Uploading Guidelines

This page represents official TMB policy or guidelines. Yarr!

Not everything written on this page is an unbreakable rule. There are times where it may be appropriate to ignore some guidelines, but if you're new to The Mixing Bowl you should probably follow them at all times until you've got a feel for the ethos of the site.

General Uploading Etiquette

• There are over 3,000 members here with uploading privileges. You are not more important than anyone else.
• There are over 80,000 torrents in the database. Your upload is not more important than any other.
• Try to follow the guidelines we've compiled so that your upload is of good quality with regards to the presentation of it on our site, the information about it and it's audio quality where this can be controlled.
• Don't immediately upload lots of torrents after becoming an uploader; you will probably cock things right up and create a mess. Take it easy and ask in the forums if you get stuck and if your answer isn't covered here.
• Only upload 2 torrents at a time. Wait until they are well seeded by a few other people before you move onto more.
• Name your torrent and folder to be uploaded according the the guidelines.
• Please keep the scene crap to a minimum. By all means include the nfo with the upload, but don't copy and paste a screen full of indecipherable symbols and "shout-outs" into the torrent description.
• CDs given away free with magazines are allowed to be upped, but only if the audio is mixed and then only once the next months magazine edition is out, ie once you can no longer purchase the magazine with the CD.

The following action can be taken if an admin feels someone is uploading against the spirit of these guidelines :

• Ban the individual torrent. You will not be allowed to upload the same mix again if this happens.
• Demote the member back to standard member status. This means you will lose your uploading rights and also resident status if you had attained it.
• Official Admin Warning for the member. Two of these and you are banned forever.
• Ban the member.

Readers' Mixes Uploading Etiquette

• The readers mixes section was created for members to get feedback on mixes they want to share.
• All torrents in this section are ratio free to encourage people to download and give feedback to the member.
• Don't upload more than 2 readers mixes a week, this forum is not your own.
• Don't upload readers mixes to increase your ratio, eg with a bunch of playlisted autofaded tracks with no care or thought. You should upload because you want to get some feedback and share your creation!
• Don't excessively bump/pimp your own mixes. Bumping one mix a few times is fine, but bumping your back catalogue in one go is not!
• Blatant use of Artist name in titles is unacceptable if an admin feels it's only done to trick people into downloading.
• Don't create a mix with just a new artist's album mixed in a different order than the official album; show the artist you are supposedly paying homage to some respect.

Please Note:

• Everyone started somewhere and we strongly encourage people to share mixes they have created so some of these wordings are intentionally left vague.
• The admin will make decisions on a case by case basis. If you don't agree with the decision that's fine but remember the rules, specifically: Do not defy the admins' expressed wishes.
• If you feel someone is uploading against the spirit of the readers mix forum report the torrent stating why, and then please leave decisions to the admin team, ie no backseat moderation thank you!

To ensure every member gets fair exposure the following action can be taken if an admin feels someone is uploading against the spirit of this section :

• Move torrent to the studio promo/anything else forum therefore removing the ratio free aspect of the torrent.
• Ban the individual torrent. You will not be allowed to upload the same mix again if this happens.
• Demote the member back to standard member status. This means you will lose your uploading rights and also resident status if you had attained it.
• Official Admin Warning for the member. Two of these and you are banned forever.
• Ban the member.

Torrent Tagging Guidelines

With the launch of TMBv2 the way in which torrents are named and categorised has changed dramatically. Titles, artists, categories and genres are all now specified separately which has greatly enhanced the filtering and searching functions of the site. This has in part been made possible by the development of a new "tagging" systems.

For more details on the new system please read the following guide and examples.

Title

The title should be a very brief description of the torrent. This can be the name of the radio show, event or witty name for your Readers Mix. The title should not contain any artists names or genres. All extra details about and upload should be included in the description.

Good Titles

Clublife - EP 92

BTTB - Back to the Basics

Essential Mix - Live from Glastonbury

Bad Titles

Essential Mix - Sasha - MP3

Should only be

Essential Mix

Sasha should be defined as an artist, MP3 specified as the codec and Essential Mix tag selected.

And another example

Radio 1 Drum and Bass show with Fabio, Grooverider and High Contrast

Should be

 Radio 1 Drum and Bass show

Fabio, Grooverider and High Contrast should be specified as artists.

Artists

Artists should be entered as a comma separated list. The site has an autocomplete function which will guess as you type the artist you are entering from the artists already in our database. The artist tag field is for who created the mix/session/performance, not every artist featured.

High Contrast, Pendulum

The list of artists should not contain and or & unless they are part of the artists full name. Neither should they contain any special characters such as brackets (), pipes | or dashes -.

The following are incorrect;

Sasha and Digweed

Cal Alex Vs Dreamgirl

and should be

Sasha, Digweed

Cal Alex, Dreamgirl

Tags

Main Tags

We have specified a set of tags as being "Main Tags" and every upload must have at least one of these selected. The purpose of main tags is to provide at least the most basic information about an upload, in most cases this is the source of the torrent. The list of Main Tags can be found on the upload form by clicking the green main tags help link.

Many of the popular radio shows are main tags, examples being the Essential Mix, ASOT and Breezeblock. Other Radio is provided for radio shows for which there in no main tag. Live DJ Mix & Studio/Promo are self explanatory, as is Readers Mix. Vids is provided for video uploads and Other can be used when no other main tag is suitable.

It is perfectly acceptable to use more than one main tag for an upload, the combination below being an example if the Essential Mix was being broadcast live from an event.

 Essential Mix, Live DJ Mix

Other Tags

Attributes of an upload can be specified by the inclusion of extra tags. Most commonly this will be the genre or style of a mix however tags can be extended to include any attribute. For example an event name could be used as a tag to allow users to find all torrents uploaded from that event, eg. Sonar, Glastonbury or Warehouse Project.

Tag Ordering

The order in which you specify tags effects the images which are displayed in the torrent list. The rules for this are as follows.

• Main tags take priority, the first main tag will set the first image and the second main tag the second image.
• If only one main tag is specified the second image will be the next tag for which we have an image. Most of the common genres and radio shows have images however not all tags have images.
• In the case that the only tag defined is a main tag the tag Misc. will be added. This will also happen if none of the secondary tags specified have images.

The coding for these rules is relatively new so older torrents will not follow this convention.

Examples

Essential Mix, Live DJ Mix, Glastonbury, Breakbeat, Drum and Bass

Live DJ Mix, Electro, Warehouse Project

Other Radio, Trance, AH.fm

Readers Mix, Techno, Ableton

Vids, Interview, Instructional

Vids, Documentary, House, 1990s

Codec

Select the encoding used for the recording, common values are MP3, AAC and Lossless. For videos please use specify Other.

Bitrate

When MP3 and MP2 codecs are selected you are required to specify the bitrate of the recording. Valid values are between 1-1500 and Lame switches such as V0, V1, V2 & VBR. For all other codecs the bitrate is not required however it can be added where appropriate.

Length

Specify the length of the recording in minutes. If you don't know or can't determine the time please enter an estimate.

Date

Three fields are provided to specify the date of a torrent; day, month and year. In the event that you do not know the full date of the torrent provide as much information as you can. The most basic date information required for every torrent is the year.

Description

The description field allows you to add extra information about the torrent, such as tracklisings, programme synopsis and artwork. A good description can greatly enhance an upload and make it much more appealing to downloaders.

It is highly recommended that the tracklist for mixes are added to the description if known.

Folder and file names

Use sensible folder and file names including enough details to be unique without going over the top. For example, the artist responsible for the mix, the title and date are all sensible values to use. There is a hard limit of 200 characters for the combined folder and file names. If you are hitting this limit, consider removing any duplication between the folder and filenames.

How to attract more downloaders to your torrents

• Name/Title your upload clearly & according to our guidelines.
• Provide a good description including your method of capture if you are uploading a radio show or live set.
• If you are uploading a CD learn how to rip with EAC and encode it correctly with LAME.
• Include a tracklist if at all possible (you can often find them by searching google).
• Use sensible names for the folder and files to be uploaded - see Folder and file names
• If possible include a .cue sheet.
• Seed it until there are a few other seeders.

Common mistakes made by new uploaders

• SHOUTING IN YOUR TITLES.
• @@>>!!??# or other useless characters in your title (aka ebay idiot syndrome).
• Useless folder title (always include the artist name, mix title and date if it is a radio show or live dj set).
• Useless info in the title, eg (OMG GREAT MIX!)
• Including your username in the title, filename or main file tags (comment tag is ok)
• CDs ripped with mediaplayer/itunes or other non gapless compliant applications.
• Uploading a single mp3 instead of uploading inside a clearly named folder.
• Uploading a mix then not seeding for a day (wait to upload if you can't seed for some time).
• If you have 2 parts put them in a folder and upload as one, DO NOT upload 2 separate torrents
• Forgetting to include the site .nfo file.
• Incorrect choice of category or genre.

Important:

• If you have made any of these mistakes and an admin notices it they will ban (remove) your torrent. If any other member thinks your torrent hasn't followed the uploading guidelines they can report it (which will bring it to the attention of the admin team). If you have already had uploads banned the admin may revoke your uploading privileges. It will be harder for you to regain your uploader status as you will have to demonstrate an understanding of the guidelines and a willingness to follow them.
• If you have made these mistakes on any of your uploads don't panic. You can edit your own torrent including any of the details, you can also delete your own torrent. You should only delete your torrent if it can't be edited for example when you didn't upload inside a folder or had a useless filename, in this case you will need to make the corrections and upload again. To edit or delete a torrent view the torrent details (not the forum topic) and click .
• If you see a torrent you feel isn't up to scratch you should report it using the link provided in the forum thread . You could tell the uploader in the thread if it is something easily fixable, like incorrect genre or category, but don't start any flaming with abusive comments!