Pitch Your Pod Podcast Challenge – Official Rules
NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. OPEN TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE 50 UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AGE 18 OR OLDER. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
1. SPONSOR. The Pitch Your Pod Podcast Challenge (the “Contest”) is sponsored by SPI Media, LLC (the “Company”), an Ohio limited liability company located at 875 N. High St. Ste 300, Columbus, Ohio 43215 (the “Sponsor”).
2. OVERVIEW. The Contest is a podcast submission contest where individuals who want to start their own podcast are encouraged to submit a short audio file demonstrating what their podcast would be like for an opportunity to (a) have their podcast clip featured on a “submissions” podcast of entrants hosted and produced by Sponsor, and (b) have a chance to win various prizes as detailed below. By participating in this Contest, each participant agrees to be bound by these Official Rules and to the decisions of the Sponsor, which are final and binding on all matters relating to the Contest. The Contest will operate as described below, on or about the stated dates:
The Contest submission period begins at 12:00 a.m. EST on January 11, 2022, and ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on January 16, 2022. To be eligible, submissions must be submitted in accordance with Section 4 of these Official Rules.
The Contest judging period begins on January 20, 2022, and ends on January 24, 2022. Eligible submissions will be complied by the Sponsor in a “Submissions” podcast episode available to the public. During the judging period, listeners may cast a vote for their favorite podcast submission in accordance with Section 5 of these Official Rules. 3 Winners (as described in Section 7 below) will be selected based on the number of votes the participant has received.
Sponsor will attempt to contact each Winner, or alternate, if necessary, on or about January 26, 2022, in accordance with Section 6 of these Official Rules.
The Winners will be publicly announced on or about January 26, 2022.
3. ELIGIBILITY. The Contest is open only to individuals who are legal residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia (each an “Entrant”). Each Entrant must be at least 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. Void in Puerto Rico and all jurisdictions other than those stated above and where prohibited or restricted by law.
The following individuals are not eligible to enter: (a) employees, representatives, agents, directors, or officers of Sponsor, its affiliated companies, or other parties involved in the administration of the Contest; and (b) each of the immediate family members or other persons living in the same household as such excluded individuals.
Entry constitutes each Entrant’s certification that the Entrant meets the eligibility requirements set forth in these Official Rules. The Sponsor reserves the right to verify and confirm each Entrant's compliance with the eligibility requirements. Entrant may be required to submit further information to assist in the Sponsor’s verification of eligibility. Winning a prize is contingent on fulfilling all requirements herein.
4. HOW TO ENTER. To enter, an Entrant must submit an audio file featuring the Entrant discussing a topic of his, her, or their choosing (the “Submission”). The Submission must be original (as defined by copyright law) and unique (meaning that it must have been created for the sole purpose of entering the Contest). Submissions must comply with the following requirements.
- Submissions must not be longer than 10 minutes in length.
- Submissions must be created specifically for the Contest.
- Submissions must be the original work of the Entrant.
- Submissions must be uploaded completing the submission form available at https://spimedia.typeform.com/to/jvEVGHNB.
- Submissions must not include any music created by anyone other than Entrant.
- Submissions must not contain any material that violates or infringes on another’s rights (including , but not limited to, material that violated privacy, publicity, or intellectual property rights).
- Submissions should be a shorter version of what Entrant’s podcast would actually be like, not an explanation of a general idea.
The Sponsor reserves the right to determine, in its sole discretion, which entries have satisfied the entry requirements and to disqualify Submissions it believes are not consistent with the spirit and theme of the Contest.
An Entrant must upload their submission by fully completing the submission form available at https://spimedia.typeform.com/to/jvEVGHNB (the “Submission Form”) between January 11, 2022, and January 16, 2022. On the Submission Form, Entrant must provide an explanation or description of the Submission including genre, as well as Entrants name and email address. By completing and submitting the Submission Form, Entrant grants Sponsor a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free license to use the Submission and all audio recordings in any media for any purpose. An Entrant must completely and accurately submit all required information to enter, and must timely cooperate with all requests for additional information and documents that Sponsor may request to verify eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules.
The Sponsor’s clock is the official timekeeping device of the Contest. The Sponsor is not responsible for late or unsuccessful attempts to enter. Incomplete, corrupted, untimely, or unintelligible Submissions or Submission Forms will be disqualified. The Sponsor reserves the right to determine, in its sole discretion, which entries have satisfied the entry requirements and to disqualify Submissions it believes are not consistent with the spirit and theme of the Contest.
AN ELIGIBLE ENTRANT MUST SUBMIT AN ENTRY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THESE OFFICIAL RULES. NO OTHER METHOD OF ENTRY WILL BE ACCEPTED.
5. JUDGING. On or about January 20, 2022, Sponsor will release the “Submissions” podcast episode to the public through Sponsor’s preferred platform, which will contain Entrants Submission. From January 20, 2022, until January 24, 2022, listeners will be given the opportunity to vote for their favorite Submission using the Typeform located at https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/pitch-your-pod. No late votes will be counted. Listeners will only be able to vote once, and only for one Submission. All votes will count equally, and the Winners will be the Entrants with the most respective votes at the end of the voting period.
Only properly made or obtained votes will be counted. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any vote that Sponsor, in its sole discretion, believes to have been improperly made, obtained, or otherwise solicited in a manner inconsistent with the spirit and theme of this Contest. Likewise, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any Entrant for engaging in such conduct. For the avoidance of doubt, Entrants are strictly prohibited from inappropriately soliciting votes, buying votes, utilizing vote aggregators or vote exchange pages, creating fake votes, or using automated voting software. The sponsor will make all reasonable efforts to ensure Contest voting is conducted and counted in a method and manner that is fair and equitable to all Entrants.
6. WINNER NOTIFICATION. Each of the potential Winners, as determined by the number of listener votes submitted for each Submission, will be notified by email (via the email address listed on the Submission Form) on or about January 26, 2022, and will be required to respond (as directed) to the notification attempt within 24 hours of notification being sent. Failure to respond to the notification within 24 hours may result in forfeiture of participation in the Contest, and in such case, Sponsor will contact the Entrant receiving the next highest vote count as an alternate Winner.
The Winners will be publicly announced on January 26, 2022. There will be one grand prize winner and 2 secondary winners.
The Sponsor reserves the right to extend or modify the winner notification and announcement schedule as the Sponsor deems necessary, in its sole discretion, to complete the verification process contemplated by these Official Rules and/or to select an alternate Winner.
7. PRIZES. The Entrant earning the most amount of listener votes will receive the following grand prize:
1:1 coaching call with Pat Flynn
Power-Up Podcasting Course for FREE
Professionally designed podcast cover art
FREE microphone, shock mount, boom arm, and headphones from Heil™
FREE SuperGuest annual package from Podcast Hawk™
FREE lifetime access to Fusebox™
The approximate retail value of the grand prize package is $2750.
The secondary winners will receive the following prizes:
Power-Up Podcasting Course for FREE
Podcasting microphone of your choice (up to $100)
Three (3) months FREE of a Promotion Plan with Podcast Hawk™
One (1) year of a Pro subscription to Fusebox™
The approximate retail value of the secondary prize package is $1300.
All entrants will receive access to discount codes valued at $165.
8. PRIZE RESTRICTIONS. Each Winner will be solely responsible for any and all federal, state, and local taxes resulting from acceptance of a prize. Each Winner who earns a prize with an approximate retail value of $600 or greater will receive an IRS tax form 1099 to properly report their winnings. A prize cannot be transferred or assigned to another person or entity. No prize substitutions or changes are allowed except at the discretion of the Sponsor. A prize cannot be substituted or redeemed for cash. Each prize is provided “as is” without any warranty of any kind.
9. GRANT OF RIGHTS. In consideration for an Entrant’s Submission being made available to the public and voted on by listeners for a chance to win the prizes above, each Entrant grants to the Sponsor a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, fully-paid, universal license to use, copy, sublicence, distribute, transmit, publicly perform, publish, modify, make derivative works from, or display such Submission, or any portion thereof, in any media now known or hereafter devised and for any purpose.
10. ENTRANT REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, AND RELEASE. By entering, each Entrant represents and warrants to the Sponsor that: (a) the Submission is completely the original work of the Entrant; (b) the Submission is an original work and is not copied from any other source or previously distributed or disseminated in any media or format; and (c) the Submission is not in violation of or in conflict with the trademark, copyright, rights of privacy, rights of publicity, or any other rights of any kind or nature of any other person or entity. By submitting an entry, each Entrant agrees to release the Sponsor, its affiliates, subsidiaries, promotional partners, agents, and all others associated with the development and execution of this Contest, and the officers, directors, and employees of each of the foregoing, from any and all claims and liabilities arising from or in connection with participation in this Contest, including, without limitation claims for injury, loss, or damage of any kind resulting from participation in this Contest or acceptance or use of any prize, and claims based on rights of privacy, rights of publicity, false light, defamation, copyright, and/or trademark infringement relating to the Submission or exploitation of the Submission.
WITHOUT LIMITED THE FOREGOING, EVERYTHING REGARDING THIS CONTEST IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS OR LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY. CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS FOR ANY RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS REGARDING THESE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS.
- GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS. The Sponsor reserves the right to terminate, modify, or suspend this Contest due to any act of god; unavoidable accident; epidemic or pandemic; fire; blackout; act of public enemy, war, riot, or civil commotion; enactment, rule, order, or act of government, government instrumentality, or tribunal; strike, lockout, or labor dispute; inclement weather; failure of technical difficulties; failure of third party software or services; or other cause beyond Sponsor’s control. The Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, incomplete, damaged, mutilated, misdirected, misdelivered, or delayed entries, or for technical or human errors or failures of any kind in connection with the submission, transmission, processing, or judging of entries.
THE SPONSOR WILL NOT BE OBLIGATED TO AWARD ANY PRIZE THAT RELATES TO OR ARISES OUT OF IMPROPER OR MISTAKEN PRIZE NOTIFICATION, OPERATION, OR FUNCTION OF THIS CONTEST.
SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE ANY TERM OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES OR ADDRESS ANY ISSUE THAT ARISES WITH UPDATES OR AMENDMENTS TO THESE OFFICIAL RULES AT ANY TIME UP TO THE DATE THAT THE WINNERS ARE DETERMINED AND ANNOUNCED.
ALL DECISIONS BY THE SPONSOR ARE FINAL AND BINDING.
12. GOVERNING LAW. This Contest is governed by the internal laws of Ohio without regard to principles of conflict of laws. All cases and claims arising out of this Contest must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in the state of Ohio.
13. PRIVACY POLICY. Any personal information supplied by an Entrant to the Sponsor will be subject to the Sponsor’s privacy policy and the supplemental terms of these Official Rules. The sponsor’s privacy policy can be found at https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/privacy-policy/. By entering this Contest, each Entrant grants Sponsor permission to share that Entrant’s email address and any other personally identifiable information of Entrant only with relevant third parties and solely to the extent necessary for purposes of administering the Contest and prize fulfillment. The Sponsor will not sell, rent, transfer, or otherwise disclose an Entrant’s personal data to any third party other than as described above or in the Sponsor’s privacy policy.
14. OFFICIAL RULES AND WINNER’S LIST. For a copy of these Official Rules visit https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/pitch-your-pod-contest-terms-and-conditions/ or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope and written request to 875 N. High St. Ste 300, Columbus, Ohio 43215. For a list of the Winners, within 60 days of January 26, 2022, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope and written request to 875 N. High St. Ste 300, Columbus, Ohio 43215. Requests received without a self-addressed and stamped envelope will not be fulfilled.