UPDATE: We have since closed down the song contest. I might write about that at some point, and it's even possible that we open up the contest again some time in the future, but for now it's not active.

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As mentioned previously, we took some time at the end of last year to make a lot of changes to the web site. Last night, we launched our first contest of the year, with more than 200 entries. It's been a work in progress up until this point, but we finally have a design and concept that feels right.

Anyone that was part of a contest last year will see how different everything is now - one of the biggest changes is that every contest entrant gets their own dedicated voting page. That makes it easier to share with fans, and should hopefully drive a lot of engagement this month. And, speaking of engagement, in order to cut down on clutter, any song page that does not receive at least one vote during the contest will be removed at the end of the month. If you can't be bothered to vote for your own song, then what exactly is the point?

Thanks to contest entrant Sarah Bailey, who suggested some tweaks to the user experience, we now have a page selector below the bottom nav. The entries are ordered alphabetically, so it is super easy to go straight to the page you are looking for.

We Changed the Requirements

The submission page has been simplified quite a bit. We no longer accept streaming links. If you would like to be featured on a Spotify or Apple Music playlist, your only option is to submit to us through our channel on SubmitHub. Our channel does shut down from time to time, but your best bet is always to submit early in the month, and early in the week. We are doing our best to keep up with volume but there is only so much time in the day.

The top commitment for CHILLFILTR is to our artists - we are here to write awesome coverage for the songs that we connect with. When our plate is full, we shut down the channel. It is just that simple. Some of you may remember - last year, when we were in the process of redesigning our site, some of our artists had to wait weeks and even months for their coverage. We never want that to happen again. So if you are looking to submit, and our channel is on hiatus, please be patient and just try again later. Monday mornings will always be your best bet.

A Note About the User Experience

Without getting too deep into it, the plan for CHILLFILTR was always to bring new listeners to the awesome indie music that they might not have found otherwise. This is why we have a radio channel, and in large part this is why we launched the song contest. We are forever looking for new and better ways to bring listeners into the CHILLFILTR universe. If you are an artist featured in this month's contest, please take a minute to reach out to your fans, and please also consider encouraging them to vote for other artists that they vibe with. And if you are a simply a fan of indie music, take a minute to look at the latest contest. I am always floored by the quality of submissions. There is a lot of great music out there that does not (at all) get the attention it deserves. We can change that, together. I hope you enjoy the new experience - it's easy to listen, easy to vote, and you are not required to sign up for anything.

And, starting next month, be sure to tune in for our weekly Fresh Finds playlist on CHILLFILTR Radio. For an hour every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (at 12pm PST) votes can be cast for round 2 artists by clicking the 'thumbs up' while their song is playing.

Thank you for supporting indie music. We couldn't do this without you.

Photo credit: Chris Liu-Beers

NOTE: if your song is featured in this contest, but you were not notified, it is probably because you canceled your mailing list membership. Sign up again here if you are interested.