AIM 2021 Results!

[Random-storykeeper]

Hey everyone! Yes, we are finally here at the results of AIM 2021. It has been a long process of deliberation and listening to a wide variety of talent, but we are ready to go. Without further ado, let’s get to the winners!

THE TOP 3

First place

If you want to know what the colour red sounds like in a spine-tingly sort of way, this entry will be right up your alley. From its vivid atmosphere to its sudden drop, we judges were captivated and taken along for its twisted ride.

Operation Fleshhunter by @LD-W

Second place

In a simple but effective medium, this piece managed to tug at our heartstrings in a dynamic journey of emotions and nostalgia. It even drove one of the judges to tears with its beauty.

Our Life. by @L-Mity

Third place

This entry not only musically narrates the scene in its inspiration effectively, it also manages to transform the work emotionally. The warm and dark tones, along with its slow build-up, evoke an intimate sorrowness that takes us along for the ride.

Out by the shipyard by @nyxl

RUNNER-UPS

Here are the awesome runner-ups for this year’s compo, in no particular order:

Citadella by @AlbeGian

Space Salsa by @MintyFreshThoughts

Green Sun by @POSTELVIS

The Nightmare Forest by @Codefreq

Journey To The Lighthouse by @ZaazNG

Spring Petals by @H20ghost

Jaguar Peak by @nyxl

Tranquility by @Spadezer

Valley of Bones by @TSRBand

The Guide by @UncouthkidAC

Atlantean Arbitrium by @Banana-head

Rolling Waves by @WolfgangMiakoda

Twin Cities Under Blue Sky by @CryNN

The Dark Side of Megacity by @Codefreq

Following The Valley Light by @Greyvoice

My Summer Sweetheart by @JohnMontoya

Hopea by @LucidShadowDreamer

FAN FAVOURITE

This year’s fan vote involved ranking your top 5 entries. With a lead of 14 points, the winner of the fan vote would be “Tranquility” - but since that entry is already a runner-up, we will look at the second place rankings. Three entries scored 10 points - two of which are runner-up winners (“Rolling Waves” and “Spring Petals”). However, one of these 10 point entries is *not* a runner-up, and will be given the fan favourite award. That entry is… *drum roll*

THE ILLUMINATED PATH by @radicaldawg

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to the judges @Troisnyx @AceMantra @littlbox for taking the time to listen to and evaluate these entries. I know it was not an easy feat, and I’m grateful for your dedication. Also, a bit thanks to @Troisnyx in particular for creating this year’s promo art!

Thank you to all the participants for taking the time to create an entry or two for this contest. There was an amazing turnout this year, and I was really glad to be able to listen to a wide variety of different styles and approaches to different themes.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the fan vote such that we could get a more decisive winner this year. :P

Thank you to @SplatterDash and @EctiBot for your contributions and help with the prizes. 

I hope to see you all next year, and congratulations to the winners! 

[Random-storykeeper]

PRIZE INFO

This year’s prizes are:

• Having your track featured in the AIM 2021 compilation album
• Cash prize (in USD) donated by @EctiBot ($100 for first place, $50 for second, $25 for third)
• A custom made USB for the top 3, runner-ups and fan favourite winners.

To all winners: Please have your downloads enabled or be prepared to provide a downloadable version of your track for the compilation album. You will be required to provide a mailing address for the physical USB prize, but please wait until either SplatterDash or I message you. 

For the top 3 winners: Please message @EctiBot with your PayPal information to be sent the cash prize. If PayPal is not feasible, you can still message EctiBot to work out an alternative means. 

[LucidShadowDreamer]

Congrats to @LD-W and all other winners and runner-ups! There were some really amazing entries this year ^___^

I'm glad this tradition is being kept alive, so a big thanks to all organisers and judges!

[LD-W]

I wasn't expecting to even get a Top 10 placement, the competition's been really good this year as usual!

Congratulations to all other winners/runner's up, and I'll see you all next year for AIM2022 if it's running!

[CryNN]

Thank you for making this contest. It was really fun! <3

[Everratic]

Congratualations to @LD-W and other winners! Thanks for hosting the contest again!

[Spadezer]

Huge shout out to @LD-W for winning and proving that you don't need to be completely human. Well done both to @L-Mity and @nyxl for also providing beautiful pieces that I highly agree fit with their art of choice. You all put in excellent work and I feel like you all are fit for the positions you got.

Also congrats to @SenseiTree. Getting fan favorite is an achievement in itself and yours is a great song for that title

Thanks to @Random-storykeeper for hosting, and @Troisnyx @AceMantra @littlbox for judging, I especially appreciate your efforts

Also miscellaneous shout out to @Kamikaye for unknowingly becoming the most inspirational artist for a lot of these contestants

[DigitalProdigy]

Congratulations to all the winners!

So much awesome music!

This was my first contest and I was glad to participate.

Will have to better next year, but that's what keep me motivated. 😍

[Troisnyx]

At 8/2/21 09:35 AM, Spadezer wrote: Huge shout out to @LD-W for winning and proving that you don't need to be completely human. Well done both to @L-Mity and @nyxl for also providing beautiful pieces that I highly agree fit with their art of choice. You all put in excellent work and I feel like you all are fit for the positions you got.

Also congrats to @SenseiTree. Getting fan favorite is an achievement in itself and yours is a great song for that title

Thanks to @Random-storykeeper for hosting, and @Troisnyx @AceMantra @littlbox for judging, I especially appreciate your efforts

Also miscellaneous shout out to @Kamikaye for unknowingly becoming the most inspirational artist for a lot of these contestants

Yaaaaa folks, time you started looking MUCH, MUUUUUUCH further afield.

If we're bringing light to artists through out music, we might as well do what we expect others to do for us: we want lesser known voices in audio to shine, so why shouldn't it be the same for artwork?

I get it if you can't help but feature That One Artist but please, if you can find alternatives, just... do that, will you? Like, I daresay that close to half the submissions this year were influenced by That One Artist.

[Codefreq]

Holy cow, I wasn’t expecting both of my entries to make it to the runner-up list! :D

Thank you and congrats to every winner/runner-up this year! :)

[ZaazNG]

Never in my wildest dreams, I would have imagined my submission making the list! Thank you so much, everyone! Also, congrats to the winners and runner-ups! :D

[TebyTheCat]

Really happy seeing the results, another great year of AIM!

I don't even mind that I wasn't top 20 (Honestly, I just did one egg based track for fun and didn't had time for another)

Congratulations to all winners, the judges, and, specially, ALL THE LOSERS!!!

YEAH THAT'S RIGHT

It's because of folks like me and all the others users that lost that we had 107 ENTRIES this year making this contest alive and keep living

I haven't won one yet and even after I make top20 in the future I'll still keep participating because this is my favourite constest on NG

So really, thank you judges for organizing and putting up with 100+ entries and congratulations to EVERYONE who joined in <3

[Random-storykeeper]

At 8/2/21 01:20 PM, Tebyricat wrote: Really happy seeing the results, another great year of AIM!
I don't even mind that I wasn't top 20 (Honestly, I just did one egg based track for fun and didn't had time for another)

Congratulations to all winners, the judges, and, specially, ALL THE LOSERS!!!
YEAH THAT'S RIGHT
It's because of folks like me and all the others users that lost that we had 107 ENTRIES this year making this contest alive and keep living

I haven't won one yet and even after I make top20 in the future I'll still keep participating because this is my favourite constest on NG

So really, thank you judges for organizing and putting up with 100+ entries and congratulations to EVERYONE who joined in <3

Lots of entries were great this year - there were some hard cuts that had to be made to get the top 20.

[Greyvoice]

So many awesome entries! This is probably my favorite of the audio contests for NG. Thanks so much for the shout out

[Banana-head]

AYYYYYYY i made it to the runner ups, and congrats to the winners!

[Sequenced]

lol

[LoveBelow]

Congrats to everyone!

[nyxl]

Wow :) This was a great competition with a lot of awesome entries! Thanks to all the organizers and judges for the time and effort they put into this contest and congrats to all winners and runner-ups!

[Irish-Soul]

I’ve recently been moving all my things to college and in the crossfire I accidentally missed the results of AIM!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS! Like other people said, 107 entries is absolutely INSANE and everyone who won this year absolutely deserved it. Congratulations, once again.

I can’t wait to participate next year, and see what amazing music & art NG has in store for us!

[Random-storykeeper]

The AIM 2021 album is now officially LIVE! Thank you again @Troisnyx for the amazing cover art.

https://artinspiredmusic.bandcamp.com/album/a-i-m-2021-vol-8

Next up will be working on distributing the USBs. The design and model of the USB is being finalized, and winners will be contacted via PM about mailing addresses when it is time to ship them out. Updates will be announced here as they come.

[SoulSecure]

At 8/2/21 03:46 AM, LD-W wrote: I wasn't expecting to even get a Top 10 placement, the competition's been really good this year as usual!
Congratulations to all other winners/runner's up, and I'll see you all next year for AIM2022 if it's running!

It's a good song, I'm not surprised. :)

Congratulations to the winners and I hope everybody had fun doing AIM this year!

[Random-storykeeper]

Hello, everyone! I know it's been a long while, but after some lengthy delays, I can finally announce that I have received the USB prizes for the winners! Here's some pictures of what they look like (thanks @Troisnyx for the wonderful design on the body and lid):

In case you've forgotten (totally understandable), the top 3 winners, runner-ups and fan favourite winners will receive one of these USB keys as a prize. If you were one of the winners mentioned in the original post of this thread, you will receive a PM on Newgrounds asking for a mailing address. If you are a winner and have not received a message from me, you can either PM me your mailing address on Newgrounds or find me on Discord on the NG Audio Pub server and DM me there. I usually post smaller updates on the #aim-general channel on Discord, so check that out whenever you can.

Thank you to Samulis, courtesy of Versilian Studios, for providing these USBs!

[Random-storykeeper]

Hi winners and judges getting a USB, it's been a long while again, but I'm about to buy the labels to send out your USBs. A reminder that all USBs will be shipped via regular untracked post mail, so the transit time will be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on where you live. (They will be shipped from Canada.) This is purely for financial reasons, otherwise I would opt for something with tracking.

If you want your package to be shipped via another method besides Canada Post, then this is your last chance to contact me. I will buy the labels tonight at around 9 pm PST. As usual, I post updates more regularly on the AIM channel on the Newgrounds Audio Pub Discord, which you can join here: https://discord.gg/RSnAkv8RWM

To avoid pinging everyone constantly, please don't reply directly to this post. Use the respond button at the top of the thread.

@LD-W @L-Mity @nyxl @MintyFreshThoughts @Greyvoice @UncouthkidAC @WolfgangMiakoda @Spadezer @Banana-head @TSRBand @JohnMontoya @LucidShadowDreamer @ZaazNG @H20ghost @POSTELVIS @chiptami @Troisnyx