Flat Spotlight, May 2024: Exploring Our Vibrant Musical Community!
Hello everyone,
We're excited to keep you updated on the latest enhancements on Flat. Over the next few months, our tech team will be dedicating their efforts to significantly boosting the performance of our editor. With your invaluable feedback as our guide, we're committed to transforming Flat into a top-tier tool for music composition. During this period, we'll offer additional tips and insights on how to make the most of our most popular features, aiming to elevate your music creation experience to new heights.
In this edition, we’re turning the spotlight on our community. We'll provide all the details you need to thrive within our community, highlight key features, talk about our monthly challenges, and more!
- What is our community about
- Share your scores
- Copyright
- Collaboration
- Composer of the Month
- The Monthly Challenges
Our community
What is our community about
Flat is more than just a notation platform—it's a vibrant community of over 5 million music enthusiasts from around the globe. Our platform stands apart not just for its robust and intuitive interface but for its active, passionate community.
At Flat, you'll find the perfect environment to grow as a composer. Whether you're beginning your musical journey or looking to share your compositions with the world, our community is the ideal place for you. Explore diverse music scores, share your creations, receive valuable feedback, and connect with like-minded enthusiasts. You’ll also have the opportunity to follow the progress of your favorite Flat composers, learning from their experiences. Plus, you can build your audience and even collaborate with others in the community.
In our community page you can discover new music scores and composers. Use the search bar to easily locate content that interests you, such as specific composers, publication dates, or types of instrumentation.
If a composition catches your eye, click on it to explore further. If you enjoy what you discover, remember to like the score and feel free to leave a comment! As an extra tip, you can save your favorite scores to a collection in your library for future inspiration.
Interacting with your favorite scores in Flat
Also, remember to follow your favorite composers to keep up with their journeys and receive updates on their new releases.
If you're interested in sharing your work with the community, you can easily do so and see it showcased on the community page. Let’s explore this!
Share your scores
The first step to publish your scores in our community is to create community profile. This step involves accepting our code of conduct and terms of service. Once set up, you’ll be able to publish your scores and invite fellow creators to collaborate with you.
Learn how to create your community profile in this step-by-step guide:
Now, let me share 2 tips for you to stand out in our community!
💡 Pro tip#1: use all the available features to create an interesting profile
- Profile Picture and Banner: Choose captivating visuals that reflect your artistic identity, making you easily recognizable as an artist. Opt for images that showcase your unique style and personality, ensuring you make a memorable impression.
- Display Name and Username: Maintain consistency by using the same display name and username across all platforms.
- Engaging Bio: Dedicate time to create a concise yet engaging bio that captures your essence.
- Link Social Media Profiles: Include links to your other social media accounts to enable your listeners to connect with you more closely and stay updated on your latest music and news.
- Pin Your Best Scores: Highlight your finest creations by pinning the sheet music you're most proud of on your community profile. We recommend pinning 2 or 3 scores to showcase your best work.
Once your profile is ready, it's time to share your scores with the world. Check out our dedicated guide below to learn how to do it.
💡 Pro tip#2: enhancing discoverability on our platform
- Respect Copyrights: Always ensure that your published scores do not infringe on anyone else's copyright. Create respectfully and legally.
- Provide Detailed Information: Include comprehensive details about your score. The more information you provide, the easier it is for others to find and engage with your content.
- Use Relevant Tags: Employ appropriate tags and descriptions to enhance the searchability of your score. This helps others discover your work and fosters a strong sense of community connection.
💡 If you want to learn more about how to build an audience, we have the perfect resource for you:
Featured page
You might have seen that our community page has a featured section. Here, the Flat team highlights scores that stand out, helping composers gain more attention. We update this section monthly. If you would like your work to be featured or want to suggest someone else's score, please send the link to hello@flat.io. We value and consider all your suggestions!
If you are wondering if your scores receive copyright protection when publishing on Flat, check out the section below.
Copyright
First and foremost, we do not claim any rights over the music you create on our platform; it belongs entirely to you. While we are a music notation platform and not a legal entity, we are committed to respecting intellectual property rights. To support this, we offer two options: you can add credits to your score to clarify ownership, or you can keep your score private, ensuring that only you can access it.
For copyrighting your score, you'll need to contact the appropriate legal institution in your country. We don't provide legal advice or expertise in copyright matters, so please consult a lawyer specialized in this field. You might also find our dedicated article on Copyright for Musicians helpful.
Collaboration
As highlighted earlier, one of the great benefits of our community is the opportunity to collaborate with talented musicians. Our platform features a real-time collaboration tool that simplifies and enhances this process, making it both fun and straightforward.
Learn how to add collaborators to your scores in the guide below:
Engaging with others in the community not only helps you to learn from their experiences and skills but also allows you to expand your own creative horizons. By working together, you can discover new techniques, explore different musical styles, and gain fresh insights that can improve your compositions. Additionally, collaborating builds valuable connections and friendships that can support your growth as a composer and broaden your professional network in the music industry.
💡 Check out our article on how to get the most out of music collaborations:
Composer of the month
Our community is filled with talented composers, and we recognize the challenges of standing out in the crowded online space where countless artists share their work. To support our community's growth, we've set the "Composer of the Month". Each month, we spotlight an emerging composer who, despite their impressive talent, might not yet have a large number of followers. We help them gain visibility with the "Composer of the Month" badge and featuring three of their scores on our community page. Looking ahead, we are excited to develop additional ways to showcase even more artists on our platform.
✨ If you want to become the Composer of the Month or suggest someone else, please send us an email at hello@flat.io.
The Monthly Challenges
We understand that finding motivation and inspiration is crucial to stay engaged with your passions. That's why we've designed the monthly challenges. These challenges require you to follow certain instructions to create a musical score. If you win, you'll get a year-long subscription and a winner's badge to display on your profile for the whole community to see.
Joining these challenges is a way to ignite your creativity, sharpen your skills, and connect with other musicians. These challenges offer a supportive environment where you can experiment with new ideas and continuously improve.
You can find more information and check out submissions from other composers on our community page, under the challenges tab. Participating regularly can significantly boost your compositional skills over time.
Flat Community News
April challenge
For this challenge, we invited you to think about your all-time favorite story. It could be from a book, movie, video game, a tale you've heard, or even a story about yourself, and create a score in Flat that embodies that story.
🔥 We'll announce the winner very soon, so stay tuned! Find out more here.
New articles
If you haven't read them yet:
✍🏽 Personalize your music in Flat to make it truly yours!
✍🏽 Evoke the Right Emotions: A Guide to Modulation in Music
Follow us on social media
It would be fantastic if you'd follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
You'll get great content while also supporting our project 🤩
Feedback?
If you have any questions or suggestions for our product team, please reach out: hello@flat.io.
Have a wonderful day!