Seeds of Kindness 4: SHINE TOGETHER Charity Album

[InC]

Hi there!
Thanks to your tremendous work, the three previous Seeds of Kindness albums have raised over $100,000 from online donations alone, supporting various Your Siblings and Engineers Without Borders projects in Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania. I think we really produced something great and did a lot of good, so after a few tweaks and some reworking backstage to correct some mistakes and make everything go smoother, Bronies for Good and I would like to ask once more for your help to support the outstanding work of the Against Malaria Foundation!



Seeds of Kindness 4: SHINE TOGETHER


Soft deadline: November 22nd, 2014
Hard deadline: December 10th, 2014
Release date: December 20th, 2014

Charity status: There is no middle man, 100% of the money donated will go directly to the Against Malaria Foundation and will only be used to purchase insecticide-treated nets. Donations will be tax-deductible in the US, Canada and most of Western Europe. Each donation will be publicly allocated to a specific program and extensive tracking, pre-distribution and post-distribution reports will be published online.

What changed: This album will operate on a pay-what-you-want basis and a free download for the album will be provided, so you may release your song as soon as the album is out. For the sake of musicians who submit their songs early, there is a set release date this time around. It does mean that we will get less breathing room to give feedback and help entries that are close to making the cut, so we recommend that you submit before the "soft deadline" to make that still possible.


What you can submit:

It does not have to be pony: Pony and non-pony songs are equally welcome.

Remixing and sampling: No copyrighted material can be used, and we cannot accept entries that remix, sample or cover the show either (sorry, we really can't). Submitting a remix requires the composers' permission. Collabs are encouraged!

Theme: There is no specific theme or genre restriction besides common sense. Don't make anything angry, creepy or overly depressing (but sad is fine) and your song should have no problem fitting in.

Length: There is no set length restriction, and most importantly, short songs are just as welcome as longer pieces are. Don't stretch your song solely to fit a given length - this was perhaps the most common issue with entries for the previous albums.

Number of entries: You can submit as many songs as you want (within reason). Two songs from the same artist can get in without any problem, but over that number (not counting collabs), we might only take the best two of them.


How to submit:

Please send an email to [email protected], with the subject “[ST]” followed by your username, and include the following:
1. An mp3 file without the artist's name in its title or metadata, hosted on a service that offers streaming (preferably Mediafire or Box.com). Please make sure to take the sharing link rather than simply copy pasting from your URL bar. You may check your link by accessing it while logged out / under private browsing.
2. A lossless file (preferably flac or aiff) uploaded on a third party hosting service (like Mediafire), not sent as an attachment. We tend to see a lot of Dropbox links dying when we need them, so please be careful.
3. Your preferred artist name and a link for credit (Youtube channel, Soundcloud, etc..)
4. Lyrics, if applicable.

You can upload your song on Youtube when the album is released, but please do not make your song public until then. However, feel free to upload previews or ask for feedback!


More info on the charity:

Malaria affects over 200 million people and kills between 600,000 to over a million each year, but as its vector species bite at night, this disease can be easily prevented by the use of cheap, long-lasting insecticidal nets. Indeed, as little as $3 allows the purchase of a net that will protect two people on average for 3 to 4 years, and the efficiency of these interventions have been thoroughly proven. The Against Malaria Foundation stands out in particular because of their strong track record and commitment to efficiency, program monitoring and transparency. More info on their website.


Let's do this!

[DJ TATCM]

Fantastic, I've been waiting for this one! Great charity for this one (but not that there's been a bad one we've donated to) definitely gonna make something for this~

Also, is there going to be a live stream/IRC like last time?

[InC]

Yes, we will set up a page with an embedded player and IRC chatroom for the release party on December 20th. Glad to have you back again for this one.

[Callenby]

YES
YES
YES
YES

I AM SO GAME FOR THIS

[Fimbulin]

Sounds like fun!!

Also, this message needs at least 25 characters.

[JSynth]

I have been looking forward to doing this again.

[ExoBassTix]

Might just send something in. The deadline's very long so I'd have plenty of time, thanks for that.
Perhaps some kinda Ambient.

[CaptainFluffatun]

I'll try to cook something up for this

[Warbalist]

This is the one album I make sure to write for every year. So glad you're all keeping it going.

[Camsy]

I'm certainly going to try and get something put together again for this. :)

[ganondox]

Malaria affects over 200 million people and kills between 600,000 to over a million each year, but as its vector species bite at night, this disease can be easily prevented by the use of cheap, long-lasting insecticidal nets. Indeed, as little as $3 allows the purchase of a net that will protect two people on average for 3 to 4 years, and the efficiency of these interventions have been thoroughly proven. The Against Malaria Foundation stands out in particular because of their strong track record and commitment to efficiency, program monitoring and transparency. More info on their website.

So does that mean they make sure people actually use their nets? That's what I want to hear. Anyway, I'll see if I can make anythings that's not creepy, angry, or overly depressing, and of quality.

[FLAOFEI]

I'll see if I can make anythings that's not creepy, angry, or overly depressing, and of quality.

I think I'll do that to... Probably gonna fail... It's gonna be so silly it's creepy

[Wisp]

I might do something for this if I have the time :)
Seems to be for a good cause and last time was really fun!

[LutariFan]

IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN I AM DOING THIS

[GhostXb]

It seems traditional that someone else does the album art for each iteration, so I'm not going to offer to do the cover art this time around (unless no one else steps up and you absolutely need it). I am open to misc design work if the album needs it though. I've been doing misc freelance jobs over the months.

And of course, I'm going to work on a song I didn't make the last one, and that's partially because I didn't have the time to make something I was truly proud of (near the end of my school program), But I'm definitely going to step it up. I'm also open to collabs.

[alez_android]

Sounds great! Can't wait to hear how good this album will be after having heard how awesome A Beautiful Heart was!

[InC]

Hi, I just want to pass on big thanks from AMF's Rob Mather for the great work you're doing, as well as some more info regarding ganondox's inquiry:

So does that mean they make sure people actually use their nets? That's what I want to hear. Anyway, I'll see if I can make anythings that's not creepy, angry, or overly depressing, and of quality.

Perhaps the following information, sent to a donor some weeks ago who had a similar question, might be helpful:

Q2. What purpose is your survey/registration data put to? It looks as if geared to verify that nets are going to those who need them, to verify that the nets are being used properly, and to track how many people the nets ultimately serve. Am I missing anything?

Re Q2, the aims of the data gathering are, in order of importance:



· ensuring no material theft of nets



- household level net need data gathered pre-distribution, via a comprehensive, distribution zone-wide Pre-Distribution Registration Survey (PDRS), gives accurate net need requirement per distribution point. Knowing exactly how many nets to move to each specific distribution point makes theft through the various stages of the supply chain much more difficult (and near-on impossible with the correct monitoring) and knowing exactly how many nets go to each beneficiary (household) makes theft very difficult at the distribution point level. Theft is an important issue.



· ensuring, and monitoring, continued net use



- regular (typically 6-monthly) post-distribution check-ups (of net use and condition) of nets in a material number of randomly-selected households (typically 5% of those households receiving nets), on an unannounced basis a) requires PDRS data to be gathered as that underpins the PDCU work so acts to achieve the theft related goals and b) seems to lead to higher levels of net hang up and use (‘behaviour change’) with this attributed to communities being aware there will be unannounced intervention to see if people are using the nets properly with householders being aware there is a reasonable chance their household may receive a visit.



· providing data-based information to health leaders to support decision making



- District Health Officers (DHOs) and Malaria Coordinators (MCs) are able to understand the level of net use and net condition to help with decision making, potentially very valuable when resources are scarce. For example, looking at the data for all 37 health centre catchment areas (HCCAs) in Ntcheu District, Malawi (and click on ‘24-month PDCU - Underlying data’) the DHO/MC is able to consider prioritising malaria education interventions, for example to achieve hang-up of ‘present but not-hung’ nets, in those nine HCCAs where the hang up levels – although high – are not at the very high level achieved in others areas.



· provide assurance to all parties, including donors, that nets reach recipients as intended and continue to be used so as to have the best possible impact on malaria.



- the costs of comprehensive (pre-distribution) and regular, sampling (post-distribution) data collection are modest and in our view clearly deliver value. Moreover, they can underpin the reduction of theft to immaterial levels, the single greatest factor that would otherwise compromise the impact a net distribution programme can have.

Keep up the good work, and thank you so much!

[DBMC]

SO PUMPED! Workin on a track for it already.

Please send an email to [email protected], with the subject “[ST]” followed by your username

When you say this, you are talking about our MLR username, right? (Just got a little tripped up there)

[hunterz263]

I am still new to the music scene, but I am down with writing a track for this!

[DJ TATCM]

When you say this, you are talking about our MLR username, right? (Just got a little tripped up there)

IIRC it's whichever name you wish to be credited as, should you make it into the album. can be your current mlr u/n or a previous one as i see you lost yours sadly somehow eh

anyway it's totally up to you, and seeing that a few artists have made it on without having an mlr username (here's lookin at ya mc flowny) i strongly doubt that this is a requirement

[hunterz263]

2. A lossless file (preferably flac or aiff) uploaded on a third party hosting service, not sent as an attachment. We tend to see a lot of Dropbox links dying when we need them, so please be careful.

This one really confuses me... Do you mean posting the track on a site like Mediafire just like the MP3 or some other site?

[NightmareRare]

YES!! All other projects on hold now, I can't explain how much I've been wanting something like this. Finally I get to support the community and help my fellow man with what I love!
This... Is... AWESOME!

[InC]

SO PUMPED! Workin on a track for it already.

Please send an email to [email protected], with the subject “[ST]” followed by your username

When you say this, you are talking about our MLR username, right? (Just got a little tripped up there)

DJ TATCM is right, though whichever name you usually go by online or you want to be credited as is fine as long as your preferred artist name is in the email.

2. A lossless file (preferably flac or aiff) uploaded on a third party hosting service, not sent as an attachment. We tend to see a lot of Dropbox links dying when we need them, so please be careful.

This one really confuses me... Do you mean posting the track on a site like Mediafire just like the MP3 or some other site?

Yes, I do mean sites like Mediafire, I'll make it a bit clearer in the OP. Thanks for contributing!

[OuTbREaK]

Finish a track for the album in 18 days... CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

[hunterz263]

SO PUMPED! Workin on a track for it already.

Please send an email to [email protected], with the subject “[ST]” followed by your username

When you say this, you are talking about our MLR username, right? (Just got a little tripped up there)

DJ TATCM is right, though whichever name you usually go by online or you want to be credited as is fine as long as your preferred artist name is in the email.

2. A lossless file (preferably flac or aiff) uploaded on a third party hosting service, not sent as an attachment. We tend to see a lot of Dropbox links dying when we need them, so please be careful.

This one really confuses me... Do you mean posting the track on a site like Mediafire just like the MP3 or some other site?

Yes, I do mean sites like Mediafire, I'll make it a bit clearer in the OP. Thanks for contributing!

Ah! Thank you! Now I just need a name and I can submit it.