Balloon Party 3: Academy of Power announcement thread

[ExoBassTix]

After almostly a full 2,5 years, Circuitfry finally decided to pass on the torch of ownership to another. Circuitfry is done, and happy to let go so he can finally put full focus on other projects of his. I wanna wish you luck with whatever you'll be busy with after this.

So here we are. June 16th, 2014. The last few months have been a messy jumble of well-hidden news items that regard Academy of Power.
Yeah, what's to say to that? Well, this is what. It happened. It happened, and a lot of people felt left in the dark because of it, or didn't even know and kept on waiting for news about that one album about ponies and the magic of friendship. While I can't expect you, nor ask of you (because you are you), to forgive Circuitfry, I certainly want it said that I have.

As a BronyQuest project, which it is, that has helped bronies get to BronyCon US together, it feels like logical to continue that tradition, nevermind what's been said before. But here we are. June 16th, 2014. I believe you all (or at least a lot of you) think the same I do: that we'll never be able to get people to BronyCon US this year with Balloon Party the way it's left behind. And it's true. The unfortunate musicians would have to rush their songs, the judges would have to rush rush the judging, and the people who handle the financial business (whether that's to be me and/or someone(s) else no matter) would have to rush rush rush to get people the money so they can get to BronyCon in a hurry. And on top of that, before that to happen, there'd need to be a plan. No, multiple plans. A damn course of action. And a whole damn team to ensure eveything -can- happen needs to be made as well. LOTS to do. And I've been handed Balloon Party just yesterday. So yeah, the possibility of getting people to BronyCon US this year is pretty much non-existent.

So the obvious question is: what will happen?

There are a few options I've thought of. Note, the below options are just thoughts, not yet facts.
1) We make Academy of Power for next year's BronyCon. That way you get more time to work on your track (in the case you're a musician);
2) We let Academy of Power end around october or november anyways, and keep the money it earns for next year's edition of Balloon Party. With doing this we show power, in that we don't let the huge delay slow us down, but we improvise and show off that we are strong, and that we want to do this;
2.5) Perhaps we could spend the money on getting to a different convention.

I'm of the opinion that you, the consumer/musician, should have a say in the future in Balloon Party. EDIT - and vote you did. Option 2 rolled out as clear winner. And so I will gladly make that happen. I personally aim to properly kick off Academy of Power soon, because I find the lack of public activity unfair to you, Balloon Party's followers.

For those who like to have a TL;DR summary of what I said: Circuitfry left the game and handed Balloon Party to me, it's next to impossible to organize Academy of Power in such a way that the money earned by it will still go to the musicians to attend this year's BronyCon, I'm gonna consider all options left and compare pros and cons with friends that can help me with it, and I'll keep you up-to-date on my Tumblr, Balloon Party's Facebook and here. (I use my Tumblr for a lot more than just announcements, so I suggest you follow one of the other two.)

~ Exo

http://www.facebook.com/BPAlbums
http://exobasstix.tumblr.com

[taZe]

Hmm... this does make sense and it answers my questions that I had. Thanks, Exo!

[CitricAcid]

Are there any European pony cons that are happening in late summer/early fall? I think it'd be cool to have BronyQuest benefit a con across the pond for a change. Nonetheless, I'll leave this one up to the BP team. In the event that this results in the deadline getting pushed way back, I might find time to finish writing my synthesizer in order to make my own experimental noises for the album.

[JSynth]

I have a lot of mixed feelings about balloon party honestly. Its had a rough history, but it also could possibly be an opportunity for me to actually attend a con. Anyway, with new leadership, this could turn out really well.

[ExoBassTix]

Are there any European pony cons that are happening in late summer/early fall? I think it'd be cool to have BronyQuest benefit a con across the pond for a change. Nonetheless, I'll leave this one up to the BP team. In the event that this results in the deadline getting pushed way back, I might find time to finish writing my synthesizer in order to make my own experimental noises for the album.

The ones I know are GalaCon (Germany, August 2/3), BUCK (UK, August 22/23) and Crystal Fair (Finland, in July so no). Definitely cons to think of, except if I'd eventually make the decision to go for one of them (which would probably be BUCK), there'd be a stark limit on who would be funded, since time is limited (just two months left, and that's not a lot, as explained in the big post, for anyone).

[Injustrial]

BUCK is full up on artists, so that would only be possible for next year. If you want to have it this year, there's BronyScot in October. They're going for the first time and could probably use all the help they could get. The other three mentioned seem to have everything pretty much settled.

Just a question, since I've been VERY confused about this whole thing. Are submissions still open (Or were they never opened to begin with)? And if so, where do we send them? Because I haven't been able to get a straight answer

[S.P.P]

BUCK is full up on artists, so that would only be possible for next year. If you want to have it this year, there's BronyScot in October. They're going for the first time and could probably use all the help they could get. The other three mentioned seem to have everything pretty much settled.

Just a question, since I've been VERY confused about this whole thing. Are submissions still open (Or were they never opened to begin with)? And if so, where do we send them? Because I haven't been able to get a straight answer

They were never open mate. Now it's getting some steam and guys are working to plan it out, so just sit tight for now. I guess it shouldn't be too long now. :)

[Supersaw Hoover]

I'll keep my thoughts on this concise.

1. Balloon Party has been a pretty cool unifying project the past two years and it has potential for another year.

2. Academy of Power has a fun and exciting theme that encourages originality and all the fun quirky stuff mixed with quality, the balance that made this fandom's music good in the first place.

3. It should be this year because waiting until next year is just too long of a gap. Plus, it's not unreasonable to get an album out by the end of the summer.

4. It also should be this year because the new Pinkamena Party, Academy of Booty, will look very silly without the associated Balloon Party album for it to accompany.

[Callenby]

I'll keep my thoughts on this concise.

1. Balloon Party has been a pretty cool unifying project the past two years and it has potential for another year.

2. Academy of Power has a fun and exciting theme that encourages originality and all the fun quirky stuff mixed with quality, the balance that made this fandom's music good in the first place.

3. It should be this year because waiting until next year is just too long of a gap. Plus, it's not unreasonable to get an album out by the end of the summer.

4. It also should be this year because the new Pinkamena Party, Academy of Booty, will look very silly without the associated Balloon Party album for it to accompany.

Ditto.

[ExoBassTix]

UPDATE!

The 74 voiced votes (as of current time) show that option 2, to add this album's earnings up to the album we'll do next year, has a clear majority of votes. 35 of 74.

So I'll make it happen. I'm gonna put my everything in getting Academy of Power to kick off as soon as possible. I can't, however, make a promise for a date, nor an estimate of how long it'll take to start things, but I'm gonna work on it.

[ExoBassTix]

small UPDATE!

http://balloonparty.bandcamp.com
Donating's been made possible yet again. I also want to make you guys aware that there's a new website in progress for Balloon Party, which will be where we'll host the MP3 files (if all goes well). We'll keep the torrent for free FLAC and ditch the GDoc.

[ExoBassTix]

http://www.balloon-party.com
Behind the scenes, the site's starting to look really good. It'll be up in one and a half day, guys. That will also mark the time from which you can start submitting.
More to be announced later. Just wanted to raise some hype ;)

This might also provide some more info already.
http://fimmusic.tumblr.com/post/9179099 ... of-you-may

[Stakeout Punch]

Man I am just seeing all of this. Maybe I should venture more out of the "view your posts" button and start paying more attention to things :/