How you earn.
Every point on Demoland comes from real listening. You earn for making things, for hearing other people out, and for notes that help. Here's exactly what you get, and when.
Post
Every upload earns you points. Finished work earns the most.
Songs
Your first finished song of the day earns you 80, your second 60, and every one after that 40. Lead with your best.
Sketches
You earn 20 for each rough idea, up to 3 a day. Get it down now and polish it later.
Loops and samples
Your first loop of the day earns you 5, your second 2. Samples count separately, so a loop and a sample each earn 5.
Challenge entries
Enter this week's challenge and everything above is multiplied by 1.5.
When your points land
Your points are held until 3 different people play your track all the way through. Then they're yours, and they count toward your artist level and the boards.
Listen and vote
Every full listen pays you, and your vote is how the best tracks rise.
Your vote unlocks
Play 90% of a track and your vote unlocks. Skipping ahead doesn't count: we only count what you actually hear, so every vote comes from someone who listened.
You earn for listening
You earn 1 critic point for hearing a track through. Votes earn nothing and cost nothing. Vote on anything; it's how the boards get decided, and nobody's keeping score on you for it.
Your vote gets heavier
Your vote starts at 0.25 and its weight grows with your critic record (listens and notes), reaching full weight at 375 critic points. New accounts vote at 0.25 for their first 14 days.
Feedback
Feedback here has to be actionable or truly insightful, not a comment section. Notes that help pay the most; notes that don't cost you.
Timestamped notes
Pin a note to the moment it's about and you earn 5, once you've heard the whole track. One paid note per track.
Tracks that need it
On tracks marked “needs feedback”, your note earns double: 10.
When your note helps
Every upvote on your note earns you up to 2, weighted by the upvoter's vote. If the artist upvotes it, you get 5 instead.
Downvotes
A note that doesn't help can be downvoted. Each one costs its author 1.75 critic points, scaled by the downvoter's weight. The artist can't downvote notes on their own track; they can upvote, or reply.
Replies
Replies earn nothing and can't be voted on. They're for conversation: the artist saying what they changed, or a critic clarifying.
Notes without a time
A comment that isn't pinned to a moment earns nothing. That keeps notes useful: “the kick gets lost at 1:42” tells the artist exactly where to look. “Nice track” doesn't.
You can earn up to 60 critic points a day.
Challenges and streaks
New prompts every week. Enter them, and keep entering to build a streak.
Every entry scores more
Each week runs two lanes at once, one for producers and one for vocalists and lyricists, and you can enter both. Challenge entries earn you 1.5 times the usual points. Some challenges are built on a member's open verse, loop or beat, which entrants can download for that challenge.
Top three
When the week closes, the top three by weighted votes earn +50, +30 and +15, plus a 48-hour feature on everyone's home page.
Streak days
You earn a streak day when a challenge entry you posted that day gets its 3 full plays.
Streak bonus
Reach 7, 30 and 90 days and everything you post earns 5%, 10% and 15% more.
Miss a day
Miss one day and a freeze covers it automatically, once every 30 days.
Levels
Two ladders, both lifetime. Creator points climb the artist ladder, critic points climb the critic ladder, and both always count.
Your lane
Get known for what you do most. Post 4 tracks in 90 days and Demoland recognises you as an artist; leave 6 timestamped notes and you're recognised as a critic. Your lane shows next to your name on your tracks, your profile and the header. One lane at a time, both ladders always climb. Lanes follow the last 90 days: do 2× as much of the other, past its mark, and you switch.
Artist ladder
Climbs on creator points- 1Bedroom Artist0
- 2Demo Artist200
- 3Session Artist800
- 4Studio Artist2,500
- 5Release Artist6,000
- 6Label Artist15,000
Critic ladder
Climbs on critic points- 1Listener0
- 2Regular200
- 3Audiophile800
- 4Tastemaker2,500
- 5A&R6,000
- 6Oracle15,000
Beyond points
Points are the scoreboard, not the prize. The prize is being heard, and being someone artists want in the room.
Artists: get seen
The 30-day creator board is the front of the app. Climb it and every signed-in member sees your name before they see anything else. New people find you from the board, not from an algorithm.
Artists: win the week
Place in a challenge and your track is featured across Demoland for 48 hours. That is two days of every listener here hearing you first.
Artists: find collaborators
Mark a song as an open verse or open hook and it carries a mint “Open for a feature” pill. Vocalists and producers looking for a placement see it on your track. Your loop or beat can become next week's challenge, with the whole community building on it.
Critics: your vote counts for more
Every full listen and every useful note raises your critic record, and your vote's weight rises with it, up to 4× a new account's. The people deciding who wins each week are the people who actually listen.
Critics: artists know your name
Your notes sit on the track at the exact second they're about, with your handle on them. When the artist upvotes one, you earn 5 and they've just learned who gives feedback worth having. The critic board shows artists who to trust, and your climb from Listener to Tastemaker is right there on your profile.
Critics: get closer to your favourite artists
Fan tiers, per artist. Keep showing up for someone, listening through, leaving notes they upvote, and you move up their ladder: early listens before a drop, listening parties, and invites when they play live. Earned by being there, never bought.
Items marked Coming are being built right now and will switch on for everyone at once. Everything else is live today.
Demoland is invite-only for now.
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