Slicethepie connects Artists with Music Fans and those looking to invest in the best new Music – Artists can raise money through Slicethepie to record and release their album;

• Artists upload their tracks.
• Music Fans (we call them Scouts) are paid to review and rate those tracks.
• The Artists with the best rated tracks will go on to the Showcase where Investors, or anyone for that matter, can choose which Artist/s they'd like to invest their money in.

In return for investing in an Artist, you get free tracks and special updates from the Artist via an exclusive Forum on Slicethepie. Also, you’re given a real chance to share in the success of the album by being offered the chance to reserve Contracts for free (Each £1 Investment entitles you to 1 free Contract)! These Contracts entitle you to a financial share in the album's commercial success. Contracts can be traded at any time on the Slicethepie Exchange to make a profit, by buying them low (or for free in an Investors case) and selling them high.

It's all about the algorithms (basically, a sophisticated ‘computer way' of doing things that calculates and analyses huge amounts of data quickly and efficiently). Simply:

• Write constructive reviews, over 100 characters – reviews that will be helpful to the Artists.
• Rate tracks in accordance with what you think other Scouts and Music Fans will like – and rate them across the full range i.e. don't just rate everything a 5.
• Be more active as a Scout – Scout on a regular basis.
• Successfully Tip an Artist in the Scout Room – so if you come across an Artist who you think will make it to the Showcase, either Tip them straight away from the Scout Room Music Player or add them to your Watchlist and use one of the Tips you have earned Scouting to Tip them in the Scout Room at a later date.
• Don't cheat –Slicethepie use sophisticated monitoring software in the Scout Rooms and you will damage your Scout Ratings by abusing the system.

Have a read of our Scouting Guide for extra info.

Click on 'Sign Up for Free' at the bottom of the homepage, fill in the required fields (you need to create a member profile first before you are given the option to create an Artist profile,) then click on 'Create Artist profile' and fill in the required fields.

To upload tracks, click on the ‘Tracks' tab, click on 'Add a track', select the track status as either Active (means it will be entered into the Scout Room), or inactive (means it won't be entered into the Scout Room), enter the track name and select the track file from your PC.

Unfortunately, there's really no way round it – we strongly advise that, as an Artist who is serious about their career, you read the Terms and Conditions in full.

Here's a summary of the main legal points:

• Artists who successfully secure finance through Slicethepie retain all their copyright in both the sound recordings and the songs (publishing) – this means you own the rights to your sound recordings and songs and you keep those rights. (Hooray!)
• Financed Artists pay a £2.50 royalty to Slicethepie per album sale (or 25p per single sale) for a 2 year period from the release of an album (and only for the album financed through Slicethepie, not on future albums.) The digital retailer takes approx £2.50 per album sale (the same as for Artists signed to record labels) – overall you'll get approx. £3 per album which is around about 6 times more than you would if you were signed to a major label.
• The £15,000 finance is non-recoupable i.e. Artists will not have to pay it back - the only circumstance in which you would have to pay it back would be if you did not deliver an album.
• Artists don't have to be unsigned, but you must have the legal freedom to be able to fulfill all of the Slicethepie T&C's. E.g. you cannot have an existing distribution deal as you are obliged to hand over all your digital distribution for the album to Tunecore (they're great anyway.)
• You can cancel your account and withdraw your tracks at any time, unless you are currently participating in a Showcase, in which case you will have to wait until it's over.

If you secure the finance;

• You have 6 months from the time your Contracts begin trading on the Exchange in which to make the album.
• The album must include a minimum of 8 tracks.
• Slicethepie receive 10% of the £15,000 raised.
• Being on Slicethepie does not mean that you can't sign a record deal – as long as the record companies are willing to go on allowing Slicethepie's £2.50/album royalty, for this album. If the record company doesn't want to pay the royalty they can buy out all the Contract holders for a fixed 50% premium over the Contract market price which also means that no further royalties need to be paid.

But once again, we would strongly advise you read the Terms and Conditions!

The Scout Room is the part of the site where all Users (we call them Scouts) can review and rate Music, which determines whether or not an Artist is good enough to progress to the Showcase stage for financing. Every Scout is paid for each track they review.

Artists are automatically included in the 24/7 all site Scout Room as soon as they sign up and upload 3 tracks. Then at regular intervals we will create a Showcase containing the highest rated Artists on the site.

In addition, we create other Scout Rooms from time to time based around genre or location which will also lead to Showcases. If an Artist is eligible they will automatically be included in these Scout Rooms.

The Showcase is the part of the site where the Artists with the highest rated tracks from the Scout Room move on to in order to start raising finance to record and release their album.

Each Artist must raise a minimum of £15,000 in order to go on to record and release their album. It's up to each Artist to motivate their existing Fans, family, friends, Investors etc to invest in them and to encourage new Fans to do so too. All Artists who raise the finance will then be going on to record their album!

To find out more about the Showcase and raising finance, check out the Getting Financed section.

When you hear an Artist in the Scout Room who you think is awesome and capable of going all the way on Slicethepie, add them to your Watchlist (using the button on the Music Player) – to make sure you don't forget them. After you have reviewed a certain number of tracks you will earn a Tip.

To use your Tip, go to your Watchlist (MySlice -> Watchlist), select the Artist and select ‘Use Tip'. If they make it through to the Showcase, you get a FREE £5 Investment in that Artist (which entitles you to a free album among other things!) Tips can only be used in the Scout Room in which they were earned and if the Artist you use your Tip on doesn't manage to raise the Finance, then the Tip will expire.

If you have reviewed enough tracks to earn a Tip you can also place your Tip on an Artist direct from the Scout Room Music Player too.

Via PayPal. Click on MySlice -> Account Details -> Withdraw. You must have at least £5 in your cash account before you can withdraw money. If you don't have a PayPal account, don't worry. Just follow this link. It's quick and free to setup.

Once signed in, click on ‘MySlice' where you will be given the option to update your profile/information.

If the review contains obscene language or you have substantial grounds to believe the review is inappropriate or non-constructive, then please report the review to our Customer Support Team via info@slicethepie.com

However if the review is merely unfavourable, we're afraid that that is just the way it works. Not everyone will like your Music all the time. Everybody gets bad reviews sometimes...and you never know, the review may even help you to work on some things and ultimately lead to success on Slicethepie!

Slicethepie is a place where everyone can come to discover new Music. Through that, Artists can raise money direct from their Fans and Investors, to professionally record and release an album. We do this by turning every Music Fan into a Music Scout and Investor. Music Fans can also get paid to help discover new Music.

A bunch of people who looooove Music and want to help you discover the best, most exciting new Music- and help it get financed, so it can be enjoyed by a wider audience. Slicethepie is about you, not us.

Andy, Chris, Daniel, David, Grace, James, Jonathan, Lisa, Marc, Sharmita and Steve - a bunch of people who love Music, table football and teacakes!

Absolutely. Slicethepie is managed from the UK, but is open to Artists, Fans and Investors from everywhere in the world.

Slicethepie takes a fixed 25p royalty for a 2 year period on the sale of every track on the album recorded following the release of the album – but we use this to pay off Contract holders. It also makes money from advertising and commissions on Contracts traded on the Exchange. (We also take 10% of the money raised for Artists via the Showcases – but only from those that get to the magic £15,000)

Absolutely everyone, whether an Artist, Fan, Investor or Trader.

You can have only one User account and create one Artist profile (controlled through your User account).

For Artists… secure you cash and exposure for your Music - both to the Music industry and the wider public, as well as providing you with invaluable feedback.

For Fans…you do the A&R, find the best new Music, earn money, form a close relationship with your Artists, and share in their financial success.

For Investors…support the Artists that you think are the best and receive benefits in return.

For Traders…trade in and out of Artist Contracts like a record label - making money based on your skill at predicting future album sales and by following the buzz surrounding your Artists.

They have the opportunity to secure a minimum of £15,000 of finance to record an album and further their career directly from their Fans (as well as from new Fans they find on Slicethepie). They can also receive independent reviews from Music Fans, so you should end up with a heap of feedback about your tracks.

Assuming an £8 retail price, approximately £2.50. This is around 6 times as much as the Artist would receive under a record deal. This is after deducting the retailer's (e.g. iTunes) margin (£3) and the Slicethepie royalty (£2.50). Digital distribution costs (through Tunecore) are minimal.

Record labels lose money on 90% of Artists who they sign to a traditional record deal. This means 90% of money poured into the industry is wasted. With Slicethepie 100% of albums are pre-financed by Fans. So there is no waste. There is no catch; Slicethepie is simply a far more efficient model and all the benefits of this flow directly to the Artists and the Fans.

No, Slicethepie is simply a financing platform for the Music industry - a platform that connects Music Fans and Investors with the best new Artists, as pre-filtered by the Scouts.

Yeah, but it's pretty boring. Still, here you go;

• Slicethepie Limited is incorporated in England and Wales with registered number 5783339
• Registered Office at One London Wall, London, EC2Y 5EB (this is a registered office address - please direct all correspondence to info@slicethepie.com
• VAT Number GB 889 4780 45
• Authorised by the Gambling Commission under Licence Number 000-002822-R-103866-001 (Part 5 of the Gambling Act 2005)

No – Slicethepie and SoundOut are quite different, if you would like to get a more in-depth look at your tracks you’ll need to register separately with SoundOut. We’re pretty sure that you’ll find the information SoundOut has to offer really useful.

Well, there’s lots of ways. You can talk about us to your friends and remind them that it’s free for them to sign up and easy for them to invest in you. Another way could be to add our flashy banners to your social networks pages (Bebo, MySpace, Facebook, Signatures etc). Click here to take your pick.

If you make it into our Showcases and you need a bit of inspiration, don’t worry. We will send you lots of hints and tips over the course of the 6 months which will help you promote yourself.

In one word...no. At the moment Slicethepie's popularity is all based on word of mouth and recommendation. So we have no objections to our users telling their friends, mum, nan and anyone else that loves new music, how great we are. If you have a Bebo, MySpace, Forum, Blog etc you could even add in one of our slick banners, which then click straight through to the site.

Not exactly, but you do need to have the legal freedom to enter into all clauses in the legal Contract you agree to when you sign up to Slicethepie. For instance, you cannot agree to exclusive digital distribution through us via Tunecore, if you already have a deal with another distributor. Likewise you cannot agree to pay us a £2.50 royalty on every album sale if this conflicts with an existing arrangement. You can check out our Terms and Conditions here. If you are unsure, send us an email to info@slicethepie.com detailing your situation and we will let you know.

Absolutely, yes, Slicethepie is made for you! If you have a decent database of loyal Fans you may be able to go straight to the Showcase stage without having to qualify in the Scout Rooms. If your Fan base is large enough you may be able to raise considerably more than £15,000 on Slicethepie. Drop us an email on directfinance@slicethepie.com to find out more.

No, but you won't be allowed to use the money to trade (buy and sell Contracts).

Yes. They are bets - it's the law. But those under 18 can still play on the Virtual Trading Exchange and compete in the weekly Virtual Trading League to win a Voucher gift to use to Invest in your favourite Artist/s.

Sorry, blame your Government. It's Virtual Trading only for you, but you can still earn money Scouting, finance Artists you like and have an exclusive relationship with the Artist whilst the album is being recorded. Also if you're one of our weekly top 10 best Virtual Traders then you will win a Voucher gift.

No, Slicethepie is a global site - we have already financed Artists in Canada, Chile and the US as well as the UK.

Yes, all payment processing is carried out through our payment processing partner Datacash. Datacash is a major public company and a world leader in secure online payment processing.

Yes, if you are registered on the site and you indicate that you want us to keep you informed then that's what we will do. Manage the frequency and type of updates you would like to receive via Alerts on the MySlice page of the site.

No - we hate that stuff and we won't pass your details on to anyone else!

If you are an Artist actively involved in a Showcase then you are legally obliged to complete this process. Other than that you can cancel your account at any time. We will check to see whether you have Investments, Contracts or Account Balances and highlight these to you, before you leave.

We also ask that members let us know why it is that they are leaving. We REALLY DO read them all and take them into consideration when we look at ways of making the site better.

Follow this forgotten your password link.

Firstly, this information is useful for us as it gives us a better picture of who is using Slicethepie and helps us make better decisions about future developments etc.

Secondly, we feedback to the Artists where there Music resonates in the market (e.g. whether boys or girls like it best) and the Artists can use this information to improve their connection with their Fans.

Once signed in, select the “MySlice” tab and then the “Member Profile” Tab, make your changes and then click “Save changes.” All Done.

Please email us on info@slicethepie.com with the details of what the error is, and when you saw it (and thanks in advance!)

Please email us on info@slicethepie.com

We are always on the lookout for talented people. Just email careers@slicethepie.com with your CV/Resume and we will see if we have something suitable for you.

Please email us on press@slicethepie.com

Please send details to info@slicethepie.com

Tut tut – most likely we have suspended your account as we suspect you have been cheating within the Scout Room. We will have sent you an email explaining why this action has been taken. However, if you think we've made a mistake, drop us a line explaining why to info@slicethepie.com

You will first need to create a User profile by clicking the 'Sign up for free' button on the top right of the homepage. Once you have created your User profile, press 'submit' and then select 'Create an Artist profile.' You will then need to upload a minimum of 3 tracks (up to 10 tracks in total) as well as a web link, a picture, a video link, a biog and some other information and activate your best 3 tracks. See "Will Artists profile page be like MySpace" below for more information on Artist profiles.

As soon as you have activated your 3 tracks they are automatically eligible for scouting. Once you have received a minimum of 30 reviews on each of your 3 active tracks, depending upon your rating you could become eligible for a Showcase.

That's all you need to do. All Artists are continually being scouted on the site; there is no need to do anything else. We will email you on a regular basis to tell you when you have new reviews from Slicethepie Scouts.

Every month or two we'll add the top rated Artists from the 24/7 Scout Room into the Showcase. You can be in more than one Showcase at a given time.

In the Showcase you'll have 3 months to raise a minimum of £1,000 of financial support from Investors, fans, family and friends. Should you hit this target and continue forward you have another 3 months to reach a minimum of £7,500. If you reach this target, you have an additional 3 months to hit the £15,000 target (9 months in total)

Depending on your Artist profile, you may also get automatically included in one or more specific Scout Rooms (e.g. Rock & Pop/ US Artists/ Female Singer Songwriters etc). These Scout Rooms will also lead to a dedicated Showcase.

It can take several weeks to secure the required number of reviews on each of your tracks to make you eligible for a Showcase. Once in a Showcase you will be given 3 months to raise a minimum of £1,000. Should you hit this target, you will then be given a further 3 months to reach a minimum of £7,500. If you reach this target, you have an additional 3 months to hit the £15,000 target (9 months in total).

Yes, plus if you are in more than one Showcase, your Investment raised in each will be combined.

Yes, anyone can join Slicethepie provided they have their own original material (so no covers please).

Any Artist from any genre can enter and will automatically be included in all appropriate Scout Rooms.

No, but if an Artist receives finance it may be a good idea to find a manager.

So long as you do not currently have a legally binding record Contract that conflicts with the Slicethepie terms and conditions you can enter. You might even be eligible for Direct Financing if you have a large Fanbase.

If you get written consent from the label agreeing to release you from any clauses/terms that conflict with the obligations you will assume if you receive Slicethepie funding then this is fine.

This is all done by e-mail alerts, so make sure your email address is up to date in your profile.

No, we are not a competition. Slicethepie is about financing as many quality Artists as possible; we pass no judgement on any Artist who joins and have absolutely no influence over who succeeds. Music Fans are 100% in control of the process.

By the end of the Scout Room process, every track will have been reviewed at least 30 times by the Scouts. The higher a Scout's rating, the more influential their opinion will be (e.g. a 3 star Scout will have 3 times as much rating power and influence, compared with a 1 star Scout). The Artists with the highest overall ratings for their three active tracks will move on to the Showcase.

Only in so far as Artists are able to upload tracks, images, a video, biography etc. But Slicethepie is primarily about raising finance and building your record label, not about hanging out and adding friends. Places like MySpace, Facebook, Bebo and Friendster do this really well and there is the ability to provide a MySpace (or other) link on your Slicethepie profile page if you want to direct Fans to another site.

Artists will have 2 profiles on Slicethepie - a personal member profile that is personal to them and which can be hidden by checking the "Hide my Member Profile" box on the "Update member profile" page. Artists who want to participate on Slicethepie can also set up an Artist profile that is shared between the members of the band. This cannot be made private as it must be visible to all or you won't get a shot at finance.

Yes. Artists have the ability to upload up to 10 tracks. However, to be eligible for a Showcase, their 3 “active” tracks must each have received at least 30 reviews. Once in an active Showcase they cannot change their 3 tracks until they come out of that Showcase. If an Artist decides to deactivate one of their tracks and then reactivates it again at a later date, the reviews which the track has previously received will still remain valid.

Not really - as long as it's not offensive and doesn't exceed 2,000 characters. We also suggest you don't attempt to include HTML code or links, you may find this causes your profile to go a bit funny... in a bad way. There is space provided elsewhere to include your Bebo, MySpace etc.

Demo tracks need to be in MP3 format at 192kbps and encoded at a constant bit rate, the audio sample rate must be 22kHz or 44kHz. There is a maximum file size of 5Mb per track.

When you enter a Showcase, Slicethepie will email you regularly throughout the process, with little gems of information that could help you achieve the all important £15,000. So make sure you keep your eyes on your inbox!

One great way to start is by letting all your fans know via your Bebo, MySpace, Blogs etc that they can help you record and release an album. How about adding in these banners? They make investment super easy by clicking straight through to the Showcase!

If an Artist does not raise at least £1,000 in the first 3 months of a Showcase they will be withdrawn. If they are not featured in another Showcase, their Investors will be reimbursed 100% of their investments. If they are in another Showcase that is still running, then all of the investment that they have attracted will roll over to the new one. In addition, the Artists that raise the required minimum of £7,500 in 6 months will have a final 3 months to secure the balance of the money they need.

Again, should the Artists not raise the £15,000 target by the end of the 9 months, all money invested will be returned to Investors.

When we notify you that you've successfully raised the finance we'll arrange a meeting so we can get to know you, you can meet the team and we can run through how it all works. We will only pay money raised from Fans into an authentic Artist bank account - so if you do not have one you will need to set one up before we can pay you. We release the money as you need it, rather than all in one go -this is to make sure the drummer (or her boyfriend) doesn't spend it all on sweets!

We will run through everything with you, so don't worry. Advice, contacts, suggestions and general support will be made available, along with a comprehensive ‘step-by-step' guide. We've done this many times before! Once you're organised you will head to the recording studio to make your album and you will have approx 6 months to do this. If you already have some of the album completed you can spend more on marketing! Remember, it's all about DIY so you must be organised and pro-active.

Yes! But most importantly you need to keep your Fans and Investors up to date. You can do this in your exclusive Forum and keep a buzz going using all your social networks, remember these Fans got you here, and they could turn on you just as quickly. If you think it's all going horribly wrong contact us and we will do all we can to get you back on track (we are very well plugged into the Music industry and can almost always help sort things out or introduce you to someone who can).

Only if you do not deliver the album, in which case you need to pay back your Investors.

You are obliged to let us manage your digital distribution through Tunecore. We will also provide you with a guide and all necessary information on individuals and companies across the industry to assist you with the recording process and marketing of your album.

You need to have delivered the album to us within 6 months from receipt of finance, however the distribution requires a 12 week lead time, so it will take around 9 months to have your album available on iTunes etc.

You are legally obliged to include 8 minimum - but your Fans may feel a little short changed with only 8 unless they are extra long. We suggest you aim for 10-12 (as a rule of thumb, look to record a minimum of 40 minutes).

This is all down to you; refer to The Guide for help (only accessible to financed Artists), including suggested studios and other professionals at preferential rates. Get networking though, as this is going to help you in the long run, it's time to start pulling in favours! –if people like what you're doing then they're going to want to work with you and do you a good deal! We are always on hand to give you support and advice if you need it.

Either use one you know and trust or refer to The Guide (only accessible to financed Artists). If you need help, we will assist you in this process.

Yes, (providing you have put money aside) it will help to promote your album, but remember, you must release everything with us through TuneCore.

Yes, you will need to pay PR/Pluggers; it is essential you put some money aside for this if you want to maximise your exposure. The more money for PR and marketing, the better!

You may decide to ask your Investors about which arrangement of a particular track they prefer, which tracks they want on the album, which should be the first release, get their opinion on artwork etc via your backstage Forum. Don't ignore them completely but, at the end of the day, the final decision lies with you; the Artist. Just remember it is part of your agreement to include each of your Investors names within the credits of your album.

Of course you can, and if you have built up a decent base of dedicated Fans and have looked after your Investors just contact us when you need the money and go direct to the fundraising process without going through the Scout Room.

No, it's yours for keeps provided you deliver the album within 6 months. It's best to be open and honest to the Investors as soon as possible and then go and find a replacement.

No, there is no requirement to do this at all, but if that’s what you want - feel free to do so.

For digital, it must be 100% through Tunecore via us.

Tunecore are a US based digital distributor. One of their major strategic Investors is Guitar Center, the largest Musical instrument retailer in the US with a market capitalisation of over $1 billion. We, along with tens of thousands of other Artists, trust them to do a great job.

iTunes, Amazon, Connect, Rhapsody, Napster, eMusic, etc. Go and checkout Tunecore's site (www.tunecore.com) for a full list.

(Dollars used as Tunecore is a US based company.)

• $0.99 per track (one time charge)
• $0.99 for each store (e.g. iTunes UK, iTunes, US, Amazon MP3 etc.) per album (one time charge)
• $19.98 per album maintenance and storage (per year)

These fees are a one-off payment – Tunecore don't take a percentage of your royalties (that's why we like them so much!).

Yes, but not directly, we will receive details from Tunecore on a monthly basis and pass these directly onto you. This will include details of how many sales of each track are sold through which online digital store each month.

As with all distribution there is about a 10 week delay on these, so don't expect the figures straight away!

Most stores (like iTunes) send sales information and money within 45 days after the end of the month in which the sale took place. As an example, if you had sales in the month of February, the stores send your sales information and money by April 15 (45 days after the end of February). Some stores, like eMusic and Napster (for streams only) send your sales information and money within 45 days after the end of each QUARTER. So if your Music sold in those stores any time during January, February or March, you'll know about all three months by May 15. We will then compile the sales reports for the various stores and send them on to you.

No, not at all, the most it will cost you is $20 to have your album removed from all online stores which will take about 6 weeks. However if you are seriously negotiating with a record label you must tell us as soon as possible.

Providing you register your tracks with the relevant body, for your territory, you're fine. For example, in the case of the Official UK Charts Company, you must register your tracks with the PPL Repertoire Database (formerly CatCo).

That's entirely your call. You still need to pay us £2.50 per album/25p per track though. If you are US based then check out Tunecore's physical offering.

Yes, when you create your Artist profile you enter into an agreement that governs all legal aspects relating to getting financed, royalty payments and distribution etc. It's quite long but it is important that you understand exactly what you are agreeing to - you can view our Legal info here. If you cancel your membership and remove your tracks then this agreement no longer applies.

Absolutely, 100% in both the track and the sound recording.

No, in fact it should help as you will have been financed to (and may have) released a professional album thereby separating you from the millions of other hopeful Artists out there. Your only obligation is to pay Slicethepie £2.50 royalty for every copy of that album (or 25p per track) sold for 2 years from release, other than that you can do what you want with who you want when you want. If the record company doesn't want to continue to pay the royalty they can buy out the Contract holders for a fixed 50% premium and remove the need to pay a royalty going forward.

2 years from the release of the album.

A royalty of £2.50 per album or 25p per track - significantly less than under a traditional record deal.

No - it's all yours. It's not an advance (loan) against your royalties, so therefore it's non-recoupable – not like if you were signed to a label, where you'd have to pay it back before receiving any money from sales.

We have partnered with Tunecore (www.tunecore.com) who are an online distributor with a similar Artist friendly philosophy to ourselves. They distribute to iTunes and all other major digital retailers. They receive monthly (in some cases 3 monthly) sales reports and cash from these retailers and account to Slicethepie for the gross receipts from these retailers. From this we deduct our royalty and send the rest onto your band bank account as quickly as we can. We love Tunecore - they only charge around £10 a year for this service and don't take a cut of the Artist's sales.

In most cases, yes; contact PRS and other societies to seek advice. What you do will depend on your circumstances, territory etc…

Everybody must take their own tax advice on this

They should seek advice from an accountant. If they do, they may be able to claim back the VAT!

Yes, but all expenditure is carefully monitored by us. We will not tell you how, where or with whom you should record and promote your album – that's all totally up to you. However, we will advise you if we think you're going off course and all of the finance must be accounted for. This is to protect both the interests of those who have invested in you and your own chances of a successful career – upset your fan base now and they will evaporate and your name will be mud across the web.

It is a part of the site where all Users (we call them Scouts) can review and rate Music, which determines whether or not an Artist is good enough to progress to the Showcase stage for financing. Every Scout is paid for each track they review.

Artists will be automatically included in the 24/7 all site Scout Room as soon as they sign up and upload 3 tracks. Then at regular intervals we will create a Showcase containing the highest rated Artists on the site.

In addition, we create other Scout Rooms from time to time based around genre or location which will also lead to Showcases. If an Artist is eligible they will automatically be included in these Scout Rooms.

Most will be around 1,000 Artists strong, however others could be far larger – for instance the 24/7 Scout Room will have over 10,000 Artists in it at any time.

Scout Rooms can be timed to start and finish at set times or they can be permanently open, with Showcases set up at regular intervals made up from the top rated Artists in that Scout Room. A timed Scout Room will last between 2-8 weeks depending on the number of Artists and Scouts involved.

Some are, some are not. But if an Artist's profile matches the criteria for a Scout Room they'll be automatically included.

In general, yes you can. However some Scout Rooms will only be open to Scouts matching a particular profile (a Scout Room may only be open to Scouts over the age of 25 from the United States, for example).

Yes – an Artist could simultaneously be in more than one Scout Room.

No, Artists must only upload original material either composed by them or by someone who has granted them the rights to use it. If they use a cover track without permission, they will be excluded.

An Artist can upload up to 10 tracks, but only 3 tracks can be “active” (i.e. eligible for Scouting) at any time. Also remember that an Artist will not be eligible for a Showcase until each of their active tracks has received at least 30 reviews.

Yes, anyone can earn money from Scouting (rating and reviewing Artists).

No, you can browse Artists and listen to tracks but not Scout.

Artists can provide a link on their profile page to other websites where you may be able to do this.

When you have received 30 or more reviews of your tracks, you’ll notice you can get a free sample report, this is from our sister site SoundOut. It’s a simple report which will give you some basic consumer analytics about your tracks, for example how well you faired in comparison to other artists in the Scout Room. Far more detailed reports are available from SoundOut which can help you understand loads more about your tracks, which market it appeals to (age/gender etc) – check out a sample report here, or find out more on the SoundOut website.

Whilst on Slicethepie you will receive lots of reviews over a few weeks, if you were to submit the same track to SoundOut, around 80 reviews would be sumbitted in just 24hrs! Alongside the reviews, SoundOut reports contain lots of juicy analytics to help you dissect your tracks, you’ll find out who they appeal to and much more. Any track submitted to SoundOut is not eligible for financing on Slicethepie. So, Slicethepie will give you reviews and the chance to get Financed, whilst SoundOut could tell you which your strongest tracks are and give you the insight bit to know how to promote yourself!

Scouts review and rate random, anonymous tracks in a Scout Room. In return, Slicethepie pays the Scout per review. The better at Scouting a Scout becomes, the more they get paid (and the more influence they have). . For instance in a particular Scout Room, a 1 star Scout may earn a 0.04 voucher per review and a 5 star Scout will earn £0.10 per review.

None really, just abide by the general terms and conditions of the site – read the Terms and Conditions!

First they need to listen to a decent portion of each track before they can rate it, so they might as well score it properly at the end. If they do not Scout properly they will never earn more than a basic one star Scout (i.e. not a lot). In addition we have recently switched on some pretty scary Forensic Linguistic software that identifies Scouts who are not hitting a minimum standard in their reviews (or abusing the system) and which rejects these on a real time basis.

There are sophisticated algorithms on the site that combine a number of factors to determine how high your personal Scout rating is, these include:

• Evaluating how close you rate each track compared with the average score of all other people who have rated that track. The better you are at judging this, the higher your rating will rise;
• The breadth of your scoring – i.e. the more you rate tracks across the full range (0-10) the better your rating. This discourages Scouts from always scoring in the middle of the range and gives clearer feedback to Artists.
• A Scout must leave full and meaningful feedback to improve their Scout rating;
• The more active you are as a Scout, the higher your Scout rating will become;
• Finally, to become a 5 star Scout you not only need to excel at all of the above, but also successfully Tip an Artist in the Scout Room.

Have a read of our Scouting Guide for extra info.

This is your personal list that, with "one click", you can add any Artist to, if you hear their Music anywhere on the site (e.g. when you are reviewing, browsing the Showcase, checking out Artists to invest in or just listening to streaming radio on the site). This means whenever you hear a track you like you will never forget the name of the Artist and will always have a direct link to their profile.

A Tip is a "bonus" equivalent to a free £5 Investment in an Artist, given to Scouts after submitting a numbers of reviews.

When you hear an Artist in the Scout Room who you think is great and capable of going all the way on Slicethepie, add them to your Watchlist (using the button on the Music Player). Then go to your Watchlist (MySlice -> Watchlist), find the Artist and select ‘Use Tip'. If they make it through to the Showcase, you get a FREE £5 Investment in that Artist (which entitles you to a free album among other things!). Alternatively, whilst Scouting you can hit the ‘Tip now' button and do it there and then.

Tips can only be used in the Scout Room in which they were earned. The moment a Scout Room ends and the Showcase for begins, all unused Tips evaporate, so best to use them as soon as you have earned them. Tips earned in the 24/7 Scout Room expire after 90 days so make sure you use them before you lose them!

Anyone who enjoys Music and who registers on Slicethepie!

This is paid into your online Slicethepie account. 1 and 2 star Scouts earn vouchers for each of their reviews which are credited into your Slicethepie Voucher Account. These Vouchers can only be used to invest in an Artist within the Showcase area of Slicethepie.

After that your Scout Earnings can be used to invest in more Artists or converted to cold, hard cash.

All Users on Slicethepie have a Voucher Account. This account is used to collect money from early Scouting, for Voucher credits and for any other rewards you earn on the site. A Voucher Account can only be used to invest in Artists in a Slicethepie Showcase. Unlike cash, once you have used credit to invest in an Artist you cannot move that credit Investment to another Artist and it will only be returned to your Voucher Account if your chosen Artist fails to reach their financing target.

With your Scout earnings you can invest in any Artist in a live Showcase, transfer money to your Trading Account to purchase Contracts or withdraw your money via PayPal.

Click on MySlice - My Account - Withdraw. The minimum withdrawal amount is £5 and funds take up to 5 working days to be transferred. If you don't have a PayPal account, don't worry. Just follow this link It's easy and free to setup.

To ensure the protection and security of User funds, when you make a PayPal withdrawal, it is a requirement that your PayPal account has the same email address as the email address tied into your Slicethepie account. If the PayPal email address does not match that registered on Slicethepie, then the funds will be automatically returned to your MySlice account.

This may mean that it is necessary to update your Slicethepie account with your PayPal registered email address.

In order to update your registered Slicethepie email address, all you have to do is login, go to "MySlice", "Member profile", and click on the orange "Change email address" tab below.

Nothing, it's free! In fact, we pay you to Scout!

You can review/rate as many tracks as you like, but you have to listen to the first 60 seconds of a track before you can start to leave your review.

This depends on how good you are at Scouting and how many reviews you complete.

Yes... more money, a higher Scout rating (more influence) and possibly a free Investment.

No. They only see your Scout rating (* to *****), the time and date of the review and the score itself (0-10).

If you have Tipped the Artist then you will not be able to remove them until the Tip you placed has expired, which will be 90 days after it was earned. However, if the Artist is not Tipped, then just click on the 'remove' button.

When this happens it means you have just reviewed a track submitted to our sister site SoundOut. The person getting feedback on their track chose for it to be anonymous, to compensate you, you’ll notice an additional Xp credited to your voucher account.

You will have just reviewed a track from SoundOut, our sister site. Tracks being reviewed for SoundOut reports cannot be added to your Watchlist as the Artists are not eligible for financing on Slicethepie, sorry.

Vouchers earned on Slicethepie are not transferable to SoundOut.

Showcases highlight the highest rated Artists from each Scout Room. In a Showcase Artists can raise money direct from Fans and Investors to record and release an album.

A Showcase can last for up to 6 months.

No, but every Artist who makes it to the Showcase has the same opportunity to raise the £15,000.

The Artist gets to professionally record an album. At this stage we'll get in touch with the Artist to let them know what happens next.

Yes. Right up until the Artist successfully reaches the target, you can change the value of your Investment, remove it completely or reinvest it in another Artist.

If they are already in another Showcase that is still running then all the Investment that they have attracted in the first Showcase will roll over to the new one. In addition, the Artists that have raised a substantial (£7,500) sum will have a final 3 months after the Showcase has ended to secure the balance of the money they need. It is only if they are in no Showcases at all and 3 months have passed that the money invested in them will be returned to the Investors. Showcase Artists who make little progress in a Showcase (i.e. raises less than £1,000 in the first 3 months of a Showcase) will be removed from the Showcase, with the investments made to date being returned to the Fans.

All Artists who have ever made it through to a Showcase will appear here, highlighting the very best talent on Slicethepie.

If an Artist doesn't reach the Showcase stage again within 3 months, then all the money that Fans have invested is returned to them in full.

For every £1 you invest you receive:

• 2 Free tracks from the Artist’s Slicethepie financed album
• 1 Free Contract which you can use to trade on our Trading Exchange
• Exclusive access to the Artists Forum

For £5 you will receive:

• The whole album
• 5 Free Contracts
• Exclusive access to the Artist’s Forum
• Your name on the album sleeve!

Direct financing enables Artists that already have a large Fan base to raise money directly from their Fans, without going through the Scout Room process. Slicethepie is about enabling all financeable Artists to raise the money they need directly from their Fans.

At the moment any Artist who can demonstrate that they have a decent database of loyal Fans.

First contact us on directfinance@slicethepie.com. We'll ask you for some evidence of your existing Fan base and some information about you / the band - we will then let you know whether you can use Slicethepie to raise finance. Remember, there is no point in pretending you have enough Fans as unless you raise a minimum of £15,000 you will not receive anything and may look a bit silly for having tried. If we agree to help, you will then send an email to all your Fans (we will provide the content) telling them how to help you by financing your album. This e-mail will direct them to your financing page on Slicethepie where they can invest in you.

We will charge you a fee of 10% of all money raised from your Fans. In exchange we will arrange the financing, host your "backstage area" on Slicethepie and issue up to 15,000 Contracts (bets) on the Slicethepie Exchange, so people can speculate on how successful your album will be. In addition you will, over a 2 year period, pay to us royalties of £2.50 per album sold plus 25p per digital single download and agree to allow us to distribute your album digitally through Tunecore on your behalf (i.e. the same as all other Artists financed on Slicethepie).

Not long. We would hope that after sending the email to your Fans, you should have the money within around 4-6 weeks.

If you can show that you have a decent sized database of loyal Fans and want to proceed then email us on directfinance@slicethepie.com.

Yes, identical. See “How much money will the Artist receive from the sale of an album financed through Slicethepie?.”

Yes, we issue Contracts on all Artists that have been financed on Slicethepie.

Yes, identical. See “Distribution.”

The Direct Financing legal agreement can be found here

A Contract is a tradable bet on the number of albums and tracks sold over a 2 year period from release. as Although it is a bet, it feels like signing an Artist to your own label or owning shares in the Artist. If they sell over a certain number of records, you make money. If they do not do as well as you expect you could lose money. You can trade in and out of Contracts at any time, banking a profit or cutting your losses.

When you invest in an Artist, you will be offered the chance to reserve Contracts. This means that should the Artist successfully raise the finance, your reserved Contract allocation will automatically be assigned to you – this means you do not have to remember to come back and claim them and so you avoid the chance of missing out. If they do not get fully financed, the Contracts will dissolve.

The only way to reserve Contracts for free is to invest in an Artist.

Contracts issued on the Slicethepie Exchange generally start trading at around £1 - £1.50 each. However, if you invest in an Artist at the Showcase stage, you will be entitled to 1 free Contract for every £1 Investment. Contracts are tradable on the Trading Exchange and are redeemable after 2 years at £0.10 for every 1,000 albums sold (or 10,000 singles).

At the end of the 2 year period from release of the album, all Contracts in the album are redeemed and the holder of each Contract receives a payment of £1 for every 10,000 albums sold digitally plus £0.10 for every 10,000 digital single downloads over that 2 year period. E.g. if 5,000 albums are sold the Contract holder receives 50 pence per Contract held, if 100,000 albums are sold, they receive £10 per Contract held and so on. Note, the amount you receive will also depend on the number of Contracts you hold and whether you decide to sell them before the 2 year period is up. Remember, the price of a Contract will fluctuate during this period as a result of news and speculation.

A maximum of 15,000 Contracts are available per album, one for each £1 invested in the Artist. However if the Artist is raising more than £15,000 (ie a direct financed Artist) the entitlement to Contracts per £1 invested may be different.

When you invest in an Artist in a Showcase, you will be offered the chance to reserve Contracts (1 free Contract for every £1 invested). These Contracts are assigned to Investors, before Trading begins and then they are open to everyone at the market price. By reserving, you ensure that you receive your allocation of Contracts and do not miss out by having to remember to claim them later.

Yes, there is no limit to the number of Artists you can invest or buy Contracts in.

Yes, in theory you could buy up all the available Contracts on the Exchange.

Yes, Slicethepie holds a UK Bookmakers License and you are gambling on the number of copies of an album that will be sold over a 2 year period from release. However it is not an all or nothing bet. The Contracts will always have a redemption value based on the number of albums sold at the end of the 2 year period.

Providing you're over 18 years of age and not an American citizen. Americans are excluded as online gambling is illegal in America and we would rather not get arrested next time we visit Disneyland. However Americans can participate in all other areas of the site as well as on the Slicethepie Virtual Exchange, where weekly Voucher gifts can be won by the top Traders. This does not in any way prevent Amrican citizens from investing in their favourite Artists and obtaining their free albums.

The value is determined by the prices at which others are prepared to buy and sell. For example, if an Artist started to receive lots of positive press and airplay, the price might shoot up, just like news effects the price of shares on a stock market.

2 years after the digital release of the album.

Be creative; spread the word, tell your friends, give Artists extra cash for PR etc. Every album sold will earn you a little more money.

Slicethepie will reimburse you the original issue price of the Contract. If the Contract is trading at above issue price you will effectively lose the difference between the current price and the issue price. Just like a label, this is a risk you take when you bet on the honesty of an unsigned Artist.

It is what is known as a betting exchange. A betting exchange is similar to a stock exchange where buyers and sellers trade between themselves and are matched automatically. The key difference is that on the Slicethepie Exchange you are trading a bet (that we call a Contract) rather than a share. With Slicethepie there is no underlying asset, just a promise from us that at the end of a two year period the amount we will pay out on a Contract will be directly related to the number of albums actually sold.

There are two ways to put money into your Trading Account:

• Deposit using your credit/debit card - Trading -> My trading account -> Deposit
• Transfer your Scout earnings from your general Slicethepie account - Trading -> My trading account -> Transfer

Enter the price you want to sell and hopefully you'll find a willing buyer - if a buyer appears the trade is automatically completed.

The "Sell for" price is the highest price at which another Trader is willing to buy Contracts from you.

Simply enter the price at which you are willing to buy and hopefully you will find a willing seller - if a seller appears, the trade is automatically completed.

The "Buy for" price is the lowest price at which another Trader is willing to sell Contracts to you.

The value of your Contracts is based upon the last traded price of those Contracts on the Exchange. The value of Contracts is not in any way related to the "Buy for" or "Sell for" prices.

Yes, except you are trading bets, not shares in a company.

No, the Contract side of the business is a Betting Exchange and we are subject to UK gambling laws.

Yes if we become aware of anything "price sensitive" we will announce this as news on the Market News Section. If you want you can set "Alerts" on Slicethepie that will tell you as soon as events occur.

In principle yes. However if our market monitors suspect anyone is trading on "inside information", their account will be frozen and they could be barred from trading on the Exchange for ever.

Yes, if you paid too much for them and the Artist sold fewer albums than you anticipated over the 2 year period then you will lose money.

No.

Up to 2.5% from buyer and 2.5% from seller. However these fees will not be applied for the time being.

It enables you to just trade for fun. It allows you to hone your trading skills before venturing onto the real Exchange. If you are under 18 or American, this is also the only way you can legally participate. As prices on the Virtual Exchange are live prices from the real Exchange, this is real in every respect apart from the money itself. To reward your efforts there will be regular prizes (paid in Slicethepie Vouchers) awarded to the top Traders on the Virtual Exchange.