although, if you're not a lawyer, the small print may as well be in Greek!

And to answer the question about how we knew about the votes. It's because we were called by PrincessTV and and told that. We were placed on the "reserve" list, where if any bands were deemed ineligable, we would take their place. We subsequently found out that we weren't needed (fine) and that we were ineligable because of Slice the Pie (not so fine)... This all happened within 24 hours.

shoot the duke, maybe u should become a music lawyer.

it just goes to show u tho how something u think is harmless can come back to bite u on the arse! there is no way most peeps would join these sites if they knew it wmight be a problem legally...*astounded*...but as i said before as long as your not financed its not gonna hinder u in the future. i feel sorry for the artists who have been financed cos i doubt whether they realise it would affect their future prospects of being signed.

joining the musicians union is also a really helpful way for sorting out legal probs and the membership fee is fairly based on individuals income.

Gotta defend orange a little on this one. The rules on deals are quite clear, hence 'unsigned'. Maybe whoever you are with has no true legally binding contract, but it still means lawyers have to go through everything you may, or may not, have signed. Not only does that take time, but also a lot of money. It maybe a simple case of 'if in doubt, pull the act'.
Can't blame orange for also not naming slicethepie. Lets face it theirs hundreds of sites out there offering a similar, or in most cases, worse deal. Cant expect orange to name them all.
When we first started on myspace the vast majority of bands on there were unsigned. When you surf myspace now, most of them have record labels listed. Yea, sure, most of them are mickey mouse labels (in most cases just distribution outlets), but most bands have no idea what they are signing up to.
Its always been the case in this business that once you get to a recording/publishing deal; get a lawyer. Music lawyers have their own myspace site, offer some simple free advice, and if they think you have something, will always be willing to defer some fees.

Sorry, comment was for Massivepeanut

This is probably why your mate said they were all seen - some actually took that advice.

I understood from some bands that they were told whilst queueing that they probably wouldn't get thru to be seen on Sat. and that some were advised to come back on Tuesday. I know some bands left with the intention of returning on Tuesday.

newline, lol, thats very honest of u! but maybe u should reserve your self criticism until we see the finalists...

I signed up to SlicethePie when it first started a couple of years ago. Had forgotten about it. hmmmmm.......

We wernt good enough to get through. I have no excuses. we just wernt good enough. Although it is difficult for us to translate our songs into acoustic if you listend to them.

now for a bit of research. i have this friend on slicethepie who has major record company interest but the music lawyers and the management are not concerned about it this, as its not legally binding unless u have received finances. it is a real shame for torn asunder to benot given this op for simply signing up to a review site that isn't even scouted by pro's.

Version 3 Im jus highlighting that all the bands got seen, it says so on blog and i know that cos my mates band were one of last in q yet u still refuse to believe this, you're the clueless one

What did i miss? How do Torn Usunder know that they just missed out on the votes?

omg! i signed up to slicethepie to get feedback from the public, i didn't realise it would be a prob! torn asunder, what bad luck when u got so close on votes! bugger! but yes, u will make it am sure, this is just one of the many ways to try. i agree it is out of order that orange didnt make it clear slice the pie. its not a contract, u dont gain anything from slicethepie apart from public opinion unless u go to financing stage which is pretty impossible if u are a niche act anyway...woah...slicethepie are gonna have a massive exodus after this!

i was hoping to be a wildcard here, ha! obviously i'm too wild!!!!

THEY MIGHT PUT A FEW WILDCARDS IN TO PLEASE PEOPLE WITH A BRAIN BUT DONT THINK THAT THEY WILL RISK THERE MONEY ON SOMTHING NEW AND EXCITING YOU DONT HAVE TO SEE WHO THEY`V PICKED THIS YEAR TO KNOW THAT! YOU JUST HAVE TO LOOK AT WHO WON LAST YEAR!! ITS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY BUT THEN THATS NOTHING NEW XX

it will be a very commercial lineup this year for sure!

hi guys some confusing here regarding slicethepie!!
They don't own any material they only take 20% royalties for 1 album for 2 years. That's the album they help finance through it's model!
As fir gilkicker they were disqualified because after breaking through on slice the pie for the 15000 pound album they wereimmdfiately signed up by a record label for something like 45000 pound so thefans/investors where quid in! We made a few quid on them that happened in the auditon staged of orange and they where then disqualified!!!

hi guys,

just found out we are getting our first airplay tomorrow night on phoenix fm Brentwood, Essex)(www.phoenixfm) tomorrow night on Fruitbat's (from Carter USM fame) show.

Who needs Simon Gavin or Universal when you have Fruity championing your tunes on local radio!

how many bands went through???

Don't be ridiculous. They haven't even posted the list of first-round acts; how can you be so sure they're all going to be 'indie'?

Have you even read any of the other posts to this blog?

Well...we all know why half of the people didnt get in. They dont fit into the typical money making genre that we all know is indie!! OR someone who knows a friend of a friend to get in the music industry. All the bands/singers/musicians that didnt get in dont take it personally you will proberly be better without being in the competition tbh! if it really was that fan dabby dosey well wheres last years winners?

Checked out the link... It's for an American band with like 7 friends...

Hay people check out my mates band, there like nothing iv ever heard before... www.myspace.com/splinteredsoul !!!

Peace

PS Or if any of you have any recommendations I can pass the details on. Cheers!

I have already posted this, so if you've already read it - please excuse the repeat!

An interesting opportunity?
Some people I know have set this up….

Our Friends Electric (www.myspace.com/ourfriendsele ctric) is looking for bands and artists.
Their main provisos are no ACOUSTIC drum kits and SONGS OF A HIGH STANDARD
If you’re interested, request an add on myspace – if they like you they’ll be in touch. If not, they ask that you don’t try to re add.
Initially looking for London based bands, but not to put off bands from other areas applying.

Good Luck! Sounds intriguing!!

lol and thats the best show on the tv :S lol right
some people might be real crap tho and wouldent want to get upset.. so its just pick who ever they want.

I think that they have left alot of people in the dark about when they would hear if they had or not got through. People that waited all day should have benn kept better informed. Also the fact that there was NO feedback is harsh. Even X Factor give feedback!!

MassivePeanut stfu .. dont need some one like you talking to me like that.. i know what im on about much more than u tbh..

guess ur bad singin jamiroquai go through as well lolz

right. we all know its a safe indie competition ..

They said 20 would be let through

No idea.

Does anyone know roughly how many acts go through to see Jo Whiley on tuesday?

An interesting opportunity?
Some people I know have set this up….

Our Friends Electric (www.myspace.com/ourfriendsele ctric) is looking for bands and artists.
Their main provisos are no ACOUSTIC drum kits and SONGS OF A HIGH STANDARD
If you’re interested, request an add on myspace – if they like you they’ll be in touch. If not, they ask that you don’t try to re add.
Initially looking for London based bands, but not to put off bands from other areas applying.

Good Luck! Sounds intriguing!!

O2 site? We must sign up!!!

Seriously though, I've just had a representative call me regarding an email that was sent. I've been assured (and believe them actually) that were out performed on Saturday. And I would imagine anyone who had played that kit would have also not gotten through. Anyways, the Saturday auditions were judged irrelevent of what had been said before, and we can accept that.

The problem with Slice the Pie is that they have the rights to use your material and IF a band got signed, Universal would have a major problem with this, as they wanty to own you wholly and completely.

My advise would be, some time in March, unsubscribe yourself from any site that has the right to use YOUR material for THEIR benefit. They usually have a six month shelf-life!

We feel slightly better that we've been beaten fair and square! But only a little bit.

we signed up for s- the -p after reading the blog here some days back - i wonder how many others did the same? - also we know of artists on here who are also on the o2 comp site

Afternoon all, being doing some research and I think that for those bands that didn't get through, count yourselves lucky, I don't think you understand what you we're getting into, follow this link: http://www.drownedinsound.com/ articles/3127668

The whole point of this is so orange can have a tone of people (traffic) running it's through it's site to so it can sell advertising space, look how many hits a day it's/ was having. Don't take this post down Orange.

Wow! Bad luck Torn Asunder. But well done also.
Your dealings with unsigned certainly rings a bell. We had a few emails and phone calls from them last year, and when weve been on this site with been careful with our words, and just stated 'we had a call from them'. Although they asked questions, they didnt actually say 'youre through'. In the end we decided not to persue it, and told them we were withdrawing from the comp.(Which may have something to do with why we got nowhere this year! lol.)
But what we had, and you have now got, was confirmation from unsigned that you got through the initial sift. So use it. We attached the email to our PR/demo that we send out to venues and promoters, and it certainly opened a number of doors for us. Out of the 40-50 venues we play at, at least a dozen came about as a direct result of the email.
So take what you can from it. Even not being selected this year has focused our minds. We have been gigging constantly this year, and our producer has been nagging us to cut down the gigs, and get some more tracks down. Non selection has just confirmed that is probably good advice, so we are back in the studio/rehearsals for the next few months.
Glad you haven't got bitter and twisted, as some have, as we really enjoy your blogs. Look forward to your thoughts on those that have made it.

I could understand if a band was being financed by slice the pie (such as the band who were disqualified last year) but just being on the site to get reviews to discover your strongest tracks should not be a problem.

Well we had a call on Friday saying that we narrowly missed out on the final 50 and were asked to go to the audition - my band were all away on holiday and other engagements, so I was at an immediate disadvantage - having to perform on my own. Also they said the keyboard would be a triton 76 key (which has semi-weighted keys) but i had to perform on a yamaha without any kind of weighted keys (which was severely detrimental to my performance as its almost like playing a completely different instrument)

It did appear to be a shambles and you're right, it should be made more clear about what a difference being on slice the pie makes.

Anyways - our EP was released today so is available from all the major download engines - it is called "Superstar Gazer" so please go and download it and show your support for unsigned bands :0)

You wont have heard the last from The Keyz. 2009 will be our year...

why would orange disqualify slice the pie members if they had NOT reached the financing stage?

the terms and conditions state:

Promotional rights
By uploading the Demo and the Material to the Scout Room on the Website
you grant Slicethepie the non-exclusive open-ended right solely for
promotional purposes to stream the songs on the Demo on the Website, to
mobile phone and other hand-held or other electronic devices, and to
broadcast or otherwise use the Demo, the songs on the Demo and the
Material in all manner and media free of charge (other than any public
performance fees that may be payable by Slicethepie for use of the Demo on
the Website) but not for any commercial purposes without your agreement.
You grant Slicethepie on your own behalf and on behalf of the Artist any and
all performer’s consents necessary for Slicethepie to make use of the rights
granted. You warrant that all performers on the Demo have given their
unconditional consent to the use of their performances and you will be
responsible for any and all payments due to such performers.
You also grant Slicethepie the non-exclusive right to the name(s) and
likeness(es) of all members of the Artist on the Website, on mobile phones
and other hand held or other electronic devices and in related publicity
materials for promotional purposes.
You grant Slicethepie the right to make a copy of the Demo for central
storage as part of the operation of the Website and for archiving purposes.
Slicethepie shall not be entitled to use such copy for any commercial purpose
without your agreement.
Page 4 of 9
Slicethepie does not own the copyright in the songs and the recordings on the
Demo or in the Material which remains the property of the copyright owner
but is subject to the rights granted under this Agreement.
Slicethepie has no interest in the Artist name (the ”Name”) but if the Artist
has any interest in any trade mark in relation to the Name you grant
Slicethepie a non-exclusive licence to use the same in connection with the
rights granted under this Agreement.

Hey Magic. I'm glad that you knew. However, there were an awful lot of artists who didn't know, and there's the problem.

I think this competition has been more about fanbase all along. If you have a large fanbase, you will attract more interest from the competition. If you have a large fanbase, you will get the most votes. Simple really.

It just proves that there is no substitute for just gigging your arses off and building a fanbase!

All the acts who didn't get through (like us), don't be disheartened! Keep gigging away and making music! If you believe in yourselves and work hard, you'll make it!

Also remember, most acts lose their credibility after winning a competition like this. Have you seen any of last years acts in the charts? Have you seen them doing headline arena tours? Nope.

I'm not being bitter, as we did want to the part of the competition. But it's good to keep in mind that this competition isn't the be all and end all for you all!

Good luck to all the acts who did get through and good luck 5000+ acts who didn't!

As in, I knew that if a band was on there, they were not eligible to sign up for this.

I knew about Slice the Pie and I'm not even in a band.

It ain't about revolution. It's about being up front and honest.

We've been amongst the biggest supporters of Orange and have tried to really see things from their point of view, but to be honest, the Slice the Pie thing has really gotten to us, 'cause IF we hadn't signed up for it, we could possibly have been playing tomorrow, or even at the main auditions.

i feel sorry for all the bands who were on 'slicethepie' they were ineligable all along and some wont even have found that out yet!!!!! after all the time and effort put in you would expect the organizers to have mentioned something especially as one band was dissqualified over it last year half way through, what a shambles this has all become, i expect there to be a lot of angry people.......what a shame.

welldone to everyone who came down i do feel its a shame that they say they are looking for something orginal but actaully they want something thats safe and similar to whats out alreay, at the end of the day its about money and marketing and a lot less about music and performance, whats good is that it seems like most people have gained somthing from the experience be it contacts, hippie love or a 60 quid petrol bill!!!
i say f**k the system and more power to the music!! DONT CONFORM
ARSE!!!!!!!!!!!!! EZE B
TO THE REVOLUTION

We will take a few good things away...

1) Hopefully our Banner will make it on to the show.
2) We got to perform on camera and have Alex Zane call us RAWKING!
3) We know that we're good. We made Top 55 out of about 7000 acts.
4) We have something to aim for.
5) WE WILL MAKE IT!!!!
7) What happened to SIX?
6) Ahhh, there it us!

OK... this is the first and last time you'll hear Torn Asunder complain...

A note for next year... When setting up the "rule" for the competition, can Princess TV and/or the Channel 4 Lawyers investigate what constitutes a valid band or not.

We received a call on Thursday from Orange Unsigned. You can imagine our excitement. We found out that we were "Just outside the Top 50", and were were on a reserve list, so that if any bands dropped out, we'd be in. We then were asked some questions, including if were were on Slice the Pie. We are. In fact, we found out about the competition from Zenyth on here of all places, as are a lot of other acts. Mostly the acts that are interested in getting feedback and finding out how they can improve. We found out, however, that this "may prove a problem" and were asked if we'd made any money from Slice the Pie, which we haven't. They told us that they'd get back to us. In the meantime, we terminated our membership to Slice the Pie and waited. Subsequently, we received another phone call, telling us that even though we cancelled our membership, we'd still be inelligable, and not to bother showing up on Saturday. We were understandably gutted. All we had signed up for was a few reviews so that we could become a better band. However, hope was given back when we received another phonecall, barely an hour later, asking us if we were coming, because they wanted to "look out for us" as we had just missed out on the Top 50 slot. So we decided to turn up and audition. And have been unsuccessful, but don't know if that's because of our performance, or because of Slice the Pie.

IF sites like Slice the Pie are a problem, then this competition needs to let people know from the offset what sites are a problem and why. They also need to monitor the blogs so that if a band innocently says "Hey... Slice the Pie is great, you get dozens of reviews a day!", a competition representative could respond by letting us know that IF we sign up, we'll not be elligable for the Orange Contest. We're musicians, not lawyers, and you can put all the legal talk you want in front of us, and we're not going to grok what it all means.

There... now you guys know what Torn Asunder is ESPECIALLY upset at not going through. We feel like we've had our dreams dangled and then ripped away... twice!

Well done guys who got through

It was certainly a long old day but at least it was sunny! After all that wait I was hoping at least to be welcomed properly into the audition room and taken seriously - I wasn't even told when I could go into the room and when I got in there the two auditioners were pratting around and totally ignored me until I asked where I should sit down. It was really unprofessional and very disappointing.

I know it must have been a long day for them but it was even longer for us in the queue waiting from 8am until 4pm on our feet in the heat. As well as that I lost 2 shifts off work to get there and an expensive train journey. I wanted my 3 minutes!!!

Still, I got to meet Alex Zane who was really nice! Good luck to all the acts who got through.

awww i hope people are not too disapointed and g'luck to the guys who got through.

as much as i would loved to perform infront of jo whiley it was a pleasure to perform infront of universal pro's, knowing that my song is strong but obviously not right for this type of competition. connections have been made and networking here has been brilliant... i ahve found even more friends to hang out with, ha!

i have been astounded by some of the amazing talent on here and surprised that some didn't get thru, i wont start naming cos i dont wanna leave anyone out! ;) at the same time, not so surprised because i think some acts are also unique and maybe too niche for orange unsigned representation. i do hope though that at least some of the ones that have got through, i will love too.

anyhoo, saturday was sunny thankgod and kinda hippie and i couldn't have dont it without my mate and the wonderful peeps we met and had a drink with after...

as for my audition song 'sex, it rocks', my mate filmed me busking it in camden so peeps will be able to judge for themselves soon on myspace and youtube....and i'm in the studio this week finishing the vocals ...

big up guys and big wench sister hugs to u all...
x!

Oh well ^_^ the pixie didn't make it. Good Luck to those who got through, hope the tuesday audition goes well for you! Looks like i shall be going to the dentist to get drilled after all he he.

i heard that they saw everyone, even though they did say that they where going to finish early... doesnt matter.. its all experience and not the end of the world.

Why is that bull? My mates band were one of last in the queue and they got seen. If u don't know what you're talking bout then don't talk.

hummmm hold on a min.. more bull coming up "we managed to see everyone " ?? i dont think so

oh nevermind what a waste of time this has been anyways

£60 fuel down the pan

Cheers. We must admit to being disappointed... There are reasons, which will be come clearer later.

sorry to hear you never got the call TA... theres always gona be other chances. I think you guys are briliant!

Well, we ain't received a call, so that's us out...

good luck to everyone who turned up and waited hours to be seen!