Frequently Asked Questions

We strive to make Gigacrate as simple and straightforward as possible, but sometimes folks get confused. Here is a list of our most frequently asked questions...

1. How do I find music and users?
2. How do I filter search results?
3. How do I listen to music?
4. How do I embed the flash player widget on my website?
5. So you sell some songs and offer some for free?
6. So you guys also aggregate music blogs?
7. How do I download the free music (promos)?
8. What are Promo Points?
9. How do I rate, tag and comment on songs?
10. How do I buy music?
11. How do I save music to buy later?
12. How do I know I can trust Gigacrate?
13. Wait, how much is a song?
14. What quality are the mp3s?
15. How are the Top Rated songs/albums calculated?
16. What the heck is DRM?
17. Where do I edit my profile?
18. What are Contacts?
19. How do I post to the Forums?
20. How do I get my music on GigaCrate?
21. How do I get my music featured?
22. How do I get my music on the email blast?
23. How do I advertise on GigaCrate?
24. How do I delete my account or make it private?

How do I find music and users? 

Browsing.

Each section (Home, Music, Users, etc..) has top level tab navigation with sub navigation below it. This sub navigation is essentially a quick way for you to browse contents of that section. In Music, for instance, you may wish to view the "Latest Arrivals" or "Top Rated" songs.

Each section also has a homepage that typically has summary information which is perfect for quickly browsing content.

Searching.

Each section has a simple search and an advanced search. Searches are performed only within the section you are in (ie: if you are in About and you perform a search, you will not get results from the Music section...only from the About section).

We even have the ability to resolve a fuzzy search. For instance, if you type "Beestie Boyz", you would get "Beastie Boys". Which means, you don't even have to know exact spellings. How cool is that!

Simple Searching.

See that textfield located directly above the main nav tabs? That is the simple search. Type anything you wish into the textfield and it will search all applicable fields in the database.

Advanced Searching.

Click on the text labeled "Advanced" (to the right of the simple search, just above the main navigation) and the simple search will be replaced by advanced search options.

More detailed search options are available in advanced search. For example, in the Music section you can search on artist, song title and even BPM if you so desire. Leave fields blank that you don't want to search on.

How do I filter search results? 

You may notice that sections such as Latest Arrivals have options to narrow your search further. All of these search filters are done with ajax (meaning they don't require a page refresh).

Display options.

The "Text Display" is essentially a table with no images. It is very useful for quickly viewing lots of songs or albums.

The "Grid Display" is strictly images. It is reminiscent of browsing the isles of a vinyl record store.

The "List Display" is a hybrid image and text option that is our default for most sections.

View options.

This allows you to switch between viewing songs or albums. Simply click on the view you would like to see and your results will change. We usually default to showing albums, so you can quickly go through alot more data.

Include options.

You decide what types of songs/albums you wish to see between promo (free), blog (link to blog sites) and/or for sale.

Simply check which ones you wish to see.

Rating and BPM options.

We have given you two sliders by which you can narrow your results. If you wish to see all songs with a rating between 4-5 in the BPM range of 100-105 you can easily do that by moving the min/max handles.

Date options.

This select box allows you to set a time period for the search results you are viewing [All Time, Last Week, Last Month].

For instance, if you click Top Rated, you are returned songs with the highest average rating (slightly weighted for the number of ratings) over the "Date" you've selected (the default is "Last Week").

Sort options.

This select box allows you to sort within the search results already returned to you. So if you click to view Top Promos, you can click "Sort by: [Date Added: newest first]" and the latest, most popular promos will appear first.

How do I listen to music? 

You will notice play buttons sprinkled throughout the site that look much like this...

Player won't play?

If you click a play button and nothing happens, then you may have an outdated version of Adobe Flash.

Please download the latest version of Adobe Flash.

Once you have installed the latest version, close your browser. Restart your browser. Refresh and try again.

How do I embed the flash player widget on my website? 

There are currently two ways to get songs and the code to embed our audio player widget on your website...

1. Anytime you're viewing a song or album click the button.

When you are looking at a song or album, you will see a "get widget" button much like this...

get widget

2. After you do a search click the link in the upper right.

When you do a search (or on pages like Latest Arrivals), you will see a "get widget" link up near the top right like this...

get widget

Clicking the button or link will expand out the code you need to copy/paste on to your website in order for those songs to show up in a widget on your site.

So you sell some songs and offer some for free? 

How do I know what's for sale and what's free?

For sale songs will say BUY on the button like this..

Promo songs are free songs that you can download directly from GigaCrate (if you have enough promo points) and they have DOWNLOAD on the button like this...

Blog songs are free songs that we link to from the blogs we aggregate and they have View Blog Post on the button like this...

NOTE: You must visit the blog in order to download blog songs, we don't host them directly.

We have also added a ribbon on promo and blog songs (since they are both free) to help you distinguish quickly.

So you guys also aggregate music blogs? 

You wanna get your hands on the latest tunes right? One of the most popular ways is to scour music blogs trying to find the latest songs.

We make your job easier by aggregating music from blogs that are submitted to us (and approved). Now you only have to visit a single website to find the latest songs!

Wait, so where do I download the music?

We only stream previews of the songs, in order to download the full versions, we provide you a direct link to the original blog post.

I want my blog's music to appear on GigaCrate!

Just submit it here: www.gigacrate.com/AddBlog.php

It may take a moment for us to review your music blog to make sure it fits with our direction and to ensure we can aggregate your music on our site.

It helps if your blog hosts music directly or uses popular file hosting services like yousendit, sendspace, zshare, etc...

Please make sure your mp3 files have valid ID3 tags and artwork (at least artist, song and genre).

We will not be able to parse blogs who use rapidshare or other paid file hosting services.

Where do blog songs appear on the site?

You can view the latest music blog songs here: http://www.gigacrate.com/Music/MusicLatestBlogs.php

Here's a full list of the blogs we aggregate: http://www.gigacrate.com/Music/MusicBlogs.php

How do I download the free music (promos)? 

In order to purchase music you must have a user account and be logged in.

Downloading promo songs and/or albums is simple, just...

1. Click the DOWNLOAD button...
   DOWNLOAD 1 PT
2. Download your songs!

All promos automatically appear in your Purchased Crate, never in the Checkout Crate.

You will only be able to buy a promo if you have enough promo points. You can get more by clicking to "rate, tag, comment" on songs.

What are Promo Points? 

Promo points are awards given to users who rate, tag, comment on songs. You must do all three of these things in order to get 1 promo point. Your account keeps track of how many promo points you have acquired and you can use these "promo points" to get free music!

How do I get promo points?

1. rate, tag, comment on a song = 1 point (you must do all 3 things to get 1 point)
2. post in the forums = 1 point (with a max limit of 5 per day)
3. comment on an article = 1 point (with a max limit of 2 per day)

How do I use promo points?

You can use your "promo points" to download/unlock promo songs. Each promo mp3 costs 1 promo point.

Just look for the DOWNLOAD button near a song or album. Click the button and you will be charged 1 promo point and the song will automatically begin to download.

DOWNLOAD 1 PT

How many points do I have?

In the Login box in the right side of the site, you will notice two numbers of promo points, "remaining" and "accumulated".

Remaining tells you how many points you have left (available to spend/use).

Accumulated tells you how many points you have earned in total. We use this figure to determine who is qualified for contests and who has the most promo points.

You can also see your remaining promo points when viewing your Profile (in the upper right).

Where do I find these Promo songs/albums?

In our music section there are several links you can follow:

Latest Promos - the most recent promo songs/albums we have uploaded.

Top Promos - the most popular promo songs are listed here.

Latest Arrivals - has a mixture of for sale and promo songs/albums.

How do I rate, tag and comment on songs? 

Whenever you see the audio player, you will notice there are three links below it that look like this:

rate, tag, comment

Tag.

Tags are words that describe or classify a song. Things like "Hip-Hop", "Hyphy" or even "hilarious". You can leave multiple tags and they don't have to be unique.

If you type slow enough, you will notice that we auto-suggest tags based on comparing what you are typing to what's in our database.

Rate.

Rating is simple, just click from on a star (left = 1/worst and right = 5/best).

Comment.

Comments are just a sentence or two of your thoughts about the song.

Just so ya know...

You don't have to "rate, tag, comment", but if you do 1 of the 3, you must do all. Remember you must do all three to get 1 promo point.

You can change your rating and/or comments whenever you like. If you accidentally clicked 1 star, but meant 3 stars, no problem...simply click 3 stars and your rating will be saved.

To improve the usefulness of our tagging system, we normalize some tags by stripping out most punctuation characters, like "'","," and ".", and converting the tag to lowercase form. If you don't see your tag the way you entered it on this screen, don't worry, we've stored it and attached it to your tracks the way you typed it in, but it got changed into a punctuation-free, lower case version here. We also only display tags that have been applied to 5 or more tracks.

What is the "Was this review helpful to you? yes | no | spam" stuff?

In short, we want to encourage you to provide meaningful comments. This is how we ensure you get the best quality promos!

But just in case you are an ass and put comments like "yo", "asdfjaslk", "Neat", "check out viagra.com!", etc..., we let other users tell us if they found your comments useful or not.

If 5 users clicked "no" or "spam" and less than 5 "yes", your feedback will be deleted, and you will lose credit for the promo point.

How do I buy music? 

In order to purchase music you must have a user account and be logged in.

Buying albums and/or songs is simple, just...

1. Click the BUY button...
   BUY $X.XX
2. Click the button to go to your Checkout Crate.
   in your checkout crate
3. Click the Google Checkout button to buy all the songs in your Checkout Crate.
   
4. Fill in your credit card info with Google, agree to terms, click the "Place Order" button.
5. When you see "Thanks You're Done", click on the "Return to Gigacrate LLC" link.
6. This will take you back to your Purchased Crate.
7. Be patient, it can take a few minutes for Google to communicate with our server.
8. Click "download..." to get your songs (once you buy a song, you can download as many times as you like).

Checkout crate?

We call our shopping cart a "crate" (pretty clever huh). To view the contents of your crate, Click on the "Crates" section in the "Actions" box (under the Gigacrate logo on the top right of the site), then click on the crate you wish to view.

I am experiencing issues!

We apologize if you are experiencing problems. Please post your issues over in our Support Forum and we will do our best to make things more clear. We also encourage you to provide us with feedback on how we can improve.

How do I save music to buy later? 

We realize that you aren't Daddy Warbucks and you might want to actually put some of the music you are listening to on hold. Novel idea aye.

Right next to every Buy link is a "Save" link. Just click that link and the song will be added to your Save Crate.

Purchasing a song in your Save Crate.

Open your Save Crate (Click Crates section in "Actions" box, then click Saved Crate link). Simply check all the songs you wish to purchase, then click the "buy selected" link. The songs will be sent to your Checkout Crate.

Can you save promo songs/albums?

You can only save a promo if you have 0 points. Otherwise, you won't see the "Save" link on a promo song/album.

How do I know I can trust Gigacrate? 

We realize buying things online is still a tricky and sometimes scary prospect for some people and therefore we have taken several steps towards making your purchasing experience safe and secure.

SSL Cert for your protection.

For your protection and peace of mind, Gigacrate has been through an authentication process to validate our business which in turn provides you with the highest level of trust when shopping on our site :)

We use Google Checkout.

Google Checkout has a fraud protection policy and you can keep your email address confidential.

We accept all major credit cards and even sell to buyers in these countries...

Plus your Google Checkout account will work with thousands of other online stores!

Wait, how much is a song? 

We charge $1.49 for individual songs. However, if you buy all the songs from an album at once, you get them for $.99 each!!! There is a max charge of $12.99 (even if an album has 100 songs).

Here's some example album prices...

• < 2 songs from same album, the price is $1.49 each.
• 3 song album = $2.98 total
• 4 song album = $3.97 total
• 5 song album = $4.96 total
• 6 song album = $5.95 total
• 7 song album = $6.94 total
• 8 song album = $7.93 total
• 9 song album = $8.92 total
• 10 song album = $9.91 total
• 11 song album = $10.90 total
• 12 song album = $11.89 total
• > 12 song album = $12.99 total

What quality are the mp3s? 

Promo songs are at least 160kbps.

For sale songs are all LAME encoded with the "-V2 --vbr-new" setting. These settings produce transparent encoding (transparent = most people cannot distinguish the MP3 from the original in an ABX blind test). Audible differences between these presets exist, but are extremely rare.

What is LAME? What is "-V2--vbr-new"?

"-V2--vbr-new" is a preset that was developed for the LAME encoder by the audiophiles at www.hydrogenaudio.org

It was designed to create MP3s that sound exactly like the CD original, even to audio freaks using equipment that cost more than your car.

It uses variable bit-rate, which makes the bit-rate fluctuate based on the complexity of the music. More complex sections of music get higher bit-rates to maintain CD quality. Simpler sections are given lower bitrates, while still maintaining CD quality, to minimize the file size. Most average out to about 192kb/s, but are MUCH higher quality than Constant Bit Rate 192kb/s MP3s.

For more info, check out www.hydrogenaudio.org, which is full of very smart people, on the bleeding edge of audio compression.

I've heard there are some other switches, like Alt Preset Extreme or "-b 320", that are better than "-V2--vbr-new"?

"-b 320" is the strongest setting for LAME, with the lowest risk of artifacts. With the exception of a few situations, quality is rarely better than the "-V2--vbr-new" preset.

There are very, very, very, very, very, very, few cases where "-V2--vbr-new" can't replicate the original audio perfectly. (And even when it can't, most of us regular humans would never notice).

From reading www.hydrogenaudio.org, even the LAME developers will tell you that in such cases, "-b 320" or the highest LAME preset rarely makes a difference, and the difference between the two presets is mostly theoretical.

So why even have it?

Probably just to make certain people feel better. "-V2--vbr-new" is LAME's "preset standard" and was designed to be exactly that, the standard.

What about re-recording GigaCrate mp3s in a mix?

If you re-record (aka transcode) our GigaCrate mp3s a 2nd time using LAME -V2--vbr-new, the difference between the 2nd mp3 and the first mp3 will be negligible.

It is COMPLETE hogwash that you have to start with a 320kbps .mp3 in order to get a high quality .mp3 DJ mix without noise artifacts.

Still skeptical? Read this post for more information and mp3 test examples: http://www.gigacrate.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=48

How are the Top Rated songs/albums calculated? 

We use a true Bayesian estimate...

Weighted Rating (WR) = (v ÷ (v+m)) × R + (m ÷ (v+m)) × C

where...

R = average for the song (mean) = (rating)

v = number of votes for the song = (votes)

m = minimum votes required to be listed in the Top 50 (set to 3 right now, but this may change moving forward)

C = the mean vote across the whole report

What the heck is DRM? 

What is DRM you ask? In short, it places restrictions on the usage of a digital file. Sometimes DRM files only play on "approved" devices, sometimes they only play for a given period of time. Digital Rights Management is a controversial topic, with advocates arguing that DRM is necessary to allow copyright holders to prevent revenue loss due to unauthorised duplication of their works. We are of the firm belief that DRM doesn't work and there will always be ways to easily circumvent it. At Gigacrate we feel that chastising our users is the wrong approach. If given the opportunity, we believe users will support artists. What's that? You don't agree? Well, we are not alone in this stance. Read our full stance on the DRM issue.

All of our songs are DRM free! They are compatible with any computer and/or mp3 player. Unlike iTunes, Napster and other competitors, we understand how annoying and restrictive DRM files are.

Where do I edit my profile? 

Click on the "Profile" link in the Actions box (under the Gigacrate logo in the top right of the site)

You will see links for the various sections of your profile.

How do I upload a photo?

Simply click the link beneath the image that says "click to upload new image" and a file upload option will appear.

The ideal size for your photo is a .jpg at 500px by 500px at 72dpi.

I select a photo on my computer but it won't upload?

We have a max file size limit of 100KB and it must be .jpg, .jpeg, .gif or .png format.

What are Contacts? 

Contacts are users that you have saved by clicking "add to contacts" when viewing a user.

What are Manual Groups?

Manual Groups are groups of contacts that you have selected from the All Contacts tab.

You simply select the users you want in a Manual Group, then click on the "Manual Group Actions..." drop down for more options.

What are Smart Groups?

Smart Groups are created after you do an advanced search in the users section. Once your advanced search results pop up, you will see an option to "create smart group".

Any new users that match your original advanced search query, will automatically be added to your Smart Group!

Why should I use Contacts?

B/c you can restrict who downloads your promo songs to specific Contacts and/or Contact Groups.

How do I add users to my Contacts?

Read above silly.

How do I post to the Forums? 

Click on the Forums section link up top. Choose a section to post in (on the left side). Then click the "post" button.

Someone deleted my post!

If you wrote something offensive or threatening, chances are one of our Tastemakers yanked your post. Read our legal section for more info on this.

Another possibility is that your post was moved to another section. For instance if you post a Support question to Gigs, a moderator will move it.

How do I get my music on GigaCrate? 

You purchase one of our promo packages (or choose the FREE Basic Promo Package) in order to get your music on the site.

Our promo packages offer a variety of options such as email blast, featured images, targeted promoting and more.

Is there an approval process for Promo Packages?

Paying promoters are automatically approved, however the FREE Basic Package requires approval (after you upload your song(s)).

In an effort to keep some level of quality control, we automatically remove any songs uploaded from the free Basic Promo Package that have a rating of less than 3 stars.

How do I prepare my songs for uploading?

We have prepared a VERY detailed GigaCrate Audio Conversion Guide for you to follow.

NOTE: We only accept 160kbps or better .mp3 files. Each file is limited to 25MB. You must have at least 500px by 500px, 72dpi, RGB, .jpg album art as well.

How do I actually upload a song?

Go to your Actions tab (on the right side) or your Profile | Music tab and click "Upload song".

After your song is done uploading...

1. We BPM your song. (This can take up to 8 hours depending on the size of the queue)
2. You fill out ALL the ID3 info and upload the artwork.
3. When your song is ready, you click "set live" (in your Profile | Music | Pending Songs tab or the song's page)
4. You can visit your profile to edit your music if you need to.

* Again, if you are uploading as a part of our FREE Basic Promo Package, your song must be approved.

I want to sell my music on GigaCrate.

We suggest you purchase a promo package, b/c our screening process for sellers is very stringent. We do not accept ALL music that is submitted to us. We have a staff of DJs (called Tastemakers) that hand pick the music for sale on our site.

I already registered, but now I want to get my music on GigaCrate.

Visit the About tab in your profile and change your "User Type" to be either a Provider or Promoter. Providers (sellers), we have to approve you, so be patient.

* Providers (sellers), you will be notified via email if_you_are_approved.

How do I get my music featured? 

To get your music featured (also includes those big images atop Music and the Homepage), you must purchase either our Plus or Pro promo packages.

I bought a Plus or Pro promo package, now how do I upload my features?

* You must FIRST have at least 1 song uploaded to our site, otherwise you won't be able to link your featured images to anything.

After purchasing a promo package, go to your Profile tab (on the right side near login) and click on the "Features" link.

Unused Features

If you have unused features, you will see blank/template features ready for you to upload images, descriptions and links to.

Each "feature" consists of 3 image sizes, a description and a link to a song or album on www.gigacrate.com.

1. Large - 600px by 250px
2. Medium - 295px by 295px
3. Small - 295px by 142px

To upload images, simply click on the links under the template images that say "Upload a new large/medium/small image."

Next you must edit the "Description" and select what song or album you wish to "link" your the feature to (this is where users will be taken when they click on your image).

When all the images and information are filled out, an "Activate" button will appear. Click this and your feature will be published atop Music and the Homepage.

Active Features

These are your currently running features. You will see the number of views and clicks that your feature has received.

Inactive Features

These are features that have run their course. If you'd like, you can renew a feature for $199/2 weeks. Simply click on the renew button, complete the Google Checkout process, and your feature will automatically be re-activated.

If you have further questions, please contact our sales staff.

How do I get my music on the email blast? 

To get your music on our weekly email blast, you must purchase either our Plus or Pro promo packages.

I bought a Plus or Pro promo package, now how do I get my music on the email blast?

* You must FIRST have at least 1 song uploaded to our site, otherwise you won't be able to email blast anything.

Go to your Profile tab (on the right side near login) and click on the "Email Blasts" link.

Select an album from the drop down that you wish to appear in our weekly email blast.

Click the "Submit For Email Blast" button and you're done!

How do I advertise on GigaCrate? 

Follow the steps on our our advertising page.

I purchased a direct ad spot through GigaCrate, now how do I upload my artwork?

Go to your Profile tab (on the right side near login) and click on the "Advertisements" link.

Unused Ads

If you have unused ads, you will see blank/template ad(s) ready for you to upload image(s), description(s) and link(s).

Your ad artwork/image must be exactly the dimensions for the slot you purchased...

1. Sidebar - 300px by 250px
2. Footer - 970px by 150px
3. Content - 600px by 90px

To upload your ad artwork, simply click on the link under the template image that says "Click here to upload new image."

Next you must edit "Link" (where your ad will link to (Needs to start with http://)), "Alt Text" (this is what shows up if someone has images turned off) and "Title Text" (this is what shows up when someone hovers over your ad).

When all the images and information are filled out, an "Activate" button will appear. Click this and your ad will be published to the site and begin displaying in rotation with the other ads.

Active Ads

These are your currently running ads. You will see the number of views and clicks that your ad has received.

Inactive Ads

These are ads that have run their course. If you'd like, you can renew an ad for an additional month by clicking the "Renew Button".

How do I delete my account or make it private? 

Click on the "Profile" tab in the Actions box (under the Gigacrate logo in the top right of the site), then click on the "Settings" link.

How do I hide my account from search engines?

At the bottom of the Settings tab you will notice a section entitled "Privacy". There is a checkbox option to hide your account from popular search engines such as yahoo, google, etc...

How do I delete my account completely?

At the bottom of the Settings tab you will also notice a "Delete My Account" button.

If you choose to delete your account you will not be able to download any songs you have purchased, and any songs you have uploaded will be removed from the site.

Don't worry though, you will be thoroughly warned before you can actually delete your account.

Further Questions

If we have not addressed a question or problem you have, please visit the Support Forum of our site and raise your question there.

DO NOT email us your questions. We will not reply.