Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

General
Eligibility
Registration
Contests
Video/audio
Account manager
Store
Technical issues
Forums
Prizes

GENERAL

Q:  What is FameCast?
A:  FameCast is an Artist discovery engine that collects, ranks and serves up the world's best emerging artists for entertainment fans and industry professionals in search of new talent.  FameCast provides Artists an opportunity to connect to a worldwide audience and compete in a weekly online competition for prizes, such as festival gigs, industry opportunities and A&R critiques. To the audience, FameCast provides an unprecedented opportunity to discover a wide array of talented new performers and the ability to help choose which artists rise to the top.

Q:  How do I enter a competition?
A:  First, you must register as an Artist and create your Artist BackStage. Once you have registered and confirmed your account via email, you can log in to your account. To enter a competition, you simply need to upload a video or audio track, selecting up to three genres (including sub-genres) for each video or track you upload.  For more information on how to upload a video, click here.     

Q:  What if I don't have a video?
A:  Make one!  You do not need to submit a professional video to enter the competition.  Have a friend shoot a video of you performing or simply film yourself with your web cam.  If you don't have access to camera equipment, try renting it.  FameCast also hosts casting calls in various cities around the country, where we will film you performing live on stage and upload your video for free.  Check out the Events page for details on when and where the next casting call will be.

Q:  I’m not an Artist, should I be here?
A:  Yes!  Fans are crucial to FameCast as they have the power to decide which Artists deserve the spotlight.  As a registered member, you can:

• Access our worldwide entertainment community
• Find your new favorite Artists & join their fan club
• Explore, create & share your own personal Playlist
• Been seen & heard with your free Member page and Blog
• Post to our community forums
• Message Artists and other Members
• Rate & vote for the Artists that you think deserve to get noticed

Click here to register as a Member, or click the "Join Now" link at the top of every page.

Q:  I've sent several emails to info@famecast.com but have not received any response.  Does FameCast read my emails?
A:  Absolutely. We read every email that we receive and can assure you that your voice is being heard. However, due to the high volume of emails we receive, we are not equipped to respond to every email. If you do not receive a response from us it is likely because we've already answered your question in this list of FAQs. Please take a moment to look through this list; if you don't find an answer, please be patient and we will respond to your email as time allows.

Q:  How do I unsubscribe from FameCast emails?
A:  To unsubscribe from FameCast emails, click the Unsubscribe link located at the bottom of any email you have recieved from us.  If you would like to only receive certain emails from us, you can change your Email Options in your account manager.

Q:  Can I upload MP3's of my songs?
A:  Yes, you can upload MP3's via the Media section of your Artist Account Manager.   If you're logged into your Artist account now, click here to go directly to the Add Audio page.
 

ELIGIBILITY

Q:  What are the age requirements?
A:  Artists and Members must be at least 18 years old to participate in the FameCast competition. If you are between the ages of 13 and 17 years old, you must have parental consent to participate.

Q:  Can two or more people enter together?
A:  Yes. Solo artists, groups, bands and collaborative works are all welcome to enter.  Multi-member groups that enter together are considered to be a single entry.

Q:  Are past winners eligible to compete again?
A:  Yes, past FameCast Fenoms (contest winners) and Critics' Picks are eligible to compete in the weekly competitions.

Q:  I am already on a record label.  Can I still enter FameCast?
A:  Yes. FameCast is not exclusive to emerging talent and we welcome any Artist looking to increase their exposure.

Q:  I am not a U.S. resident.  Can I still participate?
A:  Yes, non-U.S. residents are welcome to register as Artists and Members.  Currently, the competition is set up to accommodate Artists who are legal residents of the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  However, that should not exclude artists from other countries from submitting their work as we are continually working to expand our competition to other countries.
 

REGISTRATION

Q:  How do I register?
A:  Click here to register as an Artist or Member (Fan).  Or, click "Join Now" under at the top of every page.

Q:  The address section tells me to enter a U.S. state, but I do not live in the U.S.  What do I do?
A:  If you are a non-U.S. resident, please disregard the State dropdown box (leave it blank).  Instead, fill in the Province/Region box as well as the City, Country, and Zip (post code) boxes.

Q:  I never received a confirmation email after registering.  What do I do?
A:  First, check your spam/bulk folder with your email provider.  It's probably in there.  If not, you can have the confirmation email resent to you by going here.  Before doing so, be sure to add info@famecast.com to your contacts/address book so that the email does not get filtered into your spam.

Q:  When I try to register it tells me that my email address has already been registered.
A:  Either you've already registered and you haven't received your confirmation email, or your email is in our system and you need to use your secondary email.  An email address cannot be registered twice.

Q:  I perform under two different Artist names.  Do I need to create two separate accounts?
A:  Yes.  If you would like to submit videos under both Artist names, they must be under separate accounts.  And you will need a unique email address for each account.

Q:  I am not an Artist.  Do I have to register?
A:  You are not required to register to visit FameCast and view performances. But, you must register in order to rate videos and audio tracks, vote and post comments.

Q:  I've registered, but I would like to make changes to my profile, i.e. edit my band members, change my address, etc.  Where can I do that?
A:  You can make changes to your profile by logging in and clicking Profile in your Account Manager (HINT:  If you are logged in and trying to find your Account Manager, use the Account link located at the top of every page).  Make the necessary changes to your profile and click the Update button, located at the bottom of the page.  Don't forget to click Update before leaving the page or you will lose your changes!

Q:  I'm registered as a Fan, but now I want to be an Artist.  Can I upgrade?
A:  Yes!  You can upgrade to an Artist by logging into your current account and then clicking this Upgrade link.  Follow the steps provided to upgrade your account.

Q:  My fans, friends and family are having trouble registering to vote. What should I tell them?
A:  Read the answers to the above questions, it is probably related to one of the above issues. If not, please contact us with the specific details of your problem.

Q:  I forgot my password.  What should I do?
A:  On the Login page, enter your email address into the Username/E-mail field and click Forgot Password?.  An email with your password will be sent to you.
 

CONTESTS

Q:  How does the contest work?
A:  Please read over the Competition Overview for information on how the contest works.

Q:  How are the contestants selected?
A:  All contestants are determined by rankings from the public rating system.  The highest rated videos and tracks from the current week will compete in the following week's contest.

Q:  How do I rate videos?
A:  To rate videos, first select a Contest Stage from the menu at the top of the page.  Then select Video or Audio, and scroll down the page to the "Who Competes Next Week?" section.  Click play to begin playing a random video/track from that genre.  Once you've decided on a rating (you must watch/listen to at least 15 seconds), select the number of stars to the right, with 5 stars as the highest rating and 1 star as the lowest.  Or, select the "Awesomely Awful" heart if you think it is so bad that it is actually good.  Click "Next Artist" to submit your rating.

Q:  How do I know if I'm competing?
A:  Before your weekly contest begins, you will receive an email notifying you that your video or audio has been selected to compete.

Q:  How are weekly winners determined?
A:  Weekly winners are determined by highest vote counts. 

Q:  What is the "Returning Champion"?
A:  The Returning Champion is the winner from the previous week, who is automatically entered into the next week's contest.  Only the Returning Champion can compete on the same contest stage two weeks in a row.  All other artists must sit out a week.

Q:  How does voting work?
A:  You must register with FameCast to vote. After registering and logging into your account, watch the videos and click the vote button for any artist that you think is best.  You may cast one vote per Artist, per day and you may vote for as many artists as you wish.

Q:  If I send people to my Artist BackStage page, will they be able to vote for me from there?
A:  No, people cannot vote for you directly on your BackStage page, however, your BackStage does provide a link directly to where they can vote for you.  If an Artist is currently competing in a stage contest, you will see an "In Contest" icon displayed beneath the video player.  Click this icon to go directly to the artist's video or audio track on the appropriate contest stage.

Q:  How can I see my vote count?
A:  We do not display vote counts. 
 

VIDEO/AUDIO

Q:  How do I upload a video/audio track?
A:  To upload a video/track, you must be registered as an Artist and logged into your account.  In your Artist Account Manager, click the Add Video or Add Audio button located in the upper-right corner of your Media List.  To ensure your video/track is entered into the competition, be sure to select the appropriate genre(s) and sub-genre(s) in Step Two.

Q:  How do I upload a cover image for my media?
A:  To upload cover art, log in and go to View All under Media to view your Media List.  Under the Actions column, click the Edit link next to the media you would like to add a cover image to.  Near the bottom you will see an Image File upload field.  Browse and select the image you want.  Be sure to save your changes by clicking Update before leaving the form!

Q:  Can I submit a cover song?
A:  No.  FameCast is looking for Artists to submit original songs, performances, poems, etc.  However, there are two exceptions.  One being if the copyrighted work that you'd like to submit is in public domain, and two being if you, the Artist, has already secured and can provide proof of the necessary rights to perform the work for distribution on the web.  For more information, please see the Terms and Conditions of Use.

Q:  Once I submit my work, does FameCast own the rights to it?
A:  FameCast only retains the right to market and use your video and/or audio track; we do not own your song, lyrics, film, etc.  The Artist maintains all intellectual property rights to their work.

Q:  What’s the policy on profanity?
A:  FameCast does not encourage profanity, however, we do support an Artist's freedom of expression and therefore will allow responsible use of profanity and explicit content.  We do retain the right to remove any videos that we believe to be abusing this policy.

Q:  How do I embed a video or audio track?
A:  To embed a video/track onto another web page, go to to the video/track and click the box of code located directly beneath the video player, next to the word "Embed".  The line of code should highlight fully with one click.  Then copy/paste the code into your web site, blog, MySpace profile, etc.  For example, to embed a video onto your MySpace page, log into MySpace and click Edit Profile.  Paste the "Embed" code from your video on FameCast into one of the sections located under Interests & Personality, such as About Me or Interests.  You can type text both before and after the code to explain the video or let people know when the voting deadline is.  For more help with embedded players, click here.

Q:  What are the icons beneath each video for?
A:  The Facebook icon, , is for embedding videos/tracks in Facebook.  Click here for directions on how to use it.  The other icons, del.icio.us , digg,  StumbleUpon and  My Yahoo Web are for bookmarking and tagging your favorite FameCast videos and audio tracks.  Clicking these icons takes you to the login page of the selected service, where you can log in or create a new account in order to share the video/track with other users of that service.
 

ACCOUNT MANAGER

Q:  What do I do with my Artist BackStage/Account Manager?
A:  Your Artist BackStage is your personal homepage at FameCast.com. This is the place for you to connect with friends and fans, manage videos and audio tracks, and organize & promote yourself. You can also create and maintain a blog, notify your fans of your upcoming gigs, and send messages to your fan club using the Messaging tool.  Use your BackStage as a promotion tool to increase your fan base.

Q:  How do I update my BackStage?
A:  Simply log in to your account and you'll be taken automatically to your Account Manager.  From there, update your BackStage using each of the links at the top.

Q:  I have an Artist account. How do I enter new contests?
A:  All videos and audio tracks are automatically eligible for the weekly contests.  Please ensure that for each video and audio track that you have uploaded, you have selected at least one genre and sub-genre and no more than three.  If you have not assigned genres to one of your videos or tracks, click the corresponding "Info" link and scroll down to the "Genres" section.

Q:  How can people join my fan club?
A:  From your Artist BackStage, fans can click the "Join Fan Club" link to join your fan club.

Q:  How can I remove offensive or unwanted comments on my videos/tracks?
A:  As an artist, you have the ability to remove any comment posted on your BackStage or in the Fan Feedback box that appears next to your video/track.  To do this, log in and click the Comments link located in your Account Manager.  This page shows you all comments other users have posted on your profile/videos/tracks (Comments) as well as all comments you have posted on the profiles/videos/tracks of other users (Posted Comments).  Under the Comments tab, find the comment you wish to remove by clicking View on the appropriate comment location.  Then simply click the blue Delete link next to any comment you want to remove.

Q:  How do I change the order that my videos or audio tracks appear in my BackStage?
A:  To change the order of your videos/audio tracks, log in and click the View All link under Media in your Artist Account Manager.  In your Media List, you will see up and down arrows next to each of your videos/audio tracks (they are located under the Actions column).  Use these arrows to reorder your media however you like.  The video appearing as Track #1 is the one that automatically plays when someone goes to your BackStage page.  If you've only uploaded audio, the audio appearing as Track #1 plays by default.

Q:  I received an email notifying me of a friend request, but I don't know where I go to approve or decline the request.  Can you help?
A:  Log in to in your Account Manager.  Your Dashboard and Friends link will both list any friend requests that are awaiting your approval.
 

STORE

Q:  How do I sell my music on the site?
A:  To sell your videos and  audio tracks you need to first upgrade your account to a FameCast Premium Account here. Then you need to designate which media items you want to put on sale and for how much. To do this, click View All under your Media tab. Click "Edit" next to the video or track you want to sell. Under Step 1, scroll down to the Store section and check the box that says, "I want to make this media item available for sale on FameCast." You then have the option of making it a FREE download or setting a price per download. Select one of the price model options, check the "I agree with these terms and conditions" checkbox and click Update at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

Q:  What is a FameCast Premium Account?
A:  A Premium Account is for artists who want to sell their music, poetry, comedy, etc. online. For $11.99/month, artists can set their own price for video and audio files, sell an unlimited number of items and keep 100% of the profits (please note that transaction fees will be deducted). Premium artists also enjoy a clutter-free BackStage profile with no display ads.

Q:  Why must I set my price at a minimum of $0.50?
A:  The $0.50 minimum ensures that all transaction fees incurred by FameCast from third-party credit card processors are covered.  Since transaction fees vary, your actual fee may end up being less than $0.50 per video or audio track.

Q:  What are transaction fees? 
A:  Transaction fees are fees incurred for facilitating your transaction. FameCast uses third-party credit card processing companies, and transaction fees are necessary to cover those third-party expenses. Please note that transaction fees may vary, so your actual fee may end up being less than $0.50 per video or audio track. For more information, please see our Music/Video Provider Terms & Conditions.

Q:  How do I buy music? 
A:  Go to the artist's BackStage page and find the item you want to buy in their list of Video/Audio, located below the video player. In the Price column, you will see the price per video/track or FREE for items designated as free downloads. Simply click the shopping cart next to the item you want and it's added to your cart! You can also click the shopping cart icon anywhere you see it in order to add something to your cart. When you're ready to buy your items, review your order by clicking the large shopping cart icon in the top-right corner of every page. Then follow the steps to checkout.

Q:  I want to buy an artist's track but I don't see a price or a shopping cart icon. What can I do?
A:  Artists must make their music available for sale in order for you to purchase it. If the video or track that you want is not for sale, let the artist know that you want it by clicking the "I want it" link. This will notify the artist via email that someone is interested in buying their music. And whenever the artist decides to put the item on sale, we'll notify you that it's available.

Q:  Where do I go to get my videos/tracks once I've purchased them?
A:  All of your purchased items will appear in the "My Purchase History" tab, which is located in the Account section of your Account Manager. You can download your purchased items as many times as you'd like. Videos will be in MOV format and audio tracks will be in MP3 format.
 

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Q:  What do I do if I have problems uploading my video or audio track?
A:  Please report all upload issues using the Upload Report form.  

Q:  I keep getting a "STACK OVERFLOW: 13" error message when I try to view a video.  What should I do?
A:  The "Stack Overflow at Line 13" error appears to be affecting Internet Explorer 7 users only.  There is currently no immediate fix, and we suggest either coming back to the site at a later time or using a different browser, such as Mozilla Firefox (which you can download for free here). 

Q:  Why do videos stream in segments rather than buffering and playing in their entirety?
A:  This site uses a pure streaming technology.  Each time you want to play a video, it will be streamed through the Internet.  If you have an unstable connection, videos may display choppy.
 

FORUMS

Q:  How do I read and post comments in the Forums?
A:  To read and post comments in the Forums, you must go to the Forums page either by clicking the Forums link located in the Community section or by clicking here.  Select the forum you are interested in and then click the "New Topic" link to create a new topic.  If you want to post a response to an existing topic, click the "Post Reply" link located on the topic page.

Q:  Why was my forum posting deleted?
A:  There are several reasons why your post could have been removed, such as posting offensive or inappropriate comments, off-topic or irrelevant subjects, spam or repetitive posts or topics that just do not belong in the forums.  To avoid getting a post removed, please keep the following in mind when posting:

• Constructive Critiques – We want you to be honest in voicing your opinions and give valuable feedback, but please be polite and constructive in your posts.  Don’t taunt, harass, or offend others.  Be respectful.
• Vote Soliciting – While we encourage self-promotion, the forums are not the place to be soliciting votes. 
• Spam – Just don’t do it.  We will remove any repetitive or irrelevant posts.
• Subject Matter – Please read the forum descriptions and post relevant topics. We will remove any posts that are not related to the forum they are in.

PRIZES

Q:  What is a FameCast Fenom?
A:  In Seasons 1-4, the grand prize winner of each stage was designated the FameCast Fenom.  In the FameCast Weekly Contests, winners are selected each week winning a variety of prizes & opportunities.  Click here for more details on the prizes.

Q:  Is there just one winner per week?
A:  There is one winner in video and one winner in audio for each of the 11 stages.  That's a total of 20 winners per week (Comedy and Spoken Word are video-only contests).