![Song Fight](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Song_Fight.png)
Song Fight! is a weekly online songwriting and recording competition in which amateur artists are openly invited to participate. Traditionally, a title and deadline are posted each week for which participants write, record, and submit a song in
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
format. All entries are compiled at the end of the week and links to the files are displayed on the front page for public voting, which lasts until the end of the next week. All visitors to the site are able to listen to the MP3s and are permitted one vote each. At the end of this voting period, results are posted and the next cycle (or "fight") begins, meaning at any given time one fight is in the works (in that a deadline and title are available) while the previous fight is in its voting stage. While the original Song Fight! system involved only one fight per week, as many as four are now sometimes conducted. Winning earns you no more or less than "bragging rights, satisfaction,
ndthe jealous glances of strangers sitting next to you on the subway." Nonetheless, the site has inspired well over a thousand artists to enter since the competition's inception.
All songs submitted to Song Fight! are free for download, and are catalogued and hosted indefinitely.
History
The original "Fightmaster," Collin "Narbotic" Cunningham, had a site on the
Dumbrella Dumbrella is an alliance of webcomic artists who promote one another's sites, travel to conventions, and sell merchandise together. It is also the name of the website of that alliance, which serves as a shared weblog.
The current members of the D ...
network where, similar to
explodingdog
explodingdog is the name of a website run by Sam Brown (artist), Sam Brown, pseudonym of Adam Culbert. From 2000 to 2015, viewers e-mailed Brown short phrases for inspiration and he illustrated certain ones. The drawings are usually rendered digi ...
, he accepted submissions of song titles and would record a song based on that title.
Song Fight! began when Cunningham declared its first fight title,
Golfpunk Drives a Cadillac on June 19, 2000. Song Fight! was not open to the public for the first several fights, and was at this time populated mainly by Cunningham's friends and internet acquaintances. The first public fight was the seventh,
Zero to Phantom (January 4, 2001). This was also the fight that first featured now "internet-famous" artist
KOMPRESSOR, often considered Song Fight!'s first musical personality to become widely notable outside the community. While host Cunningham/Narbotic was a regularly featured artist during this time, none of his entries received the most votes in a fight.
During these years, the Song Fight! community made its home on the
Dumbrella Dumbrella is an alliance of webcomic artists who promote one another's sites, travel to conventions, and sell merchandise together. It is also the name of the website of that alliance, which serves as a shared weblog.
The current members of the D ...
message boards, also home to the forums of prominent
webcomics
Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books.
Webcomics can be ...
Achewood,
Wigu
Jeffrey J. Rowland (born May 22, 1974) is the author and artist responsible for '' Wigu'' and '' Overcompensating'', two popular webcomics. Originally from Locust Grove, Oklahoma, Rowland now lives in Easthampton, Massachusetts, where he contin ...
,
Diesel Sweeties
''Diesel Sweeties'' is a webcomic and former newspaper comic strip written by Richard Stevens III (R Stevens). The comic began in 2000,Rall, Ted (2006). '' Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists'', New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchi ...
and
Explodingdog
explodingdog is the name of a website run by Sam Brown (artist), Sam Brown, pseudonym of Adam Culbert. From 2000 to 2015, viewers e-mailed Brown short phrases for inspiration and he illustrated certain ones. The drawings are usually rendered digi ...
, among others. In July 2001 the first official performance of Song Fight! artists was collected for the first "Song Fight Live!" at Hot Lunch in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
. A highlight of the evening included an impromptu songwriting contest, in which contestants created songs on the fly to the title of the venue's name.
On May 10, 2002, a new title was announced: "Postcard". The deadline came, and passed. Months went by without an update. As the fighters became restless, "side-fights" began to spring up on private sites, the most prominent of them held by participant "Spud" of prolific Song Fight! ensemble Octothorpe. Known as "Mean While!", this side-contest eventually became more regular and (as a result) more attractive than waiting for an update from the original. Narbotic updated one full month after the announcement of "Postcard" with optimistically-titled "The Return", the entries from which were never actually posted.
Mean While!'s administrator, in conjunction with participant "JB" of the one-man John Benjamin Band, moved the contest to SongFight.org, asking Cunningham to create a redirect to that location from SongFight.com, the original address, a request that was eventually granted. JB, having previously purchased the rights to the .net and .org addresses to protect them from squatters (and to begin a Song Fight! webring at the .net location), agreed to host the site while Spud became responsible for the code and aspects of the site's upkeep and administration. The two now officially host and help to administer Song Fight! in cooperation, though the source of the titles is repeatedly said to be an unknown individual called only "Deep Throat", a tongue-in-cheek reference to the famous
informant
An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...
from the
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
. Songs from Mean While! (beginning June 28, 2002) have now been incorporated into the Song Fight! archives, along with all entries from Narbotic's period of administration.
Song Fight! Live
"Song Fight! Live" events happen annually in the United States. "Song Fight! Presents" (official and semi-official) shows have been performed on both coasts of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
*July 7, 2001 - Song Fight! Live West Coast in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, CA.
*June 28, 2002 - Song Fight! Plain & Tall in
Lancaster, PA.
*July 26, 2003 - Song Fight! Wet & Wild in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, WA.
*June 18–19, 2004 - Song Fight! Hot & Bothered in
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, TX.
*August 12–13, 2005 - Song Fight! Sox & Rock in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, MA.
*August 18–19, 2006 - Song Fight! High & Dry in
Santa Cruz, CA.
*August 16–18, 2007 - Song Fight! Rebels & Trebles in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, GA.
*August 15–18, 2008 - Song Fight! Hot & Sweaty in
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
, FL.
*July 17–18, 2009 - Song Fight! Rock & Rocker in
Spokane
Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...
, WA.
*July 17–18, 2010 - Song Fight! Love & Haight in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, CA.
*June 11–12, 2011 - Song Fight! Yanks & Banks in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, NY.
*July 13–14, 2012 - Song Fight! Beer & Coffee in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, WA.
*August 9–10, 2013 - Song Fight! Weird & Wired in
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, TX.
*August 15–16, 2014 - Song Fight! Feds &Shreds in
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
*August 14–15, 2015 - Song Fight! Wiccans & Chickens in
Portland, OR
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous cou ...
*July 16–17, 2016 - Song Fight! Touch & Go in
New York, NY
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
*September 15–16, 2017 - Song Fight! Foodies & Hoodies i
Berkeley, CA*August 10–11, 2018 - Song Fight! Beers & Beards & Bears i
Denver, CO*August 2–3, 2019 - Song Fight! Curds & Chords i
Madison, WI
Current status
As of mid-2020, Song Fight! has conducted more than 850 fights and is host to more than 12,000 entries.
"Cover art" is also accepted for each fight, though it is not a separate "art fight" in that no voting process occurs. The submission of fight art is considered more of a service than a competition. Fight art is a reference to the earliest days of Song Fight!, when
Explodingdog
explodingdog is the name of a website run by Sam Brown (artist), Sam Brown, pseudonym of Adam Culbert. From 2000 to 2015, viewers e-mailed Brown short phrases for inspiration and he illustrated certain ones. The drawings are usually rendered digi ...
artist Sam Brown produced much of the artwork for each week's fight. There is also an archive of all submitted artwork.
Cover art archive
/ref>
Notable participants
The following artists originated on, or have participated in Song Fight!.
* Brad Suck
* Kompressor (musician), KOMPRESSOR
* MC Frontalot
(has also entered a
Urine Luck
an
Rapper Name Redacted
and was the lead singer o
Duboce Triangle
an
Milwaukee Youth Center Choir
* MC Hawking
* The Spinto Band
The Spinto Band is an American indie rock band from Wilmington, Delaware. Formed in 1996, the band comprises singer and guitarist Nick Krill, singer and bassist Thomas Hughes, drummer Jeffrey Hobson, keyboardist Sam Hughes, and guitarist Joey Hobs ...
(a
Carol Cleveland Sings
* Duncan Pflaster
Duncan Pflaster (born 1973) is an American Off-Off-Broadway playwright, composer and actor. His first play ''Wilder and Wilder'' (a transvestite adaptation of Alice in Wonderland), was produced in 1995 at Florida Playwrights' Theatre in Hol ...
(a
Level Nivelo
* Jonathan Mann
* State Shirt
References
External links
Song Fight! Website
{{Authority control
American music websites